What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland?

Good question! Another good question to foreigners would be "Is the culture shock strong
enough for you to leave Poland and don't come back or are you going to stay here despite
this terrible culture shock?" :)

We have to establish how bad is the culture shock, and will it make foreigners leave
(and keep others who are constantly arriving from coming here), to decrease it and
keep all those lovely (albeit a bit "culturally shocked") people among us :)

that is IT. thnx. :)

to plk123: It happened definitely under Gierek.... it was in summer of 1980. He was overthrown a bit later that same year.

hmm Gest Kozakiewicza

I grew up in Ireland and lived in the UK for over ten years and having now lived in Krakow for a year - my impression of Poland is that its a land of real contrasts. For example, the centre of Krakow, particularly around the market square is stunningly beautiful and the old town is full of interesting cafe's, bars etc.. but go 5-10km in any direction form the centre and more likely then not you'll end up in some grim soviet-style neighbourhood (though albeit generally safe). A real contrast in my opinion.

such as?


Paris is full of contrasts too...

Yep, im waiting for this answer also ;)

The contrast in a large city like Paris and London are more subtle in my opinion -

London has a lot of though neighbourhoods - in fact more dangerous then anything
here in Krakow but they don't look as grim also you'll always be able to find good cheap ethnic food in London poorer neighbourhoods which you just don't get here.

I forgot about that!

i personally find english streets lined up with identically looking houses depressing to say the least and when it comes to english food minus the ethnic cuisine...fish and chips or shepherd pie does not really make you a kitchen powerhouse, eh?

ps : an old saying comes to mind : sometimes it is better to shut up and only seem to be stupid than to open one's mouth and make it plain obvious.

The topic is about culture shock in Poland and not in the UK.

Anywhere you go in Poland, the food is the same. The lack of choice is in stark contrast with other countries such as UK, France, Spain or Italy. English food is ethnic cuisine, curry's have been eaten in Britain for hundreds of years, and its even exported to India. Vindaloo, for instance, is Portuguese - they introduced to India.

There is a demand for ethnic food in Poland, but its an an early stage comparable to the 1960's in Britain. Give it another 20 years and Poles will be eating everything.

You'd be wrong here, Peterweg. Silesian cuisine is significantly different from Kashubian
cuisine for example. If you're ever in Słupsk, make sure you visit "Karczma pod Kluką"
to taste the great Old Polish and Kashubian food.

podkluka.pl

Torq wrote:


now you're probably talking about something else. IMO, people don't leave poland because of culture shock. there are many countries that would create even greater culture shock than poland.

people leave poland due to it's inadequacies.

Torq wrote:


not really, Torq. because Silesian food offers a twist on Polish food hardly makes Polish cuisine diverse.

Polish people eat Polish food and it becomes even more evident with the 40 and over generations.

let us not forget that even when they have an "ethnic" restaurant, it's polish food made to merely look ethnic.

i fully agree with Peterweg on this one.

getting back to topic, the food here was a major shock for me as well. eating the same food every day is just plain old boring. in america, i'd eat Italian, Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican and Japanese...all in the same week. out here, it's nothing but polish food because most of the time, the rest either doesn't taste how it should, is too expensive, or both.

Who's leaving Poland? Who of all the foreign posters on this site, currently living in Poland,
is planning to leave the country, because of "its inadequacies"? I'm just curious, because
I see foreigners arriving, native-speakers to teach English and more and more foreign
students, even in small towns like Slupsk or Ustka. I know personally three foreigners who
are in Poland to stay permanently (two Brits and Syrian).

So, what's the story with all those foreigners leaving Poland? Where are they? Speak up!
Because, right now, to me it seems that with foreigners wanting to leave Poland it's kinda
like with elves or dragons - sure, I've heard of them, but never actually met any.


It's not only Silesian, but also Kashubian, Highlander (kuchnia góralska) or Podlaska
cuisine (enriched with Lithuanian, Tatar and Russian influences.) The Old Polish cuisine
is immensely rich, and despite the fact that the modern cuisine in Poland is significantly
less diverse, saying that it lacks diversity and is "plain, old boring" only shows the
ignorance of those who never really tried a real traditional Polish dish.


That is correct. And most of them eat Polish food all their lives and die without
trying even 5% of traditional Polish dishes. Most people in Poland are still relatively
poor, and their eating habits reflect that, but it doesn't mean that Polish cuisine
lacks diversity.

Check this book, if you get the chance - "Compendium ferculorum"...

ekskluzywnyprezent.pl/ekskluzywny-prezent/compendium-ferculorum-albo-zebranie-potraw/

...to learn something about the real, Old Polish cuisine.

