10 Things Americans MAY NOT Love about Living in Poland
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- BIG NEWS FROM RUSSELL! HELP US GET TO TEXAS! I am on a mission to send a Polish youth baseball team from Katowice to Austin, Texas in the spring of 2025 for some PL vs. USA baseball games! If you have been enjoying my videos over the last six years, I'd love to have you contribute to this exciting idea by donating whatever you can to either the GoFundMe link or the Zrzutka.pl link below. Every little bit helps us a lot, and it would mean so much to these kids and make my decade! Thank you in advance, and see you in the next episodes :)
GoFundMe: gofund.me/0707c630
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The title speaks for itself. If I've got to be totally honest about the what the major disadvantages to living in Poland are, these are firmly my top 10. If you have anything to add or if you'd just like to share your views in return, don't be shy! Thanks for tuning in!
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Westerners moving to Poland: "Wow, everything's so cheap here!"
Westerners after getting their first Polish payment: "What the hell are those prices!? So expensive!"
American in Warszawa here, food portions are definitely smaller, but I very rarely manage to finish the entire plate and never leave a meal feeling hungry. The quality of food is so much better here. Quality over quantity.
@elf twentyfive - The first thing Poles used to complain about in England was the tasteless white bread. Thankfully that’s improved a great deal over the past few decades and many Polish bakers do a roaring trade in the UK.
@elf twentyfive - Fluffy white bloomers are actually pretty tasty as far as English bread goes. But the typical sliced square loaves are pretty disgusting and to my mind only edible as toast.
@@sirrathersplendid4825 no comparison with Polish breads. Poland is a country where bread is ultra conected with religion, traditions and even culture. You cant make better bread than country where bread is saint. It is body of the Christ in Roman catholic religion.
@@zepter00 - Personally, my favourite ‘Polish’ bread is rye bread baked with whole cumin seeds. It is dark and dense and goes (at least in Poland) by the name of Lithuanian bread. There are also several sour dough breads made by specialist bakers here in Britain that are simply delicious.
Amen !
Actually, by complaining about Polish people, you automatically pass the Polish vibe check
true
😅😅😅
That's his experience and he has the right to share his experiences in Poland.
I randomly imagined somebody calling you "rosół" instead of "Russel". XD
myślę że połowa Wschodniaków (Ruscy, Ukraińscy, Białorusini) tak właśnie będzie to wymawiać
😁
Russel;) U r every Polish babcia's rosòl
I get the jealousy complaint, but you literally told him to the face that the school he was running for years was worth as much as a month of your work... XD
I did, and it was silly of me as I said... 😅😅😅
@@LoveMyPoland still if i would be the guy i would rather take advantage of what you told me simply and increase the price... like in poker, why of out hate simply dithing business at all stupid for me. this was just a point for more negotiations i guess.... maybe it turned out better fo you for not having to interact more with such "gentleman"
@@LoveMyPoland yeah, it has to do rather with him being offended, than him being jealous I think
@@LoveMyPoland 10k zł is nothing... was the school the size of a closet lol?
@@Kuroganemk2 Well, I'd have taken over the rent each month. The 10k was for the student referrals and desks, chairs, whiteboards, etc...
I'm an American who lived in Poznan for 3 months. My FAVORITE thing was walkability. I hate how in the US you need a car to participate in society. I told a friend that back in home in America,, the closest grocery store to my house was 3 km and there were no bus/tram options. He just laughed in my face
Hahaha now you have żabka at every corner. Welcome in Poznań ^^
It’s actually sad that in America if somebody’s walking outside town people would pull over and ask if something happened.
@@xdlol59 Yes!!!!
w poznaniu jest chyba więcej żabek niż ludzi xD
@@R0bertP It is not sad it is just AMERICA where distances are big and walking doesn't make it !!!
@@elizabethloren-broz2680 you can’t be serious with this one, can you? Americans are just super lazy, vehicles are super cheap and laziness is encouraged everywhere. Couple it with omnipresent services like diners, laundromats, etc. and you’ve got the answer why so many are overweight. Unfortunately this trend is spreading like a virus and more developed countries are following suit.
About aswering the question "How are you doing?" Well, you can use that answer: "Yesterday was shitty, today is shitty, tomorrow will also be shitty. Could it be the longed-for stabilization?" You will become any Pole best friend instantly! :D
Yes, never ask a Pole "How are you?" You just might get a litany of woes, recited back at you!
with 1000$/m average earnings on hand and very high taxes, yes everything can only by shitles.
Also, shitty but stable. XD
@@platynowa 🤣🤣🤣, good one!
polish people are generally raised to be modest and not brag, there is a kids poeam about this that every kid knows: samochwala by jan brzechwa… samochwala w kacie stala
Russell is complaining like a real Pole.
Co te pierogi robią z ludźmi 😅
* Śmiech *
🤣
A co dopiero pierogi z kimchi :) (IYKWIM)
@@apro68 hahah,hahah....prawda!
Dlatego nie lubię pierogów
I agree 100% with everything you said!
About jealousy: I think that many people struggle financially and they feel holpless/insecure about it. So they feel like a failure when they hear that someone else earned a big sum of money in no time like it was no problem.
Hi Russell, love your channel🥰 I've spent a big chunk of my life in the US, teaching English there and now here. So I'm definitely on the American English team😁My students love it (mostly😊) and what's more, this version of English is equal to British version on all standardized tests in Poland (including matura and E8). These are the rules, so don't let them fool you 😁As to the rest I'm with you on every point you listed. I must admit however that I've observed a slight improvement when it comes to the way people are treated by those governmental agencies you've mentioned... Imagine what it was 20 or 30 years back 😱😱😱
Best❤️
@elf twentyfive
You are wrong. Polish people are very jealous and they love to impress other people with their financial achievement. No question about that. There is large group of nowobogacki and those are people without education who had nothing. They usually are coming from small wioska. No kultura, zero obycia i gburowatosc.
That is why people never smile and say hello to anyone.
People show of with everything, cars, houses, Gucci bags.
