How True Are THESE Stereotypes According to Polish People?

Which Polish stereotypes are the most true according to Poles (and expats)? And which are totally outdated? I went to Krakow and Warsaw to find out. Stay until the end cause I test Polish people on their love of vodka.

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0:00 Intro
1:03 Polish don't smile
1:59 Why don't Polish smile?
3:01 Friendliness: foreigners vs Polish
5:17 Polish are hardworking
6:08 Polish are cheap
6:27 Do Polish complain a lot?
8:00 Do Polish drink a lot?
9:32 Do Polish work as plumbers?
10:50 Not a true stereotype?
11:58 Vodka or candy?

CREW:
Marina Iakovleva (directing)
Akshay Bapat (filming)
Oleh Voitovych (editing)

Filmed in:
Krakow and Warsaw (some shots from Gdansk), Poland

[raf.b]

Joke: Why do Poles smile so rarely? Try to live between Russia and Germany.

[adrianadrian]

"They are friendly in a different way". That sums up about polish people, maybe from the outside like they have "Polish smile" or negative vibes, but when you talk to them it's like warm and very welcoming people. Greeting from Indonesia for Poland 🇮🇩🤝🇵🇱

[josefk]

The lack of smile is also associated with Finnish, Russian, German, Hungarian, and Ukranian people. The smiles of Americans seem more weird than people who don't have the mandatory customer service smile.

[anonanon]

I'm Polish and I think that a constant smile on my face is unnatural, tiring and... false.

[DatingBeyondBorders]

Sorry for the late upload everyone! Hope you like the Polish themed videos 😀 I went to Krakow and Warsaw to film this, and honestly, I felt that the people of Krakow were much, much friendlier than Warsaw. But I guess it's also the smaller city vibe.

Also, stay until the end to see me test Poles on their love of vodka 😊

[paweldurczok]

I have a wild theory. While the stereotype that we Poles complain a lot is most definitely true, I think it's one of the reasons why Poland is doing so well right now. Poles are simply dissatisfied with the surrounding reality, complain about it and then proceed to improve it. And as an addition, it's not our governments or the EU that made Poland what it is - it's the regular Poles by their perseverance, hard work and stubbornness that did it - and that's why we complain also, because we have to do everything ourselves ;)

[dawidsulejrudnicki]

With this Polish smile it's like this: if you smile at everyone for no reason, it means that your smile is worthless and meaningless. Something that is scarce is more valuable. For Poles, a smile is something valuable, a sign of friendship and trust. And valuable things are not given away all the time.

[traveltoks]

I feel like the reason we smile here in Canada is more of a friendly acknowledgement; kind of like 'I see you' sort of greeting. Helps people feel less lonely in a highly capitalistic, individualistic society

[ImNotMito]

Poland seems like an introverts paradise. I'm moving right now!!!

[toomuchinformation]

At 10:00 the fixing thing is very true. The Polish gardeners and tradesmen who worked on my old house were excellent; very hardworking, thorough and precise.

[dcikaruga]

Empty poker faces at times, but I've seen people on the street bumping into friends and they become quite friendly and open then, I actually prefer this, unlike those insincere smiles and empty polite conversations people give each other in the west, at least these people are frank about things.

[haeunpark]

As a Canadian, I remember being shocked by Polish customer service in restaurants. No smile, just straight-to-the-point. Hilarious! However, it's true that Poles may seem stand-offish at first, but are so warm once you get to know them. ❤

[jaktoztymj]

I'm kinda disappointed with the answers of my fellow Poles. So let me tell you about what I think:
There is no such concept of small talk in Polish culture and I believe it to be a great reason for Polish 'coldness' with strangers. If we ask 'how u doin'' we genuinely want to know what is going on in the other person's life, both good and bad things. So approaching strangers with 'Hello, how are u' often seems to Poles too intimate, almost a lack of disrespect. I don't know if you want to talk to me (a stranger for you) and tell me about your life so I don't approach you without a clear signal that you're okay with this. In this context, personal space is an important part of Polish culture and a way to be courteous and respectful towards others.
And indeed, we complain a lot, however, I wouldn't call it 'negative' or 'pessimistic'. We complain, but then we don't take it so seriously. We comment on anything that bothers us, and then we get over and deal with it. You can almost perceive it as a Polish manner of small-taking. Complaining about some general phenomena like weather or poor economy is considered to be a safe topic (not like politics, hehe). It's literally talking about the weather, trying to avoid being 'fakely' optimistic, which results in the "negative-realistic" way of approaching the subjects.
And yes, we Poles can be super expressive, passionate, emotional and positive. We just keep that for our social groups like friends or family, so we don't bother strangers with it. And yessss, we drink hellish amounts of vodka (and other things too) and dance and sing a lot when drinking!

[davidfreeman]

Love your Poland series. Reminding me of the good old days when I lived in NY. I'm Chinese, but I was hanging out in the Polish neighborhoods (such as Greenpoint & Maspeth) like all the time ;)
Agree with the friendliness & smile thing. I don't think I recall if the Polish ppl I'm more familiar with smiled or not the first time I met then haha! But they definitely are some of the friendliest ppl I've ever met. After drinking, chatting & partying at the same bars for a couple of times at least. XD
Although I did remember one, major exception. My 'beautiful stranger' who happens to be from Kraków. She smiled at me the first time our eyes locked together. A big, warm smile. That was during the harshest lockdowns of COVID, things were difficult. But her smiley face always gives me a ray of sun. And I still remember the first time she served me a shot of Żubrówka. Which was a little too strong for me at that time, that I had to finish in TWO shots... Too bad she remained my 'beautiful stranger'. ;( (Had nothing to do with the 2 shot vodka drinking thing I swear).

[fatmanursonmus]

I've been in Wroclaw for 2 weeks and I think the people are warm and friendly. They always say good morning or hi when they see me outside.. maybe it is different here

[dernevalribeiro]

I used to be like that long time ago. People already told me I could be a good bodyguard. But with time I learned smile is important. It brings people closer and open a lot of doors. I got to be an English teacher it is good to smile. If you have a good smile, you go really far. At least, in Brazil, it is good to have a smile

[Pewtah]

As a German I see in ths video many similarities between the german and the polish culture.

[nico]

Actually they seems all super nice.
Greetings from France.

[neko_samurai]

I like that the Mexican in a Slavic country’s accent evolved into a vampire accent.

[henri]

I remember once a person from Poland saying "we smile a lot" and then Marina "Polish people smile a lot ? What ? I don't believe you" 😂