Poland is so Conservative it's charming. Is it true that older Polish men still kiss women's hands when they meet them?
Yes but that's getting more and more rare.
I have stereotypes of Polish people in my head, I don't know what you'll think of them. First there's the working class Poles that we encounter most in this country with their liberal use of "kurwa", their ability to drink heavily, their wearing of tracksuits and their tendency to do the jobs we don't want to and do them better than we ever would.
"Kurwa" is used often because it has many meanings that depend on context.
"Kurwa" alone means "whore" but if i use it when witnessing or participating in a car crash the meaning changes to "Holy shit".
Basically it's the only swear you will ever need.
The ability to drink heavily is what slavs get from the get go.
Tracksuits are the equivelment of the typical british typical "chav" outfit. (we even have a song about it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sZpNybt6jQ )
Basically tracksuits = chavs (at least in poland proper since i have no idea about abroad tracksuit wearers)
Well doing jobs the locals don't want to do is often the starting (and sometimes only) point for imigrants sadly but yeah there are some experts ranging from plumbers and electricians to IT experts out there.
The second is the middle-upper class Polish army colonel with a large, white moustache who thinks gays are Satanic, everyone in the immediate vicinity of Poland is a filthy foreigner and potential invader and women should be seen and not heard. He will be very, very easily offended and remember it for years, especially if the man who offends him is a foreigner.
Well there are lies and truths.
I doubt we have a huge problem with misogyny but there are arseholes everywhere.
Mustaches are slowly getting phased out i think... i had a goatee for a time tho but ended up shaving it.
Gays have it rough in Poland no questions asked... hell even i am homophobic to a degree (dear god cut it out with those rainbow parades) and i consider myself pretty open minded.
As for foreigners... there is too much to say on this matter to post here (and it would be derailing to boot) so if you want some details then PM me.
And yes we are pretty easy to offend and almost never forget but that's someting i assume we somehow share with eastern slavs for some odd reason.