3. The way that the Communist mentality seems so entrenched. When did the Berlin Wall come down?
Is this really the case? If so I am quite surprised. I would have suspected that the generation X, the kids born in the 70's would have been the people at the forefront of change, that living through the transition during their formative years and now be 30-40 year olds that they would have led a totally different direction.
I was discussing this very topic with a Polish friend the other day and I asked what they thought about the legacy, how long until it becomes a distant memory? He has been gone many years now, but thought in many ways it would be rooted out of society already and I tended to agree that this seemed a logical likelihood.
If it is still so deeply rooted, when does it become a memory? When does it just become something that is taught as school but is distant from reality for any person? I was actually bemoaning that it would get to a stage where it would soon enough be hard to find people to recall the state of affairs when the country was under the stiff arm of the Soviets (not for a second am I suggesting that it should ever have been or that I wished it was longer). Just that it would be interesting to speak with people from that era about how the era actually was. That is one of my main interests in all of the former Eastern Bloc countries... How was life truly during the years after WWII and up until the break from communism and even the 5 years directly after that.
If it is still so deeply rooted, when does it become a memory?
It will become memory as soon as everyone who actually lived behind the Iron Curtain is dead. I have friends in East Berlin who are really nostalgic when it comes to the communist past of the GDR. They see everything in a rosy light (ie, in the old system there was no unemployment, there were kindergarten spots for everyone, there was free healthcare, bla bla bla) even though they are now very successful business people. I'm always making fun of them because I don't understand how you can be a successful capitalist and at the same time a nostalgic commie.
Yes it is a cultural difference and more to do with my own mood than the person staring at me. It's just annoying sometimes. Or could be taken as a pick-up manoeuvre!
jwojcie, I meant for a country which professes itself to be behind the times when it comes to such things as trains. I don't like some of the hard seats but they are rare.
How many GCSE's did you need to be a prison officer? Evidently not many!
No ur right,, that how I got the job :)
The way that the Communist mentality seems so entrenched. When did the Berlin Wall come down?
Anyhow i,m still trying to work out (being as i,m so thick) Wot has a German Wall got to do with this so called commie mentality the poles are ment to have??
1. The Food……. Hang on, I really like the food here, it's full of flavour, very fresh, ok forget that one….
2. The People!…… No I really like the people I have met, they have been friendly, funny and interesting… ok forget that one too…
3. The Roads!….. Well they are much the same as other countries I have been to, and the way people drive is much the same as well……. So best forget that one…
4. No Jobs!……. Ooo I got a job within a week of being here, nice boss, good company and salary… so not that one……..
Hang on… I must be on the wrong thread altogether…. I bloody love it here, it’s a great place… sorry I didn’t mean to waste your time folks, I’ll go and join the ‘3 reasons why I love Poland thread!’
I meant for a country which professes itself to be behind the times when it comes to such things as trains. I don't like some of the hard seats but they are rare.
Hey, be grateful there's a train at all and you don't have to sit on the rooftop :)
Those Poles are not so bad really ;) ;) Yeah, much better than the African Express ;) ;) The express method to following through the roof into God knows what.
1. plastic wc seats that are so light they flap up and down when you open the bathroom door
2. extraordinarily depressing built-in wardrobe-drawer units in mahogany plastic that cover a whole wall to 2.5m height and are adorned with icons and nic-nacs and that everyone (young and old alike) considers 'very smart' ...
3. that white sky
(3.a. that white sky the morning after a Polish wedding and a lot of vodka) (mind you, there is usually sex to cheer one up, it being Poland)
As for Poland, I think PKP gets a bad rap but they shouldn't.
A lot of their problems are caused by national and provincial governments, not by themselves. For example -
'Gifting' Przewozy Regionalne to the provinces when the provinces didn't want it was exceptionally stupid, particularly as the richer provincial governments would rather fund their own services than into the mess of debt that is Przewozy Regionalne. They paid off the debts with the transfer, but did absolutely nothing about the reason *why* PR was in such trouble to begin with.
Allowing PKP Intercity and Przewozy Regionalne to compete is absolutely nonsense at the highest level.
