Ireland from a Polish perspective

The way this Polish guy Krystian writes about his experiences doesn't cease to amaze me. I mean, I'm well aware that his English is not word-perfect, but all the same his perspectives and views are depicted so succinctly.

I'm writing now about the month of June 2006 and Krystian has landed in Dublin. As he has been in Scotland prior to going to Ireland, he compares the two countries. He says (adapted a bit): "The difference between Scotland and Ireland is like the difference in flavour between an Irish and a Scottish whisky."

Then he writes again a lot (naturally) about the Polish in Ireland. There were about 200,000 Poles in Ireland in 2006. They have their own shops, newspapers etc on the Emerald Isle. However, what astounded me, is that the Poles don't frequent both Irish people (which is understandable) and other Poles (really unusual). According to Krystian they live in their own little secluded units and see each other as rivals.

What's more, some of them firmly believe that the Irish economy needs them and not vice versa. To cap it all, there are many vandals amongst the Poles in Ireland, who create a false picture of the nation abroad.

All that he was talking about I could once again relate to because of the lifestyle of Croatians abroad. Of course, as Krystian also says, we mustn't generalise and pigeonhole, but many Croatians abroad have also little or no interaction with the locals (although there is a strong one between Croatians themselves) and often behave against the law.

The truth is, and I here wholeheartedly agree with Krystian again, that every expat is the ambassador of his nation abroad and should behave accordingly.

Another mentionable point is his asking himself if Poles should be loyal to Poland. He comes to the conclusion that if a country doesn't care for it citizens, the citizens don't have any moral obligation towards it. I see his point, but I would also like to add one more dimension to it. I hold that we are all citizens of the world and being an expat doesn't equal to forgetting all about your roots.

One can be both- an expat and still aware of where his/her roots are, can one not?

Finally, strain your eyes just for a few more moments- I have to say that his pictures of the places he has been to are big and beautiful and my face is red with shame when I compare it with mine. Once again, my apologies.

My all-time favourite of his pictures is this one, as it has something powerful yet eerie about it: