Don't go.
Don't go.
rojo wrote:
Last year, when I was in Poland, a guy asked me. "How do you like the Polish women?"
Make sure is familiar with this Bobby Vinton classic and he'll do just fine with the Polish ladies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CrKg_QBm5Yvisit a brothel or two
Looks like an international city. The best advice I have is to use your credit card to withdraw złoty. It's a far better exchange rate than you'll find most places.
Try Źubrówka au jus. Mind blowing
Just tell him to write the following down on some paper, and hand it to any guy in the hotel bar.
Jestem Amerykańska dziewica pragnienie moje pierwsze doświadczenie. Czy wiesz, czterech mężczyzn, które chciałyby, aby przejść do mojego pokoju?
Don't fly in a polish helicopter and DON'T joke about invasions perpetrated under false pretensions.
asdcv wrote:
Just tell him to write the following down on some paper, and hand it to any guy in the hotel bar.
Jestem Amerykańska dziewica pragnienie moje pierwsze doświadczenie. Czy wiesz, czterech mężczyzn, które chciałyby, aby przejść do mojego pokoju?
....nice
rojo wrote:
As for naps, he gets there at 4 pm. I thin he should just stay up.
What about me though? I get there at 9 am and have a 12 noon press conference. Should I nap after that or just force myself to stay up?
Sorry, rojo, I was kidding about the naps. As someone else mentioned, you should avoid napping as well. Definitely force yourself to stay up until ~10 p.m. local time.
Have a good trip.
Precious Roy wrote:
Learn a few key phrases in Polish. Everyone in Poland speaks English, but they appreciate it if you make an effort to say a few basic things in Polish ("excuse me"; "do you speak english?"; "please/thank you"; "good afternoon", etc.).
+1 Good advice. Many many Poles speak English.
Precious Roy wrote:
Do not look like a tourist. Do not carry a back pack everywhere. Don't wear running shoes everywhere. Do not eat or carry a drink when you are walking around. The less you look like a tourist, the less you will be a target for pick pockets.
In my opinion, it's not so much what you wear, but how you carry yourself. I've traveled all over the world and wear running shoes and a backpack in most places. An extremely functional combo when walking many miles around a city all day. Maybe some people can tell I'm not a high-class local...so what? The key is to walk with a purpose, like you've been there before and you know where you're headed. Fake it if needed. Stand tall and show confidence. If a scammer approaches, look he/she in the eye and say, "no thanks" and keep moving forward. If you look lost, you become a target. So wear what you want, but when you need to check a map, do so discretely (pull into a cafe, park, etc.).
Precious Roy wrote:
Do not use your smart phone for internet/email unless you are logged into a wireless network. International charges are outrageous.
Not if you have T-Mobile :) Good move Rojo. I think you'll find the T-mo roaming to be quite sufficient, but if not, local high speed data SIMs are cheap and readily available. Of course to use one, your GSM phone needs to be unlocked.
Precious Roy wrote:
Many restaurants and stores outside of heavily tourist areas may not take magnetic swipe credit cards. Go to an ATM every morning and get just enough money to get through the day.
Always carry some local currency (use ATMs), but use credit cards whenever possible. It's safer and you usually get a good exchange rate (hopefully you signed up for a card that doesn't charge int'l fees).
Precious Roy wrote:
Do not trust anyone who seems overly friendly or hospitable. There are a lot of people who prey on trusting tourists with different scams.
+1 My general rule of thumb is that if someone goes out of their way to "help" you in an unsolicited manner, be cautious. However, if you seek out someone's help without any sort of solicitation on their part, likely any friendliness they show is authentic and real :)
Precious Roy wrote:
Do not eat any food you can get in the US. Go native and look for restaurants with other authentic Euro foods (French, German, Italian). Search out places that are off the beaten path. Owners will be tickled to have tourists and will want to make a good impression.
Might as well enjoy the local fare as much as possible, but don't feel bad about swinging by a McDonalds here and there if you need to some cheap, realible, delicious calories. Only travel snobs would suggest otherwise.
Hoser, eh wrote:
Standard advice: take half the clothes and twice the money you were planning to spend.
Rojo, yes, you definitely should stay up. Going to bed dead dog tired at 6 or 7pm that night will be far, far better for your trip than trying to sneak a nap in between arrival and press conference.
+1
+1
Pack light pack light pack light. One carry-on sized bag only.
