"Expect to toast frequently("Na Zdrowie"). Drinking is more than customary."
no jak tu sie nie obrazic
btw, jak przetlumaczy "more than customary"
CULTURAL TIPS
Important Do's and Don'ts for Working with the Poles
If ever geography and politics have shaped a national character, it is
Poland. Poles are alternatively proud and defiant, warm and indifferent,
formal and friendly, each contrary characteristic being the result of a long
history as a country placed exactly in the center of Europe, being the
coveted prize of Central European Germanic, Czech and Hungarian empires vying
with Eastern Slavic and Baltic regimes.
Throughout the centuries, Poles have had to develop mechanisms to preserve
their own individual culture while fighting back against being overrun and
torn apart from both the East and West. The resulting personality is one of
resiliency, personal loyalty to those who are trusted and fierce resistance
to those on the outside, and an odd mix of Latin fatalism (Poles are a Roman
Catholic Slavic nation) coupled with an unexpected Slavic attraction to risk
and possibility.
For over a millennium the Polish language has been developing. It belongs to
the group of West Slavonic languages, together with Czech, Slovak and
Lusatian, and is now the official language of Poland, spoken by some 99
percent of the country's 38 million people. It is also spoken among Polish
communities scattered all over the globe, of which the largest live in the
U.S., the major nucleus being Chicago.
Polish is a phonetic language, which means that there's a consistent
relationship between pronunciation and spelling.
Here are some cultural tips to help you successfully work with the Poles as
well as the zlotys (that's the national currency): Expect to toast frequently
("Na Zdrowie"). Drinking is more than customary.
