Job Discussion Forums

[Jack Walker]

I'll be attending the wigilia celebration on Christmas Eve at the in-law's house like every year.It's usually a pretty good time with copious amounts of grub and a bit of merriment and gift-giving thrown in.

I remember my first Christmas in Poland was a bit of a lonely affair as I had only arrived a few weeks earlier and didn't really know anyone.

I spent the holidays in my bunker watching tv and drinking cheap gin.

I guess I'll also be dressing up as Father Christmas again this year to give out the gifts to all the kids in the family.This year I need less padding than last year for sure!hehe

The week between Christmas and New Year's will find me catching up on my reading with a dram of whisky at my side.

We have no plans for Sylwester yet.

How about you?

[Jack Walker]

Sounds like you're all gonna have a blast during Christmas/New Years!!Enjoy!!

[dynow]

i'll be at the lady's family's house this year.

yep, just me and a house full of Poles!

so i guess i'll be spending my christmas holiday completely intoxicated from the vodka that will be forced down my throat, all while trying my best to understand lightning fast slurred polish and eating till i explode.

sounds perfect, to be honest.

i'm really excited for christmas this year. it was cool in the states when I was young, but once you get older, because US christmas time, in my opinion, lacks tradition, christmas starts to lose its charm. not much more than a dinner without meat and handing out presents. Poland gets really crazy about christmas, lots of tradition, so I'm quite happy I'll be in Po-Po this year, celebrating the holidays with the Poles.

has anyone living in wroclaw out there been to the rynek recently? it looks amazing. so much going on, things for sale, food and gifts, and lots of entertainment for little kids. i've spent several hours already just walking around looking at everything. if you're in wroclaw, i strongly recommend you go see it!

bummer they didn't set up the ice skating rink though this year

[Sgt Bilko]

Not sure if this should go on this thread or the cost of living but why is it almost impossible to go to a pub on New Years Eve if you're not willing to spend 500zl (for a couple) for a meal and a bottle of Russian 'champagne' (Recommended Retail Price 5.99zl)?

And almost impossible to find a hotel room in a nice mountain resort without booking for a week....

[anospi]

Tell me about it. My girlfriend and I rang 45 places last year looking for a room for 3 nights over Sylwester. We nearly gave up, when we found a place in a village in the Mala Fatra National Park in Slovakia. Turned out to be perfect!

[dynow]

[Richfilth]

My experiences of Wigilia ought to go in the complaining thread too - maybe that's why this thread isn't getting the attention it deserves.

Fish that tastes like mud, fish that tastes like armpit, fish that tastes of what I threw up after eating the last two, all washed down with beetroot soup and boiled vegetable salad? F**k that for a laugh, I'd rather eat a cold tin of beans on dry toast and call it a slap up meal.

It's the only time I can cope with the grandmother-in-law's praying; as long as she's saying grace, I don't have to put any of what's on the Wigilia dinner table near my face.

[Harry from NWE]

On Christmas Eve I will be working until 6pm (although I won�t have any work to do because everybody will have gone home by about 2pm, so I�m planning to play with my Christmas presents) and then going home where my girlfriend and her daughter are doing as close to a traditional Christmas Eve supper as they can in my under-equipped kitchen and on the condition that if any carp enters my flat in any form, they�re both sleeping at the Central Station. On Christmas day we�re all going to the Hilton and meeting a few mates of mine for the Christmas day brunch: 150zl per person for unlimited top-notch food and decent booze. Should be staying there until evening.

Not sure about NYE. There are a few places which are just doing a �normal� night but I�m very tempted to just stay in and watch a season of 24 while drinking very good whiskey.

[dynow]

i was just talking to a student of mine, he was discussing New Year's Eve prices at restaurants. as it turns out, 500 was cheap.

the quotes he received had been more like 350 per head.

700 PLN for bad champagne and Polish cuisine. unbelievable.

yeah, carp is in fact crap just spelled a different way.

either way, I'm looking forward to christmas this year in poland. if anything just for the time off from work.

[Jack Walker]

2 Sylwesters ago,my wife,her sister and her sister's husband,went to one of those New Year's party things at a local karczma restaurant.

We paid 400zl per couple and we were led to believe that sufficient beverages would be provided.I'm not talking alcohol, but general beverages.

