The Federation of Poles in Great Britain
The Central Association of Individual Members of the Federation of Poles
“From Fiji to Fulham”
A talk and discussion on international co-operation
Join us for a presentation on the shared challenges
of communities on two sides of the planet - and Sri Lanka in between.
Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for the Liberal Democrats
Alan Bullion (Hammersmith & Fulham)
and Andrew Dakers (Brentford & Isleworth)
will share their experiences and insights on international development, Sri
Lanka's recovery from the
tsunami and priorities for the future. Alan and Andrew will also take
questions on policy issues,
including questions affecting Poles, being debated in the run-up to the next
general election.
Thursday 24 February, at 7pm
POSK, the Polish Centre,
238-246 King St, Hammersmith
2nd floor in the Sapphire room
Times on Line Thursday 27 January 2005
January 27, 2005
Reportage
The Warsaw pact, 2005
Kamil Tchorek
'Teach me English and I'll be your beautiful girlfriend': why young British
men love Poland
“GARRRY from Crrroydon has been telling me all about the Whitgift Centre. He
has told me about the glass roof at East Croydon station and the Croydon
scene,” boasts Dominika.
She is a young Polish woman sipping vodka cocktails in one of the newly
opened Warsaw bars that put Soho and Greenwich Village to shame.
“Good use of the definite article, Dominika,” observes Gary.
He is a young English language teacher from Croydon. She is the archetypal
Slavic stunner, so terrifyingly beautiful that she would make a Polish
priest set light to his Solidarity flag.
Thanks to the union of Western and Eastern Europe on May 1 last year, this
scene plays out over and over again. It may be the EU’s most human
acheivement yet.
“Oh Gary, will again you tell me about Blue Orchid?” Smoke curls out of
Dominika’s mouth as she exhales and looks deep into Gary’s eyes. “Please.”
His jaw hanging off its hinges, Gary flicks his Burberry sports cap to the
back of his sweating head. His Hackett England top is sticking to his gut.
“Well, you know, I don’t like to boast, but lads do call me from all over
London to see if I can get them into the Orchid. Thing is, most times they
will come down and park the car out front. That’s as far as they will get. I
like to see them try.”
He stops there to check the damage. She smiles interestedly and adjusts her
killer black dress, knowing that her date will never guess that she made it
herself.
Shockingly, Gary promises Dominika a place on the VIP list at “the hottest
place in Europe to spend an evening”. Little does she know that the last
time Gary went to the Blue Orchid it was filled with 16-year-olds getting
high on cider, and he was one of them. Little does he know that this
effervescent dream of Fleming, Le Carré or even Tolstoy would normally have
to pay a day of her wages for a conversation class with a native English
speaker in Warsaw. In the short term, that is all he will get from her.
For there is a surreal subculture emerging in the “New Europe”, where cast
members from Only Fools and Horses are stumbling on to the set of Doctor
Zhivago and the cameras keep rolling. The phenomenon is certainly Britain’s
most prominent contribution to the social life of what is arguably New
Europe’s capital — Warsaw.
TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) courses are doing for young
British men here what the invention of the contraceptive pill did for their
dads when they were the same age in Swinging London. Very average British
youths have a chance of getting something they never thought possible.
Because it was so extremely implausable, we all suspended our disbelief when
watching Love Actually and saw the South London plonker from Central Casting
travel to America to be seduced by a pack of bisexual Playboy bunnies from
Wisconsin . . . because they liked his accent.
Not wanting to be cruel to Wisconsin, but that could never happen. Yet
something similar is happening for Gary in one of the last places people
would look. For despondent young male English language teachers arriving for
work in what may have been their short-straw destination — associated as it
is with Auschwitz, the North Pole, Chechnya, rusting shipyards and fanatical
Catholicism — Poland is often a pleasant shock.
Ask Adam Jones, 38, a veteran TEFL teacher from South London, why he has
held out in Poland for 12 winters, and his answer will be blunt.
“Women. We’re all here for them. Any man who says anything else is lying.”
Adam hasn’t bothered to learn the local language, he has a playboy lifestyle
and smugly asserts that all he does for a living is speak in his native
tongue in the luxury of his own home.
Ask Sean, a now loaded Irish property developer who started out in Warsaw as
an English teacher and found that he wanted to stay; he will tell you the
same. Ask Tom, an American journalist who started the same way too. They all
repeat the same mantra.
“Repeat after me: ‘The-dog-ran-across-the-road’,” Gary tells a class of
Warsaw It-girls (and three of their ex-boyfriends fuming at the back).