When I take my dog for walk nobody says hi. I did live in Farmington, CT for 25 yrs and can't bielive how people are very different. People in USA are always friendly no matter how much money they have. I had small house and my daughter was always invited to her friends big houses with pools and parties. You won't see that in Poland.
I did work as driver for 2 families and I was treated like part of their family. Always invited for holidays and family events.
I give big credit to Russel for his choice to live in Poland.
I love Poland but don't like polish people😜.
That's exactly what jealousy is. Don't you think? ;)
@crazy stuff. 👍
@@hasppl9005 co ty pierdolisz typie
I'm polish and agree with every point
Polska =cool country ja też polak
It is so true and so sad at the same time, but I met people from other nations and they are almost the same.
Polish
@@sikorkaleona Polak. Z szacunkiem.
Russell told the very truth. He forgot to add only ski jumping as the favorite sport of Poles. as for the tax office, even the Poles do not fully grasp it 😁
Hi Russell! I’m from a Polish-American family and we were raised not to brag so I don’t know if it’s jealousy inasmuch as Polish people don’t like bragging. Enjoy your show so much!
Bragging has NOTHING to do with plain and simple JEALOUSY which is so Polish!
@@elizabethloren-broz2680 shushh
After watching the video (all ten items) before coming to the comments I paused to think which issue most grabbed my attention, and it was the "jeolousy". I see now that it is the most commented on issue, especially from native Poles who say you made a terrible mistake with that comment about your salary. It seems to indicate a deeper cultural difference, as described by @Pamela Olson.
Loved the story about the student's sports car! I'd be the same as him here in Australia - unveil it carefully! I was hesitant to drive my new sports car to church.
It's idiotic, the thing about his student. I've never met ppl who behaved like that.
Jealousy and even envy is a huge thing in Poland. But another important factor is that as a nation, we value modesty. When you told the story about buying the language school, and what you said to the other guy about your salary, I grabbed my head!
Salary is a taboo subject in Poland. I still don't know if I earn well for my position or not too much because nobody talks about it!
Useful comment.
We're kind of hypocrtical in this respect. On the one hand we value modesty, but on the other hand the majority of Poles like to show off (car, gadgets, vacation abroad). " Zastaw się a postaw się ".
@@conradsz Maybe inconsistency (paradox) is inherent in being human. If a man has the humility to confess to his own inconsistency, then I would not count him as hypocritical.
@the unicorn of power. Same here in germany!
It dev backend php, ops 9 lat doswiadczenia 13.5k na reke (mniej niz oferuje rynek). zapraszam do dzielenia sie wynagrodzeniami
As an American living in Poland for a year, I love your podcasts. But I would suggest two additions to your list: first, an American consumer is used to being treated as a king. Not so in Poland! I have opened many boxes to find that what's inside is not what is described on the outside, or that the contents don't work quite properly. In both cases, it is rare to get a satisfactory response from the store.I have also learned that descriptions on Allegro don't necessarily describe the product I'm buying. As a result, I have learned to adopt the generally suspicious attitude of my Polish friends.
Second, there are the many and unpleasant visits to the urząd. I don't mean to suggest that the middle-aged ladies manning city hall are trying to be unpleasant. But there is a Polish proverb that you have to go to the urząd three times: the first, to be told you're a fool; the second, to be told that there is still one item remaining; and the third, when, with a resigned sigh, they finally accept the submission.
I still think its worth it to live here in Poland!
Ha ha I agree with those. Well, I have to say that we have this culture of asking you only once if you need something in the store or restaurant. More would be interfering in your bussiness, disturbing your peace and it’s considering to be not polite according to Polish culture. This is why a shopping clerk or a waiter will not approach you a couple of times to ask if you need anything or if the food was good. Also, people in urząd are usually older ladies who don’t speak English. They were taught Russian, German, Czech etc not English so they will brush you off with cold attitude to hide their incompetence which is a matter of shame considering how well educated Polish society is supposed to be. Good luck! Don’t give up easily!
I agree that Poles in a service capacity don't want to appear to interfere with customers. But there may be something else happening here: when I was in Poland during Communist times, it was impossible to get a clerk to pay attention to you. They felt that it was distasteful to serve a customer, that it lowered them to the status of a servant or serf. I suspect that some of this attitude may still persist.
But I have another question: when I ask a Pole if I can help them (say, take them to the store since I'm going there myself) they never answer directly, but instead change the topic. I often have to ask three or four times to find out what they really want to do - it seems that they're grateful for the offer of help, but just cannot bring themselves to say "yes" immediately. Could you please explain this to me?
@@ronschwartz6541 If you offered help just once, it may be that it was just politeness, so people sort of ignore it (or sometimes even decline, but usually not very firmly) as they don't want to be a burden to you. But if you repeat your offer that means you really mean it so they feel free to accept.
@@ronschwartz6541 I haven’t really lived during Communism so it’s hard for me to answer to that previous statement but I suspect that because of years of repression and being treated like slaves, first to the Nazis, then to Communists people in Poland tend to see themselves as equal to others in any given situation and the idea to „serve” the customer and take care of their every need may be repulsive to many Poles. So yes, it could be a combination of factors.
Answering your second question: I don’t know your circumstances and those people exact situation but I know that Polish people are always grateful for help. It’s not that they are full of distrust towards strangers but maybe they are not used to someone offering them help. Being a Pole you are taught from very young age to rely on yourself and on people close to you because they are the ones who are most likely to help if something bad happens in your life. Strangers may or may not, depending on what sort of people you meet and it’s never good to be too dependent on luck. It’s very realistic and pragmatic approach. Also, there is also a factor of not troubling others with things you can do yourself, even if it’s more difficult. Plus, a Polish person feels that even if the other person doesn’t ask for a compensation, some compensation should be given. It doesn’t have to be material but it’s a matter of pride. It may be in form of another favour. Lastly, I should add that the reaction of each person to such question is a very individual thing and I surely only covered some points that may differ for each person you ask.
"I still think its worth it to live here in Poland!"
Some people never learn... ;-)
By my 100% Polish heritage authority I approve this list.
From one English teacher to another, I always look forward to your videos. Because of them, I hope to visit Poland one day. Thanks for all the information you send out to us.
