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[Within-Temptation]

Hi everyone
Just want to get an interesting topic going regarding FUN TIMES in POLSKA
It can involve anything to do with teaching/students? or
Encounters with Polish life?
You had too many Zywiec
So lets hear them and share your stories and have a laugh

When i was in a nightclub in Szczecin and went to to use the lavatory a couple of years ago i didn't know you had to pay for relieving yourself (First time in Poland) Ok, As i left the toaleta a lady followed me to the dance floor asking for her 2 Zloty At first i was oblivious to know what the F__K was going on But as my friend told me i had to pay her 2 Zloty for using the toilet:) To me fair enough i didn't know the rules in Polska, But it was a laugh to see a 60 year running downstairs for her share of my fun times in the Lavatory I gave her 5 Zloty and she went and so did the girls i was dancing with
Fun times in Polska
Let's hear yours???

[katsu]

well..my friend and I visited Krakow just a few months ago (Nov), and we found it really funny how everyone gave us almost "celebrity status". Strange looks were everywhere, people wanted to take pics with us, especially with her since she's guyanese. I know some polish, and it was really funny how we had to answer so many questions about where we are from? what we are doing here? How long we are staying for? How is life back in Canada? They even asked us how much money we make?? and all sorts of other questions.
Canada is so multicultural and it is normal to see people of different races pass you by...I just thought people in Krakow would be more accustomed to foreigners, since we have seen so many, especially in Rynek. But that wasn't the case...And the airport in Warsaw was even worse, and their stares made us so uncomfortable...

anyways, so if you want to feel like a celebrity, (and especially if you are non-white), do go to Krakow...

[Rusty77]

Yes, the stares do take some getting used to--it's not only in Krakow, but in every other Polish city outside of Warsaw.
One time in Kalisz I saw virtually everyone on one side of a street stop walking and turn to watch an Asia couple walk by--funny how I felt almost defensive of the Asians, and I didn't even know them. People here certainly aren't winning any awards for their tact.
Personally, I find it irritating (I'm white but most people can tell I'm not Polish by my Irish-looking appearance, and the fact that I speak Polish with a heavy Western accent), but what can you do? It's funny, when you say a friendly "hello" to these staring faces, usually they turn away embarrassed looking...I hear the "curiosity" is much more pronounced in places such as Korea...

[katsu]

-Within-Temptation- yeah, I know what you mean about paying to use the toilet. I too, needed to use one, and had no idea that we had to pay to use it...I foud it very strange and rude, and then my friend and I had a big laugh about it...
Another thing is that i like to wash my hands...pretty often i'd say, and I had such a difficult time in Krakow, locating washroom and sinks. I walked all over Rynek for hours, and couldn't find any...finally my friend and I spotted a department store, and when we found out that it actually contained a toilet and a sink, and some soap...well I was in heaven . Evertime, we'd go to Rynek, I would visit the department store for only one reason... It was funny, to see workers follow me around in the store, since i'd be in and out every few hours or so without of course buying anything...Then one day my friend and I were in it washing our hands, and then one of the toilet doors opened, and we saw a guy walk out... , then of course we panicked, cuz we thought we were using the mens room for this whole time ...But then a lady walked in and started talking to us in English, explaining to us that this is a unisex washroom...
anyways, found that funny and strange at the same time, especially since each of the toilet door had a window in it

-Rusty77- I sure hope you are wrong about "curiosity being more pronounced in places such as Korea"....cuz i'm going there in about 3 weeks...

[Prospect_Ave]

Trying to figure out which restroom door you should open...
Some Polish pubs and restaurants don't show the standard "ladies" and "gentlemen"signs. Some of the more modern venues sport signs with graphics such as a "hat and a moustache" for the guys, and "plump lips" for the gals. Or they tend to be more creative, adding a touch of originality to the place. The sort of thing someday some guy will write a book about and you will find gathering dust on a coffee table. He will go around the world taking pictures of bathroom door signs...
Anyway, back to the story, one day I was at this pub in Poznan with some friends, drinking way too much. After I had too many vodka shots I headed upstairs (or was it downstairs?) to the restrooms and found both doors without any recognizable sign. I mean really, I've seen it all: caricatures, drawings, even photographs that would refer me to the right choice. But there were just these two doors, one with a circle, and the other one with an inverted triangle. At first, nobody was around to whom I could ask. So I picked the circle one thinking that the inverted triangle resembled more a woman's genitals. I walked in and some girl inside screamed out. That must have brought out some bystanders' attention. At the end, I was dizzily trying to explain my dilemma. They all gave me this disgusted look when I made with both of my thumbs and index fingers the inverted triangle sign and brought it down to my crotch to prove my faux pas despite my logic. So much for being scientific...

[katsu]

lol, but that's an easy one everybody knows (well not in your case lol) that the circle represents female. I mean wouldn't a cirlce remind you of a female...anyway, i think circles are feminine, whereas triangles are so masculine. I guess you have a B.Sc, and not a B.A...cuz u were drunk and the first thing you came up with was scientific...

As to my story, my experience was much worse, as there was only one washroom, with just the word TOALETA on it, and no pictures at all . It was actually pretty nice inside, so I assumed it to be a girl's washroom...especially since it is girls who use washroom more often (not a stereotype, just a fact)...Well anyway, at that time I just couldn't imagine a guy using it, but of course the door of the toilet opened, and out comes a dude

all this washroom chat has brought some bad karma...just yesterday, while going to the ladies washroom at my University I had yet an another encounter. I walked in and heard some ___ sound, but thought it was the water running in the toilet since all the toilet doors were open...but no, I of course had to be punished ...as i walked deeper into the washroom (which had about 13 stalls) I see a guy relieving himself...so i gasped, and of course he had to turn around at that moment; mortified, I ran out as fast as I could. Once out, I had to check the fricken door (as i had used this washroom a number of times, and it had always been a ladies room ). And of course, it was a ladies room...So what the heck was this dude doing there? just my luck..

And also don't you guys close your door when in a stall? I mean it's not an open concept, these doors are there for a reason...

[Tumteetum]

[katsu]

hahaha Tumteetum, it's honestly that bad? this reminds me of Poland, except I'm white and I was still getting similar treatment to the one you got in Korea...
Well, I will be in a village (my choice) near Jeonju...but it seems that there are a lot of foreigners there, so hopefully Koreans got used to seeing non-Koreans...

if not, well what's a better way to let them and (me) explore one another...we can always learn from our differences...