Being FOREIGN in POLAND

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Being FOREIGN in POLAND
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In this video I speak about being a foreigner in Poland and my conflicting experience with it.
My name is Michael Rubenfeld, and I am a Canadian Polish Jewish Theatre Maker who moved from Canada and is now living in Krakow, Poland. On this channel I discuss my experience and my perspectives on Poland through a Jewish lens.
#poland #obcy #polska #Pole #jewinpoland #polishjews #jews #canadian #expatjews #foreignerinpoland #jewishidentity #jewishculture #jewishlife #polishjews #jewinpoland #żydzi #żydżiwpolsce #polacy #yakovlivne #damiansobol #antisemitism
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Email me at rubenfeld@yahoo.com

Опубликовано:

10 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 73

@talktomenowxbmc 5 месяцев назад

Recently I did a DNA test and results surprised me. I was born in Poland but I’m only 52% Polish. The remaining part is everything else all the way from Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, entire Scandinavia, Ukraine, Russia and all the way to Greece and Albania. In all of these countries live people that share some parts of my DNA. I’m also 5% Jewish. That didn’t surprise me at all. It also made me realize that Poland was an attractive place that pulled people from all corners of the world to settle there.

@Czarnapannajoanna 4 месяца назад

Which one of the DNA test you used? I thought about doing DNA test but it’s hard to choose. Greetings from Poland 🇵🇱 ❤

@sSomeawesomeneSs 5 месяцев назад

i think that to feel less like a foreigner, the most important steps are language integration, building a social network, participating in local culture and learning through stories and stuff. i also think part of it is up to you, how you identify.

@globallearningculture 5 месяцев назад

Thank you for this video. I must admit I have had the same experience in several countries where I used to live, including Canada. My wife is Canadian, but her family always hints that I am not like them, kind of a glass ceiling of a sort. Mind you, I have never tried to be Canadian. One more example: my family is originally from former Eastern Poland, close to Vilnius. I spoke to my Mom, and she told me that when they moved to Gdansk after the war, she was treated as a foreigner even though Polish was her native tongue (with an Eastern accent). I believe that it is up to us to decide where our heart is and where we feel at home. Being Polish is a little bit like being Jewish, Arab, Indian, or Chinese. It is a state of mind more than a place. Consider yourself lucky to be part of two very interesting peoples; being a mix, of a Pole ( always as per your letter) and a Polish Jew that returns home, you will never be bored. Cheers.

@dariophotography7169 5 месяцев назад

Im Polish Canadian Im 3 times medalist for Canada and im proud Polish Canadian . Love your videos my friend and wish u all the best you are a great guy

@lerubenfeld 5 месяцев назад

Thank you. What kind of medals? And for what?

@JurekS 5 месяцев назад

"Kto raz ochrzczony niewidzialnym znakiem, Błogosławiony potem, czy przeklęty Będzie Polakiem, nie więcej Polakiem Niż byle łajdak, i nie mniej niż święty. Już nim zostanie, choćby sam się burzył, Choćby nie chciał sam. Chociażby stchórzył." Marian Hemar (Żyd z urodzenia, Polak z wyboru)

@karins2200 5 месяцев назад

You are somewhat like me. My parents are from two different countries. I am considered a foreigner in both countries. I was born in my dad's country but moved to my mom's country shortly after my birth and then returned at the age of 11. In my mom's country I am called a "foreigner" - including and especially by family members - because my dad is not from my mom's country. In my dad's country I am called a "foreigner" because I look like a foreigner and speak with an accent. That is reason enough to have an identity crisis :-) (By the way according to MyHeritage I am made of at least 13 ethnicities most of which make sense !). So we are not alone in our identity search, Michael Rubenfeld.

@user-bt7my8tx4m 5 месяцев назад

Michael, great videos. I think you may feel uncomfortable because, as yo mentioned, you come from Canada, a country where 27% of citizens are foreign born and 43% if you include foreign born parents. That is unique. Believe me, almost anywhere in the world you will be foreginer for life unless you manage to develop undistinguishable pronounciation (impossible if you move as an adult unless you come from closely related language like Ukraininan in Poland). I speak from experience of work for multinational corporation with expats (sometimes lifetime) on all continents. I lived and work for years in different countries myself. Belive me, even Austrians have to fake their german accent in Switzerland if they want to make friends. What is good about Poland is that everybody is welcommed and honored if they show appreciation for local culture and some basic respect for their hosts. Gość w dom, Bóg w dom.

