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.
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
@@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"
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
@@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
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 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!
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.
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😜.
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!
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.
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.
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 😆
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
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.
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. 😅
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.
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.
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.
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...
@@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 🙂
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.
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
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. 💙🙂
#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'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.
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.
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 👍👍
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.
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.
@@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.
@@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?
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 :)
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.
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.
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 😂😂😂
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.
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).
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.
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
@@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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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).
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.
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 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Tqge3m_QuHY.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.
There's this joke: a guy catches a goldfish, the goldfish says: "I'll grant your wish, if you let me go". The guy says: "Well, my neighbour just built this beautiful house..." The fish interrupts: "So, you want a beautiful house as well?" And the guy goes: "No, I want his to burn down".
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!
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)
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! 😍
1st time I've ever seen this channel. Can't really understand the 'apology' at the beginning. I have a fairly nationalistic vein, but pretty much ALL of Jon's comments are BANG ON, honest and correct. Admittedly, there's ½ of one of his comments I'm skeptical about - however, Jon DID 'warn' that some of his views are SUBJECTIVE, TBH - ie. the size of food-portions: yes, sometimes they're pitifully small, but over time, I'm finding they're getting MORE generous and MOST of the time, they're more than sufficient for me. Truth be told, they ARE really small when compared alongside US portions, I'm afraid. Thanks for an interesting and VERY FAIR & BALANCED assessment, Jon! BRAWO! SZACUN!
*as a polish person, polish native speaker I will say this: YOU CAN BUTCHER polish grammar AND STILL everyone will understand you! This language does not have strict grammar like eg. germanic languages.
If a foreigner unintentionally butchers Polish grammar when speaking-will it sound "off" to the ears of a Pole? Or are there many different ways to say something in Polish-and all of them are grammatically correct?
Kind of both. What Polo Ziki probably had in mind was word order - it, in fact, is a lot more liberal than in the English language. For example, you can say either of those and all will be acceptable although some are preferable: Alicja ma uroczego pieska. (Alice has a cute little dog) Uroczego pieska ma Alicja. Pieska uroczego ma Alicja. And so on. But definitely, even though you might be butchering the Polish grammar you most likely will be understood.
And, having tried to speak Polish to Poles, here in Seattle, I can vouch for the fact that people DO appreciate it when you TRY to speak their language. I have made many mistakes, but by and large, people do like it when I try to communicate with them in their native languages. I am sure you have heard the saying: The only way to fail is not to try. That is pretty much the case, and true.
@@karolleon Yes, after having butchered Polish, I can vouch for what you have said. Word order does not matter nearly as much as it does in say, English.
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.
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.
I am a Polish expat living in Switzerland so will not yell about criticism. Polish language is insanely hard to learn even native speakers struggle with grammar and writing (orthography). Nothing can be worse than Polish orthography, maybe expect for Chinese. Funny, I hated "how are you? I am fine" in Canada where I lived previously. Car-dependence is what I disliked in North America, amazing how views can be different. Very, very true about governmental agencies, many locals complain about those. As for language, I am now mixing British and American English horribly. Salaries are reason why there are many Polish expats in EU and outside EU like Switzerland.
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'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 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.
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 actually oppose Halloween because it's not part of our culture and is another way we are getting Americanized. We're already all wearing jeans and drinking Coca-Cola. Another reason is that there's very little consumerism in current All Saints celebrations compared to Halloween. You drive to your family, visit the cemetery and light a candle. Not everything has to be jolly and fun, death is part of our life and I find it important to have a more solemn day were you reflect instead of partying.
In Europe in a lot of cities you do not need car at all. You pay 50-60 euro and you have unlimited transportation. In us you have to pay 600-800 car payment, 200 car insurance, 400-500 gas, 100 for ongoing maintenance.so just for transportation you pay about 1200 per month after taxes money. Transportation makes us poor! If you will take that 1500 euro Poland , add up 1000 for transportation + 1000 rent + taxes To live like polish for 1500 euro is worker will need 5000 before taxes or around 60 per year, but we did not discuss that 1500 buying power in Poland. It will be 3 times more then in the US
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.
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! 😅
USA health insurance premiums are astronomical...Bread 450 g % 6.99 .Car insurance,two bedroom apartment rent $ 1400.Lots of American live in powerty.Food cost comes up around 35%. Cars prices 25%. Homes 20% .3000 pln in Poland is the same what $ 3000 in USA a month if you compere prices.
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
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...
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.
