CULTURE SHOCK! (of my Polish finance who visited the US)

tygrys wrote:


hell, there isn't any hockey here either.

LOL - never taken seriously by Americans you mean. Most of the rest of the countries on theplanet take it quite seriously.

Would it surprise you to find out that the rest of the world doesn't take American football or baseball seriously?

Teffle wrote:


are you serious?

all of south america is INSANE about baseball. Japan? even MORE insane. actually, most asian countries have plenty of baseball.

every year in August the USA has the Little League World Series, there are teams from all over the world that fly in to compete.

Right. And this attracts the same level of interest internationally as soccer? LOL

They are INSANE about baseball in South America??

Try telling that to the average Brazilian or Argentinian etc etc. If they INSANE about baseball I struggle to think of an adjective that would describe how they feel about soccer then.

For what it's worth, I have zero interest in soccer (or any sport) but don't try to tell me it's not EASILY the most popular sport in the world BY FAR and that interest outside of the US & Canada in baseball, American football etc is niche at best? C'mon!

Teffle wrote:


how did you make that deduction from what i just typed? of course it doesn't, everyone knows soccer is the most widespread sport in the world.

Teffle wrote:


oh keep your panties on! i mean honestly, take a deep breath and address what is at hand instead of making up imaginary arguments.

I'm fine mate - don't actually give two sh1tes about any sport - or arguing with you for that matter.

So why say this:


...unless you were trying to make a point of just how INSANE the world is about American sports?

I said the rest of the world doesn't really take them seriously. And they don't.

Teffle wrote:


are you playing dumb now? you know exactly why i wrote that. because you wrote THIS:


ring a bell?

you can find baseball in central/south america, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan, Korea, China, Canada, Taiwan.....which would suggest that your statement is incorrect, "mate".

LOL - yeah, and I'm sure you "can find" lacrosse in latvia too. Somewhere.

Just read back from post #190 and admit to yourself - if not to anybody else - that you are simply bigging up the tiny for no apparent reason.

And you try to say that I'm making up arguments? LOL

A bit rich coming from PF's resident "weatherman"

Good luck with the world wide marketing of the unstoppable global sports phenomenon that is baseball

; )

Teffle wrote:


yes. precisely.

you wrote that the rest of the world "doesn't take baseball seriously".....which is incorrect.

you then blew it out of proportion saying that I somehow suggested that it's as popular as soccer throughout the world.....i never said such a thing, I merely pointed out the inaccuracy of your statement. .

you then tried amending, or shall i say backpedalling in post #194 by adding "doesn't really take baseball seriously."

and here, we can see your attempt to win the argument on a technicality:


and here, we can see your last, and even more embarrassing attempt to save face by using a diversion:


well hardy har har, "mate". moving on.....

you got carried away and made inaccurate assumptions, thinking i was just being another arrogant ignorant american who couldn't accept the fact that something "american" wasn't as popular world wide as something else. you were wrong.

now fess up so we can move on to the next useless topic.

No, broadly speaking, it doesn't. Simple as. Don't know why you are going on about it.

I didn't say nobody at all is interested or plays it but it is a minority sport and barely registers for most people.


: ) : )

OK, right professor - I give up. I am taken apart by your ruhless logic. How can I defend myself : )

Any more incisive critiques in your dissertation? You are way too full of your own importance mate : )

And by the way, before you have a fit entirely, I was initially addressing the profoundly informed tygrys, who opted to represent the planet (sorry, the US) by enlightening the rest of us as to the current status of soccer in the world.

Happy Christmas and watch out for those snowballs - I'll watch out for low flying baseballs - they're everywhere you know!

Baseball is only really major in 2 countries. Namely, the US and Japan. It has an amazing following in Japan

Teffle wrote:


it's uncanny, right?

Just to add some spice to this discussion ;-)
The map of most popular sports around the world:

What's all that green stuff? lol I think it's FUTBAL (soccer to Americans)!!!! Gooooooal! Sorry, love me some Futbal...

Anyhoo.

Little League has been played here for more than twenty years that i know of.

just because these games are not written/talked about does not mean they don't exist.

ice hockey, am. football, baseball are all played in Poland.