We were given a 500ml bottle of cheap vodka per couple, and one 250ml glass of orange juice per head.This was supposed to last us all night!

Of course after eating dinner and having a few dances,we were very thirsty and requested a jug of water for our table.The fireplace was raging and it was hot inside the restaurant.

The waitress said they were only selling 250ml glasses of mineral water for 5zl per pop.Cola,juice tea,coffee etc was being sold for 5zl.They were making us pay extra for a bloody cup of tea!The four of us and many other guests were complaining that we paid 400zl per couple and we shouldn't be charged 5zl per pop for a drink of water during a dam New Years party which we paid handsomely for.

The management wouldn't budge, so a couple of us went to a Zabka nearby and bought a few litres of cola and a few bottles of mineral water.As we were entering the karczma with our drinks,the manager grabbed our bags and a tug of war ensued.The bags broke and our bottled beverages bounced over the floor.A shouting match arose and cross words were exchanged.

We left the party immediately and had words with the manager.It really sucked! It kind of turned us off Sylwester parties permanently.Also,the "band" turned out to be a guy playing cds and the dance floor was non-existant.It held about 4 people out of the 150 guests or so in attendance.

Only in Poland would such a thing happen.We held up our end of the deal and were expecting a nice night out for our hard earned money.My wife was preparing for it for weeks and bought a new dress and everything.I felt sorry for her that our night out was ruined by greedy *beep*.400 zl at 2006 prices is not cheap.They could have at least provided a bottle of mineral water per head for a party that should have lasted 9 or 10 hours.If we had taken their bait and bought drinks at 5zl for 250ml,we would have spent an extra 100zl easily.F*****g bollocks!

[afowles]

A few years ago, when I was still living in Poland, a friend and I went to Krynica Zdroj for Christmas. The point was mostly to play as much backgammon and chess as possible.

I hastily checked us into a "Dom Zdrowa" (pardon me if my spellings are bad; it's been some time) not quite knowing what to expect. It was cheap, convenient, and included meals.

I should add that my friend and I were both very gruff folks at the time. I hadn't shaved in months and my hair had grown out. My buddy was just English. (yuk yuk)

We arrived at the hotel after long train rides, his from Radomsko and mine from Poznan. We'd met up in Krakow and taken the osobowy the rest of the way. We didn't see any of the other residents that night as we made way quickly to the nearest pub.

The next morning at breakfast, we learned of our situation for the next few days--youngest by decades. It didn't really bother us, as our main intention was to enjoy being in the mountains and acting as old as retirees (come on, chess and backgammon? puh-lease).

Wigilia changed everything. We came back to the hotel, or shall I say sanytarjium, after a few pints of grzane. We walked down the hall to the staircase leading to the dining room, where we had theretofore been placed in the corner at our own table, darn foreigners. For wigilia, all the tables were pushed together and two spaces remained vacant, both in the middle. We uncomfortably eased our way to where our table had formally stood...and looked around pathetically. Then, an old gentleman in his Sunday best (I should mention we were in jeans and sweatshirts) rose slowly, gestured towards the empty seats, and croaked, "Prosze bardzo."

We sat. We were started at. We spoke our best Polish to explain what we were doing there. We were started at still. During oplatek (large pieces of which be broke off each others'), we met a woman who had lived in Australia for some time and asked us to speak English to her. We did and she answered in Polish. We were well-wished with the best of them.

Dinner passed uneventfully and the carp came and went. We ate everything--to the amazement of the onlookers. I believe it was during the sledz that the Australian woman pointed to our dishes and said, "FISH."

Krynica, ah, Krynica. Your snow-topped mountains and healthy water call me back. But! Oh! How the miles divide us.

[scottie1113]

On Sylwester I'm going to Absinthe, the best bar in Gdansk. 30 zl gets me in the door with no frills which is fine with me. Restaurants are obviously more expensive but I haven't seen anything approaching the prices you guys have mentioned. I find them amazing.

No vigilia for me this year as my friends are spending the evening with her Polish parents, so Vlad and I will go to Duszek, which may be the only place open. Christmas Day will find me at the above mentioned friends flat, hopefully with some of her family and other Polish friends. On the 26th I'll go to see a friend nearby and we'll cook something with a lot of our pals.

All in all, not too bad.

Merry Christmas, all of you.

[Jack Walker]

Feliz Navidad sir!Have fun!