Very good video. Thank you for your honesty, Russel!
The Halloween, I think, would have a better reception if the timing was different. It would go very well with "Andrzejki", which is very popular and also pagan. But because it collides with a day when we respect our ancestors, it is a big NO. The nature of that day is serious, reflective, melancholic. Mixing it with the Halloween is like mixing a funeral with a cereal commercial. So, from that perspective, resisting it is a plus, thoughtful Americans can appreciate.
And you're absolutely right about American sports 🤣
No matter how many times someone tried to explain me the rules of baseball, I don't get it.
And not a single person here even tries to understand American Football - it's just these huge guys with funny puffy shoulders crashing each other, screaming and throwing odd ball against the ground for unknown reason 😆
It's actually a handegg, the real football is what Americans call soccer and we Poles the piłka nożna 😁⚽️
Lived in America for 30 years and I still don't get it
@@shawncasey4331 same here! And 27 years in USA!🤣
@@shawncasey4331 And I just LOVE IT and from the get go American Football is my game !
* piłka kopana ;)
We have a separate word for this vicious jealousy: zawiść. Which is like zazdrość (jealousy) and nienawiść (hatred) put together. That’s how common it is. There’s a joke that you can do bad as long as your neighbor is doing worse. But not everyone is like that
Have you seen the movie “Dzień świra”? There’s a “Pole’s prayer” that shows this rather embarrassing side of Polish society.
That's why the most Polish word is żółć. This feeling when everything around you bitters you from the inside. I live abroad and try to wash off all those negative emotions and still I catch myself being jealous about a collegae who got something I wanted sooner than me. I work on myself and try to look only about my matters and not compare but somehow, when I visit friends and famy in Poland, I can't tell I'm fine here. They just roll their eyes and stop listening like my relatively good and comfortable well-being is an offence to them. No matter how hard I work for it.
I’m not sure if you’re aware but English does have a word ‘envy’...
That is exactly it.
2) is spot on, it's so painful to see this even in close-knit circles of friends. Someone could love their car or phone or w/e but the moment someone that they know gets a better one their sentiment changes completely. When one of my friends found out about another friend's salary I could tell it was eating him from the inside, even his wife got genuinely angry at him for earning less. How ridiculous is that? Feels like most people would rather earn 5k if it's a top 10% salary than 10k if it was bottom 50%. This attitude truly is cancer, I think it's a remnant of the communist times, when people who were well off almost always had to do shady stuff to obtain their wealth.
oh man thats rough
Its the communist mentality. Spot on
Yes, it is ridiculous. Find less petty friends.
Russell, I just discovered your channel last week & thoroughly enjoy it! I feel like a kid in a candy store selecting which one of your older videos to watch! Red-blooded American/100% Polish descent! :)
Looks like you've struck a nerve with the "jealousy", but that's because it's SO true - even here in the U.S.!!! The Poles who immigrate, compete with everybody else to have MORE than you do and if YOU have more, look out!!! Like you said, "Keep your mouth shut!!!" I used to have an elderly neighbor, a really nice guy. His vision was declining and he had difficulty turning into his driveway. No matter how hard he tried, he always cut the turn too short and wound up driving over a very SMALL portion of the corner of his next door neighbor's front lawn. Well it just so happened that he lived next door to a Polish lady who had immigrated here. Oh Lord!!! She couldn't STAND him doing that to HER "property"!!! It drove her up the wall!!! Every time he went somewhere, she'd wait for him to get back and literally blew a gasket & yelled at him!!! Long story short, in the end, she took a long, steel stake and drove it into the ground right into the exact corner of her precious lawn!!! This way, if he dared to drive over even an inch of her "property", he would damage his tires. That was SO mean!!! Everybody thought so, but what can you do? Anyway, a prime example of that jealousy AND Poles bring it with them when they come to the U.S.
Some of your videos bring back old memories, and some things I had forgotten, of living in the old Polish neighborhood (Cleveland, OH). When you showed the straw under the tablecloth on Christmas Eve, I remembered my grandmother doing that. I live in South Carolina now and there's about as much "Polish" here as there is in Texas!!! Your "Beach" video has us wanting to visit Poland this coming summer. Hopefully this pandemic will ease up enough for us to do that!!! XXX OOO
Thank you for sharing this with me /us. It's great to hear from you and have you here!
This property approach thing doesn't seem unique to Poles. I've lived int he UK for 15 years and English ppl are something else if it comes down to "their land". Had a joint driveway with my English neighbours once. If you ever dared find yourself on their half reversing into the drive, hell would break loose. 😉
@@alchemik-79 Just noticed your reply! Well, I'm glad you didn't "damage" their "half" turning your car around! Ha! Ha! Well, I know we Americans get a lot of criticism, but that isn't one of them! We're much more relaxed & tolerant. My gosh! That borders on being paranoid! If I saw my neighbor turning around & he found himself on my property for a few seconds, I wouldn't think a thing of it!!! Just because his tire is on my driveway doesn't mean he's going to throw my house & yard into his car & drive away with it!!! Live & let live! Thanks for sharing that story. Interesting, but many times I can see just by the things English ppl say, sometimes, they can easily be like that. Love & God's Blessings from the U.S. 💙🙂
About Polish jelaousy there is great commedy movie made 60 years ago titled "Sami Swoi" ("Only Ours"),
and there is also commedy novel wrote 200 years ago called "Zemsta" ("Revange") by Aleksander Fredro.
You for sure need to get know this, since it is a must watch / must read for every Polish child.
"Onluy Ours" ;-) Oczywiście poprawne tłumaczenie ale strasznie dziwnie wygląda i brzmi... :D
@@wartsmartbart Tłumaczenie nie jest tak całkiem poprawne, poprawnie/dosłownie jest to only our own ale nie zawsze tłumaczy się dosłownie i w tym przypadku lepiej jest tłumaczyć All friends here albo Our folks.
@@jonathanr. poetycko rzeczywiście przetłumaczyłbym to "That's Our Folks" ale dosłownie wyszło "Only Ours".
