I got inspiration for this post from some recent conversations with my husband – we’d be walking and or driving and we’d see something and we’d say “gosh, that’s so Polish”. It’s funny for me that even he realizes something is kinda special to Poland. So read on for the list of the behaviours, activities or things that to me are “so Polish”.
- People sitting at their windows and observing the world outside. Sometimes with their dog. This is so freaking cute I can’t stand it. It goes along with one little lady in your apartment building who seems to know everything about everyone.
- When the city does something good for the community and it’s destroyed within a week. This is so frustrating! Our city set up a bike share a little while back, which is a super cool thing for everyone, and in some places they set up these points with tools so you can fix your bike if you need it. Nice, right? We passed one the other day and every single tool was gone.
- Przetwory. Getting like 8 jars of goodies from your grandma at every family dinner is pretty standard procedure. Treasures include homemade jams, sour cabbage, sour cucumbers, kompot, juice, and alcohol if you’re lucky. Nom nom.
- People thinking that the wind or temperature changes will make them sick. What in the world is this about? Ok I know I’m from a warm place but aren’t illnesses caused by viruses or bacteria? Whenever you get sick here, everyone wonders whether maybe you slept with the window open or they say that their back hurts because the wind touched it. I thought Slavs were hard, not ones to get sick from a little przeciąg.
- Your mom asking you where your hat is. Or like why you’re not wearing socks or something. This goes hand in hand with the wind thing. I’m a full-grown woman and my mother-in-law freaks if I’m not wearing a hat or socks.
- Walking around with plastic bags. Especially ones that say “Hugo Boss” held by someone definitely not wearing Hugo Boss. Where do those even come from??
- Standing so close to each other in line that you’re almost touching. This. must. stop. I can’t handle it.
- Taking kotlety with you while travelling. Especially via train or bus. Add in there eating tomatoes like apples and ogórki kiszone and you know what it looks like on the train to the seaside.
- People running businesses out of their homes. All kinds of businesses. Doctor’s offices. Construction companies. Accounting offices. English schools…
- People walking on the road in the middle nowhere. Ok people don’t really walk anywhere in the States so you don’t see this much but here you can be 50 km from any civilization and see some random dude walking on the road. Like…to where? And from where? It’s bizarre. This goes along with people emerging from the forest in random places.
- Going to the seaside on vacation every year. Even though you know the weather has a huge change of sucking the entire time. But at least you’ll have something to complain about for at least a month after you get back.
- Men dancing together and having zero shame about it. Men don’t dance much in the States. Maybe at weddings in pairs and sometimes are clubs. But in Poland, a group of guys might dance together at a club, which is just downright adorable.
- Brightly-colored apartment blocks and houses. Especially lime-green, orange and purple. Why are those colors so popular? I feel like walls of at least half the apartments in Poland are painted the same lime-green color.
- Foraging. Poles love to collect anything edible from forests and in the mountains, a nod to past times when food wasn’t aplenty in stores. So you can often see lines of cars parked along the forest in at the end of summer and beginning of fall. Treasures include mushrooms – the best being porcinis (prawdziwki) – all kinds of berries and even chestnuts for decorations.
- Group family pics where no one is smiling. Generally not smiling in pictures seems to be common here, but the ones with the whole family at a wedding or something really freak me out. I don’t really understand it, so perhaps someone can explain it??
So those are 15 things that I think are *so Polish* but I’m sure I forgot, overlooked, or just didn’t realize many things that you might have! Please share your thoughts with us in the comments. Buziaki!
35 Comments
Finally a new post! I was really missing your comments and I was literally thirsty the next words and terms to learn in English! Getting straight down to your newest article-these `so Polish things` seem really funny and pointed out really well. I would like to add something to reflects that were made by you. There are other ones:
-Polish men kiss women`s hands to show their credit and respect. That custom is basically unknown at West! The western girl may be surprised by that gesture or find it really attacking her independence as far I know ;-). Poles like letting their partners go through the door first as well!
-Polish students tends to cheating while taking a test-they copy someone`s hard job to get better grade. Furthermore, they aren`t ashamed about it at all! In their opinion, this is all about smartness, not plagiarism! The Westerners do these this more seldom-they know they would suffer the consequences-not taking exams, being dismissed from university and so on. It`s depends on the country though.
-Polish people have a habit to go to the church almost every Sunday. According to my cousin`s information, western Europeans don`t believe in God so much, excluding the Irish! However, mow many Polish speakers are devoted for real? That`s a question…
-Driving a car while being drunk or getting high isn`t found problematic by the part of our sociality. What`s more, if you cause a fatal car crash, you will be defended by someone. The explanations are: she/he is really young and must have a fun, he/she took only some weed, drank only one beer or something. Someone died, got heavily injured or wounded? Who cares! Sad but true.