When arriving in Europe from the USA (usually redeye flights), it is highly advisable to stay up the first whole day and resist any urge to nap or go to bed too early. Stay up 'til 9pm local. You'll wake up the next day at a normal morning hour nearly fully acclimatized to the new time zone.
Be friendly, try to show interest and respect in what locals are saying (about themselves, their culture, their language, cuisine, etc.)Don't be overly proud about being American, because you are likely to run into a wide spectrum of feelings toward our country, but do be prepared to answer any and every question that people have. People, even if they do not have the most favorable view of the USA, are at least very interested with what it is like here, and maybe have not even met an American before.
Act genuinely interested in what others have to say, even if you aren't. I've never had a problem making friends in other countries by doing this.
just saying been there wrote:
Might as well enjoy the local fare as much as possible, but don't feel bad about swinging by a McDonalds here and there if you need to some cheap, realible, delicious calories. Only travel snobs would suggest otherwise.
Great advice, except above. I don't eat at McDonalds when I'm home, why would I want to eat at one when I travel? And it has nothing to do with being a snob.
Take a small child with you; under 2. It won't cost you any extra but they'll put you in a row on the plane with empty seats. You will get to go to the front of every line.
rojo wrote:
So employee 1.1 is heading to Poland today. The rest of the staff doesn't leave until tomorrow.
He's never been overseas. He did leave the country for the first time earlier this year to go to Mexico.
What words of advice do you give someone traveling to a foreign country where few speak English?
I might say, "Respect the local culture."
But that might get him in trouble. Last year, when I was in Poland, a guy asked me. "How do you like the Polish women?" I responded, "To be honest, I haven't looked to closely I'm married."
He turned to me and said, "Everyone's married" with the implication being that mistresses were common.
As a predominatly catholic country, that's apparently not true except being maybe more common in warsaw where i was a the time:
http://www.polishforums.com/relationships-marriage-36/cheating-very-common-poland-61187/Anyway, on a serious note, any tips?
Either that or post your travel horror stories to freak him out.
#1 travel tip wrote:
hydrate on the plane flight and get up and move around as much as possible to avoid DVT's
This is good.
Take an empty water bottle with you and you can fill it with tap water and save airport prices.
Take a power plug adapter for any devices.
Condemns. Polish women are hot and want a green card.
A Duck wrote:
[
Condemns. Polish women are hot and want a green card.
If they are hot, why do you condemn them?
SMJO wrote:
Obviously tell him to limit the Polish jokes...
Also the expression pronounced roughly "Korva Masch" is the polite way of greeting women in Poland. The guys will also love it if you point at their female companion and use this expression. Trust me.
Employee 1.1 - please don't do this. I don't know exactly what it means but it doesn't look good:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kurvaAnd particularly not this - unless you have been hiding something:
asdcv wrote:
Just tell him to write the following down on some paper, and hand it to any guy in the hotel bar.
Jestem Amerykańska dziewica pragnienie moje pierwsze doświadczenie. Czy wiesz, czterech mężczyzn, które chciałyby, aby przejść do mojego pokoju?
As google translate has that one in there:
I am American Virgin desire my first experience. Do you know the four men who wish to go to my room?
yeah right wrote:
just saying been there wrote:Might as well enjoy the local fare as much as possible, but don't feel bad about swinging by a McDonalds here and there if you need to some cheap, realible, delicious calories. Only travel snobs would suggest otherwise.
Great advice, except above. I don't eat at McDonalds when I'm home, why would I want to eat at one when I travel? And it has nothing to do with being a snob.
Not using the word "snob" because you don't eat McDonalds. That's perfectly fine and logical.
The snobs are the ones who wouldn't agree with this statement: eating or not eating at McDonalds in a foreign country doesn't make you any more, or any less, worldly.
I should also add that McDonalds can be useful overseas:
** decent-enough, cheap coffee
** usually free, stable wifi and a place to sit
** usually clean, free/low cost restroom
Also, sometimes the menu at McD overseas is vastly different than here in the USA. You'll see local adaptions, beer, etc. It's actually kind of interesting in that sense. Some of them are pretty comfy too. In Europe, I've seen ones with couches, fireplaces, neon mood lightning, you name it.
just saying been there wrote:
[quote]Precious Roy wrote:
+1 Good advice. Many many Poles speak English.
[quote].
Over 12 million Polish residents speak Polish, according to Wikipedia. That's one in 3.
After Poland joined the EU so many Poles went to the UK that Poland offered them $8,000 each to go back.