The strangest things in Poland

1)Kids do start school a year earlier, thus kids finishing grade 12 in the US are 18 when they finish, the polish kids in "liceum" are 19 at the end, unless they go to zawodowka or technikum.
2) They do have smoke detectors.
3)You can buy alcohol in every single store, unlike Canada..lol
3) They buy food more regularly cuz more ppl use the trams and buses, AND the fridges usually are smaller so less food.
4)All the teenage girls have uneven haircuts ad scarves
5)All the cashiers in stores sit on a chair.
6) if u order a mcflurry in mcdonalds and pronounce it the AMERICAN way, they laigh at you and correct you that its "McFlahrhi"
7)When university students go to exams, they wear suits, ties, black skirts,
8) Peeople dress up to go to the store.

unlike in the US, very often pj's...yes, PL is a civilized country... :)


and i like that...it shows a respect to the institution... :)

I sugested i go down to the shop to buy mleko thismorning and slipped on some sandals with my rather eclectic PJ's, my boyfriend suggested i change my clothes and with the horrified look on my face (in our flat in london we would always nip to the corner shop in what we slept in) he explained the people are more formal here and have higher expectations of what people should look like
(i feel this also be why i am a source of much pointing, staring and gossiping from random strangers) when im just walking around in what i concider to be my normal london clothes....bizzare place...

p.s. where are all the coloured people?

In UK and France :)

I like when you go to the supermarket in the morning and see all these hot polish girls in shorts,mini skirts and lipstick.It is a stimulating experience.

i dont see that as a bad thing - it's a just a custom, and a quaint custom at that. I for one am kind of sick of everything becoming too causual and sloppy.


yeah Polish people whine a lot. I think it has somethign to do with communism and the fact that everyone is still used ot getting something for nothing from the government - BUT YET whatever they get (got) from the state was always crap anyways so they complained about it. hopefully after a few more generations of democracy and capitalism this will begin to dissappear.



"2. The food. The meat and vegetables are really tasty. I didn't know how good a cucumber or tomato could taste until I went to Poland."

I KNOW. Lol maybe that's why I'm one of the few people I know who actually LIKE vegatables - without needing to put tons of fattening crap on them to make them taste good!

southern, wow that description of Poland was quite.... intense. I've never been to Auchswitz so I can't say anything about that but that's so cool how the atmosphere has affected you so deeply. very interesting! love it!

- a MickyD's in what looked like a 13th century (i.e. really freakin' old by US standards) basement (w Krakowie)

- a shopping center at the top of the ski-lift (w Zakopanu)

- public transportation (my first experience with such a concept)

- buying fireworks in "Walmart" (the apparent Polish eq. thereof) for Sylwester

- no card games during a social gathering

- extremely formal

- proliferation of homemade "wodka" (and I use the term loosely) and the intense social obligation to "sample" each "variety"

- the furniture (especially the bed) and bedding implimentations (all though now I suppose it would be much less of a shock since IKEA has established a strong presense here)

- extreme security measures

- old fashioned market is the norm, even w Krakowie (I absolutely love this aspect of Poland)

- funny warning sign for pedestrians crossing the road (it is a stick figure getting hit by a "stick car" and flying off balance)

- Oswencim

- three days of Christmas

- Polish driving/"roadways"

- breakfast

- all that spoken and writen Polish everywhere (although sadly it is hard to get away from English in the background)

I don't think changing your tires for the winter is strange..lol.. I'm from Canada..we do it every year =)

I think it's weird. I live in the US and not many people do it. We buy all season tires and they work very good, plus as soon as it snows the plows hit the roads. Not like in Poland, where you need to change tires because they don't plow the roads as well.

>>>8) Peeople dress up to go to the store.

ah, they do that in Quebec city too ... a very strange experience for visiting vancouverites :D

I can't believe I forgot this one:

eating raw meat (sausage, bacon)

except this meat is not raw - it's smoked (heat treated over a long period of time). sushi is raw meat.
have you eaten beef jerky and/or biltong (I've eaten both, seem very similar to me)? that's a lot "rawer" than your typical Polish sausage, being smoked for a short time only.

What`s the name of that raw meat with egg? Is Steak tartar???

yes that's it

W Zakopanem (do Zakopanego) and Oswięcim (I think) turin.