Culture shock...happens to everyone. I have lived in Quebec with my family for the longest time...when we re-located to Ontario (and this is just two different provinces in Canada), we were amazed at the differences (and this is the SAME country). It will take time for him to adjust.

As well as, skateboarding, skiing, cross country skiing, tennis, etc.

whatever. it has nothing to with being american or polish, and everything to do if you live out in the country or a city. krysia clearly lives on a ranch or something out in the countryside. so, she probably knows all of her 5 neighbors within a 2 mile radius, and doesn't deem it necessary to lock her door.

I used to live in a wealthy suburban neighborhood in Texas. Sometimes when we went out to the pool or just to walk the dog, we didn't lock our doors and nothing happened. (However, I'm sure most of our neighbors would be horrified at the idea. It was a pretty white-american-PTA-soccer-mom-PC neighborhood where everybody's front lawn had to pass the neighborhood committee's standards! crazy huh! So we were NOT the norm).

Now, I live in Los Angeles, and no matter HOW well-to-do or "safe" my area is I ALWAYS double check to lock my doors and not leave valuables in sight in my car. Everyone I know in LA locks doors. To do otherwise would be beyond rediculious (sp?).

I used to go to Poland during the summer as a kid, and I remember being "culture shocked" by some details. For example, growing up in Texas, we had huge supermarkets with huge parking lots. Everything was huge and spacious. In Poland, in addition to supermarkets obviously being much smaller and parking-lot-free, nearly every store I walked into had a security guard!! I remember thinking it was SO bizzare! I mean, where are we??: In soviet russia??? I thought it was paranoia to have security guards in some tiny gocery store. HOWEVER, when I moved to Los Angeles (which, despite being a very American city - as opposed to cities like Boston etc which are slightly more European -it is still more comparable to a big Polish city than a Texas suburb is) I noticed that most stores had security guards as well! Maybe not every tiny mom-&-pop hole in the wall, but most stores in LA do have security guards in them. So, I realized that some things aren't such much a result of a backward-communist past, but out of simply being a big metropolitan area where crime is more prevalant than out in the suburbs and country.

I would also like to add that I was very impressed with Zakopane. It seemed VERY wealthy and "westernized" (but in a good way, not a bad way) to me. Everything was clean; there were lots of stores with attractive storefronts and restaurants, cafes; the archecture looked taken care of; on the whole it looked like the residents of Zakopanie took pride in their lives, their work, and their city.

And I personally think therein lies Poland's biggest problem and the root to Poland's relative "backwardness" and lack of wealth by western standards. For some maddening reason, Poles tend to not take pride their work, in their lives, in their opinions, in their country, in their heritage, in themselves. this is, of course, a generalization. but my point is, if you have the attitude that everything around you sucks and is second-rate, then you aren't going to put forth the effort needed to REALLY succeed; to REALLY create something great.

It takes hard work and PRIDE in your work to be succesful. The more pride in your work you have, the better your work will be because you will always be improving upon it.

Recently, my daughter has been through two incidents of "culture shock" upon her return from Poland.

The first instance took place upon her visit to a perfume store here in Canada. He comment was: "well, well, it's getting modernized around here, not too far behind what they have in Poland".

More recent instance was on Dec 27th during our ad hoc trip across the border, to Bufffalo to take care of some business. Her comment on that day was much briefer: "what a dump".

(a note from me: it is indeed a dump, we were happy to leave within an hour)

Yes, I bet they wept as you returned to paradise.

Haven't been to paradise yet, and I wouldn't call Buffalo, NY hell either, but it seems you have never been to the city. It's is a depressing dump.

But don't take my word for it. Just pay a visit (Niagara Falls, Canada is just across the river and a nice place to visit). Or, if you, understandably, luck funds for the trip, read some of these:

Buffalo, which peaked at more than half a million people in the 1950s, has seen its population decline by almost 50 percent as industries shut down and people left for the suburbs or other cities. (note from me: do you know a lot of prosperous cities with a declining population?)