“De-dowg-rain-acrose-de-rowd,” repeats the class in unison, a waft of
perfume accompanying the chant.
“Good, that’s all for today. Now then, who’s coming down the pub?” “Me! ME!
MEEE!” the ladies shout, stabbing the air with their immaculate carmine
nails as if they had just been offered the chance to hold the class gerbil.
Not far off the truth.
With a nauseating grin, Gary ticks the register: Anetta the lawyer: tick.
Izabella the architect: tick. Justina the opera singer: tick. Dominika:
tick, tick, tick.
He slings his bomber jacket over his shoulder and gets swept out amid a
ferocious clicking of stiletto heels that echo down the corridor long after
they have left. The skin-headed Polish youths at the back are about to
repeal the act of accession to the EU. Or beat up Gary.
To this day, the learned men and women of Warsaw have debated what makes
their daughters get crazy for British males, especially because the ones
that end up in Poland tend to do so by accident and are more Bean than Bond.
Although there are pairings of British women with Polish men, the
overwhelming combination is the other way around.
Until the 1980s, cynics argued that nice young Polish kittens were by night
fanged British passport vampires, courting Britons in some elaborate
honeytrap with which they would make their way to the West. There were
examples, and often the surest way out of the communist nightmare was a
foreign spouse. But to generalise that it is all about mater- ial gain would
be unkind and inaccurate.
Since May 1, the UK is one of only three EU nations to allow unrestricted
immigration of Polish citizens. Poles don’t need British passports any more.
They don’t need British spouses for their alleged schemes. But they are
snapping up young British males in Warsaw with renewed fervour, and not
necessarily choosing to emigrate.
While feminism is almost as rare in sausage-mad Poland as vegetarianism,
Polish women are often drawn to British men for the subliminal training they
have received from mothers and sisters. Strangely, the British male who is
supposed to be in a deep crisis of identity at home has had more experience
of sexual equality than a Polish woman. In the New Europe, whether he likes
it not, he is a New Man.
“Why should I be a feminist?” a Polish woman has been known to jest. “My
husband already does what I tell him. And so does my lover.”
A repressive mix of communism and Catholicism ensured that Poland never
experienced a 1960s sexual revolution or a 1970s gender revolution as we
have in Britain. The effect is lasting. It is common to see a Polish woman
offer her hand face down for it to be kissed on meeting a man.
Gary might not impulsively go to fetch Dominika’s coat, he might not open
the door for her and hail her a taxi. But his (not necessarily callous)
disregard for Polish social protocol, his lack of any expectation for her to
perform a role of conservative femininity, will fascinate her.
Conversely, when without warning she fixes him breakfast the first time he
stays over — after she has washed and ironed his shirt — Gary may well have
a seizure. When she invites him for a walk in the forest to pick wild
mushrooms, his heart may start beating again. After she invites him to the
piano concert she is playing at, he may be a changed man.
At any rate, the exotic appeal of being British in Warsaw is set to be
watered down. As word gets out, the trickle of British men entering Poland
is turning into a flood. No fewer than four new low-cost air routes have
opened between the UK and Poland this year (courtesy of AirPolonia,
SkyEurope, Wizzair and easyJet), adding many thousands of new journeys every
week. Only about 60 per cent of them are filled with traffic caused by
Poles, some of them immigrant workers. Who is responsible for the other 40
per cent going the other way?
Gary, of course.
>From: Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz <wlodek@...>
>To: "Andrzej Tutkaj" <atutkaj@...>
>CC: "Ed Zietarski" <edzietarski@...>
>Subject: Spotkanie CKCI w srode
>Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 02:44:05 +0000
>
>Andrzeju I Edziu,
>
>Nie wiem czy wiecie o tym spotkaniu - mam
>nadzieje ze Was uprzedzilem. Jesli nie to
>b. przepraszam!
>
>Czy byscie mogli dac znajomym i poprosic by przekazali
>dalej? Dzieki!
>
>Wlodek
>
>ZAPROSZENIE
>
>Centralne Kolo Czlonkow Indywidualnych Zjednoczenia
>Polskiego w Wielkiej Brytanii zaprasza na spotkanie
>z Pania Anna-Sochanska-Bialek, na temat polityki
>polskiej wobec Unii Europejskiej, po siedmiu miesiacach
>polskiej obecnosci w Unii.
>
>Tytul: Przyszlosc Unii Europejskiej - polski i
>brytyjski punkt widzenia.
>
>Sroda 26 stycznia, godz 19:00, w sali Orlow, POSK.
