woah - how time flies fast. We are past 1/3rd of the month already.
@Bankai - I do not own a blender/mixer and have never felt a real long term need to invest in it for the Indian cooking I do, so your recipe is for some time in the future. But going by what I visualise in my future Indian kitchen somewhere in the long forgotten villages, it will be a either a mortar and pestle or the indian style large grinding stones traditionally used by grannies in Indian kitchens long ago. When the electric mixers/ blenders made their way to Indian kitchens and cooking/eating food became "fast" to cater to the urban class, these stones were used for wringing the clothes when washing and when washing machines found their way to the Indian homes, these stones found their final resting place
in the gardens. Many families still have them lying somewhere in their gardens covered by the foliage.
When you say bureaucracy, I believe you meant the one with the government. So my response will incline towards those experiences.
I have been treated with respect and helpful responses both the times I went to State (Government) offices. May be its because of the "foreigner" tag I carry on my "brown" skin and they want to project a "being nice" outlook of their country.
The first time I stepped into a State office is for registering my place of stay, kinda linking my name with it with the City officials. I did not understand why should I do it. Renters never do that in India and I never did it in US. May be its a relic of the Soviet past? While sharing these feel good experiences of dealing with Government officials with my local colleagues, they shared their opposite (as you say) experiences of never ending bureaucracy of the government and its functioning. But I feel, being brought up in such a country will make us more resilient in life. If we settle in a developed country where everything is "spoon fed", well and good, we will treat it as luxury, but as in my case if I have long term goal of settling in my home base, Let me be one of thousands who try to change the very system for better in the future and not "escaping" to some developed country.
My colleagues were not so positive about Police forces too (specific about this due to the current Conservative government in power/the hightened emotions of the extremist forces within the country and police is mostly the first who gets into resolving a local trouble) and hinted at pervalent culture of working around things instead of going the straightforward/legal route at all levels of society. India is similar to Poland in this aspect, but I believe US is different when it comes to this area - only the highest levels of society engage in working around things through lobbying and $ while the remaining sections of society are largely straight forward. My colleagues were concerned about my safety and asked me to carry my passport all the time when outside of my home. I do not find it convenient to have my passport "book" yeah, it looks like a mini note book in my pant pockets all the time till now particularly in summer when I do not have the extra pockets of my Carhartt jacket.
The second office I went is the local employment office and after some back and forth miscommunication, it appeared I do not have to do anything with them. I did not want to apply for residency permit when I already have a visa since I do not intend to live here long term. Again smooth and nice people.
I think I added my initial impressions somewhere in this forum here you go - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9782. But expanding on the experiences of an Indian expat as follows.
The language barrier is just too high in "current" Poland for someone who does not know Polish. The younger generation can understand and speak Engligh unlike the older folks. State offices are filled with old people mostly (from the Soviet era?) and that does not make a great atmosphere to engage for foreigners. But luckily, I had the opportunity of getting help from the few younger team members within these Government offices and so everything went good.
May be some 20 years down the line when these old officials retire, then the government offices will be a great place for services from a foreigner's perspective. And even for younger gen, Engligh is just another subject in school unlike in India where English is the medium of instruction for all subjects in addition to being taught as a separate language subject for its grammar in most or many private schools. I have a cousin who had gone to Public school in my home state where everything is taught in my mother tongue and I know how much he suffered in his Engineering college and in job interviews due to the lack of English language fluency. It played out in my mind when talking to these young Poles. So, obviously many Poles are envy on my English language fluency on the street. I felt, oh come on, English is just a language and not a skill. In India unfortunately, it's considered as a skill and it is not helping the poor in the long run. In US, obviously I didnot have any problems when it came to communication, though the accent will make the understanding part troublesome, but once it is cracked, it will be easy going. After so many years in US, my accent moved from being "Indian" and started becoming somewhere in the middle between Indian and American to the point that I found fellow Indians totally incomprehensible due to their fast paced and "cute" English and Southern American English likeable. One Korean world bicyclist noted she faced the same language barrier while in Poland compared to other nations, but she rated Russia as having the highest language barrier in her journey.
