Life in Poland Po prostu Chris

THE ORIGIN STORY, PART THREE

Czego nie robiłabyś w Ameryce a robisz w Polsce? 

What wouldn’t you do in America that you do in Poland?

As an Amerykanka w Polsce, there’s nothing that I have done in Poland that I wasn’t able to do in the USA except drive like a maniac and give bribes to police officers which is not a thing now and I do not do anymore, but lots of my life experiences have taken place here in Poland. I got married here. I bought my first property here. I suffered from a serious illness here. I had my children here. And so much more.

Jakie śmieszne przyzwyczajenia mają Polacy, których nie znałaś w USA? 

What funny habits do Poles have the you didn’t know about in the US?

Now I am so used to everything Polish that it is difficult for me to come up with some Polish habits that are funny for me. Maybe blowing on things that you drop on the floor. I laugh when my kids do it. They are so Polish. Not eating or drinking cold things in the winter. Fear of the draft. Not eating the tip of the banana. Not shaking hands over the threshold.

Które z polskich świąt lubisz najbardziej i dlaczego?

Which Polish holiday do you like the most and why? 

Hmmm, probably Christmas, although we celebrate the main holidays partially Polish, partially American. If I am honest I prefer the American way of doing the Christmas presents to the Polish way, so we compromise. We have a traditional Polish Christmas Eve supper as Polish families do, but Santa Claus puts presents under the tree while the kids are asleep po amerykańsku. It is so much better!

As you noticed from my Instagram pictures, I like to have barbeques, so any Polish holiday that takes place in good weather gets its own barbeque celebration in the barn…even Boze Cialo – Corpus Christi 😉

Czego najbardziej brakuje Ci w Polsce?

What do you miss the most in Poland?

I first of all miss people. I have never experienced calling up my parents and inviting them to pop over for dinner. My children don’t have aunts and uncles or cousins.

Besides that, I miss Thanksgiving, but I suppose that has to do with family and not turkey. We do celebrate Thanksgiving though. And Halloween as well. We have had some stellar Halloweens in Poland especially the year Pani Sołtys rounded up all the kids in the village. It was awesome for me because that is a holiday that requires the participation of other people in order to do it right.

One Halloween in our village. Check out the very scary scarecrow in the back.

Excluding people, everything that is missing in Poland can be made up for by the proximity of Polish pottery shops. I’m a big fan.

Czy Amerykanie, rzeczywiście są wyzwoleni, jeżeli chodzi o rozmawianie na temat seksu? 

Are Americans really so liberated when it comes to talking about sex?

What a change of topics! Not all Americans feel free to talk about taboo subjects such as sex or death, but I certainly do. My kids know what sex is and why people do it. I fully expect that they will be sexual beings and engage in sexual activity when they are older. I recall a post that I wrote about my friend’s son who wanted to know what “making ice cream” was and he asked her. Yes, here it is. Enjoy!

I’m telling you that Polish people might not want to talk about sex, but they’re first in line to ask you your religion. I have never asked a person what their religion was in my entire life, but I am asked on a regular basis. And then I answer and all hell breaks loose. Just kidding. I’m not Polish so people are more understanding of the fact that I may not be Catholic.

People think that my views on sex are what attracted my husband, but I think it was actually my views on religion.

Czy przyjaźń po amerykańsku oznacza to samo co po polsku? 

Is friendship the same in Poland as it is in America?

I rarely go to America, and I don’t watch a lot of TV, but the last time I visited America I started to notice a progressing trend…of insincerity. Grown women using some kind of baby talk declaring everyone around them to be their BFF forever. They use “literally” for every f-king not literal thing. ”Like oh my gawd, this taco is like so good, I’m like literally dying.” Ok, you are not literally dying and you are like 40 years old. By simple semantics, the word friend for me is like znajoma (acquaintance) in Polish. Good friend would be przyjaciel.

I have a few very good American friends that I left there in America. We have a chat group, and we exchange ideas regularly. Thank you technology. They ground me like no one else can. They know my roots.

Having said that, I have extraordinary Polish friends – friends that I have had for over a decade or longer. We’ve been through big life events together, marriages, pregnancies, miscarriages, deaths, divorces. The whole she-bang.

When I came here, I made a conscious effort to make friends. It took me some time to get my gang together, but I’ve got a pretty tight group.

Dlaczego Twoim zdaniem w Polsce nie wisi prawie nigdzie flaga narodowa? Dlaczego Polacy nie mają takiego oficjalnego uwielbienia do swojej tożsamości narodowej, hymnu czy flagi, która dla Amerykanów jest świętością? Jak uczono Cię patriotyzmu w domu i w szkole?

Why do you think there are almost no national flags hanging in Poland? Why do Poles not have such official adoration for their national identity, an anthem or a flag that is sacred to Americans? How were you taught patriotism at home and at school?