@@krakendragonslayer1909 Nie ma się co spierać o tłumaczenia bo mogą one być różne byle tylko były jasne i zrozumiałe ale 'only ours' nic nie znaczy i nie ma sensu, przetłumacz to na polski i wyjdzie tylko nasze albo tylko nasi, nasze co? nasi kto?
"Zemsta" is a play, not a novel.
I worked in Tax Office in Poland for over 2 years - and it depends on the person. But it goes two ways - people usually treat tax office workers with hostility. And after some time of being exposed to that, many government employees give up...
Dziwisz się skoro państwo polskie okrada ludzi w najbardziej perfidny sposób a urzędnicy raczej nie pomagają?
@@ThomeTeque Odpowiem w ten sposób. Na początku moje podejście było bardzo otwarte i z sercem na ręce. Ale gdy słyszysz przekleństwa i narzekania pod swoim adresem cokolwiek czynisz... jak zareagujesz? Po miesiącu... pół roku...roku...?
Ja z racji pracy mam sporo do czynienia z ZUS. Bardzo często trafiam na uprzejme i pomocne osoby. ZUS miał najlepszą infolinię telefoniczną, jeśli chodzi o dostępność i merytoryczność. W czasie pandemii trochę się to popsuło, ale to też zależy, na kogo się trafi. Nie należy źle się nastawiać przed kontaktem z ZUS czy US, tak jak wszędzie można trafić na kogoś złośliwego, nieprofesjonalnego, ale często można się mile rozczarować 🙂
@@korraga8563 Absolutnie zgoda. Podejdź po ludzku - i dostaniesz ludzką odpowiedź.
You don't think there's a good reason for that? No one is friendly to IRS agents either and for good reasons.
Great video, I watched this and dozens of your previous ones and truly enjoyed it. I'm glad you feel amazing in Poland!
About Jealousy, yes, You can recognize friends with that. True friends are happy of you're luck. But because "we are the first generation" after communism, in many people there is still thinking "only thief and politics can buy stuff". :(
Czestochowa, it is the "worst" region to party at Halloween :D i ques it would be much easier in Katowice, Wroclaw or Warsaw.
About taxes, it is the same as with jealous :D Office worker treat you like "private sector" like it is still 1970 communism...
Great episode :)
Yes, you are right, but I'd say that not only Częstochowa, but the whole Małopolska is like that, for example try to celebrate that oversea paganism in Kraków, Rzeszów, Lublin, Kielce or Radom... at best you will meet some disgusted looks.
That 'first generation' thing might be true! But then I'm in my 30's and live in a Western city (medium size) and for many years now haven't met so blatant an example of jealousy, be it from my friends/family or even from my coworkers (and I work in a state-financed institution and many people here still remember communism). Some of them love to compare and complain, some love to point out someone's luck in a not-so-good-hearted way, but no open hate.
Might be a cultural thing or a sign of times finally changing... or I'm just lucky.
@@MartinPozoga "State-financed instutuition" translated to human's language is "legalized thieves"
@@MartinPozoga i think it's changing, in my opinion young people don't care now, they just go on with their own lives
People always need excuse. In Poland there always was opinion about being thief, or connected to some government guy, or having wealthy parents. Now there are not so many of them. But still, for many people this is good excuse for their miserable life and laziness, saying "you are company owner who is using other people for you're own profit" etc :)
So if you are specialist, you worked hard for it, etc or you have successful company etc, for many "talking" people, you are the bad guy who is using other to make yourself rich, as excuse for there laziness or bad decisions.
In Warsaw right now. Its amazing, affordable, safe and beautiful. It does feel weird not being able to talk to people easily.
@elf twentyfive I’ll do that next year when I go back.
@elf twentyfive - True. Poles are so much more friendly towards foreigners than they are towards fellow Poles.
Affordable for tourists with $ and Euro, not for most Poles.
@@ThomeTeque - Sure, Warsaw is a lot more pricey than most Polish cities. Much better value in places like Torun, Zamosc and even Krakow.
@@ThomeTeque Warsaw is expensive compared to the rest of Poland, you are right though.
great video man - keep it up :)
Russel I love the way you smuggle some idioms and phrases of common language every chance you get. It really makes watching your videos enjoyable and useful!
Another thing is that as Poles, we have a reputation of a complaining nation. From the perspective of a Pole, it's difficult to judge. For me it's just talking! Talking honestly about things happening in life. I once had a girlfriend from another country and as soon as I started to say something, she told me to "stop complaining". You can probably guess that the relationship did not last. 😅
This reminded me of polishnness of Jeff Lebowski's reply to "how you doing" - "Well you know, strikes and gutters, ups and downs"
Oh yeah, about the jealousy thing - I can confirm.
About 5 years ago we've bought a house and I started a good paid job. When we told our friends about it, only two congratulated us. The rest pretend like nothing happened.
I'm not saying they should jump out of joy, but a simple "that's great" would be nice. I mean, aren't your friends suppose to be happy for you?
Anyways, 5 years later, we only are in contact with those two. The rest started to avoid us, haven't answering our calls, didn't come to our grill parties etc. We haven't seen each other for 3 years now.
If one of my Polish friends bought a new house or started a new job and didn't tell me, as an American I would get slightly offended. I would view it as they don't view me as important enough to tell me about the good things in their life. Cultural differences are interesting...
@thr No właśnie problem w tym, że my naszego stylu życia nie zmieniliśmy. Nie panoszymy się i nie obnosimy z tym co i ile mamy. Zmieniliśmy tylko mieszkanie na większe i tyle.
No ale, jeżeli ktoś mieszka w kawalerce i za chiny nie potrafi się zdecydować na zmianę, a potem ma żal do całego świata, że wszyscy się jakoś rozwijają tylko nie ten on, to sorry. Trzeba wziąć sprawy w swoje ręce i działać, a nie czekać aż się zrobi samo. I tak własnie było w przypadku tych naszych przyjaciół. My zaryzykowaliśmy, sprzedaliśmy mieszkanie, garaż i samochód, dobraliśmy trochę kredytu i kupiliśmy dom do remontu. Mieszkamy w nim już 5 lat, ciągle nie jest wyremontowany do końca, ale małymi kroczkami działamy. A oni się bali, chcieli poczekać i teraz są w kropce, bo mieszkania poszły w górę i tak jak jeszcze 3 lata temu temu stać ich było na 3 pokoje, tak teraz ledwo na 2 mają. I siedzą w tej kawalerce z dziećmi i kotem i mają nadzieję, że ceny pójdą w dół.