Due to the well known historical reasons, Poland happened to be one of the highest homogeneous countries in world (like Japan?). Though I feel empathetic when looking at the locals for all the suffering gone through the last century. Sometimes, I felt I just wanted to hug the locals for having put up with both the West (Hitler's Germany) and the East(Soviet) both of which turned out to be external forces. For this reason, I find the people so much kind and welcoming to the point that I cry in my heart due to overwhelming emotion.
Being so much homogeneous, I am seen as an exotic human being, yea, you read it right -"exotic". Somewhere I remember, in Finland or Norway or in England (not sure though), there used to be an exhibition during colonial times of people from Africa being shut in cages and showcased around the cities for being exotic. Everyone on the street gives me a second look and kids give the most precious look (I love this) at me of their life since that may be the first time they see someone different from all the people they have seen till then. Some parents make sure their kids look at me to "expose" them to "my skin color", so I find it amusing to walk on the streets. So, this brings in a lot of difference between the US and Poland. While working in Michigan, I have been to the most "whitest" regions of the State and can still feel like within the next few days, I will surely see someone from any other race. Not in Poland. It's like a sea of whites and I will be like a dot in the sea. It does not mean I do not see any people of other races, but it is very rare. For all those Westerners/Whites who go to India and filming/sharing their stories of the "Starry" Indians, this will be how the Westerners react on seeing an Indian; aha face palm moment, is n't it?
On the other hand, I feel the Polish girls are incredibly beautiful. Of course, "beautiful" is different for everyone, but I like girls/ladies with not much/no make up and may be from the nature of being frugal passed down the generations, I do not see Poles wearing much make up. So that make me go "aww, she looks elegant and gorgeous" whenever I walk the streets and it happens quite a lot. And not many are tanned again, due to the less "Sun" time in this part of the Earth and do not like to go to salons for tanning. So these two differences stand out from my experiences in US. But again I think because of being so much homogeneous, finding love is proving to be so much difficult for me here. Since I live in a small town, I got to accept it.
I see a lot of variety of dresses girls get to wear here. I am not aware of their names, but the various styles of cuts/buttons/zips/enclosures is just mind boggling. Compare this to Indian streets, you will see a lot of colorful dresses but of the same style. In US, the style is little spiced up but still meh compared to what i see here both on streets and in office. These women definitely has a taste in selecting and wearing them. Talk about being a fashionista.
Smoking - I grew up in India and lost my father due to Cancer at an early age. We felt its always his smoking which caused it and through these years, being Indian, I felt smoking has reduced a lot among the Indian populace. May be its no more done in public after a law banning it in public and away from gatherings. So Indian men may be smoking discreetly. Again, traditionally, women did not grew up as smokers in India. May be we can call it male chauvinism or women are considered as the guardian of the household and being considered as property rather than an equal entity, they are restricted from getting this habit while growing up. I am talking about the pre-90's India, not the current one:). In US again, I didnot see much people smoke. While in CA, this is stark. Almost none smoke among the local population, may be the ultra -conscious attitude about health and environment from the Californians be the factor. While in Michigan, I used to see some smokers here and there but overall again, the percentage is negligible. In Poland, it is not, I see a lot of people smoking and lot of women smoke too. I do not know from where everyone gets this habit here though. One German world traveller noted that once she crossed into Poland and travelled all the way through Central Asia, she noted the increased percentage of smokers and the restaurants filled with cigarette smoke.
The economic divide is stark and huge. You can see luxurious coupes and SUVs strolling by and old poor grandmas, selling really beautiful and vibrant flowers on the street at the same time. A lot of times, I felt bad for seeing old people in such a state and wanted to help them monetarily and did so once. I see many old grandpas begging, which I hate seeing, looked a lot like India. While in US, I had very small opportunities for these encounters due to (can/should I say) compartmentalisation (ghettoisation) of the society and cities(?) I heard from my colleagues that the 20 years back, this level of luxury is just unbelievable and a lot of older people find it really hard to accept the current state of living. The younger generation is earning and spending a lot aping the Americans is what I heard at work.
