If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would....

The Polish police service is full of brutes and kids just out of pampers. They are terribly inefficient and I dread to think wht will happen when the Euro 2012 comes to Poland

I have to agree with this. In one restaurant in England, some girl was blowing her smoke directly at our table! I was thinking if she doesn't want her smoke and doesn't want to blow it at her friends why the bloody hell blow it at us! I bet she'd really complain if I visited her table and farted! At least that wont destroy her lungs!

And another exclamation mark just make a point !

The comment about bisto gravy.. ewwww. no, I always made my own and it was much better! OK, sometimes I'd settle for bisto when in a rush... or wanting a salt overdose.

So, what would I introduce from the UK to Poland? hmmmm,
1. Companies paying salaries at the end of the month, not 10 days later
2. Emplyee rights.. they seem to have none in Poland, including this 'pact with the devil' contract that many have to sign.
3. Government documents in various languages - would make likfe a lot easier
4. Motorways!
5. Me. oh, I'm already here! :)

T

.. I forgot to mention 'customer services'.

I see the Tesco brand has been introduced to Poland but without the customer service I would expect. Twice now I have tried to buy products just to have them thrown to one side at the checkout because the computer could not read the barcode!

In England, the cashier would get of their arse, or ask a supervisor to get the correct code or customer service would give you the product for free!

When trying to purchase electrical good in the same store, twice we had to wait about 10-15 minutes for somebody to even attend the department. Asking the girls on the next department and they just told us that there should be somebody there.

In short, staff in Poland don't give a sh*t. This alone is a good reason to learn Polish because my girlfriend is unwilling to translate for me to make formal complaints :)

T

Sorry to rain on your parade, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Not a week passes without a cashier in Tesco or Asda putting one or more of my items aside and saying "Sorry, but I can't sell you this because the barcode is missing / is wrong / whatever".

And don't get me started on supermarket cashiers in general! Some of them look startled and seem surprised to even be there, and have problems with the whole procedure... I am really thankful for the self-service checkouts.


Reminds me of the time I wanted to buy a computer monitor, so I booked it online at a PC World store, and showed up in due time, and the appropriate department was so empty there was practically an echo ;-)

Took them about 20 minutes to show up and realise what I wanted etc, plus extra time for finding the monitor, scanning the barcodes, payment...

So I guess either customer service in the UK is slipping fast, or there isn't such a great difference between our two great nations after all... The latter seems much more probable.

SS i can confirm that the steak in Poland is well below par. I have been buying kilo's of the stuff for years and have eaten it in plenty of restaurants. I do have decent suppliers now, im happy to say.

Godfather I wouldnt worry to much about SS she's a racist, who has a particular disliking for Brits of Asian decent.

As for introducing things to Poland weve already given them the best two stores, Tesco's and Castorama.

True enough. An English guy here had to import it. He scouted all the local butchers for T-bone steaks and it was a big no-no. He ran his own business and ran up too many costs for importing. An American here did a viability study and correctly decided that the Poles are too traditional, esp here in Gliwice. He really wanted to run a steakhouse but breaking even would have been a challenge.

The Poles prefer their sausages. OK, I'll STFU now ;)

Have you ever tried buying polędwica wołowa (beef loin)? This is what Polish people call steak meat, this is what they eat as beef steak, and if it doesn't taste good, it's not the meat's fault, but the cook's ;-)

Polędwica wołowa is the absolutely supreme cut of beef IMHO :-)

i miss...
irn-bru
british bacon, well actually its danish lol
british pork sausages
potatoe scones (Polish ones are not the same)
flaming hot and pickled onion monster munch, nice n spicy nik - naks, skips, salt and vinager, ect the list goes on
proper milk (uht just isnt the same)
I have to say i have had good and shit steaks both in poland and in britian i just love a good steak anywhere

For all these expats help is at hand in the form of britishcornershop.co.uk im sure youll even find monster munch on there.

Magdalena you shouldnt have to fork out for Fillet Steak to get a decent taste, sirloin or rump can be delicious if hung properly.

My sister sends me Heinz beans and other stuff essential for life......all gets here intact , great service by this company....

Worcestershire sauce?

Really? I'm surprised! I've not experienced this in recent years in England, they usually bend over backwards to help. But then if they don't, I'm the first to customer services speaking to the manager!

As for PC world.. no surprise there... as for their knowledge of PCs, zero. Last time I was in I only wanted to buy a game, they were not interested in helping me find it unless I was going to spend a lot of money. So, here I am, 1 desktop and 2 laptops, digital camer and various other items later... and not one of them from PC world all because of this one act of arrogance.

But i'm still surprised about your experiences with supermarkets. Aldi, lidl, I expect it, but not from Tesco/Asda.


Bought this at tesco but it was hella expensive. I also saw British baked beans there one too, but that shelf has been empty ever since.

As for the bacon, if you're lucky, you can select a good bacon in the butchers and then slice it real thin yourself. It's the same stuff, just not sliced. But I look for the stuff with less fat on it.

Proper milk is also available in most shops. I hate UHT and never touch it.

Most other things I make myself, cornish pasties, yorkshir pudding, quiche (is that even british?) and the like.