Piotr! Glad you’re excited 🙂 I’d have to disagree with the point about drunk driving. Everyone basically drinks and drives in the States as we have a pretty high legal limit .08 and it’s crazy dangerous cause they’ll drink a few drinks and say ‘oh, I’m probably fine”. Here like no one I know drinks anything and drives. And I’d agree with the cheating. Here it seems like no one really cares? Even university professors, which is like really weird to me. If you got caught cheating at uni in the States you get kicked out of school! Here they just look the other way.
Wrong logic, Leah. People drink and drive in the States because your public transport alternatives are so shit. You’re a very car-centric nation. There should be an industry of sober people who get paid to drive people home, if taxis are too expensive as a dedicated option. Like someone works at the bar, and people wait to get a lift home cheap with them, in a minibus, rather than a taxi. It could work, but people just have to think outside of the box and be a bit united and sociable in their transport – I’m talking about rural areas, in the urban environment public transport is at least available up to a point.
This could make a good soundtrack, for the funky country dwellers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNM7nG2OUQ
I guess nowadays with Uber and Lyft, drunken driving has subsided a bit – I hope at least. It’s a cheap option and it seems to be pretty popular. You’re right though – the lack of public transport is a main factor :/
Oh and re: cheating – the Polish attitude to morality is possibly related to the dark past making them morally cold, allied to the rebound from Communism making them hyper-competitive Capitalists (etc the economy is growing nicely) and poverty making them desperate. Morality and ethics fall by the wayside when people are like that. The fools want to be so much like the West, that they can’t wait to have a back-stabbing society like ours… and yes, I hope I’m exaggerating! To a realist, sometimes collaboration is best, sometimes competition is best, but I find, often people lie and are deluded about which is respectively which (see the rural transport idea above)!
About the wind thing. It’s not a “zabobon”, freezing to the very bone is not healthy – it decreases the body amm.. power to reject all the viruses and microbes. as for “did you sleep with opened window?” questions, do you even wondered why all those sportsmen wear amm.. “warmers”, why do they need a little warming up before doing anything? 😉 muscles do not like to be cold, they are vulnerable in such conditions to contusions.
siting in Windows is, I suppose, not polish thing but whole Western and Balkan “tradition”. I suppose also that it will “odejdzie do lamusa” on a couple of years. Only those who had nothing to do in their earlies (like in PRL) do such thing 😉 I also do not perceive it as cute – those old ladies are some kind of a local “spy” that puts her nose in everyone’s life, comments loudly, and “obgaduje”. 😉
Good point with the muscles! you may be onto something there! And those ladies totally know everything! It’s insane…
I do love your blog. It’s so refreshing to see a different approach on the things I’ve seen as normal 🙂 and the lack of complaining (that is so different from poles) makes it even better 🙂
Wish you all of the best things in life, and carry on with a smile, even on family photos :p
Thanks Igor! I appreciate that very much and will always smile in pics 🙂
About the 4th point – I think it’s not about just wind or temperature. It’s more like when the weather gets colder the organism is weaker and there is higher possibility of catching a cold – at least I was told that when I was little. And about the wind I am not sure about the reason but in my case I just have very sensitive paranasal sinuses and in fact when it’s windy – like really windy – and I don’t wear any hat, hoodie or whatever I immediately get sick and I guess it’s about the same – I’m getting weaker and that’s the reason of the latter health problems 🙂
Hah don’t worry I’m weak too! I always have some health problem nowadays but I can’t say the wind causes me any issues!
What is interesting is “perspective.” Canadians believe that the extreme cold kills all germs and keeps you healthy.
As for the temperature changes making people sick there’s a reason behind it. Some bacteria (the one that causes f.e. angina *tonsillitis*) like thermal shock. Or when the wind gets suddenly strong and cold it might cause pain on your neck if you don’t wear scarf.
Ps. No one in Poland knows where do Hugo boss bags came from.
PS2. If you want to know something more about awful colorful buildings you must read “hawaikum”. Great book! 🙂
Misia- A book recommendation – cool! I wonder if I can read it in English? I haven’t graduated to reading in Polish quite yet… only subtitles hah
By this text you are generalising and making polish people distroyers of property. It doesn’t happen everywhere, you know? Perhaps you live in a shitty place. Sorry, but the second point is far from true.
Sorry Zuza but I have to say it happens a lot… not all the time of course. Newly painted buildings and such. This is obviously a small group of people. I have nothing but love and respect for Poland and Poles… check my other posts!
generalisation stands out from the very title. if you do not have a huge dose of distance you shouldn’t read such articles. Ofc it’s not about all 40mln of ppl leaving here..
I lived in a variety of places in Poland and there is always someone who destroys local initiatives.. doesn’t matter if that guy/idiota steals something, do grafitti or simply destroy property by kicking it.. for what reason? I can’t e en imagine what pushes such ppl. they are a minority but their influence is huge 🙁 it’s depreśing..