I saw a lot of luxury cars being driven as taxis. The first time I sat in one of those, I pinched myself to believe its happening and true. I have never seen (in US and India) luxury brands like Mercedes and even their best classy vehicles like Kompressors being driven around as cabs. Never ever period. But in Poland, its quite common. When I asked how much mileage the driver gets, he casually informed around 12/13 per litre. Unbelievable for me. That is the only and I believe that will be the only time I got to travel in a Mercedes Benz. When questioned, my colleagues shared that lot of cars being driven here are driven in from Germany and actually discarded there. Due to the high expenses of repair there, they drive it to Poland, repair with the "inexpensive" labor and sell it here. I remember one comment from him that Russians while returning from Germany, took two cars with each of them and while passing through Poland, left one here lol. Poles surely make out the best of all situations whatever they have been through
Lots of Skodas, Peugets, Opel, Citreon. None of these brands are in US market. Opel exited the Indian market long ago and it was a warm nostalgic feeling to see lots of Opel Astras around. On the cars topic again, small cars(hatchbacks) and station wagons rule the road here unlike the sedans and trucks in US and like the hatchbacks of India. Toyotas are pretty popular too just like environment conscious California
Streets/lawns and the environment cleanliness are ok unlike the "extra clean" US. I have never seen top soil on the sides of streets in US. Mostly ground will be covered by wooden chips which will be dark brown/black in color. Poland tends to let the soil visible on the street sides.
Buildings are infamously Soviet/ mass industrial style. Huge and not tall apartment style buildings everywhere. I started having a personal dislike after sometime due to the excessive dose of this style. In US, it will be McMansion style individual residences which made me dislike the local communities.
Crossing the streets, Poles are super casual, while poor me, after so long in the US, is so much careful (to the point of being paranoid) to make sure no vehicles are on either side. I have to loosen up a little bit, but I think it helps to be safe than sorry.
Since I live in a small town, Indian spices and vegetables are both hard to get and expensive. I had to order them online from a Warsaw Indian grocery store. This would not have happened in US since the diversity factor plays a bigger role there
From the "limited" variety of veggies I could find at the local stores here that I am aware of used in Indian cooking or am used to cook in Indian style, I am kind of getting home sick way sooner than I usually get.
Religion - I grew up in the most diverse spritual environment of most religions of the world which India offered. so not much surprise in this department considering Poland is conservative and follows the oldest denomination of Christianity since I am already used to this from my school days of studying in a Convent and calling all the celibate female teachers as "sisters" and Principal as "Father". The public display of Godly imagery to show their faith is something which is more pronounced here compared to the "hippie" and "mostly atheist" California and conservative Michigan where I used to work. India is filled with Godly imagery to the brim but the diversity factor evens out the focus so much that our mind will not identify them as one of the defining aspects of the country.
Indian "Curry" Smell - I understood the significance of the Indian curry smell in Poland. If you do not know, Indians use fingers to eat food traditionally and after finishing lunch, if I do not use soap and just use water to wash my hands off, the moment I enter the office space, I can really sense the smell of the food sticking with me. So I will have to rush to the restroom for washing off the smell using the soap. I have never felt it in the US may be, US work environments became multi-cultural(?) and the environment here is still virgin? aha
Talk in their mother language while in a group- If two colleagues share a common mother tongue while in a conference call/meeting or on a lunch break, I see people here and in Germany talk in their language between them in the presence of others who do not understand their language. I think this will be considered rude in one of my previous work assignments in California. All conversations while in a group/meeting must be carried in a known language to all is a meeting etiquette I remember hearing and following while in US, but it appears to be a common practise here. this is just an observation.
Cold Nights in apartment - The district heating provided by the government here is turned off at the start of Spring and so for the early Summer/Spring nights when it is still very cold, I found myself shivering through the night. Many times, my ribs would start shivering even under a woolen blanket. So I had to pull out my sleeping bag and it appears this is a common practice here either to use more blankets or use a personal heater/radiator. A sleeping bag stops the loss of body heat well and so it really is helping a lot for the past week or so. I remember hearing from the same Korean cyclist (above) that she felt European homes are a lot colder during the nights while the Russian ones are a lot warmer due to the high energy cost in EU and less cost for the same energy in RU. While in US, the apartments I rented always had a thermostat and so temperature was always controlled no matter whatever be the weather outside. In India, we do not need a space heater unless we live in the Himalayas or the hill-stations of the Southern India.
That is all I remember and recollect and hope to add some more in future.