Like other rust belt cities such as Flint, Michigan, Buffalo has attempted to revitalize its beleaguered economy and crumbling infrastructure. In the first decade of the 21st century, a massive increase in economic development spending has attempted to reverse its dwindling prosperity. $4 billion was spent in 2007 compared to a $50 million average for the previous ten years

They are working on it for sure. But it still looks bleak, i.e. it is a dump.

Actually I don't lack funds as I am not in dire straits.. contrary to the tune you are plucking tonight, most of us down here are not. Anyway, why should I visit, I've got your glowing review. Canadian side = rainbows. US side = children grilling rats for subsistence.

Strange as you an exatled Canadian... had business.. in a dump.

Surely, you in your infinite wisdom can see the contradiction. Unlike your gov'ment.. I won't tax you for the above.

I certainly didn't want to generalize, but seeing Buffalo, well.. I hope you understand.


Hey, they threw those $4B on the table recently so there is some change for grabs. It's not like the city has any real chance though. The place is a dump. Did I say that yet?

Oh, and besides, pecunia non olet.

Yes... the wind has blown it in a few times. The schadenfreud is apparent.


No never the pleasure.. have seen upstate New York though. Certainly not a dump. Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo.. lot of Pennsylvannia , Ohio.. sure they're probably gone to a degree. Dumps in the making as you have put it.

Don't click your heals too much .. Canada trades a lot with the US. Then again maybe your many Chinese citizens can pull some strings with the mother ship and bring you along with their ascent. Hopefully, your daughter will find their perfume counters "modern".

THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE.. SALUTE YOU!

Upstate NY is a big place :)
Some nice areas though indeed. I particularly liked weekend trips to the West Point Academy. Nice spots to spend a weekend. But then, this spot was (and I guess still is) subject to a very particular branch of "economy". They're doing well. So are some little picturesque areas such as Spring Valley and such. But... does that change the fact that Buffalo is a dump? (and don;t get me started on Detroit or Baltimore)


As long as you drive cars and have light bulbs, yeah, you will the US will be buying from Canada what they cannot steal without much negative PR. Heck, we are also thankful even for those few dollars Americans bring in the middle of scorching Summer, looking for nearby ski resorts :)


Sadly, we have only just under 50% the Chinese you enjoy in the US.

Can I get you started on Mackinac, Charlevoix maybe?


Which should be less as there not so much acid rain coming up to you anymore?? Do you think? Nahh.. you will get your digs in some way shape or form. Slip something about the My Lai Massacre in at dinner. Haha. Why break with precedent?


.. and we were led to believe the average Canadian had transcended beyond it.


Per capita? I've heard you've quite the dynasty brewing up there. Maybe your Vancouver wing?

Well, I'm fresh out of stones to throw at you, boss. I'm going to trek through your wilderness someday as the cold doesn't hurt the Slavic bones too much. Leave you with this: Virtually no one says anything bad about Canadians down here. And thanks for treating the Edmund Fitzgerald as a grave site. Probably down here people would sell tickets to see the bodies below. You're sometimes a glum bunch but more often a classy one as well.

Pinching Pete wrote:


what is it with Poles and living in cold, dank places? feels like home?

your daughter sounds like a spoiled brat, she's better than everybody and doesn't appreciate the beauty of a "dump". Life is too short no matter whre you live, to one person it's a dump, to another paradise. It all depends how you look at it.

Have you been to Buffalo other than to see a Bills' game, or to see Canadians whack the US hockey team?

I was there for about 3 years on every business day and some weekends. I know the place pretty well. It's a dump. No question about it. I'm not in a rush to go there if I don't have to, but the next time I'm across the river I'll take a few pictures of the route. I won't even go to the worst of the dump. Kinda risky and beyond dump, so I'll just show you the average residential 'hood.

About 1/3 of former Buffalo residents thought the same about the city. Some who stayed may as well think it's a paradise. Others simply any other choice since food coupons won't buy you much mobility within the US anyway.

I agree with this. Sometimes "dumps" have a lot of character and a cool vibe. Plus there's usually less uptight rules, snobs etc.


Yeah probably.. A lot of those places can be pretty beautiful though with distinct changes in seasons. I kind of like the winter personally. Also, I don't know if the rust belt is completely gone either.. it's showing signs of life here of late.