Hi guys, I have something a little bit different for you this week. This is a post by my friend/co-worker Phil, a fellow foreigner in Poland, who lives even farther than I do from home. He’s got really cool insight into the differences between life in Poland and Australia. It’s a long one, but it’s well worth the read!
Coming from America, a country which believes rather in individual and not social welfare, there are so many social benefits in Poland that are mind blowing for me. You still hear people complaining that it’s not enough, which is absurd when you compare it to American conditions. The reason social benefits are relatively low in America is because many Americans believe in low taxes and less government help – that way people have to take care of themselves. Of course that’s fine if you have a good job, not so much if you don’t. Nevertheless, that’s the American way – everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Grzyby! This is probably my favorite activity that I’ve picked up in Poland. It’s one of the things I love about the summer/fall time. The sheer joy when you find a large prawdziwek (or porcini) is indescribable. I love going to the forest on weekends and spending a couple hours shrooming. In Florida we don’t really pick mushrooms. It seems like the weather would be good for mushrooms but who knows if there are even edible ones there (other than hallucinogenic, which there are plenty of I’ve heard). Either way, it’s not a very popular pastime where I’m from. But in Poland it seems like every has done it at least once.
I’ve lived in Poland for 6 years and this year was the first time I got the chance to experience the notorious Polish wedding – two in fact. And they were both more fun than most American weddings I’ve been to. In short, absurd amounts of food and drink and lots of dancing. So basically really great parties. Poles also like to play games at weddings, which can be a little kitschy but allow you to be silly and have more fun, so they’re not that bad. And if you really don’t want to, you don’t have to participate. Here are some other differences which I think are worth noting.
Moving abroad can be bizarre sometimes. If you’ve never done it, it’s hard to imagine the problems you might encounter. Although it can be a frustrating experience, it’s definitely something I think everyone should experience at least for a few months. So if you’re thinking about moving abroad, here’s a few things to prepare for.
For those of you who don’t know, perhaps who don’t follow Polonization on Facebook (but you should!), might not know that I was on Dzień Dobry TVN with my husband two weeks ago. It was a very interesting experience for both of us and I have to say that it was pretty fun too. Despite the fact that I was extremely embarrassed that I didn’t understand the first question, everything turned out great and we’re happy we did it. Although to be honest, neither of us have watched the live show and I’m not sure we’d like to 🙂 Before the show, I was given a list of questions. Shockingly for me, only one of these questions was actually asked of me on the show so I thought I’d give the answers I really wanted to give here on my blog. I’ve never done a post in Polish but I suppose since most of my readers are Poles I thought you guys would enjoy it. P.S. yes, I had help.
Guys, real talk. Probably your English is really good, especially if you’re reading my blog. I’m not saying that Poles don’t speak English well. On the contrary, I’m impressed how so many people are able to speak so well without ever having lived in an English-speaking country. I make a living on the fact that you make errors so that’s cool with me. BUT I can’t stand hearing and correcting these mistakes anymore. Don’t dare ask me “but are these big mistakes?” A mistake is a mistake is a mistake. You can easily fix these and your English will immediately make a much better impression. So let’s take a look!
Not being from here, sometimes it’s hard to find products which aren’t available in stores or are a little different than the mass-produced stuff. Honestly if you don’t use the internet or watch TV in the language of the country you live in, you miss out on a lot. You either you have to read blogs in Polish or talk to people. Word-of-mouth was usually my way but now I’m trying to branch out and search for things in google in Polish and read more Polish stuff. Luckily I found a great blog called PiggyPeg, which does reviews of beauty products and helped me find awesome stuff. Here’s what I’ve discovered so far.
In America, the way to make people feel comfortable in a social situation is to be friendly and treat them like friends. We wanna be pals. If you have to do something unpleasant like get a new driver’s license, you try as hard as possible to make jokes or at least small talk with the person behind the counter. You laugh together or something to feel like friends and you can even refer to them by their first name without disrespecting them. In fact, it goes along with the “let’s be friends” thing. How about Poles? Do they behave similarly?
