BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Polish Culture The Polish Officer - Furst

Exactly! This is one thing I find fascinating I feel like I have a ring side seat and am watching a people work theirr way through discovering what it means to be in control with ALL that means (the good and the bad). I applaud those that get involved and are able to be so articulate about what it is they want.

I am far from making Poland a unique place on Earth. I think every country has some romantic mysteries. Brits have Stonehenge, Romanians have Dracula etc. I suppose that even such distant countries as Kazakhstan or Burundi have such mysteries.



Oops, you`d better not mention Polish poetry to Polish students. They can stone you to death for trying to imply they like Polish poetry ha ha ha ha.




It`s high time we got rid of this silly romaticism of ours. It caused a lot of evil for Poland (Warsaw Uprising) in the past.
Mysteriousness? What`s mysterious in a drunken husband battering his wife and children on Saturday and then going to church on Sunday? ha ha ha ha ha
Just kidding to fuel the discussion ha ha ha ha ha.



It is not a virtue, it is our fault.

I am fully aware that the West perceives us as a distant,exotic, mysterious country. That is why I say it again : we are a normal, medium-sized country in Central Europe.

Well, once I thought that Poland is really horrible to live in. Then I exchanged views with poeple who live somewhere else. And I don`t mean only Ukraine, Belarus, Russia or others. I also mean Germany or France. Life in those countries has its pros and cons. Polish life is difficult but still bearable.
Of course, it would be the best to live in Denmark where people are said to be the happiest in Europe.
If Poles want to be as happy as Danes, they can achieve it. How?
Let me guess. Trying to improve themselves? Becoming a better society instead of trying to be a great nation? (from the Polish poet, Norwid: "We are a great nation, but a lousy society").

I intentionally don`t allow these "Polish specialists" to make me angry. I get nervous at more important things.

Krakow's Wawel is the site of the stone concentrating cosmic and earth's energy - CZAKRAM (also called The Lotus Flower, or The Seventh Stone of Fortune) - one of the seven glands of Earth to be found in New Delhi, Mecca, Delphi, Jerusalem, Rome and Velehrad!

I know about the stone. However, both Church authorities (the stone is close to a cathedral) and the Wawel managers deny its presence very vehemently. Tourists are forbidden to get near the site, it is bordered with a rope ha ha ha ha

Isn`t it another urban legend?

Jerzy
I noticed you (deliberately) omitted Britain from your list of countries. Have you not talked with many Brits? I can assure you we are a very normal country, with quite normal, happy people who accept readily most things - except perhaps the Euro, that we are really part of Europe, and of course George Bush and Tony Blair!
Pozdrawiam
Leslie (I believe my great-great-gradparent's name when he came from Poland was Rejskwa - does it seem that I have got it right? the 'Rae' (my family name could come from the 'Rej'?) <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> (of course 'Re' in Spanish = King!) <img src="/images/graemlins/king.gif" alt="" />

Then why are all those people leaning against the wall near the door to the Oriental exhibit, if not to benefit from the "healing energy" of the stone?

Exactly. Almost every country has something very special, something unique. WIthout that we'd hardly want to travel as tourists. So has Poland --> mysterious, romantic land, the homeland of poets. (Read Zagajewski, please <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )






Jerzy, the world is not black and white. Drunken husbands beating sober wives happen even in the most mysterious of the mysterious lands (and books). Alsoo under Wawel with its mysterious chakra <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />



It was not an assesment, not a judgement, just the neutral, fact-of-life statement.

Yes, Danes are the most happy worldwide. And Poles are first in the 'quite happy' group. Amazing!
.........................................
Definition: Proportion of people who answered the survey question: "Taking all things together, would you say you are: very happy, quite happy, not very happy, or not at all happy?" by saying that they were "quite happy".

Amount
1. Poland 73%
2. Finland 72%
3. France 69%
4. Italy 69%
5. Azerbaijan 67%
6. Bangladesh 67%
7. Norway 65%
8. Spain 64%
9. Japan 63%
10. Hungary 62%
11. Portugal 61%
12. Denmark 60%
13. Latvia 60%
14. Austria 60%
15. Sweden 59%
16. Estonia 59%
17. Uruguay 59%
18. Brazil 58%
19. Croatia 57%
20. Switzerland 57%
21. Australia 56%
22. United Kingdom 55%
23. Romania 55%
24. Iceland 55%
25. Slovenia 55%
26. Belgium 55%
27. Canada 55%
28. Netherlands 55%
29. Ireland 53%
30. United States 53%
31. Argentina 53%
32. Georgia 52%
33. Philippines 52%
34. Lithuania 51%
35. Armenia 51%
36. China 49%
37. Slovakia 48%
38. India 47%
39. Chile 46%
40. Turkey 46%
41. Ghana 45%
42. Russia 44%
43. Mexico 43%
44. Ukraine 43%
45. Belarus 41%
46. Dominican Republic 41%
47. Moldova 40%
48. Venezuela 39%
49. Bulgaria 31%
50. Nigeria 28%
Weighted Average 50.4%
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/lif_hap_lev_qui_hap