About & contact

scatts

July 2013, Warsaw, Poland

My name is Ian Scattergood but since schooldays have also been known as Scatts, to some people at least. Originally British, more or less half a century old and live with my Polish wife, Marta and Ponglish daughter, Zosia, in Warsaw. Been here over 15 years now and I like it.

If you need to contact me you can mail: scatts outlook com. If you’re saying anything remotely sensible I’m likely to reply.

I have no idea how to describe what this blog is about. It has been going since Saturday, October 20th, 2007 and used to be called “20 east” because for some reason I wanted to avoid the obvious. Work rate here has been everything between manic and comatose. Content is all over the place and liable to wild changes of direction without notice. The Strangely Park stuff started out with delusions of grandeur on another blog, since closed down and moved here. I have also imported here all my content from the Polandian blog. Unfortunately there are a number of broken links with images that I will tidy up…very slowly!

I can’t make any guarantees about what’s going to happen next.

Enjoy!

Join the Conversation

56 Comments

  2. Hello Ian,
    How are you my Dear? Lovely pictures, lovely Zosia and wife :)
    Please write me back when you can.
    Kind Regards,
    Agnieszka

  6. Hey I was thinking a helpful post and one you would be good at is comparing cost of living in P-land to say UK or US prices. Is it a deal to live there vs home is always a question. Does it cost more of less… besides the beautiful girls what are the pluses?

  8. Was really just thinking of simple comparisons of things like beer, good meat, internet, gas, cup of coffee, rent… just common items not a IMF study. I bet the blog would get lots of hits from people who are looking to know such things. Enough said will await a post or such.

  10. I read your review on LOTR and I hated it. I think you would like the story more if u read it not heard it >:(

  12. Hey, you changed your makeup! I like it! :) (Except for the no, I cannot revise what am writing cause the green type is too light.)

  13. “Some people can’t be happy” Edit:
    My, you’ve changed again! I can see what am writing now (but can’t see my av).

  17. Just wondering cause you seem to know and ‘feel’ Poland and the Polish quite well, that’s why I’m asking.
    Another thing which would be interesting to know is how good or bad your Polish is :)

  18. Thanks for the compliment! I would say it takes at least 5 years and the right attitude to even think you can ‘feel’ the place and the people.

    My Polish is best described as ‘mixed up’. My knowledge is all over the place from basic to super advanced and so are the gaps in my knowledge. It therefore makes it hard to know how to fill those gaps. I’d say my understanding is at around 75% but my ability to speak is lower, perhaps 40%. The difference being that when listening I can recognize a word even if it is being given a funny ending. I can also use some educated guess work to fill in gaps based on context or body language, whereas when speaking I have to be able to apply the right ending to the right words myself. Not so easy!

  19. hey Scatts
    Quick question I am tentatively booking a trip to visit my friends in Southern Poland Christmas week. Just checking hotels on Priceline and wondering you can give me an opinion on a hotel in Warsaw for my first night. For price, comfort and location would you choose; Hilton (90$), Le Royal Meridian (108$) or Holiday Inn (87$) or the biggie Intercont (163$)… all these seam in same area and I can cancell without penalty if I book now. for good advice I will by you a beer if you interested in Warsaw on the 20th.

    thanks
    Lon

  20. mocha,

    Interesting list!

    Le Royal Meridian – is what most people call The Bristol. Great location on Krak Przed next to Kaczynski’s place but I think it is very dry, stuffy, snobbish and boring. No doubt good quality but in a Gentleman’s Club kind of way.

    Holiday Inn – I’ll be able to wave to you from my office window. This place is getting very tired now and always full of cheap tourist trips. Not my choice.

    Intercon – good but very clearly overpriced.

    Hilton – arguably the worst location but by no means a bad location. A fairly recently built, quality hotel for what looks like a good price. Easy to get a cab anywhere. About 10-15 minutes walk from the Pałac K.

    So. If walking to the old town or down Nowy Swiat are important then I’d reluctantly go to The Bristol. Otherwise I’d stay at the Hilton.

    I’ll put you down for a drink on the 20th, if you’re serious?!

  21. Thanks the hotel tips! Good bed and nice shower with reasonable distance to sites is what Im looking for. I will let you know by mid december about my final dates when ticket is paid for (silently crossing my fingers I can get sent to the Congo- DRC before then). At the moment just trying to decide if as I arrive mid morning of the 20th if I want to catch a flight to Krakow (Islands territory) or stay for a night and go down the next day. I will definitely be staying on the 28th in Warasw for return flight late on the 29th. (I just found out a girl I met on the last trip is living in Krakow and may be around)

    Glad you found our US election entertaining… I was so far out in the African bush I have no tv, radio or anything for 3 days before the elections… was nice. I voted 6 weeks ago by mail so was out of it all ready.

    cheers

  23. Pingback: Things your parents have had for a thousand years! « 20 east

  25. You sem to life a really exciting live…Thanks for the reference…
    Hope all is is well, and look forward to seing you again SOON, hopefully not in ZT…
    B

  27. Enjoy very much your wit and style. Please check in on my work in progress at http://stefonic.expat-blog.net. and comment.
    Do not be polite or coy. Your brutal honesty is above all most appreciated as I do not yet know in what direction I really want to go with it.

  28. ♫•:*¨`*:•♫♫♫ ღ Happy Birthday To U ღ ♫♫•:*¨`*:•♫

    Ian …hope you have a great day today. All the best and Sto Lat.

  31. Hey last we met we talked about interesting places. Well in less than two weeks I move from Ethiopia to South Africa for a new job. Door is open… World Cup 2010. Cheers!!

