Poland: People from Poland are Poles not Pollacks

One of my daily travel activities is to people watch and guess nationalities. An Australian male under the age of 30 will most likely be wearing thongs and board shorts regardless of the climate or terrain for instance. Germans usually look like they are about to go hiking, often looking like poster children for Hitler’s Germany with Aryan good looks, tanned skin, blonde hair and usually being sporty like riding a bike. Americans always seem to be lost and are looking at a subway map and saying “Bob, are you sure this is right? Is this the yellow line because this train is red. Bob? I don't think we are going the right way. Look at that Bob, oh that’s really neat”.

What about the Poles?
At times Poland seems to be in a bit of a time warp, not stuck in terms of ploughing fields by hand though they probably still do in parts but it’s like some people are perpetually stuck in 1989, the momentous time of the fall of the Communism and the USSR which restored their independence. It is like some people are scared that if they get out of their acid wash jeans it all might have been a dream.
The Slavic men you can spot a mile. They nearly always have a conscription-style buzz cut a grandfather would be proud of. They still rock the jeans and a sports jacket look and for some reason still use a duffel bag to carry their change of clothes and the two beers needed for the two-hour morning train journey. Now correct me if I am wrong but the only people who use a duffel in this day and age are the ones carrying a sawn-off shot gun in it but it’s the bag size and style of choice in Poland. You still see the occasional mullet, parachute jacket and a lot of denim. Polish men are pissed 90 per cent of the day which is why they think they think it’s still 1989 and think they can get away with denim on denim. I am sure alcoholism contributes to most of this nation’s woes.

The Slavic women are steps ahead of their male counterparts. Oft fashionable, tall and modelesque, all the models these days are Ukrainian or Russian. There is however a segment of female society that seems to favour white jeans (after Labour Day) and denim jackets and I have spotted several scrunchies. The more press studs and diamontes the better, especially on the back pocket of your white jeans or the denim jacket. Also as a massive generalisation, also seem to play good tennis. The younger generations are 100% dressed from the racks of European chain stores like H&M so sadly I think it is a dying trend.

One thing that I always loved about Eastern Europe is the old men who will still wear a hat when the leave the house and a nice jacket. They look classy. The old ladies in Poland are always dressed nicely, with their hair combed back and wearing a nice pressed blouse. They are also partial to a red hair rinse which I cannot deny them; it takes years off ones look. I have been looked up and down so many times by Polish women. I think they think I am homeless. I think if I put my hat out I would pick up a Złoty or two.

The Polish people are coming out of their shell after all these years being ruled by arguably the two most unaffectionate, stern and reserved nations.
Now they are in the EU and EasyJet connects a stag party from Liverpool with the beautiful, quiet cobbled streets of a Polish city, Poland is on its way to losing every bit of the secluded, quiet life they once knew and eventually they will lose all their little quirks and just wear H&M and drink coffee at Starbucks like the rest of Europe.