>
>Pani Anna jest dobra specjalistka i bardzo przyjemnie
>sie z nia rozmawia. Bardzo serdecznie zapraszamy!
>
In a message dated 09/01/05 13:47:19 GMT Standard Time, jogi730@...
writes:
<< Hi Ania,
Happy New Year to you!
I am thinking of going to this weekend. Who else is going? Am trying to
convince Eddie but not holding my breath... lol
Chris >>
Hi Chris
Janusz has the full list (12 people up until yesterday) but of those I know
of Janusz, Basia, Ed Z, George, Andrzej Tutkaj, hopefully Basia Janczynska and
I are going. As it is a joint weekend zsapwb people are also going to be
there but I don't have the details. There are bound to be more people as we
advertised it at oplatek yesterday. Would be good to see you there and it
should
be a good weekend. We plan to go to Brighton for the evening on Saturday and
Janusz is planning a trip somewhere on the coast on Sunday. Best to contact
Janusz if you want to reserve a place at the emails below. Hope to see you
then!
jan.marszewski@...jan@...
Ania
TOPAZ invites you to the Telscombe Youth Hostel Weekend - 14th to
16th January 2005
The Venue:
Telscombe Youth Hostel is located near Lewes, West Sussex, and only
10 miles from Brighton. The hostel consists of 3 linked cottages and
sleeps a maximum of 22 people.
The hostel is only 4km from the sea!
We have exclusive use of the property.
The Time:
Early Evening on Friday 14th January to early afternoon Sunday 16th
January 2005.
Programme
Sightseeing, walks, pubs – the hostel is very near the South Downs
Way, with a number of National Trust properties and historic
monuments nearby. On Saturday evening, we are intending to visit the
historic city of Brighton.
What to bring:
Waterproof clothing, walking boots, pillow, sleeping bag, towel, wash
kit, warm clothing, trainers, CD's etc...
There are no pubs in the immediate vicinity, so you need to bring
your own alcohol
Transport:
By private cars. A map will be available on the website soon, and
from TOPAZ on request.
If you want to come by train, the cost is approximately Ł23 return,
to Lewes or Southease station. Further details available on request.
Please tell us if you need or can offer transport ASAP - it's
impossible to organise a lift a few hours before leaving.
Cost:
The cost – including food and accommodation (you provide your own
booze) is Ł33 for members (TOPAZ membership Ł10 if over 30 years of
age, Ł5 for ZSAPWB if under 30). Please note; due to limited space we
need full payment beforehand to guarantee a place. Please book early
to avoid disappointment.
Bookings:
If you wish to book a place, or if you require further information,
please send an email to: topazklub@... with the information
detailed below or ring the TOPAZ mobile on 07981 841312.
Cheques to be made payable to: TOPAZ (when you confirm a place by
email or text we will give you the address to send cheques)
TOPAZ does not take responsibility for persons or belongings on this
trip
If reserving a place by e-mail, please give the following information:
Name
Address
Postcode
Tel no/ Email
Please indicate whether you have transport, and if so, are you able
to give somebody else a lift.
Please also indicate if you have any special dietary requirements.
On receipt of your e-mail, we will contact you to confirm
reservation.
Please send e-mail to: topazklub@...
>From: Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz <wlodek@...>
>To: "Andrzej Tutkaj" <atutkaj@...>
>CC: "Ed Zietarski" <edzietarski@...>, "Karen Johnstone"
><KEJss@...>, Chris Dziadul <chrisdz@...>
>Subject: Advert for Friday, text and zipped poster, thanks
>Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 01:29:21 +0000
>
>
>>
>>The Central Association of Individual Members of the
>>Federation of Poles extends an invitation to a meeting
>>with the author of the book “Led by Destiny
>>Hitchiking around the World”. Kinga has many
>>interesting stories and photographs, the presentation will be in English,
>>questions and
>>answers can be in Polish or English. There will also
>>be a chance to to buy the book in English or Polish
>>
>>Friday 17 December, at 7pm
>>POSK, 2nd floor in the Sapphire room
Moi Drodzy;
Czy ktoś z Was mógłby mi wskazać namiary na kogoś kto studiuję bądź
studiował prawo w Londynie?
Najlepiej byłoby gdyby znalazł się ktoś kto robi doktorat, gdyż
właśnie zrobieniem doktoratu na którejś (niedookreślone) londyńskiej
uczelni się interesuję.
Za wszelką okazaną pomoc z góry dziękuję.
Z poważaniem
Robert
e-mail:robertczycz@...
