Learning Polish

Polish culture/ Polska kultura

Since I promised I'd update more frequently i thought about something.
I think every language-learner when they learn new language are getting interested about country(or countries) people speak in language they learn. So since polish is spoken originally only in Poland(where I've been living since I was born) I'll tell you something about Poland.
I think you should know some things about Poland, and obviously polish culture. Of course there will be some phrases and words that are in polish, I'll translate them for you but since you've probably been practicing and know polish alphabet you should be able to read them.
IN BLANKS ARE WRITTEN WORDS/PHRASES IN POLISH)
Zaczynajmy.
(yes, you know that word, I used it many times in this book)

I think USA, UK, South Korea, Spain, Autralia and many more they have similar culture to Polish one.

Like in Korea, when you enter someone's house(dom) you should take off your shoes(buty), in Poland is the same. If you don't want to be seen as rude you'd like to take off your shoes without asking the host. You probably don't want to make a mees with your shoes, do you?
But there's an exception of course. If the host tells you not to take them off or you don't have to do that, then you can simply just not take them off. It's not seen as rude, you don't have to worry. You'll be probably given comfy slippers(kapcie) so you won't dirty your socks(skarpety/skarpetki).

And now you're in someone's house (dom). What do you do next if there are others then just the person who let you in? You greet them. As polish greeting [it's very polite and nice-to-see deed] you can greet them in two ways.
1) Shake their hand and say Dzień dobry or just shake their hand.
2) Shake their hand and kiss their cheek(policzek) (remember it's a peck). Starting from the left one(not yours but other person's) you peck someone's cheek very lightly, sometimes people don't even peck your cheek, they just do the peck sound next to your ear and your cheeks are just slightly touching. Then you kiss the person's right cheek, the same way you did earlier and once again the left one. You simply repeat the action 3 times starting from the other person's left cheek.
People tend to do it [If there are more then 2 people or so] starting from the oldest one to the youngest or just start from the person which is the nearest them.
You have to remember we don't do that to people we don't know and just met them few seconds earlier. It's just seen as weird and too touchy.
Also people don't hug(przytulać) as a greeting, or when they do it's just among/between good friends(przyjaciele) or family(rodzina). Just people they know pretty well.

Now you greeted with everyone(wszyscy). You'll be probably leaded to the room(pokój) you'll be all sitting. It's mostly a living room(salon) or a dining room(jadalnia). Some in my family after they arrived goes to the kitchen(kuchnia) (idk why, they just seem to like it). Well, you are now sitted. Someone will ask you what you'd like to drink(pić). Mostly it's coffee (kawa) or tea(herbata). They will also ask you what kind of coffee or tea you prefer. Other drinks like water(woda), juices(soki- singular=sok) and so on are placed on the table and you have your own plate and stuff like that. Usually when they invite you over you can expect at least something to drink and cake(ciasto) or cookies(ciastka). I mean at least. Poles love having guests(goście) over(mostly but of course poles are ppl too and some just don't like it) and mostly when you're invited then you can be almost sure you won't go out from them with an empty stomach. Poles as people very hostile like to make sure you aren't hungry (it doesn't mean we eat so much on daily basis). Mostly guest stays longer( for about 5 hours or sometimes longer) so you can expect something commonly called 'zimna płyta' which is a tray with a various kinds of cheese(ser), meat(mięso) and there are also salads(sałatki), bread(chleb) and stuff like that. Sometimes people make stews(gulasz=singular), soups(zupy-singular=zupa) or something like a light dinner(obiad) dishes. My mom makes her own organic soaps(mydła-singular=mydło), shampoos(szampony-singular=szampon) etc. so our guests often went out of our home(dom) with some part of my mom's handmade work. And talking about gifts, often when they're coming over they bring gifts(prezenty) like something to eat or to drink, sometimes stuff of daily usage the hosts may like. If there are kids in the house guests bring them sweets(słodycze). People rarely meet in restaurants(restauracje-singular=restauracja) or clubs(kluby-singular=klub), they would rather meet at home (one more time it depends on a person).
About greetings:
When you see someone who's too far away to hear you saying dzień dobry all you need to do it shake your head like you were agreeing to something. The same thing is done when you're on zebra (pedestrian line) and tho someone was going to drive through it they let you first.

And it would by anything for that chapter. Wake for next chapter I'll make sure to update as soon as possible. If you have questions text me, I'll explain everything and help you. Let's be friends!