Has anyone here ever lived in Poland before?

Mr. Loverman

I'm going there for a few months soon. I'm not too sure what to expect. I'll be in southern Poland.

Am I in for any culture shocks, or is it roughly the same as Ireland, e.g. will I find the same sort of food I eat in Ireland in the supermarket? Will most people understand English or am I in trouble? (Can't speak Polish...)

teetotaller

hello Mr. Loverman
Are you going to Krakow ?

I spent in Poland twenty few years , so maybe I could answer some of your questions.

I think you won't be in a culture shock - it is almost the same as in Ireland.
Of course there are differences, but all major things work the same way as here in Ireland. Probably Poland is not as rich as Ireland, and you will find more old cars on the streets than in Ireland and people generally have lower income than here, but I think you will be impressed with some of the buildings, events, shopping centres , and generally Polish culture.

Food - we have all major brands that you can meeti in Ireland plus we have many Polish brands, and it will be negliance from your side if you won't try polish sweets, specialities, etc.
If you want to get a taste of Poland - go to the Polish shop there are many of them in Ireland - get some polish sousages, bread and try

English language - most of younger people can speak English - so it won't be a problem to find help.

spaceman67

teetotaller wrote: »

hello Mr. Loverman
Are you going to Krakow ?

I spent in Poland twenty few years , so maybe I could answer some of your questions.

I think you won't be in a culture shock - it is almost the same as in Ireland.
Of course there are differences, but all major things work the same way as here in Ireland. Probably Poland is not as rich as Ireland, and you will find more old cars on the streets than in Ireland and people generally have lower income than here, but I think you will be impressed with some of the buildings, events, shopping centres , and generally Polish culture.

Food - we have all major brands that you can meeti in Ireland plus we have many Polish brands, and it will be negliance from your side if you won't try polish sweets, specialities, etc.
If you want to get a taste of Poland - go to the Polish shop there are many of them in Ireland - get some polish sousages, bread and try

English language - most of younger people can speak English - so it won't be a problem to find help.

Poland is as backwards as nigeria let me point you out:
No highways
Buses and Trains dirty and always late
Train station filthy and outdated
People of poland smelly poor hygiene never happy always grumpy
Polish women way overrated gold diggers
Most people do not speak english and ones that speak very poorly
Prices high for everything
Be careful on Police ,they have lots of power over there and they abuse it
Whole country is very very corrupted
Warsaw is ugly and dirty
Restaurants sucks
Polish food is fat and boring
Store clerks and people who handle cash cheat
Summing up the country is far from being attractive ,thats why is not popular at all and thats why most of them flee this wasteland

scruff321

spaceman67 wrote: »

Poland is as backwards as nigeria let me point you out:
No highways
Buses and Trains dirty and always late
Train station filthy and outdated
People of poland smelly poor hygiene never happy always grumpy
Polish women way overrated gold diggers
Most people do not speak english and ones that speak very poorly
Prices high for everything
Be careful on Police ,they have lots of power over there and they abuse it
Whole country is very very corrupted
Warsaw is ugly and dirty
Restaurants sucks
Polish food is fat and boring
Store clerks and people who handle cash cheat
Summing up the country is far from being attractive ,thats why is not popular at all and thats why most of them flee this wasteland

I lived in Poland before so spaceman dont be such an ignorant a*shole, your probably basing all this on a bad weekend you spent in Poland.


buses and trains are late in Ireland too
Irish people dont speak Polish (or any other language for the majority)
prices are much higher in Ireland then in Poland
there are rude people everywhere you go
and you are talking horse **** :rolleyes:

Owen

I go to Poland every few months, if you're in the South, you're going to love it. There are beautiful cities, plenty of tourist things to do and see, and if you have time, you should take a weekend and visit Zakopane, probably the most gorgeous mountain village in the world.

The only negative thing I find about Poland is that people can be a little cold until you get to know them. Simple things like when you're in a shop, and having a chat with the shop assistant, they'll be looking at the floor while talking to you, unlike here, there's no eye contact, smiles, or banter.

Food over there's great, beer is even better (And I mean MILES better), and there's a very good road network connecting the various cities.

spaceman67

Poland is a ****hole with backward smelly arrogant rude and stupid people ,thats why they have so bad over there and thats why there are so many of them here and all over the world. Even W.Churchill said to poland give democracy is like giving a watch to a monkey.
Roads ? in poland ? what roads, they do not even have highways, they congested, and have worst and dumbest drives around

Owen

spaceman67 wrote: »

Poland is a ****hole with backward smelly arrogant rude and stupid people ,thats why they have so bad over there and thats why there are so many of them here and all over the world. Even W.Churchill said to poland give democracy is like giving a watch to a monkey.
Roads ? in poland ? what roads, they do not even have highways, they congested, and have worst and dumbest drives around

I'm not sure what to say to you really. I've reported your post, as it's racist, and full of aggression.

Poland has a fantastic road network, you've obviously just never spent a great deal of time over there. The people are fantastic, they just have time warming up to new people, once they do, they're very loyal and develop honest friendships.

Fysh

Let's have a bit more cop-on and a lot less xenophobia, please.