Well, Leah is right. Generalny there is much less respect for public things than in for example Croatia. It’s generalisation because that is how it its in 80% of Poland. For whole city with 150k poeple in, you only need 100 of idiots to make such a devastation.
Yeah good point. It’s definitely not the majority of people but just a few stupid people who ruin it for everyone.
ad 6 http://weekend.gazeta.pl/weekend/1,152121,17145020,Czlowiek_z_czarna_reklamowka____Na_sniadanie__do_pracy_.html
ad 13 trying to shake off the grayness of communism and people had no opportunity to acquaintace themselves with good architecture, it’s partially cultural and partially historical
ad 15 they don’t smile at all, I thought you are supposed to know it by yourself now 😉
Conny – this article is amazing!! Thanks so much for that. Hah I can’t believe someone wrote such an extensive article on it!
The point about destroying stuff is true, and really sad. Usually playgrounds near my flat stay new for 2-3 weeks. And that thing about Hugo boss bags it’s strange also for me.
Leah, I’ve used a couple of your articles with my advanced students. They really enjoy the lively discussions that come from them. After reading this one, I wondered if you’d done something similar about American culture. Some things that are “so American” Let me know, maybe I overlooked it on your blog. If not, I’m sure I can find a few hilarious/strange things that we do in the States, and I can share them with my Polish students here. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Crystal – good idea! I have to do something like that. Maybe I’ll get started now… 🙂
OMG I love this post and this blog! I just found you and thought – another blog about how Poland is perfect with its imperfections 😉 But not this time. I absolutely hate the same things you do. Especially -7! I know what it is about – stay to far and it means you are no longer in a line 😉
I would add: people literally fighting for a place on a tram or bus, even though they have like 15 minutes travel ahead 😀
Ania – thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Hah seriously if you stand too far people literally think you’re just standing there. Why would I just be standing near a random line?!
Hi!
I am American living in America, and I am doing lost distance with my Polish boyfriend of a year. I can help you out with the smiling thing! When I first started spending time with him and getting close, he never smiled with his teeth in pictures. I wasn’t used to this having always lived in the states, so I would always question and make fun of him. He never really explained it, he just started to smile so I would lay off LOL. However, when I went to visit his family in Poland this summer, I was looking at photo albums his mom had in the house. I asked, “why does no one ever smile?” They told me that they see pictures being taken as just the capturing of a moment, so they feel that it is awkward to expose all their teeth just because there is a camera and look unnaturally happy. They tend to stick to a soft smile or smirk, if anything. I understand the reason and think about it almost every time I take a picture now 🙂
Hope I could help!
(I would love thoughts from other native Polish people on this topic!)
The lack of personal space in line made me so uncomfortable when I first moved to Warsaw. Maybe it’s an American thing, but I <3 personal space and miss it dearly.
Great article, I burst into laughter!:D I would just ad this odd custom of sending postcards to the whole family for such occasions as Christmas or Easter every single year. Even if the family members are not Christians.
Do you really send cards? Because my family doesn’t do that but in America we do so I’m surprised!
I love poland landscape, Since I am from India have never seen or played in snow, I heard Poland is Shit cold I love to play!!! I am refering to https://msinpoland.com/ this site but not so sure aboutthe degree of the correct information for traveling to poland please some on check this out and revert back.
Some more for the list:
– Old Polish women telling you how to take care of your baby when in public: “Why isn’t he wearing a hat?” (When there’s any wind.) “Where are his socks? Look at that — bare legs!” (When the temperature is below sweltering.)
– People who pretend they don’t see you but very obviously cut in front of you in line and then start ordering when the shop assistant asks who’s next. In the UK or US this would be grounds for a fistfight.
I have to say it REALLY pisses me off when people cut in front of me like that!! And it seems to happen pretty frequently. And yes I agree with the thing about old women giving you baby dressing advice grrrr. This even happened to me today!! It was like 15 degrees and my kid was very properly dressed.
Those comments were SO similar to my actual experiences that I literally thought those were my words for a second 🙂 🙂
,, Why are those colors so popular?”
Basically those blocky and ugly apartment bulidings were bulit in the communist era without any paint at all. They were just grey. After the fall of communism city councils across the country wanted to make it look less depressing. And they wanted to do it cheaply. So they’ve painted the buldings with whatever paint was unpopular (and stacking in the construction companies’ magazines cuz of that), as unpopular = cheap. And as the people do not bulid lime-green, orange and purple houses these were the cheapest colors possible.
Ot goes along with mixing the colors randomly, cuz if a company runs out of orange in the middle of the work it’s cheaper to finish it with lime green than ordering more orange.
Ofc as everyone was now using it to paint all the apartment buldings those colors soon became expensive so nowadays they are painting new apartment buldings white or yellow.