Have you gone native?

[varsovian]

Fellow foreigners!
How far do you adapt yourselves to things Polish in your daily life?
What things from home do you keep doing and what things have you left by the
wayside?

[ianek70]

varsovian napisał:

> Fellow foreigners!
> How far do you adapt yourselves to things Polish in your daily life?

I refuse to wear kalesony, carry an umbrella or wrap sandwiches in tin foil.
Although I do sometimes pickle things.

[varsovian]

Long johns are brill when it's minus whatever, although I do prefer pyjama
bottoms.
Pickling is the only way to get some decent Branston substitute around here.
DIY mint jelly and cranberry jelly too.

[ianek70]

varsovian napisał:

> Pickling is the only way to get some decent Branston substitute around here.
> DIY mint jelly and cranberry jelly too.

Hmmm, now there's an idea.
Stop me if I've mentioned this before, but I started a minor egg-pickling craze
a couple of years ago, which didn't last.
I mentioned in the pub that the only things we pickle in Scotland are the only
things they don't pickle in Poland, i.e. onions and eggs.
So on the way home I bought a dozen eggs and a bottle of vinegar from the all-
night garage and pickled them. When they matured a few Saturdays later, I took
the results into the pub in a big jar, and it turned out several other folk had
done the same. So we found some chrzan, mayonnaise, etc and had a mass egg-
tasting evening.
Somehow we haven't got round to doing it again.

[usenetposts]

ianek70 napisał:

> varsovian napisał:
>
> > Pickling is the only way to get some decent Branston substitute around he
> re.
> > DIY mint jelly and cranberry jelly too.
>
> Hmmm, now there's an idea.
> Stop me if I've mentioned this before, but I started a minor egg-pickling
craze
>
> a couple of years ago, which didn't last.
> I mentioned in the pub that the only things we pickle in Scotland are the
only
> things they don't pickle in Poland, i.e. onions and eggs.
> So on the way home I bought a dozen eggs and a bottle of vinegar from the all-
> night garage and pickled them. When they matured a few Saturdays later, I
took
> the results into the pub in a big jar, and it turned out several other folk
had
>
> done the same. So we found some chrzan, mayonnaise, etc and had a mass egg-
> tasting evening.
> Somehow we haven't got round to doing it again.

Which brings out a nice Easter festive element in this thread.

For me, my motto is "Ex polonicae et britannicae optima" - I just try and get
the best of both worlds. There are things Polish I would miss if I were in the
UK, and a few British things I miss here, and one has to stock up occasionally
in the car.

I haven't either stayed British nor gone native, I simply try to live the dream
of the United Europe.

[varsovian]

But do you make Yorkshire puddings though?
I bet not - out of laziness ... the biggest danger to any culture.
When my kids discovered Yorkshires they immediately liked them and they've
become a recurring feature on the menu.
Pickled onions huh?

[varsovian]

And, mixed couples, what language do you speak at home?
My kids go to the local (Polish) school, but generally speak English at home.
They will talk about school in Polish, because it's a Polish-language
experience, and will speak Polish when there are non-English speakers around
but essentially English is the home language.
We did the reverse when we lived in England!

[ianek70]

varsovian napisał:

> And, mixed couples, what language do you speak at home?
> My kids go to the local (Polish) school, but generally speak English at home.
> They will talk about school in Polish, because it's a Polish-language
> experience, and will speak Polish when there are non-English speakers around
> but essentially English is the home language.
> We did the reverse when we lived in England!

My daughter unfortunately doesn't live with me, because her mother's a bitch.
So she basically speaks Polish all the time when we're in PL, although I always
speak English to her. She gets English lessons at school, and I think she
speaks the same school-English as the other children, but when we're in
Scotland or if my family are here visiting, she speaks normal Paisley English.
We were at Eurodisney a year or two ago, and she started talking to a little
girl the same age as her, as they do, "Hello, my name's so and so", etc.
Then this other little girl, in obviously very practised BBC English said, "I'm
from Scotland", and to her surprise my wee star replied, "Ah'm fae Poland."
She doesn't mix the languages up any more, although it used to be that she
would always talk about insects and trees in English (because it was always me
that took her for walks), and she could watch a whole film, laugh at the jokes
then say "the best bit was when they were talking about this or that", but if
you asked her what language the film was in, she wouldn't remember.
And her first lie was in English

[russh]

How old is she?

[prawy.polak]

russh napisał:

> How old is she?

Nine.
Her favourite word at the moment is "semiautobiographical", which she can now
say without laughing.
You check her homework and say, "oh, that's a nice wee story," and she
replies, "yeah, it's semiautobiographical."

