The book-packing journey continues in Eastern Europe with the eponymous food outlet just one element of Ben Aitken’s ‘unlikely year in Poland’.
In March 2016 the campaigning for the Brexit referendum is in full swing. Among the many and spurious issues being banded about is the allegation that migrant Poles are taking ‘our’ jobs. Ben Aitken’s response is to up sticks and head the other way, his mission to get to know the country, its people, and the reason why so many move to the UK for work.
He heads not to Warsaw or Kraków, but the workaday city of Poznan, to live and work for twelve months while he still freely can as an EU citizen. He finds a flat to share with some locals, and finds work, first in a school, then in the chip shop, which is more of a bar. The pay is meagre but the cost of living low.
The natives are friendly and as keen to talk about the UK as he is to talk about their country. He learns some Polish, but finds he is never far from and English-speaker. In addition to the language he immerses himself in Polish culture and learns some of its, largely unfortunate, history.
He sticks it out for the year, during which the UK serves notice on leaving the EU. His jobs, travels, conversations, and observations are reported in (mainly) whimsical style, often amusing but sometimes touching.
Not your standard
travelogue, it makes for an interesting and entertaining read.
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