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Life in Poland as a Polish heritage American

posts: 3

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Aug 16, 10, 20:51 #1

I am an american teen of Polish roots so obviously my last name is Polish. I am going to be an exchange student in Polabd for a year to live the life as a Pole and understand the culture. I know little now and know only basic Polish. What can I expect. Will I ever be seen as "one of us" by the classmates or will I always be looked at as the amercan exchange student. I know thats what I am but since our blood is the same the only difference is nationality language and culture and I will be living there, speaking Polish, and living the culture. And thats the whole reason I'm going since a lot of the people on this forum hate americans who call themselves polish but no nothin about poland.

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Edited by: aphrodisiac Aug 16, 10, 21:18 #2

Polskiej_Dumy:

Will I ever be seen as "one of us" by the classmates or will I always be looked at as the amercan exchange student.

I think that it depends on the particular group of people and it you are a friendly chap and the class is a friendly group of people, you will be all right.
Fitting in at all costs is probably not the way to go about it. be yourself and don't try to compromise your own American values in order to fit in. You also have something to offer to them. I would look at it from that point of view:).
Forum posters are not the reflection of the Polish society. If you are interested in your Polish heritage then taht will be the opportunity for you to experience it and compare the reality with what people write on forums:)

Good luck and enjoy yourself:)

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Aug 16, 10, 21:29 #3

Hi.
I tried to get to know Poland by studying for one semester at the Academy of Fine Arts. It was a pleasant experience but I got a lot more out of a combination of efforts:
1. Learning the language
2. Learning about the history (especially WWII and Communism)
3. Going to social events (film festivals, industry groups, clubs etc.)
4. Forcing oneself to watch tv in Polish, see Polish movies, and listen to Polish music.

If you do all these during your year of study, you'll get more than if you just hang out with people from school.

Polish people tend to care what country your were born but in what city. For example if you are from the USA but your parents were born in Warsaw you have a slightly easier time than if you are from the USA and your parents were from villages or small towns. Again I am not being scientific here, so you just have to play it by ear.

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