Poland - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
Language: English
Pages: 168
ISBN: 1857337093
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
with whom he had been dealing. The day after delivering this present he received a telephone call telling him that his documents were ready. * * * CHIVALRY OR SEXISM? ATTITUDES TO WOMEN The fact that political correctness has never really caught on in Poland can be a breath of fresh air for visitors, but at the same time certain situations can prove awkward. This is perhaps most evident in the attitudes of older Polish men toward women. On the face of it, Polish men are perfect
Polish cities. There is certainly no shortage of taxis in large cities and you shouldn’t have to wait long to find a vacant one. There are, however, some things to be aware of. First of all, taxi drivers are generally very honest and will rarely take advantage of foreigners. This is not the case at airports and train stations, however. Never take a ride with a cabbie loitering in the arrivals area asking if you need a taxi, or you will almost certainly be taken for a ride in more ways than one.
casual clothing and formal business dress is the norm. In Polish business, for better or worse, people are judged by their appearance. Furthermore, dressing well for a meeting shows your counterpart(s) that you value the opportunity to meet with them. A smart, stylish suit always makes a good impression. Having said this, some offices have recently implemented an American-style “casual Friday,” allowing employees to show off their weekend wardrobes. CORPORATE VERSUS LOCAL CULTURE
surname until they propose that you call them by their first name. If you are the elder person or hold a higher position (especially in business), it will be your responsibility to propose communicating on a first-name basis. Do this only when, and indeed if, you feel comfortable with it. SENSE OF HUMOR We have also seen that Poles like to laugh at themselves while at the same time retaining their pride in being Polish. This has complex social roots and foreigners should not attempt to
among such incidents was the execution of over 4,000 officers of the defeated Polish army in the forests of Katyn in March 1940. The refusal of the Soviet authorities to accept responsibility or even acknowledge the massacre was a cause of great animosity among ordinary Poles. Germany gained complete control of Polish territory after invading the Soviet Union in June 1941. A system of concentration camps, such as Auschwitz and Treblinka, was set up by the Germans—well outside their own