What are POLISH Really Like?
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 And which are totally outdated?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?
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Marina Iakovleva (directing)
Akshay Bapat (filming)
Oleh Voitovych (editing)
Filmed in:
Krakow and Warsaw (some shots from Gdansk), Poland
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 😊
Good to know
Bottoms up 🍸
Poland seems like an introverts paradise. I’m moving right now!!!
Also there’s no sexual harrasement in the streets 👌
I lived in Poland for 5 years, it truly is a introvert paradise 😅 although I am not but I admit it about Poland
It may seem that way, but in reality, if you’re not extroverted, people often assume something is wrong. Combined with mediocre organization, you frequently need to communicate to resolve issues. This situation often leads to a state where being extroverted becomes more beneficial.
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” 😂
Yes. I did a “Polish smiles” video on Instagram 😄
Poland seems a beautiful place to spend some vacation
Well, it’s safe thats a big plus
Alcohol prices are fairly low
A lot of tourist locations have english captions
Some older generation have hard time with english which can cause some troubles with tickets, other than that its great place to come for a week or two just to see some places and chill
@@bkjvk thank you;)
In general Europeans don’t smile without a genuine reason(Especially eastern or northern europeans),while north Americans are just accustomed to smile as a way of being polite
In the US, as children we are taught a saying and it goes like this: “smile and the whole world smiles with you”. In most of northern European countries (not just Poland) this is considered insincere. Southern Europe is different, you’ll see people in Italy smiling walking down the street.
What, Insincere just being hospitable, good-mannered and enjoying sunshine, flowers, music, pretty girls walking down the street? For us Latinos is so hard to understand this point of view. Is it forbidden to enjoy life, and when are you supposed to emjoy it, after death?
I am from greece and i find insincere and a trick if someone smiles at me without being my friend. I feel like he wants something from me and uses this technique to lure me in
Marina I have to say you look much happier out and about doing this style of video. We love them. Keep it up and all the best as always from the UK.
Some nice people and couples in the video…kudos
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
As a German I see in ths video many similarities between the german and the polish culture.
so true 😀
Don’t you fucking dare compare my culture to your failing, jew-eating society
Yes so true ! Polish also like to complain also Germans always complain
U kill a lot of innocent people so your Culture is familiar to this one who don’t die from your grandfathers 🙂
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
I feel it’s the same in the USA but there’s also the diversity factor, in my opinion. When you have a country built on immigrants and people who don’t all share the same language , a smile is an easy way to communicate in a positive manner without having to say any words.
Facial expressions are universal across many cultures and you can read them much easier than trying to decipher a foreign language you’ve never heard before.
we have such saying in Poland Im not a horse to show my teeth 😀 it is because of old days 😀 – so people dont feel like they need to smile neither be always happy, it might be sign of madness for us
“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 🇮🇩🤝🇵🇱
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).
Happy Saturday, Marina! Love the video on the Polish 🇵🇱 stereotype and Poland 🇵🇱 is credited as the first country who invented the drink, Vodka. Sending you my love ❤ from Miami, Florida, USA 🇺🇸
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. ❤
You and me both. I tried smiling at people and they just glanced back with no smile
go to the Netherlands 🙂
First impression matters. Why to get to know someone who is cold and unfriendly at first? You just turn your back and go to the next one.
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.
In Poland we find such smile fake. We usually do not interact on streets with eachother. Relationship with Poles is a deep thing. We are looking for friends that will be reliable rather than keeping smile. It might change in future but it’s just way we are
The police came to talk to me, found out I was an American.
I can’t fundamentally grasp the idea of not smiling and talking to strangers.
“Do they do this where you from”
“Yes!?”
“Okie Dookie, what about where else you been!”
“Yes”
……
“Welcome to Europe, don’t talk to strangers.”
I would like to visit Poland, greetings from Mexico
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
yes, Wroclaw is different. Always has been.
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.
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.