Twenty Kinds of Pickles: The Real Life of an Expat in Poland

By an expat learning that home isn't always a place on a map.

When people hear that I live abroad, they often imagine something exciting. A fresh start, new experiences, beautiful European streets, weekend trips, and a life full of adventure.

And yes, sometimes it really is like that.

But nobody tells you about the other side. The part where you're standing in a Polish supermarket, staring at twenty different types of pickles, wondering how your life brought you to this exact moment.

Welcome to expat life in Poland.

The Honeymoon Phase Doesn't Last Forever

At first, everything feels interesting. Even the smallest things seem worth talking about. The architecture, the food, the language, the way people behave.

I remember being fascinated by how different ordinary life could feel.

But eventually, the excitement becomes routine. The beautiful old buildings become the streets you walk past on your way to buy groceries. The charming little cafés become places where you check your phone and worry about tomorrow.

And suddenly, you're not a tourist anymore.

You're just a person trying to live a normal life in a country that still doesn't completely feel like yours.

The Polish Language: My Daily Humbling Experience

If there's one thing that can destroy your confidence in a matter of seconds, it's the Polish language.

You can be a perfectly intelligent, capable adult. You can manage a career, raise a family, solve complicated problems, and handle life's responsibilities.

Then someone at a shop asks you a simple question in Polish.

And suddenly, your brain stops working.

You smile, nod, and hope you haven't accidentally agreed to something ridiculous.

Polish is a language that seems determined to test your commitment. Just when you think you've learned a word, you discover it has several different endings depending on what you're trying to say.

Still, there's something incredibly satisfying about finally understanding a conversation that would once have sounded like complete noise.

Small victories become big victories when you're an expat.

Polish People: Cold at First, Warm Once You Know Them

One of the biggest cultural adjustments for me has been understanding how people interact.

In some countries, strangers smile at each other, start conversations, and behave as if they've been friends for years.

In Poland, things can feel different.

A cashier might not smile. Someone on the street might look serious. Small talk isn't always part of everyday interactions.

At first, it's easy to interpret that as unfriendliness.

But over time, I've started to appreciate a different perspective.

Not everyone needs to pretend we're best friends just because we're standing in the same elevator.

And when you do build a genuine friendship, the warmth can be remarkable.

I've learned that friendliness doesn't always look the same in every culture.

The Strange Feeling of Belonging Everywhere and Nowhere

This is probably the hardest part to explain to someone who has never lived abroad.

After enough time away, something changes.

You start adopting local habits. You become familiar with the streets, the seasons, the food, and the little unwritten rules of daily life.

You begin to feel at home.

But there's always something reminding you that you're not originally from here.

Maybe it's your accent. Maybe it's a cultural reference you don't understand. Maybe it's a conversation where everyone laughs and you're still trying to figure out the joke.

And when you return to your home country, you discover something even stranger.

You've changed.

The place you came from has changed too.

Suddenly, you're caught between two worlds.

You're not exactly the person who left, but you're not completely local in your new country either.

What Poland Has Taught Me

Living in Poland has taught me patience, adaptability, and a certain kind of independence.

It's taught me that you can build a meaningful life even when you don't fully understand the language around you.

It's taught me to appreciate small moments: a successful conversation, a friendly neighbor, a familiar shop, or the first warm day after a long winter.

Most importantly, it's taught me that comfort and belonging are not the same thing.

You can feel uncomfortable and still be exactly where you need to be.

You can miss your old life while genuinely enjoying the one you're building.

And you can love a country without pretending everything about it is perfect.

Would I Do It All Again?

That's a complicated question.

Living abroad isn't always the romantic adventure people imagine. Some days are frustrating. Some days are lonely. Some days, all you want is to have a simple conversation without mentally translating every sentence.

But there are also moments when I look around and realize how much this experience has given me.

I've learned things about the world that I never would have learned by staying in one place.

And I've learned things about myself that I probably wouldn't have discovered any other way.

Maybe that's what being an expat is really about.

Not finding a perfect country.

Not escaping your old life.

But discovering that you can build a home somewhere unexpected, even if a small part of you will always belong somewhere else.

And yes, I'm still trying to understand all those pickles.