A Chip Shop in Poznan: My Unlikely Year in Poland

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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. It is a unique country, as is the United Kingdom, and although there are things I don't like about either country, I love them both.

He missed the bus to Auschwitz; stayed with a dozen nuns near Krakow; was offered a job by a Eurosceptic farmer and went to Gdansk to learn how communism got the chop. This, along with more extreme examples (bringing beer into a nunnery, trespassing into conferences, and using his friend's favourite things as ashtrays), paints the author in a bad light no matter how fondly you look upon him. Traditionally, Poles prepare an extra chair and plate at the table in case an unexpected visitor turns up.I have read many reviews which complain about the author and his personality, whilst others seem to not mind.

I also admire that the author is so comfortable going up to people and just asking them questions, which is something I would certainly struggle with. By the year’s end he had a better sense of what the Poles had turned their backs on – southern mountains, northern beaches, dumplings! All topics are narrated with sensitivity, and Askitt is often able to take a step back and admit his ignorance on a topic or even to explain complex thoughts in a light and funny manner. Aitken includes interactions with a very wide range of folks, including ones who didn't speak (much) English from across the country (he makes several "field trips" to other cities).It's perfectly fine for a memoir to not be funny and, for what it's worth, there were even a few funny moments. It was littered with humour and so descriptive that I could easily believe I was already there alongside Ben (in between peeling spuds and boning cod) as he staked out the various towns, cities, pubs and bars, meeting the queerest and dearest of folks, eating the weirdest concoctions and experiencing all the wonderful and sometimes dangerous (female) encounters along the way.

By the year's end he had a better sense of what the Poles had turned their backs on – southern mountains, northern beaches, dumplings! A fascinating book […] We should know more than we do about Poland, a nation with which we have had centuries of interaction.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. In Poland he recounts his experiences of showing up uninvited to a stranger's house on Christmas, discovering how bad he is at making fish and chips as well as teaching, and visiting Auschwitz. With regard to learning Polish, his back was against the wall from the get-go due to his mindset: “There are no two ways about it, it will be a hard language to learn. Therefore, if you are interested in Poland and want to read the authors' memoirs of his time there, I would recommend you to give it a go.

This book is very much like the stereotypes of the English abroad and I did cringe quite a bit reading it. It wasn’t love that took him but curiosity: he wanted to know what the Poles in the UK had left behind.i have bought the book sold on the seemingly interesting concept of ‘reverse migration’ of a brit to poland, however this entire book has just screamed ‘privilege’ to me. Certainly, with my first journey to Polandand getting used to a wholly new culture, I sought to find myself – to have my character reset.