Cultural Musings

Dzień Dobry TVN – The Questions they didn’t ask

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.

Want to watch the video? Actually there are two. Same link. One is at the top and the other you need to scroll down for. Just click here

1. Jak rodzina zareagowała na Twój wyjazd do Polski? Czy często ich odwiedzasz?

Moi rodzice oczywiście bardzo się o mnie martwili, bo Polska jest tak daleko. I jeśli coś by się ze mną stało, to nie mogliby mi pomóc. Ale martwili się niepotrzebnie, bo Polska to bardzo gościnny kraj i wszyscy bardzo chętnie mi pomagali. Staramy się odwiedzać rodziców tak często jak to możliwe, ale bilety są dość drogie, a prowadzenie własnej firmy wymaga dużo pracy. Ale widzimy się raz w roku.

2. Co było i jest tu w Polsce dla Ciebie najtrudniejsze?

Pomimo tego, że mówię już dobrze, to nadal język polski jest dla mnie najtrudniejszą rzeczą. Jestem w Polsce już 6 lat, ale uczę się go dopiero 3 lata. Dodatkowo muszę komunikować się po polsku w urzędach, co jest bardzo trudne.

3. Czy to prawda, że w Polsce po raz pierwszy widziałaś śnieg?

Nie nie, to nieprawda 🙂 Widziałam śnieg w Nowym Jorku, ale było go bardzo mało

4. Jak poznałaś swojego męża?

Jestem nauczycielką angielskiego w jednej z agencji reklamowych w Gliwicach i tam właśnie się poznaliśmy. Więc Piotrek był moim uczniem. Wszystko potoczyło się bardzo szybko w naszym przypadku 🙂

5. Ile jesteście razem?

Już 3 lata. Mamy pierwszą rocznicę ślubu za kilka dni 😉

6. Jaka jest największa różnica między Polakami a Amerykanami?

Amerykanie są bardziej otwarci na innych ludzi, często się uśmiechają, są większymi optymistami, ale są też bardziej aroganccy. Polacy są bardziej zamknięci w sobie, nie są pewni siebie, ale z całą pewnością są bardziej szczerzy i mówią to co czują. Amerykanie czasami są pozornie szczęśliwi. Ogromną różnicę widać też w obsłudze Klienta, która zawsze jest dla Ciebie miła, uśmiechnięta i chętna do pomocy. W polskich sklepach nie zawsze tak jest.

7. Co w Polakach zaskoczyło Cię najbardziej?

Wydaje mi się, że najbardziej zaskoczyło mnie to, że Polacy nie są dumni z tego, że są Polakami, a powinni być! Często mówią „takie rzeczy tylko w Polsce”. Za to Amerykanie mają zupełnie na odwrót. Zaskoczyło mnie również to, że Polacy mają bardzo dużo hobby i mówią bardzo dobrze w innych językach.

8. Czy te różnice kulturowe widać w takim codziennym Państwa życiu?

Tak, bardzo. Jako nauczycielka spotykam bardzo dużo osób, więc łatwo obserwuje się takie różnice. Ale między nami (ja i Piotrek) tylko czasami.

9. Z jakimi problemami zgłaszają się do ciebie obcokrajowcy przyjeżdzający do Polski?

Jak przyjeżdżasz do innego kraju z zamiarem stałego mieszkania, to tych problemów jest bardzo dużo. Głównie są to formalności i biurokracja związane z legalnym pobytem i pracą w Polsce. Ale pytają też o zarobki, o pogodę o to co fajnego można w Polsce zobaczyć i po prostu jak się u nas żyje.

If there are any questions which you’d like me to answer, just let a comment here and I’d be happy to answer (within reason, that is!) Cheers!

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16 Comments

  • Reply molibden 18 October 2016 at 03:58

    The hyperlink ain’t working.

    • Reply Leah Morawiec 18 October 2016 at 06:51

      fixed it thanks!

  • Reply donald k 18 October 2016 at 17:57

    as an american man living in poland it would have been nice to read your words also in english. i have many curious questions about life here from your perspective and your observations. i am an older man without the polish language and living here alone … i greet

    • Reply Leah Morawiec 18 October 2016 at 19:17

      Hey Donald — no worries my blog is full of information in English… quite similar to the info I have here in Polish so for sure you can find something interesting 🙂

  • Reply Agata 18 October 2016 at 18:55

    Hi, I have a question, but if it’s too personal you don’t need to answer.
    I have always wondered, because I know some multicultural couples that live here, in Poland, but none of them have any children, they mostly have dogs. Do you think that there are to many differences, different attitudes towards tradition, language, etc. that it is simply too difficult, too much to handle??? And what are the problems that made those couples decide not to have children?
    I always wanted to know that, but never asked, because it is, well, a little rude and not my business, but still that doesn’t mean that I’m not curious.

    • Reply Leah Morawiec 18 October 2016 at 19:19

      Hey Agata – Do you really think so? Everyone I know in a multicultural relationship has kids. Even one of my best friends here. Perhaps often the one not from Poland doesn’t speak Polish – something that blows my mind cause I can’t imagine having kids and not being able to understand some of the things they say to other people for instance… or to take them to school or the doctor and stuff.

  • Reply Tomasz 18 October 2016 at 19:05

    You did very well Leah, your pronunciation is spot on. You have a good teacher.