@elizabethbaird374 5 месяцев назад

Well, I am a Polish born living in the USA. I'm both Polish and American and I'm also neither completely Polish nor completely American. A lot can be said about the identity aspects of the emigrees but I won't get into it here, I think you understand what I mean. You, with your English accent and liberal Jewish-Canadian mentality, are not so easily defined. You are both Polish and foreign and also not quite Polish and not quite foreign. For some this may be uncomfortable, confusing, identity crisis inducing prospect, but for some it could be all encompassing, broader perspective sharing and bridging of worlds. Needless to say, you are the right person in the right place at the right time.

@lerubenfeld 5 месяцев назад

Beautifully put.

@stefanburczymucha2220 5 месяцев назад

To nie jest tak, że "obcokrajowiec" nie jest Polakiem tylko dlatego, że jest obcokrajowcem. Każdy, kto nie czuje się Polakiem, nie jest nim. I nie ma znaczenia, czy otoczenie odbiera Cię w ten, czy inny sposób. Gdy tylko sam poczujesz się całkowicie Polakiem, nim się staniesz. Jeśli tylko poczujesz, zakorzenisz w sobie polskość zauważysz, że nie ma znaczenia Twój dziwny akcent, nieco odmienny wygląd, trochę nietypowe zachowanie. Wtedy wszyscy będą uważać, że jesteś Polakiem i nikt nie będzie zwracał uwagi na te delikatne odmienności. Aby się o tym przekonać, warto prześledzić historię przedwojennej Polski (zwłaszcza Żydów) i ludzie, którzy zasymilowali się.

@nuuskamuikkunen407 5 месяцев назад

Na tej zasadzie wpuścimy tych inżynierów znad białoruskiej granicy. Może poczują się Polakami.

@maciejkwiatkowski7558 5 месяцев назад

You raise an interesting issue that I have never thought about: whether a foreigner who comes to such a homogeneous society as Polish is able to feel like a local and not like a foreigner, and I remember the example of a certain Bulgarian woman who was so deeply involved in Polish affairs that she was no longer treated like a foreigner.

@wojstube9359 5 месяцев назад

Hi Michael. I like to watch videos from your Canadian-Jewish perspective. Nice to have you here. Poland and Jews were always connected 🤝 Regardless of whether you feel Jewish, Canadian or Polish it's nice to hear your story. Who do you feel like? It May be very interesting too 👋

@jadwigapomaska3158 5 месяцев назад

You have your Polish passport through you grandpa so you are Polish, no doubts about it. Also, it really doesn’t matter that much who is Polish or not. But going to TV to talk about your story is always good :). If there is an opportunity to use a platform to spread positive messages one should use it :). Furthermore even in Poland before the war Jews were kind of foreign (I don’t know if foreign is the right word but they did have a degree of authonomy within the society) because of the cultural differences so you can go there and ask to be introduced as a Polish Jew who repatriated from Canada on a mission to rebuild Jewish culture in PL :) Moreover, given that you have a Polish passport will you be sharing who are you voting for :D?

@wandamuszynski2809 4 месяца назад

Michael - from one Polish-Canadian to another (I’m an Edmontonian living and working in Czestochowa), I have to say that you are my favorite non-foreign foreigner in Poland. Own your niche. Accept TVP’s offer. You’ll be great!!

@solaris2015 5 месяцев назад

You are greatest living play writer and theatrical producer in modern Poland. And some big plays are to be written before you and you co-author.

@lerubenfeld 5 месяцев назад

Wow! But how often do you go to the theatre?

@solaris2015 5 месяцев назад

@@lerubenfeld Not often, but have seen "Fiddler on the roof" 5 times.

@leszekleszek773 5 месяцев назад

The recuperated-polishness may feel to the recurerator as foreigness. No worries though!!! :) BTW yesterday I saw on Grodzka Str in Krakow a grup of Israeli Boys (12 years old?) lead by a Rabbi (apparently) who were celebrating smth, singing loudly Halleluyah and they kept Israeli flags and toy-like things. What was that event? Bar mitsvah, or smth like that? Anyways I was happy they were enjoying their Jewish identity here in the centre without the fears that the auditory wil start to throw to them hand granates etc. Such a nice surprise!!! i was glad seeing that! It was cool! :)))

@Amnobos 5 месяцев назад

Spoko Michael, I was born and raised in Żywiec area and recently I have moved for work to Łódź, from time to time I get a question if I'm from Poland :)

@marekfalda95 5 месяцев назад

RU-vidrs, if they play it smart, are able to create very thoughtful and responsive audience.

@marek7641 5 месяцев назад

The moment you’ll speak Polish comfortably you’ll won’t feel as foreign any more.

