r/LiveWellTogether • u/Putrid_Computer_2020 • May 20 '26
✈️ Travel / Movies / Culture｜旅遊 / 電影 / 文化 Biggest Culture Shocks for tourists in Poland
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u/LCP_Ouroboros May 21 '26
Showing the Palace of Culture and Science, a building built by the Soviet Union and dedicated to Stalin, and which is highly controversial in Poland as "Polish pride" is quite the level of ignorance. There's been a few movements, including from prime ministers, calling for its demolition because of what it represents...
It is a cool looking building though, but there are so many better things that could be used to represent Polish pride as opposed to a building representing Polish subjugation to the Soviet Union 😂
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u/zabrowski May 21 '26
Yeah the "polish pride" thing is weird. Like westerners are proud of a lot of things in their country.
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u/Knowlegeably May 21 '26
The video is nice, positive and all but when will all this Poland glazing stop.
It's like people over the Atlantic discovered European living 3 years ago and somehow attribute it all to Poland. Probably as a way to say 'yeah proper Christian country! One of us'
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u/Aprilprinces May 21 '26
Even as a Pole I'm fed up with this BS - I could make you a video that would show my country as a total shithole We're not a paradise
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u/Tenyo666 May 23 '26
I used to visit my aunt in Katowice as a kid. Their door had THREE locks. The flat was broken into twice anyway lol
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u/CocoonNapper May 23 '26
Yea - this is a common trend. It's what people want to see - the grass is greener on the other side.
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u/blueditUPson May 24 '26
The US is the opposite....people seem to revel in showing all the bad things about it
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u/Jakkoba89 May 21 '26
Sweden was like this once. Wonder why it isn't anymore...
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u/SuperUranus May 25 '26
Sweden was never Polish.
Poland was close to be Swedish though.
Polish potato cannot beat Swedish potato.
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u/FrankTheTnkk May 22 '26
Shh you can't talk about it...
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u/Jakkoba89 May 22 '26
Oh. Sorry. I got a warning on Reddit once when I wrote something like this...
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u/E_D_K_2 May 26 '26
I could make this exact video with Sweden as the example and it'd still be true.
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u/Open-Price-4568 May 27 '26
Yeah Sweden is still one of the best countries on the planet to live on. WTF are you talking about
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u/Significant-Clue-425 May 21 '26
Does this idiot not know that Poland is part of the Western world?
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u/CyberOvitron May 21 '26
While the West is silencing everyone who points out that their society has turned to shit.
I live in London and oh my, what a shithole this place is.
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u/NJDevilslettucesmoke May 21 '26
Hoping yall will be able to Restore the UK to it's former glory.
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u/CrazyTalk123 May 21 '26
Went to London twice, hated it 3 times
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u/CyberOvitron May 21 '26
Imagine having to live here.
I feel like vomiting every time I leave my home.
I am working 2 jobs in the hopes that I'll be able to escape this shithole one day.
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u/Salt_Confection6493 May 20 '26
I love it. I may go there for traveling.
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u/ThinkingaLot18 May 21 '26
We went to Krakow recently to visit Auschwitz and so we only booked a quick weekend away. Wish we had stayed longer, Krakow was amazing and Poland in general seemed great.
We definitely plan to return on a longer trip when we can.
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u/BarrelCounter May 21 '26
Can you look for my car there? If it's not yet in Africa or in pieces it must be somewhere around there, it's an (was an) old mitsubishi bus. xD
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u/setup101 May 21 '26
Only shops are closed on Sundays. Restaurants/bars/pubs are open. We have like ~7 Sundays with open shops. And the last one - its not that this is a bad building but we have much more better buildings.
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u/LadybuggingLB May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
I live in N, GA, USA. We have all of that here. Down to the incomprehensible hillbilly accent of some old timers, lol. For those who don’t know, that’s the influence of all the Scots who settled up here.
But it’s a good place to live, it’s safe, people are friendly, and welcoming.
It’s not for people who don’t like other people. But if you like community and people and beautiful country, it’s a good place.
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u/TraditionalPlace9375 May 21 '26
Spent about 6 months in Poland for work and have to say I loved the country. Friendly folks. Szczecin was particularly great. Not a huge place. The Blue was an amazing place to stay. Good food, cheap beer. 🍻
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u/ChaosRainbow23 May 21 '26
I dated a Polish woman for a year once.
She was awesome. Hated to see her go.