He meant that there is no significal difference in cuisine of polish regions and yes I agree. Everywhere is almost the same sort of.
And how it can be possible to have good ethnic food if we in Poland dont have a really significant imigration? Those restauratours who make ethnic food also complain on lack of ingrediens to make proper traditional food.

Btw does such bar who really in fahion now serve bad quality sushi?

Just to add something to "gest Kozakiewicza" discussion ;-)
Indeed the old name for that is "takiego wała".
Which more or less means "I have such a big dick that you all " hm... "możecie mi skoczyć" ;-)

"wał" means "dick"...

I'm wondering where you're actually eating, because I know plenty of ethnic restaurants that taste like the real deal.


Aha. You can't afford to eat in those restaurants, so that explains why you're bored by the food.


Uh...why don't you make your own if you can't afford the good restaurants?

Sure, there's not the cheap diversity of food found in other countries, but what can you expect when Poland is hardly top of foreigners list of countries to go to?

There are some decent restaurants in Wroclaw. Spice India is good, Da Lat, Sakana, La Donna Cannone did awesome Italian, unfortunately it's closed down.

Dunno, most people would rather save a buck and go stuff themselves with food by weight that buy a decent meal. No problem buying the latest mobile or expensive cosmetics, but paying money for decent food? It's a hard sell here. *cough* materialism *cough* *cough*.

And there is NO decent Mexican food here :(

all that food craze and the ethnic food drive especially is fairly new phenomena related to the influx of immigrants into western europe and america. number of tv shows dealing with that topic reflect the trend perfectly. back in the day, i am talking 'bout 10-15 years ago, the only exotics one could see on, in my case canadian tv, was a singing italian chef but if one has a european background that is hardly exotic food. every european cusine - minus english cooking that cannot lay a claim to being a cusine :))- is based on french cooking and in any french culinary book : potato is the king. can we say that french cooking is boring?

of course we can. everything depends on the point of view and is obviously highly subjective. french cooking is beautiful, refined and has a variety but within a certain realm of...flavour, if you know what i mean. home cooking versus gourmet is what makes the difference in terms of sublime flavour. the same applies to the polish cuisine. we very often base our opinion on hearty home cooking which is in most cases very filling but not necessary of the best quality or variety. well, that's my take on it anyway.

ps : q to all limeys here : how is it that english can eat the same breakfast day in day out and never complain of lack of variety? beats me.

so true , great place, loved it when I was living there:)

As for ethnic food, since majority of population is Polish I don't see a reason to have other types of food, apart to satisfy the foreigners.

it's called having new experiences :-)
you've never tried chinese, or indian, hungarian, mexican food?
really?
i dont belive you ;-P

i'm a big fan of polish food but i find that it's not very spicy, so it's good to have some indian from time to time or a good spicy pizza or some mexican, although i usually make my mexican coz the 2 mexicans where i live aren't awesome they're ok but not great.

Anyway to get away from cooking for a moment,
I'd say a few things in an earlier post.

Nazs Klasa was a culture shock for me, what a pile of crap, all it is is photos of people's kids or weddings or their trips to tasteless places like egypt!

Poles just need to be more imaginative in the kitchen.

I use Worcester Sauce (or, even better, Pickapeppa sauce when I can get it) in my bigos, Polish sausage in my Chinese food, and Indian spices in some of my pierogi.

I can't believe how much I rule sometimes** :)

** it says here :)

yes, I have many time, I live in Canada, but Poland is not Canada.


fair enough, I totally understand, but if you lived in a country where ethic food is available then Poland is is kind of bland.


if that is all they can pay for, I don't have a problem with that:0

you have to pay to join naza klasa? :-P

no, I was referring to people who cannot pay for more expansive vacations. For some people in Poland going abroad is still pretty expensive. Where are you from Smurf? Iraland?

Haha, many people in Poland who dont use nasza klasa actually laugh at this. Photos with pyramids in background is near top when it comes to lameness.

I used to think that sending postcards from your vacations was such a sweet, thoughtful tradition. Oh, we're thinking of you on our vacation, wish you were here...

Now, for some strange reason that I am unable to shake, I don't think it's a nice custom at all. I cannot bring myself to send a card from a vacation, especially to those that are not taking any, and I'm downright embarassed when I receive them. What is the point? I would rather see your pictures and get together for a full report when you get back.

I don't think many Poles agree with me about the post cards, though... anyone?

The contrast in Paris is huge and terrifying. The sheer poverty and hopelessness of the suburbarbs vs the wealth of Paris proper is...mindblowing.

Likewise London - look at the poverty of Tower Hamlets compared to the wealth of the City - then look at how far apart they are.

Anyway, the one thing that amazes me and still amazes me is the way that the Polish state has absolutely no interest in education, yet continues to fund a monolithic public university sector that seems to specialise in the creation of worthless courses.

Knowledge is never wasted