@thaddausgriech4542 5 месяцев назад

Greetings from Cologne and all the best

@piotrstanislaw8504 5 месяцев назад

what makes you Polish? No, it does not matter place of birth, skin color or religion. It is a love of freedom and a passion for tradition, nature and good, healthy food as well as good fun and a fierce fight to defend what you love 😎 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x1OB8sxAcgk.htmlsi=SCZfaD8dhcUs-qA8

@wielebna444 5 месяцев назад

I don't have a passion for tradition, m I still Polish? :)

@piotrstanislaw8504 5 месяцев назад

@@wielebna444 tradition is a broad concept.🤔 Traditionally, Poles argue about everything and our national sport is complaining. Base on that you are Polish 100% 😉

@wielebna444 5 месяцев назад

@@piotrstanislaw8504 oh yeah, I love contesting things, you're right here, but I do not complain a lot though :)

@piotrstanislaw8504 5 месяцев назад

@@wielebna444 I also try to be pragmatic and proactive 👍😎, although I must admit that sometimes it happens because it is deeply rooted in our DNA 😅

@PKowalski2009 5 месяцев назад

I don't know how to comment. I guess only with an anecdote -- I once visited a church in Lille, France. At the end of Mass, the hospitable hosts asked what countries the faithful had come from. And they began to raise their hands and say the names of Madagascar or other French Polynesia. At the end a couple stood up and said: "We came from Strasbourg."

@sylvikwiat 5 месяцев назад

Hi Michael, for short time I used to leave in Italy. One neighbour as a child moved to Germany, after some years, as a young adult she came back to her home in Italy. And gues what, neighburs were refering to her as German. So basically she was foreigner everywhere.

@Dreju78 5 месяцев назад

What you said here is what you could talk about on that show, I guess..

@mayaniebieska8425 5 месяцев назад

Identity is a process, not a fixed thing. Accept your diversity, it's a gift. I hope you will take part in the doc, your voice is important, your journey of 're-becoming' Polish is unique and beautiful. your story is asking to be told. Otherwise, make the doc yourself.. Or write a book. But do tell the story.

@wielebna444 5 месяцев назад

I think you're bpth Polish and a foreigner, one limit yourself to one label? :) I'm a foreigner in Holland and I actually enjoy being a foreigner, some people are just not fit to belong to only one country ;)

@mateusz.w.nawrocki 5 месяцев назад

Michael, foreigners get special treatment and worship in Poland. Historically, we've been for a long time a poor backwater of ethnic homogeneity that nobody wanted to visit.

@karins2200 5 месяцев назад

Ever since I discovered Poland, I cannot get enough of it !

@evka_esgie 5 месяцев назад

Very interesting video and deeply personal one. I completely understand you. I also had some experience with being perceived as foreign or even alien. Nevertheless, I' ve learnt not to let people question my nationality. My inner identity is more important than someone else's perception. Don't feel disappointed with questions about your origin.Polish people are just curious and you are someone unique here.

@waldemarusmc3191 5 месяцев назад

Also, I been living in US for 32 years, although I was born and grew up in Poland it was only 19 years in Poland vs 32 already in US. But I still have a Americans asking me where I'm from. Or when I tell them I've served in US Marines they ask me if I was in Polish Marines. But that's ok, you can not make people pretend you are the real McCoy, especially if you have an accent and look/ act/ dress differently, especially in Poland where there's not many ethnic minorities still besides the largest cities.

@mayaniebieska8425 5 месяцев назад

I agree, I also left Poland at 19, and spent 33 years in UK. I was foreign there, and now that I'm back in Poland I kind of feel foreign here now too. Transient people take on identities that come with life experience, and it is to be cherished. Identity is never a fixed thing, if we are honest about it.

@martinjohnson2549 5 месяцев назад

@@mayaniebieska8425 That's when You delude Yourself, that nationality is a choice, not genetics.

@mayaniebieska8425 5 месяцев назад

@@martinjohnson2549 nationalities are a choice, ancestry is genetics. And my delusions are not your call to make, thanks

@martinjohnson2549 5 месяцев назад

@@mayaniebieska8425 That's super sick to pretent something You're not.

@pawelzielinski1398 5 месяцев назад

I am also an emigrant. I emigrated few decades ago to US. I spent over half of my life in US, yet I feel 100% Polish. I am a Pole who happens to live in US of A. I am not pretending to be an American, nor do I wish to assimilate in any significant way. I know some immigrants who go as far as changing their legal name to be more American and perceive obtaining US citizenship as a life time prize and greatest achievement a human can get. Neither do I want to resettle to Poland at this point, although living part time in Poland after I retire might be an option. It would all depend on the situation. mainly who will be in power in Poland and who will be in power in Russia. I hope I can outlive putler and that I will live long enough to see the disintegration of Russia. Maybe I am naive, but when I was young my dad didn't believe he would live long enough to see disintegration of the Soviet Union. Yet he outlived Soviet Union by almost 30 years. So you never know.