@tony d. German here. I've lived in the us for 3 years. I learned one thing: if i am in a bad social and financial situation in the us, don't blame anybody! Work hard and improve your situation by yourself! And don't expect the government to solve your problem! Here in germany there is also jealousy, mostly by people with low edudation. I call it "sozialneid". Translation: social jealousy.
Kolejny super film. Dzięki 👍.
#8 - it's changing! A lot of young people prefer American English as they are more exposed to it by watching movies and youtube. As for the exams, the general rule is not to mix British and American, but I think they can't take away points for using American English. But yes, at schools they teach British as a rule.
I am Polish and agree with every single point! You give an excellent advise to those who want to live/visit Poland.
Love the video Russel but have to take exception with the size of the food portions in Poland because every time I have visited the food ortion sizes are TOO big, sometimes I’ve even resorted to asking for half-portions’ Keep up the good work! Paul
Agree 100%
Love your channel 👍🌴
Great lesson! Thanx!
Yes, the pride in achievements and bragging were the most difficult things to learn in the USA for me. When we came over from Poland, a lady offered to sell us a Cadillac for a ridiculously low price to help us out (we were in the US for 6 month). Our Polish friends and a parish priest strongly urged us not to accept, because our Polish neighbors would be jealous of us and would never help us again.
I'm Polish and I agree with most, except point 4. It's not sad that you have to use your legs in Europe. It's a healthy habit to step out of your car once in a while. Healthy for you and for everyone else who you're forcing to breath your exhaust gas and who you're robbing of space with your oversized SUV. What is sad is that you were conditioned by your flawed system to seeing convenience and convenience only. That conditioning makes you completely helpless in fixing your social issues.
This is something that some Americans will never get - European cities are a walkable space - they're purposefully designed to be easy and safe and pleasant to walk by excluding cars and giving more space and safety to pedestrians, to mitigate the damage that cars cause and to to make people less overweight. Car-focused infrastructure is the number one cause of obesity in the developed world. Each year more streets are closed for cars in Europe.
To be fair American cities used to be like that too, but your ancestors destroyed this when they went insane during the modernist "unlimited economical growth" lie created by oil companies in the 50s.
Now suppose you want to walk in the US - why not do that? You get it now? In Poland you CAN walk. That's a plus. In Poland you don't need a car,, you'll have ore money and be safe. You can't say that about the US.
And if you still don't want to walk, than you can use a PEV, like a unicycle - you can use them in Poland everywhere, because they're not as problematic as cars.
Thanks for being thruthful.
Good luck.
Listening to your channel is now my favourites very interesting !
About the jealousy thing, I wonder if you hadn't come across as essentially bragging that you're buying him up for pennies, implying his life's work is worthless or that he is just poor.
"Zawiść is definitely a thing around here , but id argue "szpanerstwo" is even worse. Might've been the reason for the explosive reaction.
I had the same thought; though I still think jealousy is big in Poland. In that specific situation, however, I reckon that what Russell intended to be an earnest presentation of his financial situation was understood as bragging, maybe even with a hint of superiority, especially if you take into account that Poles are taught from an early age to be humble and suffering (the Catholic Church, yaaay...).
@@witoldjaskiewicz2432 allthrough guys remember most of america heritage is protestants or whatever is right english term, and its is core in proterstand, luteranism to hard work, dont brag, humble etc, actually if you aware this was to oppose catholics ways in late middle ages - renassaince since whoever was rich had to be either catholic churche related/insider pr "bless" by it and protestants move was created to oppose that. the jealeasy thing is rather strick thing from polish history - about our democracy having long history of being solely own by szlchta(quite big froup called nobility) and recently by communism here casuing this whoever had more being exactly from that very small people that was allowed to have more since for around 45 years there was no way for normal person to get rich at all.....
@@Polothx can normal person get rich in US. 20 per cent of population are on food stamp and number of homeless are only estimated but constantly growing. Personal depts are huge.
OMG! You hit the nail on the head! I left Poland 41 years ago... everything you say is so very true!!! Especially the second point!👍
You are great! I love your channel, and I'd like to thank you for that, as well as for being in Poland! I wish you best uf luck! Take care!
Wow, thank you 😍🙏
Great video! I am learning Polish now, but having already learned mandarin Chinese, I hope it will come easier. Cool language. Can't wait to visit Poland soon.
Name butchering happens to me (Renata) & my daughter (Aniela) daily in America. It’s not just a Polish thing. Forget about how they pronounced my maiden family name (Sukiennik) ! 😳
British English always sounded better than my American (native) English to me.
I love watching your videos because of your view on Poland. It's just super positive and this video reminded me of a sad realty. Of course you can still see positives here but still you pointed out the worst ones like jealousy or the Tax Office workers and ZUS.
About Halloween. It's getting better every year. Most of young people love to celebrate it. I, for instance, am a 19 years old and I love watching my favourite horror movie, The Shining, for Halloween. I would also love to be invited to some Halloween Costume Party.
hahaa great vid. cheers from Szczecin!
So true :) Thanks Jan
The most important rule: Always watch your wallet!
Also, IT'S NOT SOCCER!!!!!
It's called FOOTBALL.
and in US its eggball i think
Oh Man, as a Pole I cannot agree more... The jealousy drives me crazy and I hope it's gonna disappear in some years, but for now it is a huge problem - not only for the foreigners visiting or living in Poland, but also for many young natives who are fed up with it. Another thing irritating me after experiencing American culture a few times is no free tap water in restaurants... That's just unbelievable we have to pay for it here, but you don't realize it as long as you don't travel abroad.