Oi, who's been playing with the computer?

[ianek70]

prawy.polak napisał:

> Nine.
> Her favourite word at the moment is "semiautobiographical", which she can now
> say without laughing.
> You check her homework and say, "oh, that's a nice wee story," and she
> replies, "yeah, it's semiautobiographical."

That was actually me that wrote that, but I'm at work and someone's obviously
been farting about with the computer while I was making my sandwiches

[russh]

Beautiful.

It's not easy being a seperated father, and I think even more difficult when you
are in a foreign country.

You said some time ago that you were leaving Poland this year. How do you think
will this affect your relationship with her?

I ask this as I have been / am in a similar situation.

[ianek70]

russh napisał:

> Beautiful.
>
> It's not easy being a seperated father, and I think even more difficult when
yo
> u
> are in a foreign country.
>
> You said some time ago that you were leaving Poland this year. How do you
think
> will this affect your relationship with her?
>
> I ask this as I have been / am in a similar situation.

It's going to be difficult, I'm going to keep my flat here and come across as
often as I can, and we'll still have summer holidays together.
I've known for years that eventually this moment would come but there's still a
kind of mental block that doesn't let me think about it, and that keeps me
relatively sane. Which is nice.

[usenetposts]

ianek70 napisał:

> varsovian napisał:
>
> > And, mixed couples, what language do you speak at home?
> > My kids go to the local (Polish) school, but generally speak English at h
> ome.
> > They will talk about school in Polish, because it's a Polish-language
> > experience, and will speak Polish when there are non-English speakers aro
> und
> > but essentially English is the home language.
> > We did the reverse when we lived in England!
>
> My daughter unfortunately doesn't live with me, because her mother's a bitch.

That's not uncommon. I had that one time.

[marcus_anglikiem]

no, it's not uncommon - why? i'm not so sure - a friend of mine had the same
situ, kind of ****ed up his life, but he was ok, it wasn't the whole of his
life, rather part of it...

[usenetposts]

marcus_anglikiem napisał:

> no, it's not uncommon - why? i'm not so sure - a friend of mine had the same
> situ, kind of ****ed up his life, but he was ok, it wasn't the whole of his
> life, rather part of it...

It does have the effect of making you appreciate the next relationship more, as
long as it's with a woman who is actually your friend, and not your enemy.

[usenetposts]

varsovian napisał:

> And, mixed couples, what language do you speak at home?
> My kids go to the local (Polish) school, but generally speak English at home.
> They will talk about school in Polish, because it's a Polish-language
> experience, and will speak Polish when there are non-English speakers around
> but essentially English is the home language.
> We did the reverse when we lived in England!

I've got it more complex. I speak Russian to my wife and sister-in-law, and
English to my kids. Sophie, my eldest, has Polish at school, and sometimes
tries to get me speaking Polish to her, but I refuse. I say "I don't understand
that funny language".

[marcus_anglikiem]

varsovian, you live in Poland and don't speak Polish?

[usenetposts]

marcus_anglikiem napisał:

> varsovian, you live in Poland and don't speak Polish?

He speaks it well enough.

[varsovian]

Of course I speak Polish!
Just nowhere near as good as I should because I didn't want to come to live
here in the first place and I'm essentially a lazy so-and-so.

[usenetposts]

You didn't want to come here in the first place?

Don't tell me you wanted the fresh pine forests of British Columbia, where all
day long with your best girl by your side, you could sing, sing, sing?

[marcus_anglikiem]

would you wear kalesony if it were minus 18', snowing, strong wind, etc? (as it
was in Swiebodzin in - i think it was November - 2002.

[asdf401]

I don't clean after my dog anymore but feel guilty anyway.

[russh]

This year, in Warsaw, it reached minus 27!

You must have been in Swiebodzin in Spring!

[ianek70]

marcus_anglikiem napisał:

> would you wear kalesony if it were minus 18', snowing, strong wind, etc? (as
it
>
> was in Swiebodzin in - i think it was November - 2002.

I didn't wear kalesony when it was minus 25 in Katowice this January, with snow
and strong wind.
Although I did wear a hat.

[marcus_anglikiem]

russh and ianek, either you guys are crazy or my -18' felt colder 'cos of the
wind chill factor, i don't know... ?

[ianek70]

I drink tea with lemon, but from a proper cup and not a glass.

[varsovian]

Ah, the tea thing.
It's a key turning point in the polonisation process.
I'm a no-milk, no-lemon, cup kinda guy!
I honestly hate the taste of milk now and am virtually dairy-free - but that
came about through the death of my father from cancer and me trying to cut my
cancer-risk.

