Polish Cultural Must Do's (Part 1)

This video is about me sharing some personal stories of my cultural experiences while living in Poland as a foreigner.

[pieczkatomasz]

About the windbreakers - they serve 2 purposes. One is to break the wind, of course - at Baltic seashore, there is a lot of wind, and it carries a lot of sand - it is really not pleasant when you're sunbathing, and one side gets constantly sandblasted. Second purpose is to stop people from walking in an uncomfortable proximity to you - which might happen often, as the beaches are quite crowded, as evidenced by the videoclip you included.
Now about taking your shoes off at home - shoes are dirty, because outside of summer, we get a lot of rain/snow in Poland. Spreading all the grit & grime that sticks to your soles in somebody's home would be VERY impolite. At the same time showing off holes in your socks, or even worse, having smelly feet, is equally impolite, if not even worse. If you notice a hole in your sock - stitch it up immediately (because we do not throw away a sock that needs just a little needlework to be perfectly fine!), if your feet get smelly - seek some hygiene products to solve the issue. For me it's natural, that when I leave my home, my socks are good and my feet are fresh, even f I do not plan visiting anyone - plans may change, I need to be prepared.
Finally, the "collect all the jars!" issue. I can totally relate to that. My Mother used to tell stories, how in 60' & 70' they would have NOTHING else to eat at winter times, except for stuff preserved in jars during summer. Oh boy, She did experience some poverty... Nowadays, it is not a necessity, it is more of a hobby for most people to preserve food on their own - it is a great "show off" at parties, to treat your guests to some unique home made delicacies, that cannot be simply bought at store :)

[jurekprzychodzen]

The good thing about Mike is that even though he doesn’t understand Polish rituals, he doesn’t fight back against the way Polish people do things. Cultural adaptation is a challenge, wether we like to admit it or not.

[hellscream]

The wind breakers are protecting you from the sand when you are laying down on a towel

[leszekstefaniak]

super facet z Ciebie Mike i człowiek również. Uśmiałem się z tego jak szybko i trafnie nas Polaków rozgryzłeś, wszystko prawda. Pozdrawiam

[mikeinpoland]

A BIG THANKS to all who have subscribed. I am still trying to find my sweet spot with these videos and I definitely appreciate the support.

[mareknowicki]

That thing with the jars is so true, i had a good laugh

[justbarely]

If you know me I am coming from a place of admiration and sincerity! I love Poland. It's why I actually was inspired to make videos because I know I am experiencing something much richer than what I have ever experienced in the states.

[daromacleod]

I loved the way you described your reaction to the windbreakers, it was so relatable and accurate 😅

[SENSEOFLIBERTY]

100/100 :)
A beach debut story was hillarious. :)

[charliedubrowski]

Wonderful video Mike. Loved the fact that it wasn't just another video of Krakow or Warsaw. Got to know some interesting cultural facts about the everyday people of Poland. Look forward to more of your videos. Thanks Mike!

[przemslaw]

I have a closet full of empty jars and I never worry about how weird it is. I also store empty paper egg trays which is crazy. A few times a year I take it to my mom or an aunt or grandma and they are very happy to take them. Because they need empty trays to give back to a friendly hen keeper, and jars to put mushrooms, soups and stuff. Beautifull and bizzare.

[mjul]

Serving the guest is paramount. Many of the newer generation kind of does it, by offering tea or coffee, but most of those coming from traditional backgrounds always have cake or something special for an unexpected guest. I always have.

About shoes in the house. We find it unsanitary. Carpets are common in Poland as is lacquered wood paneling, the former more affected than the latter by dirt from shoes, but it's common courtesy to not track dirt into another person's home.

The thing with jars and preserving or pickling has nothing to do with communism or war. It's a tradition originating from the hungry gap, the period after winter when you've eaten your supplies and nothing new has yet grown. So you preserved things en masse duing autumn and ate them in March and April. It's a long standing tradition, in some cases timeless, in some cases dating back 200-300 years. I still do pickles and powidła (which is basically plums fried in a very large dish for a very long time).

[bartekw]

Your pantry full of jars story cracked me up!

[maciejzbrowski]

Love it ❤this is true im have a lot jars

[KowalskyLeon]

I live not far from the Baltic Sea. Windbreaks have a practical function. When the wind blows, even not heavily, the sand goes where you don't want it to go. The windbreaks protect you against it (like the name suggests it). But even when it is not windy most people on the beach want to have a piece of their privacy on the beach, where no one will step on their things, towels, etc.

The same practical meaning with taking off you shoes at home. You don't want to bring all the mess from outside into your home, kitchen, bath, living room, do you??? And it is healthier for your feet too. For me one of the weirdest things by Americans is that they don't take off their shoes at home, even when they lie down on their bed. I saw it in numerous american movies, hollywood movies. WTF??? In Poland, before lying on the bed, even slippers, which are only worn at home, are taken off.

The same reason with the jars. Even a few dozen years ago, winters in Poland were long, snowy and frosty. In Poland, there was not so much food imported from abroad. So in order to be able to eat at least some of the valuable ingredients from fruits and vegetables harvested in summer and fall, people made jars so that the food could be stored longer. In addition, home-made food by traditional methods is often healthier and more valuable than those processed industrially and sold in stores.

I think my country and nation although they are several times smaller than yours are richer in terms of tradition, culture, cuisine, customs, cinematography (I'm not kidding) etc. In my opinion you can learn more from us in these aspects rather than we from you. So I don't like the way many US Americans refer to Poland - ironically, contemptuously, with superiority, treating us like some shit country. I have not thoroughly analyzed your materials to judge if this is also your case. But I have noticed that many Americans who have visited and met Poland changed their minds about Poland for the better.

[drzewowit]

My family always went to the mountains, rather then sea in summer.

[GdzieJestNemo]

re shoes - it's due to climate. It's same over the most Europe (only southern countries are exception afaik). We got rain/snow that creates lot of mess that you don't want in your home

[antekp]

There are many cultural peculiarities in Poland, but from the U.S. perspective almost all of them concern the entire Central-Eastern Europe especially former Eastern Bloc. regional differences within Polan in comparison with e.g. Spain are pretty minor

[sabka]

2:37 "I'm not gonna dance, especially this song" - Don't you like disco polo, Mike? ;-)

[cieslik]

10:57 start with Powidła Śliwkowe. Easy to made just need some time cooking like 3-4 days :) And it's about nutritions and vitamins. You can't get this stuff in winter. Olny supermarket processed shit. And don't save after vinegar and oil jars. Nowday is easy to buy good jars. It was a problem back in a days, so now we save olny special ones. :)