Thanks for another great video, greetings from Warsaw :)
Thanks 👍 👍 👍
You are sooo right! :)
It was fun to watch it :)
Im from the US and i live in Poland right now and i agree with everything, I miss Halloween
Trick or treat! 😏
there was (pre covid) halloween in poland tho
@@Qoobon_ that's not the same
@@bezimienny5 well im now "scared" how halloween look in us
@@Qoobon_ When I was visiting and just so happened to stay for halloween, I went to the grocery store and they actually had the scariest costume waiting there for me. It was a Trump mask. I don't think a scarier costume even exists out there. Also there's a ton of properties that only get used for halloween stores for a few weeks a year and then after it's done they become dead and unused. Kinda wasteful imo.
05:42 "Halloween is pagan". Actually I agree with the Poles on this point. (I'm from the Netherlands originally.) Helpful video, thanks for uploading.
Halloween isn’t even a real holiday, neither is valentines day, and easter is a religious holiday to remember the resurrection of Jesus and not a day for a giant stuffed rabbit to hide eggs in the backyard 😂😂😂
@@AniaB :-) Exactly.
In Poland "All Saints Day" November 1st and "Zaduszki", the next day, are a very widely and commonly celebrated holiday, while in the USA it is not. Therefore celebrating Halloween the preceding night is considered a desecration for the next day celebration and it really is as it counter the serious mood and respect in which we need to memorize the loved ones. On the other hand we all know, that Zaduszki holiday has a strong pagan roots, than accepted by Christianity, no one can deny it, and only a few see anything wrong in it.
Well, that shouldnt stop us from celebrating them. Many official Holidays were taken from pagan culture. For example the all saints day was a pagan slavic tradition. Decorating a christmas tree is also a pagan tradition, yet we dont see people protesting them.
Ouh about what paganism and cult we are talking about?
You nailed it. Thumb up.
As a British person considering the move this video has helped confirm what I believed to be true. I certainly have struggled picking up on Polish dialect thus far. Still what a country Poland is, a bastion of conservativism 👍👍
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
Why should countries outside of the US have the same holidays and the same sports? Unfortunately we are living in a more homogenized society were no matter where you go in the world everything is the same. How boring is that! Why does the US have to impose its culture and everyone else in the world?
I live in the US and my name is Jola. I cannot begin to tell you how difficult these four letters are for Americans, both in writing it and pronouncing. I never thought the two files and two consonants would ever be this difficult.
Working with government officials in the US, is just as bad. They are rarely nice. This comes from my business experience here. Walking is some thing every doctor encourages, as this is the healthiest form of exercise for everybody, which very few Americans do because they’re driving cars everywhere. I cannot tell you how very few times I go to restaurants here because the portions are always so big. I don’t like to take doggy bags home because it never tastes as good reheated. Smaller portions are much better for everyone concerned. Not getting water at a restaurant automatically is a good thing. In my days in communist Poland drinking water didn’t even exist. We need to conserve water and not just take advantage that it’s going to be here forever. Restaurants are finally doing the same thing here. Jealousy and bragging are the same side of the coin. That being said, I love your videos.
Mówią, że wszędzie dobrze, dzie nas nie ma :)
Yeah trying to compare Poland
To America is 🙅🏼♂️
I live in Canada for over 10 years and the jealousy in Canada is way worse than in Poland the only difference is that people from Canada are better at hiding it - but the truth is that if you pull up to your work driving a better car than your boss - let's just say you are not going to be the employee of the year or if your wife is dressed better than most of the girls at her work she will be treated as the enemy and to top it off God forbid you have bigger house or nicer car and dare to have polish accent you know the polish person that is the "hero" of so many "stupid jokes" I am sure you heard of - So to sum it up I disagree that Poles are more jealous than Americans or Canadians or any other nationality they just don't hide it like others do.
Perfect comment. Pozdrawiam z Kanady.
What you say is true, but it's still way worse in Poland. Wealthy Chinese, Indian or Arab have it much worse in Poland than western countries (and that's why they do not stay for long). Even Poles who made their money abroad and came back are treated with jealousy if not hatred. Poor people don't like well off people everywhere, but the attitude in Poland is bad. In America attitude is "look at this rich guy, what can I do to be like him?". In Poland: "look at this rich bastard, what can I do to make him less happy?".
So true 👍
I agree 90% with everything you said!
Russel , I agree with you 100%. I am Polish living in Canada for 40 years. Jealousy appears to be suck with mother milk to some people. In every nation I am trying to find good quality and pointing that to my country men but right away they were becoming defensive. Luckily majority of my family, relatives, friend are not jealous at all on both sides of the ocean.
The British English thing is interesting. When I was in School I had teachers from all over the world - Australia, Britain and US and each taught me a different accent :)
I agree with you!!
great video John! I agree with everything you said. Living in Poland has its good and bad sides, definitely jealousy is one of the worst. As you described, it might be hectic. That's one of few reasons I left Poland for good.
I think the jelaousy reaction is intertwined with and amplified by the strong disapprovement of bragging in our culture. They are two different things but they feed off each other.
At the beginning I ought to explain that anything from just using an expensive item in public to verbal acknowledgement of one's own accomplishment (which is perfectly normal in the American culture) may be and frown upon and considered "bragging" in Poland.
I remember being the first kid in my school who had a cell phone back in the 90's and hiding in the school toilet when I needed to use it to call my parents for the fear of being labelled a "bragger". I was also scolded by my driving instructor once for just HOLDING the phone in my hand at a parking lot. lol
It is however also true that back then many rich Poles were intentionally using their phones in public (restaurants, shops etc.) speaking way lauder than it was necessary to show off in front of others. Poles hate this kind of behaviour.
So if you drive your new car in front of your neighbour's windows they may judge you negatively both because of jelaousy and because some Poles actually used to do such things on purpose just to make a statement abouth their wealth.
Lastly, let's not forget also that in the communist times people were generally suspicious of the rich because they often acquired wealth in a dodgy, corrupted manner. At least thats what the government propaganda said ;) so the older generation may still hold to those views.
4:34 well said, very good advice. Better don't brag about income (it may also keep thief's away). All valid good points
As a Pole I have to admit you are completely right with your observations. Regards!