As a Pole, I can say that all of this is true. However, I would like to clarify a few things. Fuel prices across Europe may seem astronomical to Americans. It is worth noting, however, that in Poland they are usually the lowest in the entire EU. Poles also do not have such a need to travel long distances on a daily basis as Americans do, so it is not such a big thing. In this country, everything is rather close. Public offices have never been a pleasant place to spend time in Poland, but apart from clerical suspicion, it should be noted that there is a very high degree of computerization of all procedures, so basically there is little opportunity or need to go to public offices in person. I haven't had such a need myself for several years, even though I run my own business. Small portions in restaurants compared to America is a common thing throughout Europe, although in Poland it is a typical thing in cities. When you go to the countryside, local restaurants often serve portions exceeding human needs. ;) Jealousy in Poland is a serious matter unfortunately. This mentality has its roots in the last two centuries, which were hard for Poles to put it mildly. Nobody ever brags about their wealth. Darwin eliminated those who did. Walking and using public transport is something you have to like or die in this country. Restrictions for cars, however, are still far from what it looks like in most Western European countries, but Poland is certainly striving for such a model year after year. It is worth noting, however, that traveling by car between cities is quite comfortable and the roads, even the smaller ones in the countryside, are well maintained compared to what Americans are used to. However, traveling by car is not necessary, if you do not plan to explore the nooks and crannies of the countryside, because rail and air connections are pretty decent. As for the earnings, of course, they are low and often more than half lower than in Western European countries, but it is also worth noting that the author of this film chose the city of Częstochowa, which is rather not in the TOP10 ranking of Polish cities in terms of earnings and quality of life. In larger Polish cities, these salaries would be much higher. It is also worthy to mention that cost of living are significantly lover in Poland than in majority countries in Europe.
About that Halloween ban - it was citizen petition, it was properly handed in, so they had to debate over it. Media took this as an opportunity to attack government. Well, PiS is what it is but we should be fair about that one thing.
Its not about banning stuff, it's simply about Halloween being not compatible with Polish culture which stems from Catholicism. To make a parable, American people didn't ban the open sandwich with cottage cheese and radishes, nor they banned mushrooms as a garnish for potato pancakes, nope😁 They simply don't like those foods, simply those don't fly with their culinary tastes, likewise American football is simply odd and outlandish, its not Polish people fault.
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.
Russell, I do not believe you are allowed to complain about American sports not being popular enough. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is starting soon and you should see how far I get when I mention cricket. It's less popular than tooth decay here.
Russell, in France, the customer is always wrong. If you do not like the service you receive in any store, and you complain to a clerk, say, you will be bawled out for creating a scene. Then, you simply ask, in French, to speak to a store manager and suddenly any clerk will suddenly be more accommodating. It pays to stand one's ground!
@@LoveMyPoland Yes, true story! One is guilty until proven innocent, Russell. Customer service is virtually mon-existent there, sadly. And also, being that France is the land of what has been called 'screw you' smoking, people feel free to light up almost everywhere. Now, it is getting a bit better insofar as that people are a bit more considerate of others before they light up, but, smoking is still not frowned upon like it is say, in America. But, as far as customer service goes, France still has a long way to go.
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.
Jelousy is very thing that comunism brought to Poland as master Yoda used to say Jelousy is a pathway leading to comunism jelousy leads to anger anger leads to hate hate leads to suffering
You got some balls to admit to your earnings publicly :) But you see you had to underline that you worked very hard that month. This group of people in Poland can’t just think by default that if someone earns more than them means they are intelligent and hard working individuals. They just think you are lucky or dodgy and it will be so hard for them understand if you ever run out of money. Because how could you, earning 10000 a month?
Free joke for loving Speedway :) ( btw. it's about Polish jealousy ) An angel came to earth to check how the shepards in different countries are. First he went into Austria and ask a shepard what he needs to make life better. "My neighbour has got a 100 sheeps, I got only 10. I wish to have 90 more". Next he went to Germany and asked a shepard same question. "My neighbour has got a 100 sheeps, I got only 10. I wish to have 90 more". Finally he came to Poland and asked the same question a Polish shepard. "My neighbour has got a 100 sheeps, I got only 10. I wish him 90 of them to die" - replied a Polish shepard.
You are wrong about American English. I am a native English speaker and I do business classes for companies that deal with not only British companies but American companies. I have 20 to 22 classes a week; some of them are 90 minutes so I am very busy. I have also had four students pass their CA 1 Advanced Cambridge exams. It was not a problem. I think maybe you're in the East and maybe it's different on the Eastern side of Poland but on the western side of Poland, including Warsaw; nah, American English can be king. I have had a few students want to learn British English because they don't understand it when they have to hear it and of course I'm always willing to do my best or recommend a British instructor. The problem is that most North Americans don't understand British English either unless it's the queen's English so if they have a customer in Liverpool, good luck I say. Luckily, I love football although my team is a German team not a Polish team and I don't have a car and I don't need one.
Definitely not offended at all, all true points. However on the 2nd point though I would add the flip side: your true friends will be happy for you with your success (they might even warn you not to brag too much so no-one does you harm). And you know that there is no more loyal and devoted friend than a Pole. Our Friendship once declared and solidified is for life and death. Many times the unconditional love and support you receive will be also from your Polish friend's family and relatives (if they dim you worthy off course). Out outer ring of people is who we do tend to keep at a distance and protect against (or compete not always that healthily with).
Jealousy is well established in US too. As for World Series, how much of the world is actually playing that sport. On the other hand the most popular sport in the world is still considered game for kids in US.
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.