In American schools, we say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag every single day. It’s a simple and honest pledge. As kids, we quite honestly felt that America was the greatest place to live. That’s what we were taught. We had never been anywhere else, but we were sure being a French girl or a German girl must just be dreadful. I don’t feel like that anymore now that I am all grown up.

In Poland and in America lately patriotism has taken on a dirty side, an “us” and a “them”. I seem to be on the side of the “gorszy sort”, and you may be surprised to know that the gorszy sort has started to display the flag at home, not as much as Americans do, but still. I think it started out as a practicality. If you’re going out to a protest march every weekend or every other weekend, there’s no sense to put your flag away, so just display it.

My father hung the American flag out every morning and took it in every evening. When we visited, he hung a Polish flag next to the American flag. American people like to feel connections to history, to geography. They want to know where you are from and are excited to say, “Oh, my cousin lives there!” They are proud of their immigrant heritage, and that’s why I cannot understand what is going on with politics in America right now. I have both flags, plus a small EU flag as well. Anyhow, you’ve seen my barn.

This was for a BBQ that coincidentally was on July 4th.

Co po kilkunastu latach w Polsce odpowiadasz na pytanie “How are you”? czy odpowiedz się zmieniła od Twojego przyjazdu?

After a dozen or so years in Poland, what is your answer to the question “How are you”? Has the answer changed since your arrival?

Ah, yes, the notorious American how are you. I first consider the intentions of the asker. If it is an American “How are you” I give an American “I’m fine, thanks, and you?”. If the question is a real one and not just a verbal extension of hello, I give a brief but accurate answer. I think everybody I know now knows the expression “I’m a bit under the weather” because I use it on occasion. I don’t give a litany of my aches and pains. I must say that I have said “Dzień dobry” in a much too friendly way at the bus stop to which I heard the rundown of a complete stranger’s hysterectomy.

Na blogu wspominasz o tym, co również przydadża się polskim emigrantom, którzy mieszają języki tworząc zabawne twory “pongliszowe”. Czy Twój mąż lub rodzina może przywołać jakieś Twoje nowotwory?  

On your blog you mention something that is also useful for Polish emigrants who mix languages ​​to create funny “Ponglish” creations. Can your husband or family recall any of your creations?

For ages, I said cieplość for ciepła and nobody told me it was wrong. Along with śnieguje and deszczuje, equally wrong. We mix non-stop. We should stop, shouldn’t we? I can tell you that I am no longer the main creator of the mixed-up words. The torch has been passed to my children. They come up with some amazing stuff. Even today I used my daughter’s creation posmellaj. Can you figure out what that’s supposed to be?

Part One

Part Two

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5 Comments

  • Reply
    Why I Moved To Poland In The First Place - Kielbasa Stories
    February 20, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    […] Origin Story, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. […]

  • Reply
    Ryszard
    January 21, 2024 at 3:31 pm

    🙂 posmellaj 🙂
    Powachaj 🙂
    Pozdrawiam slicznie !!Czytalo sie super !!!!

    • Reply
      Chris
      January 21, 2024 at 7:45 pm

      Dzięki bardzo za przeczytanie mojego posta. Cieszę się, że Ci się podobało 🙂

  • Reply
    John Bailey
    January 24, 2024 at 3:12 pm

    I have Just read your 1-3 blogs, after my wife’s cousin sent the site to be from Sussex in the UK, you certainly have had a full life all in all in the past 20 years. A most amusing read and most enlightening, it certainly needed my Polish dictionary for some of the Polish meaning to become clear, and I shall have seek my wife Basia’s interpretation to add the pernish to the per-nash, I expect this will horrify you.
    I am equally impressed with how you have fitted in, and enjoyed Poland and your obviously blissful life, when things have gone well.
    My wife and I retired here to Poland , and live in the mountain region in the glorious Pieniny for the past almost 10 years, my wife lived in the UK for 38 years, and we married in 1975 in her home city of Poznan…..My Polish is not good, perhaps I am too old to get the grips with the full meaning of the language…we shall see……But I am inspired by your story , and wit….so I shall try harder…..when not building our garden on our hillside….thank you …..Regds JB+BB

    • Reply
      Chris
      January 25, 2024 at 9:14 am

      John (and Basia), Thanks so much for your many compliments. I’m glad you enjoyed your reading. The Pieniny must be a wonderful place to live. I’m a mountain girl myself (although the mountains of Pennsylvania don’t compare to the Pieniny) so it was strange for me at first to live without them. I welcome you to make a pitstop at our place if your are ever passing through on a visit to Poznan. And as for your Polish, as long as you are making progress, even baby steps, that’s all you need. Take care, Chris

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