Halloween vs All Saints Day. I participated in both, one is hollow in nature other richer and rewarding. Love your blogs.
So now (as a Pole, these are personal opinions of course) I shall address your points one by one. Ad. 1) You're right, I always tell my foreign friends that they needn't be so terrified about basic Polish to communicate on simple issues (as we say, "nie taki diabeł straszny, jak go malują"); the correct grammar is the tough part, a real problem indeed, even to many native Poles (enough to listen the speeches or interviews delivered by some of our politicians). Ad. 2) You're right, even though I've noticed some change as compared to the old days, when Poles would hardly forgive you your good earnings, now many of us do forgive you this sin, provided that you don't mention it (specific sums of money in particular). Ad. 3) As for Halloween, IMO it's made difficult by its proximity to All Saint's Day (1st Nov) which is so different in mood. Ad. 4) I enjoy my country as a walking country, but well, I'm not American. Ad. 5) You're right. Poland's administration needs to change this approach. Ad. 6) No comment. Ad. 7) Small portions in restaurants, maybe, but... I have the impression that the costlier the restaurant is, the smaller the portions are. Anyway, I never leave a milk bar hungry and the meals there don't ruin my budget. Ad. 8) No comment. Ad. 9) No comment. Ad. 10) Well, public transport is affordable instead. I almost never use my car when moving around Warsaw. Anyway, I hope the day's near when no more petrol-driven vehicles will keep polluting the air.
Co do zazdrości o sukcesy finansowe sąsiadów i znajomych, wiem że traktujemy ją w Polsce niemal stereotypowo, natomiast osobiście ani jej nigdy nie odczuwałem, ani się z nią nie zetknąłem (być może nie potrafiłem jej zauważyć, a może po prostu miałem szczęście).
ja tez
Bo to jest stereotyp, który wielu powtarza, a mało kto doświadczył. Dwa przykłady przytoczone przez Russela to: 1.) Gość, który "ukrywał" nowy samochód, bo mu się _wydawało_, że wzbudzi zazdrość, 2.) Człowiek, który, jak zrozumiałem, miał problemy sam ze sobą i własnym życiem, co go nie deprecjonuje, ale może tłumaczyć okazaną "nadreaktywność". Inną sprawą jest, ze szpanerstwo nie jest u nas dobrze postrzegane, ale nie z powodu zazdrości.
Ja bym w miejsce tego punktu podstawił dośc powszechną skłonność do krytykowania (mówiąc najłagodniej) "tego kraju", niemal odcinania się od korzeni jakby przez to można było uchodzić za kogoś lepszego, albo jakby krytykujący tłumaczył sam przed sobą własne porażki życiem w "tym kraju". Jednym z tego przejawów jest właśnie szerzenie stereoptypu o powszechnej zawiści, wzmacnianego jeszcze filmami typu "Dzień świra" itp.
Albo tak jak ja masz to w dupie ;)
I'm surprised you didn't include that they aren't friendly but overall very accurate list!
I appreciate your honesty. We are from Texas and are somewhat talkative and friendly. Sounds like that may not fit in with the local culture. It would be hard to tiptoe around my words and I certainly would not want to be offensive. I guess a visit would be best to check out all the wonderful things you've shared in your other videos.
Thank you for your comment. 😊👍
I can agree with all of the points. Most annoying thing for me is this jealousy thing… I blame old days for that (PRL) because I feel that those days who has something more very often has “the bad” connections with government… and it is still in peoples veins, unfortunately.
One point I don’t fully agree with is focusing on gifts and buying stuff in Christmas and Valentine’s Day etc. Of course I like to give presents and like to get a gift but it’s going too far for me with focusing about that point.
As a summary - great video - nice to hear opinion some who came from other country and leave here for longer time - people should take this kind of points and try to make better place to leave here :D
I agree with everything you said.
By the way I'm Polish American.
About a football, we have quite big league, it gains more and more public but teams dont have much sponsors. We doing medical support of those and its quite interresting but a bit complicated rules
The halloween thing is still funny for me cause we used to have some day a cellebration of the same origin called Dziady (and it was popular even after many centuries of christianity in Poland)...
One day it became the All Saint Day (which is an important and neccesery cellebration) ... but we kind of lost the festive " spirit" of Dziady :)
It was a day when you "call" and praise the ancestors but in a positive and festive way. It's been los somehow but only in recent 200 years or so :)
I like halloween, I would like to experience it in the USA someday but now - it's like festive for some children. I'm always surprised when they come to my house to get some sweets :) It's not the day I'm waiting to be so I always pretend I'm not home cause I have any sweets in my storage 😆
Your notifications about the disadventages of social living in Poland are 100% tre by the way 😊 I hope it will change (at least a little bit) someday! 😅
Once a friend of mine (British English native) told me that the moment American starts filling their car with petrol rather than gas is the moment he/she is lost and became British ;).
And in regard of football -why you even call this game like that, you basically toss an egg shaped object with hands... However as the jealousy part goes it is indeed a sad, but very observant conclusion about Poles and Poland in general.
American footballs are also kicked with the feet (though not often) during a game. Since both games evolved from an earlier game where the feet were used to manipulate a ball... the name just stuck.
@@johnathin0061892 th-cam.com/video/Tqge3m_QuHY/w-d-xo.html Sir John Cleese (the one from Monty Python) on this subject. My point, even thou it was a joke in the first place, is still valid.
Polish ppl know very well about the jealousy, there are even old jokes like
"My neighbour got a Mercedes, he must have stolen it"
afaik this stems all the way back to the communist times, while wages for all jobs were very close, so if someone had a fancy car, the only way was to either steal money, or be involved with the soviet goverment (both were obviously frowned upon)
Considering you are from Texas I am surprised you did not mention the weather!
A very objective look and a summary of the not so great things about Poland. Thanks By the way as a Pole Living in the UK I do miss American English & accent & pronunciation :)
Point 2, absolutely spot-on true! Jealousy is still high! This was a great pick-up by you. This is probably the worst of the polish trades. People tend to be jealous of sometimes very superfluous 💩. Yes it is good thing to keep your mouth shut about your financial situation.
