ESN SGH - Do stereotypes about Poles come true in everyday life?

The podcast discusses common stereotypes about Polish people and whether they hold true in everyday life. The guest, Roy, shares his opinions and experiences. He believes that Poles can be reserved and difficult to approach initially, but once you get to know them, they make great friends. He disagrees with the stereotype that Poles like to complain, and thinks they should actually complain more. He also agrees that Poles are hard-working, especially considering Poland's economic growth. Roy finds the stereotype that Poles are conservative and traditional to be true, and appreciates the importance of traditions in Poland. He also believes that Poles are passionate about their national identity, which he admires. Finally, Roy agrees that Poles may not always be welcoming to strangers, but he doesn't see it as xenophobia. The podcast concludes by emphasizing that stereotypes should not define any group of people. Welcome to ESN SGH podcast. We are here to discuss the stereotypes about both come true in everyday life. I'm your host, my name is Zuzia and today we'll be diving into a topic that often sparks curiosity and debate. The stereotypes about both. Do these stereotypes hold and need true in everyday life? Let's find out. Today we'll be joining Roy and he's from... Can you please tell us? Well first of all thank you so much for inviting me. It's a pleasure to be here to give my opinions about this topic which I find very interesting and yeah my name is Roy and I come from Galicia which is in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and the reason why I decided to come to Poland is because back in Galicia where I'm studying in Santiago Compostela my flatmates are Polish and they were always cooking Polish food or showing me the music and whatever so yeah I am very excited to be here since September, almost for a year. That's great, welcome to the show Roy. Okay so to kick things off let's address some common stereotypes about both. One stereotype that often arises is the Poles are unfriendly or reserved. Is there any truth to this? In my opinion as I come from a southern European country it's true that when I first came here I found it very different. I think the Polish people coming to Portugal or to Spain tend to be different because when they see this atmosphere of warm people and very open-minded people they change a little bit but here it's true that I found it quite difficult to approach Polish people but on the other hand I think people here when you get to know them better they are for sure better friends than people in my country so I think this stereotype is partially true. They are more reserved but I don't think that's something negative to be honest and I wouldn't say they are unfriendly I think they are different terms. Okay thank you for that Roy. I think every person is different and stereotypes don't describe everyone. So the following prevalent stereotype about Poles that I wanted to talk with you about is that they like to complain. What do you think about that? To be honest it's the first time I hear about this stereotype. I never heard this about Polish people. In fact sometimes I thought they should complain more. I don't want to get into political stuff but sometimes I was seeing some controversial topics and I was surprised that people don't manifest it on the streets as it can be maybe in France or other countries. So I never thought this about Polish people. Maybe I should stay here for a longer time. That's a great point. Actually I think that Poles like to complain but more like in a conversation with friends or family. I think that with family complaining is a very popular here. But I think also it might be everywhere yes. So moving on another common stereotype about Poles is that they are hard-working. Does it hold any truth in everyday life? Yeah definitely I heard this one before. So for me it's difficult to see on my day-to-day life if this is true or not because the only Polish workers I have contact with are the professors or workers of the university. Maybe other places as restaurants or museums if I go to one or whatever. It's a difficult question indeed. But I think yeah they probably are hard-working people. Especially well we are from the University of Economics of Warsaw and when you see the development that Poland had in the last years and how it multiplied I think by six the GDP since the end of the Polish People's Republic I think that's a proof that people have been working harder I guess. Yeah well said Rory. Stereotypes can sometimes create unrealistic expectations or assumptions but I think it's true. I think it's true. So now we can talk about this stereotype that Poles are generally conservative and traditional people. What do you think about that? Yeah this is definitely true. I was surprised because in Galicia for example religion I think most of the people will identify themselves as Catholics as is the case of Poland but then no one really goes to church or religion is not really important in our daily lives. I think here religion, religious traditions are taken more seriously and I think that's maybe a sign of being more conservative or traditional. I think also in Poland traditions are more important than it can be in other countries. I have the from talking with other Erasmus people for example from Germany I have the feeling in countries like Germany or France traditions are more something they do because they have to while here it's something that it's really important and they understand the meaning of the tradition and why they do it but I think that is something very good actually. I mean it's true in every country there are traditions that maybe we shouldn't keep like bullfighting in Spain or these kind of things but I think keeping the tradition especially when it's related to family values or friendship or living in community in general I think that's good so even if it's true the stereotype I don't think it's something negative. It's really nice to hear that I agree with that like you know it's very famous in Poland to meet with family for the Christmas Eve and stuff and yeah that's nice to hear that you actually appreciate that yeah so what do you think? Poles are passionate about their national identity? What do you think about that? Yeah well I was lucky that during the my Erasmus Poland was playing the World Cup and I think football and national teams is one of the most popular ways of expressing their national identity nowadays and I was surprised how even no offense Poland had a very weak team let's be honest people were very supportive with it and I think that's something I envy about Poland and I think Polish people are really proud of being Polish and of the national identity and I think that's something that in Western Europe it's disappearing. If you talk with Erasmus people from here and just for me those who know me first thing they will first thing that it will come to their minds is Oh Galicia Galicia because I am always very proud of Spain where I come from and I think one of the reasons why they find it surprising and a friend from the Netherlands told me this is that because in the Netherlands for example they are not that proud of their national identity they find it funny when someone is because it's something shocking for them and here in Poland it was the first time I had the feeling that people share this love for their nation that I have for mine so that's a stereotype but again that's true a true stereotype but again you know when I think the word stereotype for me it has negative connotations so I don't like saying this is a stereotype or a true stereotype because I think it's something very positive to to be proud about where you come from. I agree with that it's true it's not negative yes I also think that stereotypes like made us make us think that it's something negative but it's not always so so yeah I agree with that well said I think most of us are proud of being Poles coming to an end the last stereotype is that Poles don't like strangers would you agree with that? Okay I've been talking very well about Poland so far so maybe it's the moment to criticize it a bit I think this is true I don't judge it directly but for example I understand that maybe it's a bit aggressive or violent for Polish people if you approach them directly in the public transport or in public places in places in general but I have for example a very shocking experience I was in the tram and you know sometimes I am just remembering something that happened to me and I started laughing because I was thinking about some story and there was a woman sitting in front of me middle-aged woman more or less and she started shouting at me in Polish so I couldn't understand anything and I said new movie for Polish and the guy one young guy next to me translated and she said if I have any F word problem with her so I think this was a sign that people here don't like strangers but I want to make a point because I don't think I think that people a lot of people say that Polish people are xenophobic for example in my experience I don't think that was the case because she didn't even know where I come from she just saw me as a stranger and she found my attitude maybe aggressive towards her so but yeah I would say they don't like strangers and this is something that is a pity but I mean everyone is different as you said it was so thank you for sharing your point of view and I'm sorry that happens to you but I think it's changing and younger people now are like more open to to new people and meeting meeting meeting new people but yeah sometimes that happens to us and I hope that will keep changing so I want you guys to remember that stereotypes doesn't always come true in everyday life and they should never define us and any group of people thank you for joining us today Roy and sharing your point of view with us I hope you like it here thank you very much again for inviting me I would like to send a salute to my friends since I talked about them in the introduction and they are probably listening to this hi to Piotr Szampodewek and yeah thank you so much it was a pleasure to be here we're also happy to have you and so you guys I thank you for listening to our podcast and we hope that you will stay tuned for the next episodes bye