Any British/ English speakers in Zakopane?

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Edited by: Moderator Jul 26, 11, 21:47 #1

Hi

I'm British and recently moved to Zakopane - and just starting to learn polish.

Nice town, nice area, but finding it hard to make friends here. Wondered if there were any British ex-pats or anyone who speaks English wanted to meet up for a coffee?

Have moved before from England >Wales, Wales> Ireland, but here it seems a bit harder to get into the community. Ideas welcome!

Or if anyone can recommend a local, experienced Polish tutor I'd be grateful - thanks

cheers
Greg
http://www.facebook.com/ilovedonegal

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Edited by: Ogorki Jul 26, 11, 23:57 #2

Zakopane is a friendly place but it takes a while to be accepted. Have you seen that US programme Northern Exposure? It's a bit like that. Not knowing Polish will make it even harder. They will be nice a friendly but at the end of the day they will get bored and go home cos not many people speak English/don't want to speak English. I go 1-2 times a year skiing/partying. It takes a while to be accepted in Zakopane. If you still there in Feb we can meet for a jar. What you doing there?

PS. Next time you are in Vavoom (if you go there) say hello to Mirka from Mark and Richard (regular customers)

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jul 27, 11, 00:18 #3
One of my English friends got told off for speaking English there. Watch out for nationalistic snobs! ;)

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Jul 27, 11, 03:19 #4

The bus station seemed to be run by NKVD Border Guard/Blocking Detachment types.................
Take a photo in almost any direction and some twat wants a handfull of zloty.......
It was warm enough for us Yorkies to wear T Shirts but all the plums wrapped up for Siberia looked at us as though we were the crazy ones....
Nuns,bloody hundreds of em, was sort of like an eclesiastical version of ZULU seeing all the Nuns and baby Priests trooping down the hill.....
The market traders were a right laugh though,really friendly and not at all offended that our conversation was mostly sign language or odd,military Russian :):)
Lovely looking place, a welcome about as warm as the top of the mountain in December.

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Jul 27, 11, 09:54 #5

heh - well I've not found anyone unfriendly...just it is hard to socialise when you're new in a town and don't know anyone (or the language). MAin problem at moment is even finding anyone who can teach me Polish here facce:face so I'm stuck with internet-based learning.

Well, if anyone does read this that fancies a coffee one day give me a shout - or email greg @ underthethatch. co. uk (remove the spaces when typing it - I added them to prevent websearch robots from picking up my email for spam)

ZlotyThreads: 6 Posts: 19 Joined: May 20, 11 ♂	Jul 27, 11, 11:00 #6
Oh nice! You're in the mountains. I just looked up pictures and it looks like a storybook. I will definitely have to visit there at least in the winter. As far as learning the language, you're on the right track. Go to a bar, have a few drinks, and smile. Someone may start talking to you. It worked for me in France. If all else fails, you can always cross the border into the Eurozone nearby.

hague1cmaeronThreads: 21 Posts: 1,652 Joined: Mar 30, 10 ♂	Jul 27, 11, 11:26 #7
'm British and recently moved to Zakopane - and just starting to learn polish. So how are you occupying your time in Zakopane Greg?

SmintiThreads: 4 Posts: 17 Joined: May 23, 11 ♂	Jul 27, 11, 12:10 #8
I work from home on the internet, so can work anywhere in the world. But I like Poland, and especially the landscape of the Tatry mountains. I walk my dog, go for a run/swim, the odd cafe. It's a tourist town so people just assume you're here for a week.

sobieskiThreads: 82 Posts: 1,143 Joined: Jun 1, 08 ♂	Jul 27, 11, 15:42 #9
Well... if it is a comfort...the Górale are not that open to Polish people (that is to say non-Górale) as well. I am married to a Góralka for many years and they only accepted me because of my wife. That is not to say they are not hospitable, but making personal contacts might take time and effort.

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Edited by: isthatu2 Jul 27, 11, 15:58 #10

Some of the sweetest music I have ever heard,was so gutted to lose a couple of Gorale CDs in a recent move :(
(although a couple of tracks could have done without the Bontempi Hit organ set to "country and western" beat...;) )

plus, although I can find no references anywhere on line, Im convinced Fonzie did a Gorale dance in Happy Days once.no idea why as he was obviously meant to be an Italian American but............he didnt half look a lot like the second guy to start dancing in this clip :)

http://youtu.be/6mmFNJtlnIo

SmintiThreads: 4 Posts: 17 Joined: May 23, 11 ♂	Jul 27, 11, 19:06 #11
heh - I'm sick of Gorale music - I live next door to a traditional restaurant that has live singers and bands every night. you soon get tired of it! :)

OgorkiThreads: - Posts: 131 Joined: Aug 4, 08 ♂	Aug 2, 11, 23:20 #12
heh - I'm sick of Gorale music - I live next door to a traditional restaurant that has live singers and bands every night. you soon get tired of it! :) apparently they train for quite a while to play out of tune like that :)

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