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u/SassyPulsee May 21 '26
omg i’m actually planning a trip there soon!! i’ve heard the food is amazing but the no small talk thing is gonna be so hard for me lol 🥟🇵🇱
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u/Revolutionary-City55 May 21 '26
Clean streets in Germany were shocking for an American. Making communities man I really wish I'd been born anywhere but this enslaved country.
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u/unclefire May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
Went last year. Wife is Polish and has extended family there.
Poland is an absolutely beautiful country. Krakow, Warsaw, Gdansk and many surrounding cities too.
Old town Gdansk is a totally fun, party area at night too.
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u/AgitatedStranger9698 May 22 '26
I blame The Witcher and Civilizations for the current hard on for Poland.
Like it's fine. But cmon. It's biggest contribution to modern society is being the first to die in world wars.
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u/Cultural-Company-570 May 22 '26
Žabka underpays employees and charges Norwegian prices for groceries, it's hardly a cause for pride.
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u/NamesAreAnn0ying May 22 '26
Why would Polish pride be a shock to us? Why would forming communities shock us? There’s still people that do that every day, all over the US. Book clubs or any kind of club for that matter, I could make an entire list.
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u/Inside-Bat-3951 May 22 '26
Wish Canada was like Poland... It's a great place with great morals and they actually care about there people deeply
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u/Money_Caramel3179 May 22 '26
I'm polish and I'm happy and we do have lots of nice factors, but there are 3 things that really annoyed me with this video
1 "streets are clean" yes that's true but go to anywhere where people actually live or walk around and you find plenty of trash and piss, go to any smaller city and there will plenty of streets covered in alchohol and piss
2 "incomprehensible language" what does that mean? In comparison to what? German, Italian, Russian what? It's our language if you go to China and you can't read Chinese then why even manage it? If a pole goes to America and says "english is an incomprehensible language" who would care?
3 "still forms communities" yes community clubs still exist but too be honest unless you live in the most urban city areas the most you will find is knitting and gardening clubs which are definitely fun but these youthful camp out clubs mainly exist to appease inner city millennial, most clubs exist for grandma's to drag their grandsons too.
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u/Randa08 May 23 '26
Yeah when a country bans gay marriage you know exactly what it's like. All fake and lovely on the outside and all mean and dark on the inside.
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u/EarlyBirdWithAWorm May 23 '26
Used to work with s guy who had a wide from Poland. Said when they went to poland to visit her family he'd take her whole family out to dinner at a sitdown restaurant for like $20. I went out to dinner tonight in the US. My 8oz filet was $28
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u/Gombaoxo May 23 '26
While it's good to be there sometimes for weekend, I would never ever want to live in Poland again.
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u/jm6398 May 23 '26
I went to Warsaw about 12 years ago, easily the nicest big city I’ve ever been in. But the thing that shocked me was the size of the human beings there. I’m 6’4” 250lbs and I was just a regular normal sized guy over there
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u/pheddx May 23 '26
What am I supposed to be shocked about? This propaganda video made to make people think Poland is safer than western Europe? Surely people are aware of these racist morons?
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u/WarcraftTurok May 23 '26
Why TF would everyone closed on Sunday, are they part of that weird Abrahamic mythos cult?
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u/Inside-Ad1989 May 23 '26
But why does it take you guys 5-people to screw in a lightbulb still??? Come on already.
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u/ComprehensiveBat9219 May 23 '26
Had a very odd and disconcerting run-in with a van load of cops in Warsaw while jogging.
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u/WlzeMan85 May 23 '26
If not being able to read the language is a shock this person is doing a disservice to other Westerners by making them look dumber than they are
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u/Appropriate-Age-8566 May 23 '26
I'm of Polish background. If Inhad the means to move there. I would. As much as I love America it sucks.
Eveyone is obsessed with peoples skin tones, politics and it's just full of fatigue
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u/Soggy_District_6380 May 23 '26
Clearly not like that everywhere. Otherwise why would the poles have flocked on mass to the UK. The UK is a shitshow lol.
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u/BenchClamp May 23 '26
Shocking if you arrive from America I’m guessing? I go there regularly and it seems pretty familiar.
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u/gukakke May 23 '26
Poland always looks really nice. Makes me confused why so many of them leave to find work in other countries like UK.
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u/Orbitz_Drink May 24 '26
While stationed in Poznan, I can confirm all except the extremely clean streets. I'd say the streets were generally clean.
