The West Pole

In response to:Language is a funny thing

2008-06-10T08:15:32+02:00

It is true - language is a funny thing. For example English has more exceptions than ruls. ;)

In response to:Language is a funny thing

2008-05-15T21:21:20+02:00

Hi Robert,

You spent some time in my home town, GORZOW, amazing. And equally amazing, you are asking the questions I have been trying to find answers for for the last few years.
By the way, are youb still in Gorzow?

In response to:Language is a funny thing

2007-03-22T12:17:13+01:00

Ok my polish is absolutely next to non existent so excuse my spelling Djindobre.

In response to:Carnival

2007-02-23T14:19:02+01:00

Hello my love, Poland's often like that- modern on one side, traditional on the other. Torn between the East and the West.
It's very impressive how you manage to understand the country better than many Poles do. Keep on thinking about it and writing.

In response to:Szkola

2006-02-22T21:25:24+01:00

I just wanted to let you know that I love you so incredibly and amazingly much... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In response to:Szkola

2005-10-03T20:34:51+02:00

Rar... another Polish girl :) Shudn't have let her see the page ;p

In response to:Szkola

2005-10-02T00:16:25+02:00

Great, but I don't understand anything...

In response to:Szkola

2005-09-30T19:01:42+02:00

You definitely should be glad :) Wo do have some time for other things though... :)
Your Polish really is improving (don't know what about your English :)) And just btw- 'school' is 'szko³a', not 'sko³a' :)
The Polish school is quite tiresome but on the other hand we're mostly really hardworking...

In response to:Solidarnosc

2005-09-01T13:12:51+02:00

It's certainly true of Poland at the moment with Krasniewski as president, but then Poland has tried other leaders (notably Walesa himself as president) before bringing him back to power. It seems to me that the same people would always be attracted to government, whatever their ideological stance (if any). Krasniewski seems to me to be a case in point: a good politician of international stature, he would have ended up in power whether Poland was communist or democratic. Whether he would have had the power to improve living standards if Communism hadn't fallen in Poland is another matter entirely.

In response to:Anton the Serb

2005-08-30T23:41:22+02:00

I am really curious to know his real name. Maybe someone from Serbia knows something about him

In response to:Solidarnosc

2005-08-29T21:49:06+02:00

There's an article in this week's Economist "History Lessons Passed and Failed, which claims that most of the "significant" events of the past in Eastern Europe (including the founding of Solidarnosc) were less significant in retrospective then they seemed at the time. It remarks that the same elites under communism are often still in charge now, in a more "reformed" version.

But certainly we wouldn't be where we are now without those events.

In response to:'The Sheep Advert'

2005-08-27T16:29:15+02:00

Adverts never seem to cross cultures. I remember seeing a bank advert a few times in Russia. It showed a young couple with baby in a pram with their future (and a bank loan) in front of them. They were obviously intended to be the equivalent of a successful yuppy couple to the Russian viewers (assuming that concept was recognizable).

But I saw a girl in an old fashioned Laura Ashley flowery print dress and a hippy bloke with a pony tail, who no bank manager in their right mind would lend money to.

Who knows whether it was a successful advert or not.

In response to:Autobusowy, sklepy, i reklamy

2005-08-21T15:43:12+02:00

Me back again:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/lovimoment/

is an American girl just arrived in Ekaterinberg. She has lived in St Petersburg last year and speaks Russian, so knows what she is getting into.

In response to:Autobusowy, sklepy, i reklamy

2005-08-21T15:23:23+02:00

And a girl working in Kosovo who likes train travel! http://www.livejournal.com/users/marpesia_m/

My mother used to send me all sorts of newspaper cuttings she thought I needed, which were not very interesting to me. Sorry if I am doing to same to you.

In response to:Autobusowy, sklepy, i reklamy

2005-08-21T15:18:43+02:00

Sorry, forgot to say well done on the bus pass.

