We’re confused and in need of help. Can anyone explain the change situation in Poland? This might seem to some of you a simple question and until recently we too thought it was, however it turns out that it’s anything but.
Polish moular
We’ve been in Poland for about a month now and our Polish is…………. well, s**t to say the least. I’ve managed to learn a few numbers. After a couple of days I’d mastered ‘eight’, and unfortunately not any of the other numbers. Why I learnt ‘eight’ and nothing else is a mystery. Kev was as always a little faster than me and picked up a bit more, but still he didn’t learn past ten. Anyway the reason I’m getting so hung up on numbers is that everywhere we go we need to know numbers. In the supermarket, they always seem to ask for the exact change. Whenever we hand over a note or złoty coin they always seem to ask for some more. At times we’ve been refused our shopping as we only had a big note and they didn’t want to either give the change or didn’t have it. On one occasion I didn’t have the exact change that the cashier wanted so they just rounded up and I didn’t get any change! So we’ve come to the conclusion that we should always carry change and try our best to give the exact amount. We even have a pot full of change by the front door so as to make sure that we grab a handful before leaving the house.
Change pot
Anyway the other day on my way home from work I stopped off at the little Carrefour near the train station to pick something up for dinner as we were totally out, as everything was closed this week because of the holiday. I knew I only had a big note, as that’s all the cash machine seems to give. So as I shopped I calculated to the exact groszy how much it was going to be. As it was Friday evening, every man and his dog were in their getting things for their trip, so it was rammed. I queued for about 20 minutes so had plenty of time to make sure I had the exact change to give alongside my big note. I even had time to think about the order in which to hand over the money. From past experience when we hand over a big note, we get a not too friendly look – which for the Poles is very unusual. So I decided to give them at basically the same time, so as to keep the cashier happy. Anyway what happened next I wasn’t expecting. She just handed back the change, all 39gr, and kept the big note. To only then give me back 61gr. This has never happened before and it happened at a time when the place was at its busiest. we’ll just have to see what happens next time we go shopping.
I was so hung up on what had happened, as I thought I’d figured out the change system in Poland, I got to thinking why I haven’t experienced this before in other places. It’s not just a Polish thing as a couple of months ago I read a blog by Nicola Fletcher about a similar topic and the experience she was having in Bolivia – read about it here. Anyway the conclusion I came to is that it’s a mystery and one of those quirks about Poland.
9.99
Then I thought about it some more – because this is a topic that requires a lot of thought – and I realised that when I was back home cashiers kept asking if I had a penny or so. Anyway, the conclusion I came to was that in Asia, unlike the rest of the world, they use whole numbers. Often in the UK and most other countries things will cost £2.99, I understand the whole psychological reasoning behind using the 99p, but nothing else. Something that I didn’t think I’d miss about Korea was whole numbers for prices, but as it turns out I really do.
*****
Listen and practice Polish numbers (Haeran this is especially for you 🙂 )
TwoTravellingTeachers 
Posted on November 6, 2011
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