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[ratsareeatingmybrain]

British-Asian mate of mine came for a week to Krakow without anything to mention. I also worked at a school there for a year with a black American girl, who didn't have any real bother as far as I know, but I didn't speak to her about it specifically.

That said, out away from the centre (which is where the school is) I remember once walking with her to the bus stop when two guys going past noticed her and one exclaimed 'kurwa macz, to murzynka!' (fookin 'ell, it's a black girl) as if she was a martian or sumat. She didn't realise what was up and I thought it best not to tell her, for better or worse.

[dynow]

my 2 groszy:

i would say not so good.

my students routinely refer to black people in offensive ways. they aren't used to them and it's an entirely homogenous society. out of curiosity, why do you want to tour this area of Europe?

[sharter]

Xenophobia is alive and well in Poland and it's not just a black/white/yellow thing. It's basically a Pole/non-Pole phenomenon and varies from place to place and across the age spectrum. Older folks might not like the Russians or Germans. Younger people might not like just about anyone. Everybody hates gypsies.

Attitudes have changed a lot since the 90s, that's for sure. Before the advent of budget airlines and open labour markets, Poles loved the Brits pretty much unanimously. Stag dos and shittty English bosses have put paid to that though. The English teachers (Brits and Americans) haven't helped much either. Most male teachers there are just there for a particular woman, women in general and or the boozy lifestyle. They sure as hell aren't there for the money or weather and you can find good students anywhere.

No...take any backward Polish attitudes with a pinch of salt as they're pretty awful to each other too.

In Britain you congratulate people who get promoted. In Poland people obsess about others' good fortune, get all jealous and try and shaft them.

Life is indeed brutal and full of potholes.

[sparks]

Of course racism is everywhere. IMHO Poland isn't so much more racist than anywhere else. Where I'm from in the States you find it much more blatent than any big city in Polska. Just a minority of people in America like to speak out about how anti-racist they are. Probably on this forum as well. The masses, as usual, are a**es.

As far as money, you'd have to be a lazy retard to not make as much or more than in England, with their pathetic salaries, or the minority middle class in the States.

As far as weather, I enjoy a chilly grey autumn.

[dynow]

[sharter]

Couldn't agree with you more about poor salaries in the UK, but then again EFL isn't considered a real job there. Thankfully, I've only taught in the UK on 3 occasions, the last time being in 1999. Actually, if you don't mind teaching refugees/murdering cut throats on the run then, the money can be quite good. The language schools in London should be shut down for what they pay.

Last time I taught in Poland I had a salary of 7,500/month + a free flat in Warsaw and all my travel expenses. That was in 2006. Tutoring a fatcat isn't much fun though as my life had to fit around his. Yep, there's money to be made in Poland and a comfortable lifestyle to be had. That's unless you get divorced, have to pay child support and the plan goes 'Pete Tong'. When that happens, you simply can't afford to live there. Flatsharing isn't on when you've got a kid, maintenance and all that...etc. In 2006, you got a lot more Zs for your Sterling too, which made going there for hols cheap. Alas, not now.

Poland is a place for younger teachers, racism or not.

[dynow]

or for people who aren't divorced and paying child support.

[Master Shake]

I talked to a black hairdresser from Africa living in Gdansk, Poland a while ago.

He said he hated it there. He said he couldn't ride the SKM from Gdansk to Gdynia without someone saying something nasty to him or staring him down.

Only reason he was there was his Polish wife.

[sharter]

BBC World has done a few programmes on the 2012 Euro Championships, and Poland figures heavily in the shows about racism.

I have a (black) Kenyan friend in Poznan who tells me people are always making comments about her. She speaks Polish fluently as she has been there a long time studying medicine on a scholarship. She ignores it.

The football racism was a throw back to British hooliganism when Polish clubs affiliated themselves to English counterparts. The irony is that in the UK, domestic hooliganism has thankfully all but died. AT Legia, Legia's own black players cannot celebrate scoring in front of certain sections of the crowd. Wisla also have a problem.

The thing is, there just aren't many black people in Central Europe. 10 years ago it was very rare to see anyone of colour. Some of the stares are probably just curiosity, but many aren't.

I have lived in Poland on and off since 95 and I don't find the Poles a particularly tolerant group of people. They certainly don't smile much. They're not bubbly like the Latins in Europe or a good laugh like the Brits,Welsh,Scots and Irish. It's funny though, I've often heard Poles say that they are the 'Italians' of Central Europe. I suppose all that vodka has deluded a few people. In the same way, Americans often think they're funny and cool:)

Weird thing is, I keep going back and I would, with or without a Polish son. The place just gets into you.................like a tapeworm.

[dynow]

sure, poland is a racist country, but what would happen if a white dude moved to.....i don't know.....say Kenya.

would he get stares?

would there be racist comments?

would he be treated differently?

most likely.

this does and always will happen in a homogenous society, so for someone asking whether or not a country with a 99.9% white population is going to be tolerant to a black person.....it's almost a silly question. why would poland be any different than anyplace else in the world with a similar demographic?

[Richfilth]

[Richfilth]

[Master Shake]

[sharter]

I stand corrected Rich Filth..I meant the English.

Scots are people who drink loads and support any opponent of England at football matches and die of heart disease.

The Welsh are big drinkers who support any opponent of England in the rugby and die of general neglect.

The Irish always side with the Scots and Welsh and also happen to be big drinkers. They often die of liver disease and in fights.

The English (originally the Britons) drink like F*** and like to take the mick out of all of the above. They die through the stress of living in a ridiculously expensive country, in which the majority have to do what a minority of immigrants want them to do.

As for the stag do thing? Like hooliganism, it's another infamous English export. Last time I was in the 'Rynek' in Poznan there were 3 stag dos on the go in the same square. I don't see anything wrong with dressing up, getting wasted and shagging a hooker before signing your life away.

And Mastershake...Thais may offer the odd stare but Poles can and do kick the Krap out of foreigners from time to time. Whites in Kenya are not an uncommon sight due to the old days of the empire. I think it's sinister in Poland. Foreigners, more so than any other place I've been, are seen as cash cows. Polish men are the most xenophobic people I've met outside Saudi Arabia. They hate gypsies, dislike Russians, don't think much of the Germans and still feel bitter about world focus on the holocaust during the war years. Poles are very nationalistic. This nationalism manifests itself in their attitudes towards foreigners.

Most long-term expats I know in poland have very few Polish friends. Many, on the other hand, have Polish girlfriends. I think the reasons for that are economic.

[lundjstuart]

Theres nothing wrong with having a Polish girlfriend! The reason why the Polish women like foreign men is simply because they don't enjoy how the Polish men act and treat them. Foreign men threat them great and are more socially involved, ie- not just drinking and going to the match to fight everyone!
As for the majority of Polish people, they are awesome when it comes to being a guest to their house, just not so nice on the streets towards foreigners!