Moi Drodzy;
Czy ktoś z Was mógłby mi wskazać namiary na kogoś kto studiuję bądź
studiował prawo w Londynie?
Najlepiej byłoby gdyby znalazł się ktoś kto robi doktorat, gdyż
właśnie zrobieniem doktoratu na którejś (niedookreślone) londyńskiej
uczelni się interesuję.
Za wszelką okazaną pomoc z góry dziękuję.
Z poważaniem
Robert
e-mail:robertczycz@...
>From: Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz <wlodek@...>
>To: "Andrzej Tutkaj" <atutkaj@...>
>CC: "Ed Zietarski" <edzietarski@...>
>Subject: Ogloszenie na spotkanie w niedziele
>Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 04:50:28 +0000
>
>Czesc Andrzeju i Edziu!
>
>Tu jest ogloszenie na niedziele - b prosze,
>podajcie dalej! No, i przyjdzcie! Dzieki, Wlodek
>
>Zapraszamy na pogadanke i fotografie "Autostopem dookola
>swiata". Niedziela 12. grudnia, godz 14:30, w sali
>seledynowej na 4. pietrze POSKu. Organizuje Centralne
>Kolo Czlonkow Indywidualnych Zjednoczenia Polskiego
>w Wielkiej Brytanii. Mowca - pani Kinga - opowie o
>tym jak objechala autostopem caly swiat i jak o swych
>przezyciach wydala ksiazke po polsku i po angielsku.
>Beda ksiazki, bedzie lampka wina - zapraszamy!
>
>You are invited to a talk with photographs "Led by
>Destiny - how we hitchiked around the world", on
>Sunday 12 December, at 2.30pm, in the Green room
>on the 4th floor of POSK. The meeting is organised
>by the Central Association of Individual Members of
>the Federation of Poles in Great Britain. The speaker
>will tell us about her experiences, and how she then
>published a book about them in English and in Polish.
>Books, a glass of wine, you'll be welcome!
>
I'm afraid I don't quite understand the nature of the problem you are experiencing, but, as I said, 'click on what is currently the fourth money saving article down after clicking on
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com'
I don't think I can help any further.
Best Wishes,
Nick
............................................
Hi there, find something with... and as different think...
Quoting "...the link won't stretch over two lines. Either just copy and paste..." just don't take into requirement of browser and simply don't work.
Before I send message that on Tuesday Nov 23, 2004 I take to notepad and re-edited link into one line to look into articles but still no relevant information there.
Therefore, ...the link won't stretch over two lines... I know about on Tuesday Nov 23, 2004 before send and check message... and before send and check.
-
Hi there, find something with... and as different think...
Quoting "...the link won't stretch over two lines. Either just copy
and paste..." just don't take into requirement of browser and
simply don't work.
Before I send message that on Tuesday Nov 23, 2004 I take to notepad
and re-edited link into one line to look into articles but still no
relevant information there.
Therefore, ...the link won't stretch over two lines... I know about
on Tuesday Nov 23, 2004 before send and check message... and before
send and check.
But still no relevant information there!!!
Regards
Michael
-
--- In TOPAZklub1@..., "Nicholas Breakspear"
<breakspeartowers@h...> wrote:
>
No, the link won't strech over two lines. Either just copy and paste
the URL I gave, or click on what is currently the fourth money saving
article down after clicking on
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
Nick
.................................
Thank you for information and link.
Unfortunately in my end there is no specific tariff but message --
"Error: No news items meet those criteria"
--- In TOPAZklub1@..., "breakspeartowers"
<breakspeartowers@h...> wrote:
>
> If you phone Poland, or anywhere else abroad you may be interested
> in this link.
>
> The site is written by a respected (and independent) financial
> journalist.
No, the link won't strech over two lines. Either just copy and paste the URL I gave, or click on what is currently the fourth money saving article down after clicking on
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
Nick
.................................
Thank you for information and link.
Unfortunately in my end there is no specific tariff but message -- "Error: No news items meet those criteria"
--- In TOPAZklub1@..., "breakspeartowers" <breakspeartowers@h...> wrote: > > If you phone Poland, or anywhere else abroad you may be interested > in this link. > > The site is written by a respected (and independent) financial > journalist.
Thank you for information and link.
Unfortunately in my end there is no specific tariff but message --
"Error: No news items meet those criteria"
--- In TOPAZklub1@..., "breakspeartowers"
<breakspeartowers@h...> wrote:
>
> If you phone Poland, or anywhere else abroad you may be interested
> in this link.