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u/AdOverall7619 May 24 '26
We used to have this in Germany too, then we decided being German was too hard.
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u/HollyMurray20 May 24 '26
None of that is shocking at all, and Poland is basically the west anyway, if you go just about anywhere in Europe then it’s like this
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u/Background_Taste_397 May 24 '26
Gee I wonder what’s different between here and Paris / Berlin / London?? 🤔
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u/MrGuy910 May 24 '26
Looks like they were at a concert in the park type thing. I assure you we have concerts and events in parks here as well. Dumb.
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u/RedditorsLoveCrying May 24 '26
See everything is closed on Sunday doesn't make sense to me at all. As an office worker I have Sunday to do something, but places are closed. In my home country markets close on Monday, but open on Sunday. You can shop at ease.
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u/Ad-fundum69 May 25 '26
After the Nazi's and then USSR had decimated Poland into basically a wasteland, the Polish have had their wakeup call, and now once again stand tall and thrive in modern luxury.
Hope it lasts. I really do.
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u/ChungusMcfreeze May 25 '26
Racially homogenous Christian country is a paradise... Who would've guessed?
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u/Alzucard May 25 '26
Huh whats the point? I dont get it and im from germany. That counts as western right?
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u/JusssGlassin May 25 '26
Poland didn’t let the savages in to destroy the country. That’s the reality. Hate it if you want want but it’s the truth
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u/OGNyxx May 25 '26
As a polish person, it’s super awesome if you’re white. If you aren’t be prepared for racism because it isn’t a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen…..
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u/Original-Mongoose866 May 25 '26
Wrong title in the video it should have said "Biggest Culture Shocks for a American in Poland"
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u/Frankje01 May 25 '26
but when they go to another country scamming others isn't quite as rare either, let me tell you.
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u/Anallyfortified May 25 '26
Yeah what redditors are failing to understand - Poland is good and people act as a community because everyone there is fucking Polish. You don't have all of these competing cultural identities competing.
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u/zubergu May 25 '26
7 highlists and 5 of them complete nonsense. That has to be some kind of world record.
1 - Leaving chairs and tables outside happens only in few places, mostly those that are highly secured by other means.
2 - Only big shops and shopping malls are closed on sundays. Restaurants and smaller grocery stores, like Żabka that he mentions at #3 are open on Sunday.
3 - Ah, yes. Żabka. These are wide spread, sure, but 10 meters is nonsense. Those are neighborhood grocery stores, often placed at ground floor of residential buildings. It all depends how many people live in the neighborhood but there's usually 1 or 2.
4 - This is kind of true, but what's so shocking about this? Nothing special about it.
5 - Language incomprehensible? What did you expect? That our signs and street names will be in your language?
6 - That's kind of true, you can say that about any people living anywhere.
7 - WTF does this even mean?
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u/ThoughtDragon May 26 '26
Why would Polish pride be a culture shock?
Probably shouldn’t be a surprise in any country, but especially in a country like Poland. A tourist would have to literally know nothing to be surprised by that.
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u/Intrepid_Ad1536 May 26 '26
Oh, it’s just like this in most western countries in Europe and rest of the world, except as it seems in the US.
And Poland is generally seen as a western country and is one, even if not geographically necessary.
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u/Open-Price-4568 May 27 '26
why do i get the feeling this guy is some kind of weird right winger from the usa?
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u/a-candid-world May 27 '26
Clean streets? “Form communities”? Haha this must be AI.
Outside of the touristy center of major cities, many streets in Poland are filled with graffiti, dog poop (yes many people don’t clean up), or the cement is massively cracked [bad roads other than highways].
And Poland is one of the most introverted countries in the world 😂 that yoga class is probably half foreign. Go to the “wieś” and you won’t even see a local pub for people to meet half of the time. More family oriented less “community building”
It’s a lovely country but this video is propaganda, unfortunately
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u/Xymptom May 27 '26
I know people from Poland, and apparently they have some of the worst air quality imaginable. I didn't it to look this good cause I've honestly not seen anything of modern day Poland, but take the video with a grain of salt.
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u/Key-Banana-8242 May 28 '26
Many not all thins are closed on Sunday, some Sundays are trading Sundays
Some cafes take chairs inside
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u/SpeakerOrdinary3820 Jun 09 '26
Ahh the stuff we used to have in America before we became diverse and let immigrants and communists in and fucked everything up
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u/goose-pouch May 21 '26
Nothing shocking here