Cultural: Differences between Florida, USA and Poland, part 3

Guest post written by Rachael Woodard= - Quilted Twin 1 part 3 of 3

1)      Kebab seems to be the nation of Poland’s “fast food” more than burgers. We saw kabab stands and stores everywhere you looked. By the way, kabab refers to how it’s cooked, (on a stick), not necessarily how it’s eaten by us.

photo credit - google images

photo credit - google images

2)      English words and English signs on a lot of buildings. English is taught in the schools, from what I’ve been told, but it was odd (and nice for me) to see so many signs in English, making them readable for me.

(note from Becky - English is 'cool' and they learn a lot from movies - so even older people who don't 'know English' know a few words though not enough to hold a conversation - and English is now taught from first grade in most schools.)

3)      Businesses right in the middle of streets of houses. House. House. House. Business. House. House. Business. Houses that looked like houses, but really were businesses. I’m so used to having “commercial areas” and zoning laws here in Florida that prevent the mixing of the two, that it was a refreshing change, not to have all the businesses lumped up together with no allowable parking!

This one falls in the category of houses that look like houses but area really businesses.  It's in our town. Screen shot from google maps. - comment added by Becky

4)      And probably the weirdest thing for me, (that has often been stated about other countries), is that when you’re taking someone’s picture, they might be laughing and smiling, but as soon as the camera comes up, they lose the smile and become very serious and dour.

When taking the pictures for the quilt giveaway, I’d have to hold my fingers up to either side of my mouth and pull the sides upwards, so that they would realize I wanted a smile. Some gave them to me. Some did not.

(Becky's note - Some people do that because they feel like smiling for a picture is being fake since they don't walk around all day with a smile on their faces.)

These were most of the differences that I noticed from the way that I live here in my town.  The country is wonderful. I love the greenery and having it 50 degrees F at night in August for a couple of nights while were there was unheard of!

If you get a chance to visit, I highly recommend it!

---Rachael