@DogDogGodFog 5 месяцев назад

Same. I moved into the UK when I was 11 years old. But I don't feel British at all.

@zooziz5724 5 месяцев назад

I don't understand what's up with being foreigner ? You're foreigner, so what ? Passport doesn't make you native. You're foreigner, I'm foreigner myself and I have no problem with that. Just be you, if life was bad in Poland if people didn't like you, if you was treated differently you'd leave. You're from outside, you're not outsider because people work with you, they want you in their circles.

@waldemarusmc3191 5 месяцев назад

You're Canadian, but a lot of Americans who travel abroads, at the Paris International Airport there's 2 lines one for French, nothing to declare and second line for travelers eith foreign passports. So American travelers never think of themselves as foreigners, always standing in the native line, so French have placed American flag next to foreigners sign 😅

@karolinakatanowska5960 4 месяца назад

I feel the same as a Polish living in Uk for 17 years but still feel foreigner cause of Polish accent. I’m happy and proud about my Polishness but it’s kind of barrier for a deeper relationship with English 😅 I hope you will feel great and 100% home in Poland ❤

@jacksonblaze423 Месяц назад

W Stanach Zejednoczonych jest latwiej, ale teraz wszystko jest udziwnione.

@noodleppoodle 5 месяцев назад

Canadians always so nice. You will not always be considered a foreigner if you learn Polish, I am surprised your friend is. Is is possible he carries himself differently?

@mehow357 5 месяцев назад

Michał, Pick your poison 😂 Albo ty jesteś znatywizowanym obcokrajowcem w Polsce, albo twoja żona i dzieci będą obcokrajowcami w Kanadzie. Ewentualnie wszyscy możecie być obcokrajowcami w innym kraju 😝 Tak, w pierwszym odbiorze, nie znając Ciebie (choćby z YT) - będziesz obcokrajowcem budzącym zainteresowanie, zaciekawienie, ale do momentu gdy nie wytłumaczysz że jesteś Polakiem, czujesz się Polakiem i tu się osiedliłeś i chcesz tu żyć. Nic w tym dziwnego - jest facet który mówi z akcentem (albo po angielsku), to co mają w pierwszym momencie myśleć inni? 😂 aaaa... to na pewno żyd polskiego pochodzenia, który wrócił z Kanady do kraju z którego wyjechali jego przodkowie? No nie, dopóki nie usłyszą tego (albo od ciebie albo z YT) 😂 Trzeba było znaleźć żonę Kanadyjkę, to by nie było takiego dylematu. Ale wtedy pewnie nie byłaby taka cudowna, by warto było dla niej rzucić wszystko i przenieść się na drugą stronę świata 😉 Poza tym dzieci (jeśli byłyby w ogóle) - też byłyby inne. To wszystko to tylko kwestia perspektywy i patrzenia na rzeczywistość z tej jasnej strony 😉 PS. Gratulacje za otrzymanie nagrody 👍

@marcelmarceli8238 5 месяцев назад

A foreigner can do more, people forgive mistakes right away.😉

@piotrwismont2345 5 месяцев назад

You are so adorable

@lerubenfeld 5 месяцев назад

Thank you!! 😊

@drzewowit 5 месяцев назад

I like your beard, Mate!

@piotrdziadczyk8598 5 месяцев назад

Are you learning Polish now ?

@lerubenfeld 5 месяцев назад

Tak

@ppzav 4 месяца назад

@@lerubenfeld hit me up if you need any help :-) greetinsg from Connecticut. I'm hoping to be in Warsaw next month....I can't wait!

@evka_esgie 5 месяцев назад

'Be yourself no matter what they say ' (Englishman In New York)

@yureksurfer 5 месяцев назад

Thank U dear friend... !!!

@JerzyMajewski-ir7ru 4 месяца назад

I'm curious. What causes this surprise that Poland uses Polish language? Was that something unexpected (and how come)?

@jankowalski3220 5 месяцев назад

I have always, especially since I started getting to know Polish culture, perceived what the Germans left behind in 1945 as a great "lack". It is because of the lack of Jews that pre-war Poland is such a different, distant country in my eyes, more than because of any other losses. That's why it's great that you're here, Michael. In this sense, in you biography history has come full circle.

@januszmadeja9398 3 месяца назад

Język to podstawa jeśli przyjeżdżasz do innego kraju na dłuższy czas. W Polsce z pewnością nikt nie będzie wyśmiewał cię z powodu tego, że źle mówisz po polsku. Z pewnością tutaj jest większa tolerancja do nie innych narodowości niż w Izraelu, w którym to Polacy idąc ulicą są opluwani przez żydów.