A Chip Shop in Poznan: My Unlikely Year in Poland

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However, further on the writing got very boring, with whole chapters describing insignificant events, uninteresting characters and too many hangovers.

Since the idea of the book is nice and the things that happen interesting I would recommend reading this book, however one chapter at a time, and some other things in between. A fascinating book […] We should know more than we do about Poland, a nation with which we have had centuries of interaction. Besides the subpar structure and lack of an exploration or depth on the effects of British antagonization of Poland and Polish politics, this book just screamed PRIVILEGE to me.RADIOWARNING: CONTAINS AN UNLIKELY IMMIGRANT, AN UNSUNG COUNTRY, A BUMPY ROMANCE, SEVERAL SHATTERED PRECONCEPTIONS, TRACES OF INSIGHT, A DOZEN NUNS AND A REFERENDUM.

When, at the end of March 2017, it became clear that the UK was leaving the EU, Ben thought it is time for him to leave Poland, and in April he did so. It's a great pleasure seeing your own country through the beady-eyes of an author who decided to leave a' comfort zone' to gain a true life experience. Overall, it’s an effortless task to empathise with Aitken, especially when you’ve been in his shoes. He had a more-or-less girlfriend, Anita (she did not reciprocate his feelings for her), who asks him why he has come to Poland. As Aitken pointed out: “Not only must I learn new letters – e and a and o and s and c have alternatives that are accessorised with tails and fringes – but I must also contend with familiar letters arranged in new ways, with the result that when one finds oneself in front of a door, and is invited to pchać , one doesn’t know whether to push or pull.

Not because I’m a stewy kind of guy, but rather because I’ve never really attempted to make any signature Polish dishes myself. And whilst I appreciate the glimpses of Poland that we get (a whole tour around the country), unfortunately, the meandering and low-key first world problem experiences described in the novel didn't provide the indepth look into what living in Poland is really like, that I wanted.

This candid, funny and off-beat book is the account of his year in Poland, as an unlikely immigrant. This made it quite unmotivating to read as I wasn't particularly interested in the author's attempts to hike up a mountain in the dark Polish winter or failed romantic endeavours but more so the political and cultural environment. Aitken took his curiosity as the EU referendum approached to go and investigate Poland and why Polish people come to the UK, and to do so by living there for a year and doing minimum wage jobs. Aitken’s unabashed nature meant that he could partake in cultural immersion in Poland on a grand scale. Through the author's travels, jobs and new friends, we discover the customs, food and people of Poland.

WARNING: CONTAINS AN UNLIKELY IMMIGRANT, AN UNSUNG COUNTRY, A BUMPY ROMANCE, SEVERAL SHATTERED PRECONCEPTIONS, TRACES OF INSIGHT, A DOZEN NUNS AND A REFERENDUM. This is a bittersweet portrait of an unsung country, challenging stereotypes that Poland is a grey, ex-soviet land, and revealing a diverse country, rightfully proud of its colourful identity. Many Poles do speak English, but some of the English dialogues between Ben and Polea strike me as being too sophisticated to be either uttered or understood by the Poles.