A Chip Shop in Poznan: My Unlikely Year in Poland

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I can note several similarities between myself and the author. For example, we are close in age (I am a few years younger); we are from similar parts of the United Kingdom; and we have both experienced the 'reverse immigration' that is the focus of this book (I moved to Warsaw in 2020 for work). I feel that this gives me a unique position to offer my opinion on this work. The author was not afraid to mix with the locals to understand their mentality a little better. For instance, chapter 12 highlights Aitken’s experiences roaming around Freedom Square in Poznań to hear people’s opinions on Brexit. Interestingly, opinion was split between those who like the EU for its money and those who thought the EU is just Germany. A Chip Shop in Poznań is author Ben Aitken’s memoir of his time working in a fish and chip shop in Poznań. Part memoir, part travelogue, A Chip Shop balances personal musings on love, attraction, and camaraderie, with heartfelt cultural impressions. The main purpose of this group is to travel the world through books, experiencing new authors and cultures along the way. Want to read about the world? We have close to 50,000 books cataloged by setting and more are added each week. It seemed sensible. For one, I wanted to know what the Poles in Britain had left behind. For two, there was a referendum in the diary (cheers Dave), and so I thought I’d better take advantage of my European mobility while I still had any.

Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or explorin Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or exploring the world through books, you have come to the right place! ATW80 began in 2009 as a challenge on TNBBC. The separate group was established in 2011. After a recent phase of reading about the holocaust and the Polish people’s dark and troubled past, I was ready to introduce a lighter period of literature into my life and the ‘Chip Shop in Poznan’ was right up my street and a good segway into a glimpse of post war, post-communist Poland.I booked the cheapest flight to a place I’d never heard of – Poznan. When my mum urged me to be cautious and just go for the weekend, I shamelessly – and pompously – quoted Ezra Pound, who said that a glance is the enemy of vision, that a glance wouldn’t do, that if you’re going to go you ought to go properly. Why Poznan in Poland? Why not? Peeling potatoes and exploring the country It was littered with humour and so descriptive that I could easily believe I was already there alongside Ben (in between peeling spuds and boning cod) as he staked out the various towns, cities, pubs and bars, meeting the queerest and dearest of folks, eating the weirdest concoctions and experiencing all the wonderful and sometimes dangerous (female) encounters along the way. I particularly enjoyed Ben’s stint as an ESL teacher, having personally supported non English speaking students, I found his newly acquired skills and experiences familiar and hilarious! I have worked very hard gathering resources for others to use and coming up with new activities. Please ask permission before copying and please give appropriate credit. The copycatting is getting ridiculous and tiresome. Food is at the heart of everything in a culture and Aitken respected that in Poland. When he wrote about his plans to make bigos , commonly known as “hunter’s stew”, I almost felt jealous. Not because I’m a stewy kind of guy, but rather because I’ve never really attempted to make any signature Polish dishes myself. I do wonder – have I immersed myself enough in Polish culture? I’ve been to lots of places. I’ve blessed food on Holy Saturday. However, I haven’t got too much to say about Polish food. The only consolation is – I love Gołąbki . These are cabbage leaves stuffed with spiced minced meat and rice.

I also learnt that the more we move, the more our affection spreads. This may sound like a platitude, but to me it’s true. About halfway through my stay in Poland I met a young boy at Poznan airport. I had been in England for a wedding and was queuing to be readmitted to my new home. Ben made friends, learnt about Poland and saw how travel can make us more affectionate (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty) ‘The more we move, the more our affection spreads’ Pitched somewhere between a travelogue and a memoir, A Chip Shop in Poznań adeptly balances personal ruminations on love, attraction, and friendship, with cultural evaluations that subvert British stereotypes of Polish citizens. One of Aitken’s most successful strategies is to highlight similarities over differences: ‘What do the Polish do at the seaside?’ he asks. ‘They stroll and play and read and build castles from sand, as others elsewhere’. Towards the end of his stay in Poland, Aitken stayed with some nuns in Staniątki, near Kraków. He also gets lost in freezing conditions in the Polish mountains – without much daylight to spare. Finally, nothing beats milking Polish cows, as Aitken did in Ełk, north-east Poland. In 2016 Ben Aitken moved to Poland while he still could. It wasn’t love that took him but curiosity: he wanted to know what the Poles in the UK had left behind. He flew to a place he’d never heard of and then accepted a job in a chip shop on the minimum wage.The author’s “few do it, so I’ll do it” attitude shines through in A Chip in Poznań . This was the case with Aitken’s jaunt to Katowice. Generally, the city is “held to be ugly and disappointing”. Indeed, Katowice is not a tourist magnet, not really a place to rival magic Kraków just down the A4 motorway. Ben Aitken won me over with his unabashed nature and affinity for cultural immersion. Let’s dive in to see what Ben got up to in Poznań and Poland. So why Poland? And why Poznań?