10 Polish kinks
We have moved to Poland temporarily a few months ago and these are some of the funny (or annoying) things we found are different here than at other places.
Taxis hide. So if you called one and can't see it anywhere then look for it behind the tree. But if you do manage to find you probably won't have any issues with them.
Don't call wanting to book a table or order a taxi in English, unless you want to stay home. They'll hang up on you if they hear a foreign language. But once you're at the restaurant they speak quite good English, they just can't do it on the phone.
People don't cross the road on a red light even if there are no cars around. They dutifully wait for it to change to green and you should do the same, unless you want evil glances on your back. The police can also give you a fine for crossing on a red light.
Don't expect anyone in an official position to be nice to you. Whether you're at the doctor or at the bank, be prepared for the person behind the desk/window to answer in one word sentences and to be angry with you for asking them for help in the first place. We can only hope they will forgive us for needing assistance.
If you're working with them in a team they will be really friendly and helpful though, feels like you're part of their family.It's ice cream time no matter what time of the day or year it is. They are willing to stand in a mile long queue for it and lick it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Be ready to get litres of wine, rum and vodka if it's your birthday, Christmas or any other celebration from all the Polish people you know.
Is it weekend finally? Then you'll do best if you stay home and not travel anywhere. Poles love to travel and the trains are packed at the end of the week. And I wouldn't wish for anyone to be near a train station on a long weekend!
Are you queueing for something? You better not move an inch from your place or someone will replace you straight away!
Is it a religious holiday? Don't be a bit surprised to find the whole town at the church and around it. You'll also find a church on every single corner, if you ever needed one.
Girls are gorgeous and guys are not. Girls dress up, put on make up smell nice, and men...they just don't
Please let us know your opinion on these! Have you found anything else that was weird in Poland or in other countries?
We'd love to hear some Polish people's opinions on the subject too!
Well, I have been in Poland for 2 weeks only (on Erasmus project), but I can agree with some of the statements in this post. Especially the ones about alcohol and ice-cream. :D
2 weeks is nice too, at least you got to experience the country. Did you join in to the ice cream frenzy?
Of course! Even tho the weather was really bad. :D
Hey, I laughed my socks off :) I’m a Pole but don’t hang out with Polish people that much. They can be pretty annoying sometimes, so I totally get you ;) The funny thing is that I have never realised that we are so crazy about ice cream :D But that’s damn true, you’re freakin’ right!
Haha I'm happy you had a good laugh! You don't sound like the usual Polish person because your English is perfect.
I guess until someone doesn't point out a fact like the ice cream thing, you don't really realize that it's anything special.
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Hi Veronika and Peter. I have been to Poland last year and had to go to an office at the county council. Still remember the lady there who I asked for help in an official matter. She did not speak any English, was not very helpful and grumpy to it, don't now why as I was very polite and tried to speak polish( not very well)and explain what I needed. This lady said I could manage the problem myself as I speak polish a bit. I thought the reason she is working there is to help people in certain official needs but obviously the ladies opinion was different.
I agree that polish food is good, the pancakes at a pancake place were just amazing.
I wouldn't like to live there in Poland but for a week it was an interesting experience.
Smacznego! :]
Dzenkuje!
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Ha, I've been to Poland for a week last year and I definitely recognize some of these things. Service attitude was either generous hospitality or grumpy annoyance. At home in the Netherlands, I'm used to distant politeness, and that was the same in Germany and the Protestant countries I visited (Latvia, Estonia, Finland). The Polish police officers who ticketed me after an accident were friendlier than the postal worker who sold me beautiful stamps. One of those badly dressed men with dirty hair who sat smoking in front of his shop (actually a former gas station with empty pumps) was happy to sell me cigarettes (for family and friends) although he was officially closed. Neither of these people spoke a word of English, but waitresses and car mechanics spoke English very well. There were also English language schools everywhere. Speaking German didn't help me at all, but some of the Polish phrases I practiced were useful.
Since I traveled by car, traffic was interesting. On the modernized highways and toll roads, people drove faster than on the German Autobahn, despite the speed limits. On the other hand, in the city of Bialystok, some pretty wide asphalt roads passed through areas with many pedestrian crossings and cars parked on the road, where you could drive only 20 km/h. A system that made sense to me, but you'd have to watch out for many different speed limits depending on the circumstances, usually not indicated by road signs.
I knew the church was important in Poland as an institution, but I didn't know I'd see a big, monumental modern church in every neighborhood in Bialystok. The last time I went to church was for a wedding, but if I was an architect, I'd be happy that I could build something more interesting than offices.
Thanks for your comment, and yes we also noticed that waitresses speak more English that bank or post officers.
Their driving is crazy, they don't care about speed limits at all. Still a beautiful country, especially in the summer and most of the time we do enjoy being here :).
That's a very unusual church in the picture by the way, I've never seen one like that!
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