The globalised world offers unique opportunities for personal and mutual growth through intercultural romantic relationships. The article discusses how couples can successfully overcome various types of differences. It is crucial to understand the concept of culture in order to grasp the dynamics in intercultural romantic relationships. In addition, both the challenges and solutions of intercultural communication are highlighted. Through semi-structured interviews, this article offers insights into the real-life experiences of intercultural couples. Couples consisting of Polish women and foreign men living in Poland who have been together for at least around one year were invited to participate in the research; these were a Polish-Italian, a Polish-Iranian, a Polish-Chilean and a Polish-Japanese couple. Whilst it is true that the partners in question discovered many differences during the course of their relationship, in retrospect this proved to be nothing exceptional that other non-intercultural couples would not be confronted with. A great distance towards their own cultures was shown and an openness towards diversity was evident. Furthermore, modern technology and the lack of religion make such partnerships even easier. These days, people no longer have to limit themselves to those they physically meet or to people who speak their language perfectly; they can learn without giving up their relationships. Religious aspects do not have excessive influence on their values, so they can overlook them, which reduces the list of potential challenges. The shift in relationships has led to people focussing less on the common background and becoming more individualistic, allowing for greater differences.
The development of technology and rise of digital work is reshaping the concepts of work and leisure in the twenty-first century workforce. Digital nomads can be best defined as individuals who have taken on a lifestyle which combines work and travel and are now working remotely outside of their home countries. This article will use a social constructivist approach to examine the way digital nomads give meaning to their work, their leisure, and the relationship between them. The application of Nippert-Eng’s boundary theory will aid in identifying boundary drawing methods used by participants to either segment or integrate work and leisure to create either a work-dominated or leisuredominated lifestyle. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the dialogue around digital nomads and fill gaps in current research on digital nomads in central European countries, such as Poland.
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie wstępnych analiz koncentrujących się wokół problemu postrzegania męskości przez młodych ludzi. Badanie pilotażowe obejmuje 8 indywidualnych wywiadów pogłębionych (IDI), osadzonych w jakościowym podejściu badawczym. Rezultatem przeprowadzonej analizy tematycznej było zarysowanie schematu postrzegania męskości w wymiarze czasowym, w którym wyodrębniono trzy główne kategorie. Pierwsza kategoria, czyli męskość a przeszłość dotyczy znanych młodym ludziom, zastanych wzorców kulturowych. Druga z nich – męskość a współczesność – odnosi się do tego, co obecnie uznawane jest za „męskie”. Ostatnia kategoria – męskość a przyszłość – dotyczy wyobrażeń młodych ludzi na temat męskości w przyszłości. Podjęty w badaniu temat wpisuje się w wciąż niedoreprezentowany obszar polskich badań nad męskością.
Background: International students are usually physically separated from their cordial social environment in order to pursue academic qualifications in foreign countries. Research has shown that loneliness, weak social networks, and isolation are some of the major causes of poor academic performance in international students. This led to increased concerns about how international students faired during the Covid-19 pandemic and afterwards. Purpose: This paper attempts to examine the changes in social relations of international students prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This study examined how international students in Poland coped with being away from social relations during the Covid-19 lockdown and the effects which the lockdown had on the structure and depth of their social relations. Research Methods: The study involved an open-ended interview of 10 international students of Wroclaw University, Poland. The timeframe for the study was from July to September 2023. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings: the findings revealed that international students coped with social isolation by increasing online communications with family and friends, online shopping, remote jobs, online videos and gaming. Furthermore, the findings revealed that certain changes to patterns of social relations remained even after the Covid-19 pandemic including the use of online conferencing, social outing routines and travels.
