No awareness of personal space.

I have a friend over for a few days from London. The first thing he commented on when I picked him up at the airport was how he'd been pushed and jostled either end of his flight. Whilst queueing at Stansted, Poles were standing virtually top of him. While lining up at passport control on arrival, one woman standing behind him, calmly but firmly, edged her way forward until she was in front of him. I explained that Polish people have no awareness of personal space. This is a legacy from Communism when it was the done thing to fight your way to the front of the queue, it's the same in Russia. I know a couple of newcomers to Lodz who refuse to go to Tesco as they just cannot bear the shoving that they are subjected to, I go as early as I can to avoid the abuse.

His first evening here, we sat at the bar in my local and gasped in despair as a young woman elbowed her way between us to order a drink. The pub was sparsely occupated and such an intrusion was unnecessary. She remained in position while waiting for her drinks, not even glancing at either of us as we stared incredulously at her rudeness. This is the usual protocol here and something that I will never get used to, but if I'd had a go at her she wouldn't have understood why. Although last week whilst in London I witnessed two shaven Polish 'potatoheads' get a telling off as they barged their way onto the tube, they don't get away with it in the UK.

Word of the week: Pchac sie meaning push.