Raw meat is called tartar I think. Nothing like tartare sauce

The abundance of "organ" meat eatern/served, even to guests. In the states, some people may like/eat this but would never think to serve it to a unexpecting guest.

Also, I didnt' read the post from the beginning but I know a lot of people mentioned taking off ones shoes in a house/apartment. What was more strange was people pushing their slippers on me - yuk! It would be extremely unusual for someone in the US to even suggest that a guest wear the host's shoes, even if they are supposed to be only for the guests, still someone else wore them!

I don't know where its origin is, but it is hell of a nice meal. My recipe: fresh tatar -meat(500g), 1 egg(not cooked), 1 onion(cut in pieces), a tin anchovys in oil, salt, pepper - mix everything and serve with fresh white bread. Great breakfast!

Strange and nice

Picking and eating wild strawberries in the forest (near Jaworzno). Sweet fragrant and a wonderful deep red colour ..... happening now.
Wild bilberries (small blueberries) too.
Picking and eating rasberries in the forest ... ripening next couple of weeks
Picking and eating blackberries in the forest .... August

Strange when compared with Australia, everything is shrink wrapped and looks great but doesn't taste half as good as the wild stuff here.

I don't think this is strange for the US. I do it every season. I guess it depends on your car,the traction you want and where you live. All seasons don't cut it for me.

I've noticed that there a lot of rules for taking a PL passport photo. This is strange to me because we can use just about any photo that's the right size.



The Street signs in PL can be funny. There's one in the US with a Mexican family running across. The mother has the baby by the hand flying in the air behind :)

Gotta love:

The big lollypop girl :)


Car may get struck by underground lightning:


Hill is REALLY steep on the other side:

Do people in USA go in dirty shoes into someones apartment? What about carpets? :O
Imagine cleaning all your floors after every guest. Nightmare. NOT taking off your shoes is wierd.

In UK most houses have carpets...usually there is a doormat at the entrance where you are expected to wipe your feet.....But the Polish way seems a better idea....

Yes, it was very strange when I found this out. I'm not someone who likes to be barefoot and we even wear shoes in our own house (carpeted). We regularly vacuum and have the carpets cleaned at least once a year.

Actually, I am more uncomfortable when someone takes their shoes off in my home than not - it seems VERY personal somehow.

Do children still have to wear "special shoes" when they go to school? My husband told me that when he went to school,the kids couldn't even wear their street shoes in the classroom - that is VERY strange.

I had to change shoes at school, too and we had to carry it in an extra bag daily; couldn't just leave them at school for some unknown reasons. They had to be "healthy" ones for kids and kept school floors clean on positive note. Nowadays kids don't have to change shoes, at least not in all public schools.
As for taking your shoes off when at home there's one argument that is convincing to me: you're bound to bring some dog **** home no matter where you live, from time to time that is.
Formal dress is a headache. I go every second morning to get milk to local store, just few yards/meters away and now keep checking my hair, put long pants on etc - all after getting that look from all dressed up already on street and in the store itself and from the NEIGHBORS. Have to clean my windows again!

:))

I agree but I think that some countries should actually become more obsessive about window cleaning.

those are skid marks on the wet road genius

The only thing strange I've ever witnessed in Poland was seeing a stray african in a small village

Looking back at it, this was very good. We had to wear a special sort of orthopedic shoes which were designed to help prevent or somewhat correct any possibly issues with flat feet.

Many of my classmates seem to remember uniforms fondly. Especially girls - no need to come up with any new latest and greatest from fashion magazines.

They have similar setup in Catholic schools in Canada. My daughter and her friends have always been happy about the uniforms, even if some mild rebellions took place. They consisted of girls rolling up their kilts a bit higher than they were designed to be.

The strangest thing in Poland - they always pick up and keep on going.

well i had to do that at the catholic school i went to here in the UK so its not that strange its something you would do at home ... ie take your outside shoes off and put slippers or something on so not to bring dirty and that from the streets into your home (or school)

I went to a Catholic school in the states and the only time we had to change shoes was in the winter to take off you winter boots and that was already in the classroom. My son now goes and the same is true for him. He does have to wear a uniform though, only certain color shirt and pants.