In response to:Autobusowy, sklepy, i reklamy

2005-08-21T15:17:33+02:00

This blog programme is really weird. You click on the comment line and then it seems nothing happens. After about 3 clicks it dawns on you to scroll down and there is the comment box.

Here's a blog about travelling round the world (currently in China) http://sanyu.typepad.com/sanyus_world/. It's not very erudite but what do you expect from a blog.

In response to:A long and winding road

2005-08-20T20:57:43+02:00

hi rob very interested in your blog ensure you keep it up. When you start teaching dont pitch it too high and dont assume everyone has the same interest or knowledge as yourself if you pitch it low you can work up if you pitch it high you may put people off. See yer ducks jrb & mab

In response to:Gorzow

2005-08-19T00:44:53+02:00

Glad you arrived safely and everything's OK.

In response to:Dulce Domum

2005-08-16T23:22:23+02:00

And it's always much nicer arriving somewhere by train. As people get on and off, you get used to the change in language and food (though maybe not so much these days). Better than going up in the air, and coming down just anywhere without any sense of continuity.

And don't forget to check that there are no hills between Cambridge and the Urals, so they say when the cold wind blows in Cambridge.

In response to:Dulce Domum

2005-08-16T23:18:37+02:00

Didn't realise you were going by train. It can't be a problem going through Berlin to Poland, any more.

I can remember when I went to Moscow by train before the Wall came down. You got on the train at Hook van Holland, handing over your passport to the Russian train conductress. Berlin was a place of train shunting in the night: one stop for the West German/East German border, one stop for the East German/West Berlin border, one stop for the West Berlin/East Berlin border, and one stop for the East German/Polish border. You were glad that the conductress did all the border passport controls, so you could stay in bed at least, though sleeping was rather difficult.

Everyone speaks English these days anyway. Don't worry.

In response to:And so it begins...

2005-08-01T15:48:47+02:00

Me again. Just thought you might like to know that the tags show that someone is writing in Polish and quite a lot of posts too. Seems to be a girl in Harrow. You might like to get in touch!

In response to:And so it begins...

2005-08-01T15:26:11+02:00

Hi Rob, just found the blog. I hooked it up to RSS so I can read it in Yahoo and know exactly when you've updated it.

First time I've seen an RSS feed for comments separately from posts, but I guess that one is for you (since you know when you have posted!)

Look forward to reading your adventures.

The blog template looks really helpful.

In response to:Why Poland?

2005-07-30T10:48:41+02:00

You shouldn’t really compare the two but YES I agree Poland has borrowed a lot from LITHUANIA. (haha-another anti-polish joke there for you)
Also, you should definitely go see the dunes in Nida they’re quite something, the seafood is also excellent and the nightlife is buzzing.
Just out of interest-how are you finding Polish people?

In response to:An address

2005-07-28T11:43:38+02:00

Thanks for writing:) I had to think about that for a long time before writing the new post ('Why Poland?'). I'm not sure I've given a good answer even now, but I'll think about it for future posts. If there's anything else you'd like to see included, just let me know.

In response to:Why Poland?

2005-07-28T11:35:56+02:00

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, my girlfriend is very Lithuanian, having spent her most important growing-up years living in Vilnius. On the negative side, I've had to endure a few anti-Polish jokes, but on the plus side I was lucky enough to visit her in Vilnius a couple of times, and I'd agree that its as beautiful as any of the towns I've seen in Poland. Having said that, many of the buildings were built during times of union with Poland, and I've always thought of Poland and Lithuania a little bit like England and Scotland, sometimes seperate, but always with a great deal in common. I would love to visit Nida and Kaunas though....

In response to:Why Poland?

2005-07-28T01:53:14+02:00

Poland is overrated, but I agree it's lovely in some parts. Go to Lithuania if you ever get the chance, it has a lot to offer especially Nida, Trakai, Vilnius and, of course, Kaunas.

In response to:An address

2005-07-27T14:41:12+02:00

Sounds like you're in for an exciting time! Would be interested to know more about how you got interested in Poland.