Point 6... Polish tax services are probably no better than infamous American IRS. You are guilty until proven innocent...by both.
I think American Football is slowly gaining popularity in Poland, but sorry... baseball is and will not...too complicated, to static, too long.
Great observations and pick-ups!
well i agree about IRS but in general on WEST and US offices - state/goverment etc shouldn't be aginst you. we still have state first aproach by most state emplyees no people first...
About jealousy and Polish condemning materialism, there is a lot to unpack. I think we should take a look at Poland history for last 200 years. Poles were subjected to enormous persecution. Because of that we have a certain feeling of an unending imposing inexplicable doom lurking somewhere just around the corner. We KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE that everyone you love and everything you worked for can be taken from you in a nick of time. Therefore your should not get attached to things. Secondly during those 200 years people that managed achieving huge success had to cooperate with our oppressors in some way. And even in the 1990s a lot of business were shady at least. You do not grow out from such generational experiences in a moment.
Very good diagnosis. Exactly as you said: weatlhy person = someone collaborating either with the opressors who partitioned Poland, nazis, communists, or criminals (in the 90s).
So true
You are so right about point 2... 😔
So true and so embarrassing about Polish jealousy. Not many people outside of the country realise this, although it has been portrayed in Polish art a few times...Zawiść really is like cancer, and it breaks my heart to see my folk accept it as a normal part of life and live this way every time I go back (I emigrated) 😭
Hi Russel,
Ad1) totally agree. That’s a reason why I’m dead focused with my daughter’s Polish language knowledge.. we live in the UK for other 10 years
Ad2) oops.. guilty
Not me for sure. I’m dead happy with my friends successes
Ad3) Yeap
Ad4) true
Ad5) cannot argue with your point of view. The Queen and HRMC are not compassionate neither
I agree with everything and I'm Polish. Many of points from your list is a pain in the ass even for Poles, especially for those who lived outside of Poland for a while.
Agree with everything. About Halloween - it is becoming more popular in bigger cities. In Warsaw many children do "Trick-or-treat" thing.
Very interesting. Just to prove that personality traits can be inherited, my family can be quite jealous/envious....and hold grudges. Poles can do that like nobody else.
Taxes are rotten in parts of the US, too. I just got a notice about unpaid taxes from San Francisco. Friendly as a nest of hornets.
I am aware of an American football league in Poland. If the NFL had any sense they would have two teams from cities with big Polish populations...Buffalo and Chicago, to name two, play a game in Warsaw. Let's face it, American football is unique to us Americans. Baseball is huge in much of Latin America, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. It just hasn't caught on in Europe as much.
Hockey is big in Russia, Czechia, Sweden, to name a few Polish "neighbors".
Walking is no bother for me.
Complaining is a Polish pastime. Bother me? Hell, I would fit right in.
I prefer the way Poland celebrates holidays. Halloween has grown in the US as a result of adults refusing to grow up. In the 1970s it was for little kids and nobody over 12 bothered with it. In the US, "Holiday" (so as not to offend people who hate Christianity) begins the day after Halloween and promptly ends on Christmas Eve. Buy, buy, buy, party, party....cuz' it's HOLIDAY.
Poland observes Christmas up until February 2, Candlemas...well, at least some Poles do.
Unfortunately, Poland has no Florida beaches, Latin food and palm trees.
Grudges, yes! We’re always torn between our Catholic upbringing of “forgive and forget “ and the Polish “forgive but never forget “.
The walking thing is more European thing. I have recently watched "Not Just Bikes" channel about urbanization in US and Canada and I stopped being jealous (I'm Polish ;) ) about their roads and being built for cars.
That's a great channel
Excellent content, and DELIVERY! Lol!
Teraz jestes prawdziwym Polakiem narzekania zawsze troche musi byc ;)
fajny film! Ja mieszkam w niemczech i wiele rzeczy ktore opisales sa podobne i problemy tez ;)
Hi, I am Polish, living in the Netherlands. My boyfriend is Dutch. Finally, my boyfriend can understand the jealousy of Polish people. Unfortunately, we have to agree with you.
I want to mention that I never share my achievements with people in Poland, only with good friends. Otherwise, they will look at me like i am rich person they can ask me for money. So saddd...
We love your channel! 😍
Bull shit...
I'm Polish and have been learning British my whole life, but I definitely prefer American English and silently rebel against every petrol, queue and -isation during lessons
I prefer American english as well ;)
Make sure you don`t mix American and British English. And know who you're talking to when you use words like panties, rubber, fag etc.
😅😂
Fantastic. I am Polish-American and had the same problems upon returning to Poland....
Oww Russell.. I spit myself when you said about expression during "how you doing?" xD But in fact, that was the thing which hit me the most after moving to UK (except accent). "What do you care how am I doing, just say what you need and don't make it private.. Anyway you don't even care, do you.."
No, no, no!
Never say your life is ok!
Always say something like: "Same ol' shit!"
Examples:
"Nic nowego!"
"Stara bida!"
"Jakoś leci!"
"Jest jak było!"
The guy who wanted to sell you his school for, basically nothing, probably was thinking he was doing you a big favour.
About Poles being jealous, is so very true; That's how Poland lost the war, Those stick up Polish high classes associated sold the country!
Maybe you start thinking about the future, not only yours, but your children's, your grand-children's, and so on?!
As to the butchering of English names / place names; I will 'polonize' those when they're interjected when I'm speaking Polish, but pronounce them (more) correctly when speaking English.
I think it's only natural, switching pronounciation of certain syllables mid sentence always seems weird and jarring.
Love your posts. I am English I recently moved to Poland with my wife, she is polish. I retired early. I too love the country it's culture
Con't.....The people the food and general way of life. I have lived here roughly 18 months. I must admit I am struggling with the language, but determined to succeed. I know a lot of the words and phrases, but so little at the same time. Wondering how long it will take for the penny to drop? Pronunciation is the main problem for me.
Wow interesting and great video- I would also say to apply the jealousy thing to ppl in the USA- I never brag about what I accomplish unless the person I am talking to can help me in some way, envy is a real thing- it’s more concealed in the USA