When PKP was split into the thousands of companies, not ensuring a unified ticket system was one of the more interesting disasters - of course PR and Intercity are not going to collaborate if they don't have to!
The transfer of the Posp. trains last winter was another disaster - Intercity didn't want them and pretty quickly cut many of the services. Intercity should've stayed firmly a reservation-only operator - but did the relevant Ministry listen? No!
I could go on - but it's clear to me that weak government, not bad management is the problem.
Incidentally, IC trains are an absolute dream in Poland - uncrowded, comfortable and fairly quick!
Your research goes deeper than an experienced black Swedish prn star, delph. How do you do it?
Pawian, Scotland has all that too. There are still those that live in the countryside that use/burn a lot of coal. The black adds some contrast to the grey.
Anyhow i,m still trying to work out (being as i,m so thick) Wot has a German Wall got to do with this so called commie mentality the poles are ment to have??
The dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is generally seen as a symbol of the collapse of the pseudo-Communist/Socialist regimes in central and eastern Europe. But twenty years on, some institutions in Poland still operate under the same mentality. Not all institutions and certainly not all Poles and most certainly much less so among the younger generations. It's just that I happen to work in one of those institutions ...
3) The fact they all have children in their early twenties.
Oh, yes, the audacity of those Poles! Why they couldn't depend on massive immigration like the rest of the civilized world? I can totally see why you are upset!
It will probably take a few more decades, but sooner or later the Poles will find out that having kids is a huge investment and responsibility in an increasingly challenging world. And they will also find out that having children at a very young age will cut the best years of their lifes somewhat short. I've seen many, many relationships falling apart because people got married and had kids at an early age. Well, but maybe I just had the wrong friends, who knows... :)
And they will also find out that having children at a very young age will cut the best years of their lifes somewhat short.
Have to agree with this. Having kids early like that just breeds resentment down the road. Probably should wait to early 30's. You've got to remember there just aren't the jobs anymore to support lots of kids .
well, sex does cheer one up and somehow sex in poland is better than sex in england blimey no idea what kind of hang-ups in me that touches upon ... ! am not going there ; )
in Poland they stay together as they usually dont have any other viable options.
Peoples' faith is an important factor, but the catholic church might lose its grip on the younger generation if more and more of the kids live in western countries, don't you think?
Probably should wait to early 30's.
I agree. You are more mature then and your financial background is much more stable.
Plus there is lower social acceptability of premarital cohabitation than in the west.
That might change once the older generation is gone. Poland is not an island and western culture is very attractive to many youngsters.
Peoples' faith is an important factor, but the catholic church might lose its grip on the younger generation if more and more of the kids live in western countries, don't you think?
I meant financially, i dont think many couples care to much about the Lord when their living in hell everyday. i know of a few couples that just hate each other have children and are totally stuck in rutts, neither could manage financially on their own so they sit it out.
Well yeh western countries mean money and all kinds of other distractions.
That was my point, Davie. It's utter crap to speak of it being better in that way. The usual dumb comment that Polish things are somehow better. False pride!
1) Poles are FAKE to foreigners. They are only nice and hospitable because they want to profit from you, they are not genuinely kind. And plus, they treat foreigners better than their own because if you're from another country, then you must be "better." Foreigner to them equals dollars or euros.
2) You can't do normal business in Poland. Yes it's true, you have to go through loophole after loophole just to get something very simple done. Business owners are very sneaky and will do anything to sell you oceanfront property in Warsaw. If you want to live normal in Poland, you have to be constantly on your toes.
3) Thievery and the rudeness! Go to the supermarket and you'll find old women pushing their carts behind you for no reason.
4) Their stubbornness and believing everything they say is the truth, no matter what.
5) My mother-in-law. She is perhaps the most judgmental, critical person I have ever met. She goes to church and criticizes what other people are wearing, calls every woman she sees a "krowa" and is a generally pessimistic and unhappy person. And she's greedy too! Just because you're coming to visit from America, there are expectations that you have to buy everyone and their cousins and neighbors gifts from the Holy Land. I really hate this. Once I bought my sister-in-law's son an outfit, but because it wasn't a brand name, she refused to have him wear it. Disgusting people.