Tony

- Any evidence of that? What the hell do you do in Poland if you hate us so much? Get out. As for the alleged inefficiency of Polish cops, is it really greater than the inefficiency of Brit cops, eg. in Wales, where horrific beatings and murders of Polish guest workers have stayed forever 'unexplained'? In UK, you can only punish hard the Poles - a Polish person who commits a crime in UK gets often far harder sentence than the locals and other nationals do.Some time ago, (I think) in London, a couple of creeps from Algeria raped for hours Polish women. What have become of these creeps, what sentences did they get?

introduce butteries, or rowies as they are known in the south of Scotland. They are buttered rolls with a specific taste and shape. Fattening but very tasty

So, as I was saying, butteries. I think that Poles would like them. They are great with melted butter on the top. Packed with calories tho :(

For me, its gotta be Shinty or Gaelic football. Good old rough man's sports:)

Yeah, camanachd is great. I think they call it iomain now. 'Shinty' for those who don't know Gaelic. Gaelic football? Not too well up on that, how does it work? I mean, how does it differ from normal football?

Basically a cross between rugby and footy, but alot rougher.

Aha, I think I've seen it. It's as hard as Aussie Rules. I used to love rugby, I was considerably lighter then tho. Who ate all the pies? LOL I could use a mince pie and a bovril. Or Forfar bridies, they are heavenly.

THE IDEA THAT TRASH BELONGS IN A TRASH CAN AND NOT ON THE STREET OR TUCKED INTO BUSHES OR DROPPED WHEREVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!

DIDN'T YOUR MOTHERS EVER TEACH YOU _ANYTHING_??????????

The Polish attitude toward litter in public is certainly not one of the more attractive national characteristics and every once in a while drives me to a screaming frenzy.

Or the idea of posting dozens of fliers into your letter box!!! grr that one too.
I woke up this morning with some stupid cunt trying to force them under my door:/!!!!

You really think so, mafketis? Here in Gliwice, it's much better than in Aberdeen, Scotland. What would be better is more regular collections from public street bins. Thankfully, they have substituted those crappy, plastic green ones for classier looking ones (sounds like an oxymoron, a classy bin). Nobs used to burn them with cigarette butts :(

Maybe it's different in other cities, mafketis, but the Poles get my respect for being relatively clean on the streets.

Fliers, the cheapest way of marketing, LOL. I can walk down the main street and have at least 10 people handing out ones for different companies.

I'd introduce 80F weather all year long, ok maybe at least half a year.

The only place I've actually seen well-dressed ladies with small children, full-on young middle class professional types, drop litter unobtrusively (ha ha) onto the pavement, or even go as far as to empty their handbags of dirty tissues / bits and bobs / lint balls in the street -

- was in London, UK.

And the total amount of rubbish of all kinds on London streets is absolutely appalling - chewing gum specks, chicken and chips boxes, chips, bits of chicken, flyers, old shoes, rags, building debris... the list goes on and on...

Oh really ? Then let me invite you to Glasgow. Unless only Poles live there ?

I agree totally, London is a disgustingly dirty city, a horrible place. Poland is far cleaner in the cities than most English towns. Yes, there are areas around the public waste sites, mainly caused by scavengers looking for gold and the lack of lids isn't great when a wind gets up.

Oh and fly tipping seems worse here.. but in Ukraine it was a lot worse.. and one guy... in the middle of the day wasn't bothered about us watching whilst he emptied his bin on the river bank!

So really, Poland isn't all that bad, there are things I would bring here from England, like government departments who have a clue.... or was I just lucky to live in an area where the local council workers were actually educated?

T

No it isn't. Well, bits of it are. What we don't need here are sweeping statements.

No! Sweeping statements are precisely what we do need!

But there are shitty areas of Polish towns too. The Nowy Port area of Gdansk is incredibly filthy for example. The biggest problem in Poland, which doesnt exist on a great scale in UK, is dog shit. I get really angry when I see dog owners watching their dogs shit then walking off. Some areas of Gdansk and sopot really stink of shit. If puz wants proof i can take pics.

I've decided, I'm going to eat nothing but rolls and pies when I go back to Aberdeen next week, then come back and post on here and tell you alllll about it.

Me, cruel?

(seriously, I miss mince pies and Irn-Bru more than anything..)

I think you were extremely lucky. Seriously.


How about - bits of it aren't? Of course central London is nice and dandy... But if you wish, I can give you a comprehensive, guided tour of the less lucky 80% of London.


Sure - it's just a question of proportions. 100% tidy doesn't exist anywhere - and I have seen beautifully managed villages and towns in England, too. But in the larger cities it's depressing to see that literally no one cares, including the binmen who have been recently instructed by the Councils and their elf-n-safety jobsworths to look after their backs properly, so if a piece of rubbish falls from a bin to the street, there it stays (no bending). After the rubbish collectors pass, the street often looks worse than before!

Also. in Poland the unofficial institution of rubbish-rummager (śmietnikowiec) acts very effectively - recyclable materials are painstakingly extracted from bins without anyone charging you for the service. Most bin treasure hunters are actually quite tidy and don't leave a mess, as they come around daily and don't want people to chase them away.

Dog sh*t is regrettably an issue but, to my surprise, I have recently started coming across doggy traps where I live in London - on the pavements; in PL it's the lawns at least, where you're not supposed to walk anyway, so it looks ugly and may smell, but at least does not pose an immediate threat.

I have spoken.

Singapore comes close, in a centrally planned, paranoid kind of way...

Somebody said Pirsnel Urquell? :]