    • Reply Leah Morawiec 18 October 2016 at 19:19

      Thank you Tomasz!! 🙂 🙂

  • Reply Piotr 18 October 2016 at 22:13

    Have you been learning Polish for three years really??? If yes, hats off! When I was watching clips (via Polonization Facebook) linked above, my jaws dropped and I wasn`t able to find it for a long time ;-). Your pronunciation is really amazing considering that you are a foreigner. Your writing seems to be impressive too. You practically didn`t make any mistakes-even punctuation looks brilliant-I`m not joking! I know that someone must have helped you but I`m still under impression. You have an awesome accent-the American one is hardly hearable. Coming back to your the latest post-may I give you a tip? We rather don`t say “Polacy mają bardzo dużo hobby”. Pole would say “Mam bardzo dużo zainteresowań” But don`t worry-it isn`t mistake actually-my sentence sounds more natural-that`s all. Your construct is a carbon copy from English I suppose (to have a lot of hobbies). I remember that you asked your readers to throw a bone sometimes. So, I wanted to help you a bit ;-). Now, I would like to ask some questions. I hope that you will answer them.

    -What have been the funniest language flop you experienced? I mean confusing two similar words, wrong speaking and so on.
    -What helps you learning Polish (except teacher)? Do you read any newspaper, simpler books, watch programs?
    -Do Poles are understanding about your language mistakes? Did someone laugh at you because of them?
    -What is your favorite Polish dish? What didn`t you like at all?

    There are the questions that crossed my mind. I hope you won`t be too bored with my longish comment. I`m really a talkative person-I can speak/write really long when I`m in a good mood. Believe me or not-my essays in Polish can be even longer ;-).

    • Reply another piotr 19 October 2016 at 04:31

      I’d agree with „Mam bardzo dużo zainteresowań” — I have a feeling that English loanwords adapt so badly it would be better off to not to use the word “hobby” at all, but it’s just how I perceive it.

      Well, after reading this blog entry there’s hardly anything I could ask you about, although — why did you started learning Polish so late? I know it’s not that easy, but I think getting started is the toughest part and then it would get better, having in mind you seem to be a cunning linguist and living in a smaller Polish city could have been markedly easier then

      • Reply Leah Morawiec 19 October 2016 at 12:57

        Hey Piotr – well I started learning Polish so late cause I have no motivation before. I had a boyfriend but we didn’t spend much time with his family or other people who didn’t speak English. Now I have family members who don’t know English and I wanted to be more independent since obviously I have plans to spend much more time here. I have a company and I have to be able to do things by myself in offices or at the doctor. So yeah now I’ve got motivation and I feel much better about life 🙂

        • Reply Wojtek 19 October 2016 at 14:28

          Don’t worry, Leah. “Hobby” is as polish as “zainteresowanie”: the both words are foreign origin, even if the latter came into use way earlier. But true about cc-ing (hehehe) some phrases from english: “hobby” used in plural sounds sometimes bad in polish. But on the other hand “zainteresowanie” (as a hobby) used in singular sounds even worse. I can stand (actually, I see nothing wrong in it) “Mam różne hobby”, but “Moje zainteresowanie to …” or “Moim największym zainteresowaniem jest…” drills my brains trough.

        • Reply flight control 19 October 2016 at 17:01

          I meant, was it, I’d say, worth it, to live here not speaking Polish? Living in such a place not speaking the local language is something I could (I think so, never tried it actually) do for a few weeks for sure, but a few years may get irritating. How were you dealing with it? Like, basic things such as buying stuff, you can’t get everything at self-service.

          And where do you get the blog graphics? 🙂

          • Leah Morawiec 26 October 2016 at 13:03

            No it’s not worth it at all. You’re worried all the time that someone is going to ask you a question that you don’t understand or every time you have to go somewhere alone you feel stressed… it’s not a good way to live. I feel much more comfortable now.

            My blog graphics are made by my super awesome graphic designer. If you’d like his contact, let me know 🙂

    • Reply Leah Morawiec 19 October 2016 at 12:55

      Piotr – Thanks! Well like I said I had lots of help in fact with this writing. Actually I speak better than I write so I needed my husband’s help with basically everything. So I’ll let him know about the “dużo hobby” thing 🙂

      In answer to your questions:
      1. Sometimes I say “przeleciałam” instead of “przyleciałam” which is embarrassing. Long, long ago I called frytki “fiutki” which was pretty funny, obviously.

      2. Just talking is the best thing. Spending lots of time with people who don’t speak English – which I do on weekends and stuff. With family I mean. Sometimes I spend whole weekends speaking Polish and listening to other people. So it’s really helpful. I don’t do much reading/watching/writing in Polish to be quite honest.

      3. Yeah Poles laugh when a foreigner says anything in Polish. I know it’s cute for you guys but it’s not very nice. I don’t laugh at people even when they make mistakes in English. But ok, ok I know it’s something new for you guys.

      4. I love soup in Poland so żurek or barszcz – that kind of stuff. I’m also a big fan of goląbki and krokiety – anything rolled up or fried 🙂 oh and sour cucumbers! I’d say there’s nothing I don’t like but I’ve never tried flaki… not yet at least 🙂

      Thanks for the awesome questions! I love long comments so keep ’em coming!

  • Reply Piotr 19 October 2016 at 00:31

    * I should have written: Are Poles … and What does help you… of course :-).

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