[marcus_anglikiem]

ah, 'black' tea with lemon... or if you're chory, with lemon and honey... mmm...
at home, Alina (nationality Lithuanian, ethnicity 75% Polish, 25% Russian) & I
(nationality English soul PolishEnglish) speak more in Polish than in English.

[marcus_anglikiem]

in which does tea cool more swiftly, a porcelain cup or a glass?

[usenetposts]

Both porcelain and glass are quite good insulators, but the shape of the
typical tea glass makes it a better bet to keep tea warmer longer, as it has
the smaller surface area and most of the heat goes upwards by convection.

However, the thickness of the glass could also play a role - some glasses are
ridiculously thin, and then there are the old fashioned, Soviet style ones that
are thick, and I should think they do the best job of all if heat retention is
the name of the game.

[marcus_anglikiem]

właśnie, że heat retention isn't the name of the game; i like to make my tea
and drink it, not make my tea, waste a few minutes of my life (daily, perhaps
several times) waiting for it too cool, then drink it; i know what you'll say,
there are plenty of ways i could make damn good use of that time, but no, it
ain't practical...

[marcus_anglikiem]

yeah, Russian things were solid, like Lady (Ladas, the cars), heavy, not good,
but then perhaps better than these tin foil cars we get nowadays (Nissan Micras
for a prime example)

[ejmarkow]

From my USA habits, I still enjoy eating pasta with good spicy Italian sauce,
pizza, Chinese food, biking, and swimming alot, staying active, nature.

In the practices of my adapted homeland:

- when it's muddy outside, I wear the same rubber boots that most farmers here
wear, and they work great for that purpose. I don't have any manure...yet. I'll
have to post a photo of that on this forum.

- I love fasloka po britonsku, nalesniki, pierogi, bigos, potatoes in every
form.

- When angry, I sometimes curse like the locals do.

- To cut my grass and weeds, I do it by hand using a scythe instead of a lawn
mower. Again, I'll post a photo of that as well.


Cheers,

Eugene
Siemiechow, Poland

[varsovian]

A scythe?
Ha ha ha - that went out of fashion with the (non-existent) Ark!
My parents in law always complain about feeling thinner and healthier after a
week or two of staying with us - they don't like the unclogged arteries feel.
They get back home and tuck into the smalec ...
Potatoes in every form - not very Polish. Polish home cooking tends to be a
bit boring in this respect.
Spices - I'm introducing my kids to curries and a wide variey of tastes ...
They have to be prepared for the outside world.

[ejmarkow]

varsovian napisał:

> A scythe?
> Ha ha ha - that went out of fashion with the (non-existent) Ark!
> My parents in law always complain about feeling thinner and healthier after a
> week or two of staying with us - they don't like the unclogged arteries feel.
> They get back home and tuck into the smalec ...
> Potatoes in every form - not very Polish. Polish home cooking tends to be a
> bit boring in this respect.

I think potatoes are an absolute staple here in Poland. It's served in soups,
placek, pierogi, and with most meals.

The scythe is a nice tool actually. Its terrbile when you run into a tree stump
or other obstacle.

Eugene

[ianek70]

ejmarkow napisał:

> From my USA habits, I still enjoy eating pasta with good spicy Italian sauce,
> pizza, Chinese food, biking, and swimming alot, staying active, nature.

I always keep my cupboard well-stocked with Indian spices, pastes and powders.
And I have my secret stash of edible Scottish stuff - tattie scones, caramel
logs, etc which I ration.
All ex-pat English folk keep a jar of a foul-smelling type of crude oil called
Marmite in their kitchen, which they proudly and somewhat bizarrely offer
guests for breakfast. Interestingly, even in places like Germany where you can
actually openly and legally purchase this stuff in supermarkets, the English
keep a single small jar at the back of the cupboard. "Behold! For I possess
Marmite!"
It's their equivalent of oat cakes and shortbread for Scots, or weird sausages
for Poles.
What do Americans have?

[ejmarkow]

ianek70 napisał:

> All ex-pat English folk keep a jar of a foul-smelling type of crude oil
> called Marmite in their kitchen, which they proudly and somewhat bizarrely
> offer guests for breakfast. Interestingly, even in places like Germany where
> you can actually openly and legally purchase this stuff in supermarkets, the
> English keep a single small jar at the back of the cupboard. "Behold! For I
> possess Marmite!"
> It's their equivalent of oat cakes and shortbread for Scots, or weird
> sausages for Poles.
> What do Americans have?

I like to keep dried fruits (apples, apricots, pineapples). Great stuff to
munch on!

Cheers,

Eugene