A Chip Shop in Poznan: My Unlikely Year in Poland

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When he wasn’t peeling potatoes he was on the road scratching the country’s surface: he milked cows with a Eurosceptic farmer; missed the bus to Auschwitz; spent Christmas with complete strangers and went to Gdansk to learn how communism got the chop. Ben’s journey to discover the relationship between Poland and Britain and why so many Poles were leaving home, which just happened to be during the year of the referendum, was so colourful and witty that I literally couldn’t wait to meet the next chapter.

In a strange twist of Immigration, Aitken sets off to discover for himself through moving to Poland for a year. I wasn't surprised to see the mixed opinions; I myself found some of the book's content questionable and expected there might be others who agreed with me. One such promise is the quote on the front cover that claims this is 'One of the funniest books of the year'. Aggravated by the author using the same type of style figures often; putting people on the wrong foot (when you over do that people start thinking you are arrogant too), struggling through some hardship. By the year's end he had a better sense of what the Poles had turned their backs on - southern mountains, northern beaches, dumplings!Writing any book is a challenge, but in my opinion, writing a non-fiction book is even more difficult; especially a memoir, where you are effectively the main character and therefore directly the subject for any criticism. Aitken’s unabashed nature meant that he could partake in cultural immersion in Poland on a grand scale.

I don’t want to be rude about this book, because I am not convinced that the author is really ok, and someone should probably check in on him. I couldn't help but cringe every moment the romance interest was mentioned by the author (a lot); and I can only hope the author got permission from the romance interest to publish her name and their interactions.

But, among the thoughts he recounts when he leaves Poland in April 2017 is this one: “When I am in Poland, I could be anywhere”, which sums up the feeling I had that he had not noted all that much that made that country different from others. The premise is brilliant - do to the Eastern Europeans what they do to the Brits - come over legally and work hard at the jobs we don't want.

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). All topics are narrated with sensitivity, and Askitt is often able to take a step back and admit his ignorance on a topic or even to explain complex thoughts in a light and funny manner. One of the main problems I usually have with travel books is that they are commonly written by white males who can afford to put themselves in hilarious (unsafe) situations. He didn’t know anyone there, and spoke no Polish at first, and only rudimentarily so after a few weeks. The idea of heading to Poland to discover why the Poles were heading in the other direction was an inspiring motive.There is something exciting yet comforting in being somewhere new, being lost on a new map, finding a supermarket or a bus stop. Through the author's travels, jobs and new friends, we discover the customs, food and people of Poland. This, along with more extreme examples (bringing beer into a nunnery, trespassing into conferences, and using his friend's favourite things as ashtrays), paints the author in a bad light no matter how fondly you look upon him. In Poland he recounts his experiences of showing up uninvited to a stranger's house on Christmas, discovering how bad he is at making fish and chips as well as teaching, and visiting Auschwitz.

The book is presented in diary format, though the text has clearly been polished so that it reads well, and it's easy to gauge your progress through his year just by looking at each date stamp. The things he encounters and endeavors he undertakes (the Christmas dinner) are interesting and could be at times hilarious.

This is something I think everyone should take into account when forming their critique of this book, and I would like to start by thanking the author for giving us a view into his time and experiences in Poland. The younger students, aged between eight and ten, already spoke much more English than he did Polish, despised him and were unruly.