>
> The site is written by a respected (and independent) financial
> journalist.
>
> http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?
> newsid1098014080,3685,
>
> Nick
If you phone Poland, or anywhere else abroad you may be interested
in this link.
The site is written by a respected (and independent) financial
journalist.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?
newsid1098014080,3685,
Nick
redkat111@a... wrote:
Hi Nick,
Many thanks for letting us know about this event. For those members
who don't like downloading attachments, could you let us know the
date and venue of this dance.
Dzieki
Ania
......................
Droga Aniu and friends,
I've reproduced the attachments below.
If it makes any difference you won't be the only Poles or friends of
Poland in attendance.
Do zobaczenia,
Nick
........
Dance in Memory of Roger Woor
In aid of the British Heart Foundation
Saturday 13th November 2004
from 7pm until 10.30pm
Cecil Sharp House
Regent's Park
London
Music by Nicky Miles
Cabaret by Simon and Heidi Cruwys
Buffet . Cash Bar . Raffle
Dress: smart and glamourous
Tickets Ł15 RogerWoorDance@...
or
phone 07903 420 208 (Hanna) / 07941 560 154 (Nick)
........
The British Heart Foundation (www.bhf.org.uk) was established in
1961 and is involved in action against heart disease. It promotes
training in emergency life-support skills, provides life-saving
equipment, information and support to patients and their families,
funds for research, and education for the pubilc and health
professionals.
Nicky Miles is a well known organiser of dance events. He is a
Fellow of the ISTD, and a Committee Joint Chairman. He is also a
competition Scrutineer and Adjudicator.
Simon and Heidi Cruwys are former UK Professional Ten Dance
Champions. Simon is a Fellow of the ISTD, and a Committee member.
He is also an Examiner, and a competition Adjudicator. Heidi is a
Fellow of the ISTD, and an Adjudicator.
Simon and Heidi's appearance is supported by Bird and Davis Ltd,
retail and trade manufacturers and suppliers of bespoke artist
stretcher frames, linens and cottons, canvases, easels, and art
materials (www.birdanddavis.co.uk (020 7485 3797).
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent's Park Road, London, NW1 7AY
(www.efdss.org) is a 1930s listed building, and is the home of the
English Folk Dance and Song Society. For over 100 years the Society
has promoted the knowledge and practice of the traditional song and
dance of England. The Kennedy Hall is 360 sq m (4000 sq ft), has a
sprung floor, is wood pannelled, has a double storey ceiling, and
features along its length a celebrated mural by Ivon Hitchens.
Free parking is available in some roads surrounding Cecil Sharp
House, and in London Zoo car park (via Gloucester Gate, opposite)
until midnight.
Camden Town Underground Station is within easy walking distance.
........
Thank you for enquiring about tickets...
A limited number of tickets are available.
1. Tickets are Ł15 each. Please send a cheque payable to Cyril
Needleman to:
Cyril Needleman
13 Buttermere Court
Boundary Road
London
NW8 6NR
2. Enclose a stamped, addressed envelope
3. Write on the back of the cheque:
your full name
your e-mail address
your phone number
This information is important for us to run the event and therefore
deal with your application. You will not receive unwarranted e-mail
messages or phone calls.
We look forward to seeing you, and hope you have fun!
Hi Nick,
Many thanks for letting us know about this event. For those members who
don't like downloading attachments, could you let us know the date and venue of
this dance.
Dzieki
Ania
I met two members (Basia and one other) at a charity dance event at POSK recently.
Knowing that Poles are enthusiastic about dressing-up and dancing (enthusiastic relative to the English, at any rate) I said I'd let members know of a charity event I have a hand in organising; please see the attachments*.
This is an excellent event, at a good price, and in aid of a good cause.
Those who dance in a non-systematic way should not feel intimidated; they will not be alone.
Those who did not know the dedicatee, Roger Woor, need not be concerned.
In all only 200 tickets are available.
If you have too little time to send a cheque, let us know by phone that you want to come (see poster) and we'll reserve you a ticket for collection on the door.
*The attachments are in pdf (portable document format). The software needed to read pdf is Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe Acrobat Reader is freeware. If it isn't installed on your computer, when you try to open the document a message may appear telling you that you need to install or download Adobe Acrobat Reader. If there is no message you can download it from:
If you have chosen not to receive e-mail messages from the Group and are reading this message in the Group itself, the attachments can be found in the files section in the folder entitled British Heart Foundation event.
If you have any problems, let me know.
Pozdrawiam wszystkich,
Nick Breakspear
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