A peek into foreigner's mind

04.03.06, 22:37
Would you like to share your pleasant surprised upon arrival to Poland. What
surprised you in a positive way? Perhaps you noticed something here that you
wish to implement in your own country/ or wish it was put into practice? I am
interested to hear what you have to say.
    • usenetposts Re: A peek into foreigner's mind 04.03.06, 23:11
      I arrived by car in 1991. I immediately liked the wildness of the place, and
      the closeness to nature.
      • portulaco Re: A peek into foreigner's mind 05.03.06, 11:50
        I say exactly the same as usenetposts plus the pretty girls big_grin
        • usenetposts Re: A peek into foreigner's mind 05.03.06, 15:08
          Yes, I immediately noticed them too, funnily enough. Although I will say the
          first Polish girl who tried to get me in the sack was definitely not one of the
          pretty ones.

          That happened the first day I got here, though, and I was quite amazed by how
          forward the Polish women seemed to be.

          Only somewhat later did I understand that a view to pecuniary gain may not have
          been the furthest thing from these peoples minds. Sheltered, I was.
          • portulaco Re: A peek into foreigner's mind 05.03.06, 21:34
            I was told before going to my Erasmus in Lodz to be carefull with Polish women because there were plenty of them willing to pick up a foreigner in order to go abroad and have better life, this person who told me this was dead serious and when I started dating the girl who later became my wife I told her this sad story... of course she got anoyed with the "cliche" smile

            What is ironic is that nowadays I'm living in her own house, in her country and we're waiting for our Polish boy to be born and to grow here wink

            Anyway I learned the hard way that you should never think (being a foreigner) that you can cope with a Polish girl drinking smile and don't even think in doing competition with Polish guys mostly if they're drinking wodka.

            When it comes to wine I manage but beer, wodka and liquor... No way José!

    • ejmarkow Re: A peek into foreigner's mind 06.03.06, 07:13
      I admire the fact that most Poles cherish a close knit family, they cling to
      many pleasant old world traditions, they are more religious than anyone I've
      ever seen in other countries, almost all children I meet will say 'Dzien Dobry
      (Hello or Good Day)' to an adult passing you by on the street here (I never saw
      this in the USA), if I'm in a small grocery store almost everyone entering will
      also greet the individuals standing inside, the historical aspect of Poland is
      interesting for me, nature is wonderful here with vast open spaces and
      untouched beauty.

      Cheers,

      Eugene
      Siemiechów, Poland
      • portulaco Re: A peek into foreigner's mind 06.03.06, 09:01
        <<almost all children I meet will say 'Dzien Dobry
        (Hello or Good Day)' to an adult passing you by on the street>>

        <<if I'm in a small grocery store almost everyone entering will
        also greet the individuals standing inside>>

        Absolutely true!

        Another thing I forgot to comment was how Poles are able to repair things not
        having proper tools or how they can be creative and inventive.

        I give you an example.... my car – a 1998 Opel Corsa – a few days ago broke the
        clutch cable, and later the cluch pedal itself, General Motors cleverly made
        plastic hooks in the pedal to support the cable ending, very easy to break.

        What the “Handy Andy” here in the company did? He just took half an hour to cut
        some metal sheets the same way as the plastic part and… presto! Now I have a
        reliable home made metal pedal at price 0 when the original part costs 111 PLN.

        Just brilliant.


        • usenetposts Re: A peek into foreigner's mind 06.03.06, 11:52
          portulaco napisał:

          > <<almost all children I meet will say 'Dzien Dobry
          > (Hello or Good Day)' to an adult passing you by on the street>>
          >
          > <<if I'm in a small grocery store almost everyone entering will
          > also greet the individuals standing inside>>
          >
          > Absolutely true!
          >
          > Another thing I forgot to comment was how Poles are able to repair things not
          > having proper tools or how they can be creative and inventive.
          >
          > I give you an example.... my car – a 1998 Opel Corsa – a few days a
          > go broke the
          > clutch cable, and later the cluch pedal itself, General Motors cleverly made
          > plastic hooks in the pedal to support the cable ending, very easy to break.
          >
          > What the “Handy Andy” here in the company did? He just took half an
          > hour to cut
          > some metal sheets the same way as the plastic part and… presto! Now I hav
          > e a
          > reliable home made metal pedal at price 0 when the original part costs 111
          PLN.
          >
          > Just brilliant.
          >
          >

          Good point. Craftsmanship still survives in this part of Europe, but in the
          west the ravages of automation and big business have made craftsmanship a
          rarity. The production line has put the individual craftsman out of business,
          and now craftsmen are doing things like parking attendent, traffic warden,
          close circuit TV watching for the big shops, when they should be glorying in
          their own talents; making cabinets, making wrought iron artwork, potting,
          painting, carving, tinkering etc.

          We lost our craftsmen, so now in the EU we will take the craftsmen from Poland,
          and in the future these people will be hard to come by here also.

          That's why it's good to have a craft as a hobby. At least one. Whether it's
          needlework, or polishing semi-precious stones for home made jewellery, or
          making nice lacquered boxes from wood, or pickling cabbage the old way in oak
          barrels and smoking our own fish - if we don't keep the old crafts going we
          will be at the mercy of big business as to what is available to buy and what
          isn't.
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