Posting about negative aspects of your experiences living or travelling abroad is welcomed and encouraged, provided you do so in a way that helps others avoid those aspects or experiences in future. You will be expected to qualify and substantiate any such posts.

The usual boards.ie rules about racism, xenophobia, bigotry and general muppetry apply otherwise. Clue for the hard-of-thinking - this means no "COUNTRY X IS RUBBISH BECAUSE THEY ALL SMELL" posts, or anything on that level.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Four-Percent

Spaceman67, are you for real?

spaceman67 wrote: »

Buses and Trains dirty and always late
Train station filthy and outdated

Never been to dublin have you?

spaceman67 wrote: »

People of poland smelly poor hygiene never happy always grumpy

Eh, right. Everyone in poland is smelly and grumpy.Good lad. :rolleyes:

spaceman67 wrote: »

Polish women way overrated gold diggers

Overrated? It's not like you can give them marks out of 10 is it?

spaceman67 wrote: »

Most people do not speak english and ones that speak very poorly

Why should they speak english at all? They don't live in an english speaking country and don't need it to get by.Why don't you learn polish then?

spaceman67 wrote: »

Prices high for everything

Christ almighty...ever heard of rip-off ireland?

spaceman67 wrote: »

Whole country is very very corrupted

Ivor callelly?Liam Lawlor?Bertie Ahern?

spaceman67 wrote: »

Warsaw is ugly and dirty

Dublin is a ****hole.But wait, I hear you say - Dublin has nice bits.So does Warsaw. What's your point here?

spaceman67 wrote: »

Restaurants sucks

I doubt they all do, I even doubt that most of them suck.

spaceman67 wrote: »

Polish food is fat and boring

Oh god, just give me some more of them potatoes there... yeah, stick on a bit of butter there, oh and some cabbage... oh, and bacon!lovely!

spaceman67 wrote: »

Store clerks and people who handle cash cheat

You said this already, or are you just trying to make your list look bigger?
Ireland is full of thieves and corruption too.

spaceman67

Well all I can say put it nicely, that OBVIOUSLY NONE OF YOU EVER BEEN THERE
and if poland was such a great destination we would have heard about them earlier than they started fleeing their "paradise", there is a good reason for it
Poland = NOTHING SPECIAL BORING RAN DOWN COUNTRY

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Fysh

Spaceman67 has been banned for a week. Let's get back to the topic of the experience of living in Poland, as per the OP's post.

keithclancy

Been to Krakow, Warsaw and Gdansk, albeit as a tourist

Roads are absolutely cat there ... on par with Belgium IMO! .. They have that crazy u-turn system whereby you have to swing around from one fast lane to the other to turn around, plus everyone drives like a total nutter !

Food is a little bit boring, although TBH if you've been to Germany its not all that different, little bit bland for some i'd think.

The Trains are pretty much on par with Ireland, although seem to be more punctual, the local trains look like rapeboxes, covered in graffiti.

Absolutely beautiful countryside if you get out a bit, shops outside the center of the cities are a good bit cheaper.

Some of the buildings are fantastic , except for Warsaw.. looks like someone threw up a city in a few weeks.. very fake looking, Krakow is fab

syklops

I've been to Poland many times, albeit as a tourist, but I have also been living in the Czech Republic for the past 18 months and would say it is a very similar country to Poland.

Re culture shock, well everyone is different, so everyone experiences it in different ways. The polish as a people are very similar to the Irish. They like to drink, and go out and talk and complain about politicians, but can be a bit unfriendly if they don't know you. In shops and banks the clerks seem quite rude, but usually they dont mean to be, its just how it comes across.

The food does take some getting used to. I myself have posted on here looking for advice on adapting to eastern European food. They eat a lot of pork meat and a lot of pickled foods. Pickled cabbage and pickled gerkins are a common sight on plates. They do have some wonderful dishes though, like pierogi, and Polish sausages are fantastic. though they are very different to Denny Gold Label. I would suggest you go into a sklep polski and buy a few things. Dont go in randomly picking stuff up, instead get a recipe for some Polish food and buy the stuff in there, cook it and eat it.

I would suggest you learn a bit of Polish before you go and while you are there. It will make life alot easier for you. Like here most people under the age of about 30 speak english, often fluently, but the older generations tend to speak German or Russian instead. It is a very difficult language to speak well, and some words can be tricky to get your teeth around, but it is very easy to memorize a couple of catch-all strategic sentences. I also find, if you make the effort and struggle with their language people will tend to meet you half way and attempt some english.

Someone said it is very expensive. If you are on an Irish salary while you are there you should be able to live like a fat cat on it. If you are on a Polish salary things can seem to be quite expensive. Beer and cigarettes will be quite cheap, though clothing will be a good bit more. Many of my Polish and Czech friends buy their clothes in Ireland because it is cheaper than here.

Here are some basic Polish phrases which should come in useful. I have written them fo-netic-ally:

One Beer please - Peevo Prussia <- very important!
Please - Prussia
Thanks - Jenky
Good Day - Gin Dub-ree
How are you? - Jak sh mash <-- Same pronunciation as Borat uses.
I am fine, and you? - Mam sh dub-zja, a tea?
Do you understand English? - Ro-zoo-me-esh po ang-eel-skoo?
Where are the toilets? - Gid-dee-ze yest toaleta?