  32. Hello Scatts, I took up your advise to switch to word press, many thanks. If you would care to correct/comment at http://stefonic.wordpress.com; The new and improved blog with pictures from Norway awaits your valued opinion. (be brutally honest)

    Thanks in advance
    Steven

  33. Hi Scatts,
    You wouldn’t believe, I’m having a meeting tomorrow with a person named your first and second name:) And it turns out we have much in common. Details tomorrow at 11:00. If you’re him, of course…
    Alexander.

  35. Hello!
    I was curious to know about the polar bear in Warsaw Zoo… what happened to him? I saw several videos on YouTube of him and there was a feeling that he might be sick (no clean water to play in or enough space for him). I hope that he is all right.
    Thanks,
    Christian

  36. Christian, I don’t know for sure what happened but I think he must have either died or been sent somewhere else because he’s for sure not in Warsaw zoo any more. Probably a good thing because he did look very miserable there.

    Last time I was there, there were some brown bears using his old pen.

  37. Awesome blog…
    Nothing more, nothing else. While browsing in searching for information about Special Economic Zones in poland I stopped over… and I think I will be stopping every now and then.

    Thank you.
    Personal experience is a diplomacy in practice.

  41. eh up Scatts, happened across your blog whilst getting cold up here in Rugby on board, supposedly doing a bit more to Moose. Hope everybodies well, as we all are, When are you back for a visit, July/Aug ? as we might be cruising up the Erewash then. Love at all B&K

  42. Hi Brian & Kate!!

    Glad you found the blog, good place to keep in touch, kind of. We’re well thanks and good to hear that you’re both doing well also.

    UK – not sure yet, nothing booked but really should come over soon. Possibly May, or one of the weeks beginning 19 or 26 July.

    Good to see the Captain Pugwash routine is still going strong!

    Love to you and yours too!

  43. Hi Scatts,
    Filip here from YouNxt. Very cool blog. I already had the pleasure of meeting Jamie from Polandian. I’m a Polish-Canadian living in Toronto and wasn’t really aware of how many Brits are now living in Poland. Is there a large ex-pat community there? Would be great if we could exchange links – I’ve already added you to our Blogroll. Anyway, keep up the great work and I look forward to reading your posts.
    Cheers,
    Filip

  44. Filip, I’ve added you to the blogroll, thanks for doing the same.

    Don’t really know the size of the Brit community here, I’d guess it is a few hundred spread all over the country and with some of them coming and going.

    Mate of mine just moved from Warsaw to Toronto with work. He’s now the MD of DTZ Barnike (SP?), a real-estate company. He’s a Scotsman with a Colombian wife. They seem to be enjoying it so far.

  45. Thanks again for the great meet up the other day. I hope to meet up with Kol. and Pat. soon. Also, I think I’ll make a stab at writing some Polish-English posts over the coming months so that blogging becomes a key tool in my Polish study:-))

  47. That wouldn’t be the Ian Jones of past Burger King, Richmond-U-Thames fame, would it?

    If so, nice to hear from you. Long long time no see. I’ll check out your cafe website later when I’m finished downloading this Lion OS X monster.

    I always think of you whenever I reflect on my use of computers as it was you who introduced me to Windows 95 (or whatever) all those years ago.

    Funny old world!

  48. I’m also a British person living in Warsaw and I have a daughter called Sophie and a cat, and I’m 3 years off the half century.

    One of my youtube viewers just introduced me to you in a comment on this film http://youtu.be/kpCH4eX-pfM which he reckons – possibly tongue in cheek – was shot just over the fence from your place.

    So I thought I’d take the opportunity to say “hi”.

    David

  49. Hi David!

    I watched the vid and yes, you were very close to us at the end of the clip. Perhaps 3-5 minutes walk at most. Quite a few coincidences – British, Warsaw, Sophie, cat………

    Keep an eye on the blog because we have regular, well 6 monthly, get togethers so perhaps you might want to come along to the next one? I think the next is due just before Christmas, November perhaps.

    Ian

  51. Hello Scatts, I’m Jerry Scatterday in Atlanta, USA. My son’s business is named Scatts. We descend from Scots named Scatterty in the Aberdeenshire area in the early 1700’s to Virginia. Interesting to have found you. Please respond.

  52. Hi Jerry,

    Its always fun to find people even remotely connected via a “Scattery” surname. There were also many Scattergoods who left for American back in those early days. I think most were Quakers and probably left to find religious freedom, or to impose their own religion on an impressionable people? There’s a Quaker school in Pennsylvania with the name Scattergood, for example.

    I wouldn’t bookmark this blog as it is rarely updated these days although there’s a lot of good back material. Polandian is where I am more active.

    Pass my regards on to all the Scatterday clan from this remote Polish outpost of Scattergoods!

    Ian

  53. Could You write your opinion about multiculturalism in Europe, what is Your opinion about muslim imigration in Britain? You have got good reflections about many things, I would like to know your opinion. Thank You.

  54. Adam, sincere apologies for not finding your comment until now. I really must try harder! Assuming your request is a genuine one (your email address at least seems normal) I will see what I can do although I’m no expert.

    Cheers,

    Ian

  56. Hello my name is Jacqueline (Jackie) Scattergood, and my dad Paul Scattergood was born in Stanton by Dale, Martha is a relative of mine in the family tree and I’m a direct descendant of Richard Scattergood. We could be related you never know… I’d love to know what was in the file you had with the Scattergood family stuff in.

    Jackie

Leave a comment