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Tag Archives: life in Poland
Inka Oppression
Aspects of the current political situation in the US remind me of coffee in Poland during the communist period. Polish people loved coffee (too mild a word – they absolutely lusted over it) and the country imported large amounts… to … Continue reading
Being dragged kicking and streaming…
I was very psyched last weekend. The university was preparing to begin classes again as of June 1 and the coronavirus situation is absolutely under control with a small number of deaths (currently averaging about 10 a day with an … Continue reading
Pessimistic about Optimism
One of the more useful, in my experience, ways of understanding cultural differences, especially in Europe, is ‘uncertainty avoidance’. In short, cultures (meaning majority preferences within a society) tend to differ in how they deal with the inherent uncertainty of … Continue reading
Never Enough Busywork…
Since classes were cancelled (beginning March 11) the administration both of the college and the university have been going berserk about making classes ‘zdalne’ (remote). Within the first week my department asked instructors what we’re doing and I answered (basically … Continue reading
Not Enough Degrees of Separation
I had to change offices and realized I have to throw out a bunch of old student work I’d been letting pile up for years (there are good and dumb reasons for that). Due to EU privacy regulations anything with … Continue reading
Different Internal Thermometers
The other day I was leaving home at around 10:30 in the morning. The temperature was 0 celsius. The building I live in has a kind of semi-enclosed courtyard and on one of the balconies I saw a neighbor that … Continue reading
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Tagged life in Poland, Ukrainian migration to Poland, weather
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Socialism and Social Relations
I’ve been thinking about grocery shopping experiences lately, especially how they’ve changed in Poland since the communist period. I only spent a couple of months in the People’s Republic (and in a privileged position of a foreigner at that). I … Continue reading
Among the Mutants
For general health reasons I try to walk for an hour or so as many days as I can manage. I get tired of the same surroundings so I go to different parts of the city. These walks brought home … Continue reading
A Glimpse of Greatness… and Some Politician
An odd survival from Poland’s communist period is the milk bar (bar mleczny). Partly to counter widespread food shortages in stores, a larger workplace would have its own cafeterias (stołówka) where employees would have at least one filling meal a … Continue reading
Working While Ukrainian
On my way back home in the Warsaw Central Railroad Station I went into a convenience store to buy a sandwich and coke for the train only to find some lady (mid to late 50s maybe early 60s) having a … Continue reading
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Tagged crazy people, life in Poland, Ukrainian migration to Poland
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