LOL, oh I already knew that word ("koniokrad") - Horse thief!
You have to be careful about where you use that, she tells me, especially if you are in Guralski territory. Some of them folks still deal with horse thieves with a ROPE.
Anyway I did laugh out loud when you mentioned the old Warszawjanka telling you that you have to go to Chicago to hear a Polka. So true! There is Polish culture and then there is Polish-American culture. Two different animals.
Anyway, we are due for my first trip to Poland next Spring, when I have to meet the mother-in-law for the first time. I've spoken with her over the phone a few times, she's a lovely lady but she speaks almost zero English so I've really had to do the crash course in Po-polsku to make her more comfortable. She is a lady of quite some standing - a high ranking professor of economics at a university in Warsaw. To say I'm nervous is a real understatement.
Patricja and I met on a ski hill here in Utah (I know, cliche) back in Dec. of 2004. I don't know what it is about Polish women...oooo la la. So I married one

Seriously though, she is my Queen. I can't imagine tying the knot with anyone else and in fact intended not to, before I met her.
We have a great life.