Poles are notorious when it comes to leaving their own country for different reason in different times. Before the First World War, and in between the World Wars, Polish people – mostly lower class people, workers and peasants - went out looking for work and bread abroad. Even earlier than that, when Poland temporarily ceased to exist, as well as after the Second World War, people left the country, mainly for political reasons.
As a result, there are Poles all over the world, so called
Polonia, entailing, besides the new migrants, people of Polish origin of second or third generation – some still speaking Polish and some only interested in being a part of the Polish community, enjoying its traditions.
Now we are back to the beginning of the circle. Once again, Poles are on the move looking to improve their economical circumstances. They are free to leave and come back, but are they prepared for what happens in between?
Nowadays, Poles mainly move to English-speaking countries: the UK, the US, and also Ireland. Germany and Sweden are popular, but you can find Poles most everywhere, wherever there is a opportunity to gain more than in their home country.
However, work is only a part of one’s life, which is easy to forget. Leaving your homeland, besides a possible increase in welfare, brings many other unexpected consequences. If you’ve never lived overseas, be prepared for a real cultural shock. A good
job in Poland is not everything - making good money is only a part of it.
By leaving your own country, you tear the contacts that you have built during your life, and you leave behind not only your family and friends, but everything that you were used to in you daily life. The familiar butcher and baker, the lady next door that used to smile to you every morning when you were going to work, and your fishing mate and his old Fiat, are all gone. You really are on your own.
And there is the cultural shock. If you believe it is all about learning the language, and everything will be fine as soon as you can speak it fluently, think again. Although language proficiency is a major part of it, even if you are fluent as a fish, you won’t probably ever be able to get rid of that Polish accent of yours. Soon enough, you will notice that every conversations will begin from: “You sound like a Pole,” or “It sounds like East European accent”, which might not annoy you for a while, but sooner or later, it will. What is even more important is that your accent will hinder you in getting the jobs you want. No one wants an employee with obvious foreign accent talking to his customers.
Thus, your choice of jobs will be severely limited by the way you speak. Which is even worse if you decide to stay in the country, since your inability to learn to speak the language perfectly might, in the long run, affect your self-esteem. This is one of numerous reasons why some migrants have psychological problems. If it is s short time working visit, the situation is, of course, different. You can go back where you came from and forget the experience.
However, if you stay, you will notice that although you speak the language, you seem to be saying the wrong things. Somehow, the natives talk about other things than what you’re interested in. Telling jokes is, for example, uncommon in English-speaking countries, while for the Poles, it is a normal way of making merry.
Translating jokes is also not a good idea, unless you want to embarrass yourself, especially when you are the only one who is laughing and everyone looks at you as if you came from another planet.
On the other hand, you might not get all that many opportunities to tell natives your funny stories. Many Westerners, in general, do not crave personal contact as much as it is usual in Poland. As you will soon notice, they might prefer not to socialize much with a foreign migrant, either.
Thus, you might soon find that living abroad can be a rather lonely proposition. True, you will have other Poles to mingle with, but there goes also your chances of improving your language.
It is a surprise to most that almost everything about the way the natives behave is different to the way things are done back at home. You don’t kiss ladies on the hand, you don’t shake hands at all times, you don’t visit people unannounced, you don’t treat your supervisor as an equal (although you call him by his first name, you don’t expect to be offered a cigarette….). The list goes on and on.
Does this sounds like a lot of hassle? Believe me, it is. That is exactly why many a Pole, even after many years abroad, choose to go back to live in their mother country. Better an old, worn out, familiar shoe that fits than a new shining one that gives you painful blisters and ugly calluses. Be warned.
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