Ha, I've been to Poland for a week last year and I definitely recognize some of these things. Service attitude was either generous hospitality or grumpy annoyance. At home in the Netherlands, I'm used to distant politeness, and that was the same in Germany and the Protestant countries I visited (Latvia, Estonia, Finland). The Polish police officers who ticketed me after an accident were friendlier than the postal worker who sold me beautiful stamps. One of those badly dressed men with dirty hair who sat smoking in front of his shop (actually a former gas station with empty pumps) was happy to sell me cigarettes (for family and friends) although he was officially closed. Neither of these people spoke a word of English, but waitresses and car mechanics spoke English very well. There were also English language schools everywhere. Speaking German didn't help me at all, but some of the Polish phrases I practiced were useful.
Since I traveled by car, traffic was interesting. On the modernized highways and toll roads, people drove faster than on the German Autobahn, despite the speed limits. On the other hand, in the city of Bialystok, some pretty wide asphalt roads passed through areas with many pedestrian crossings and cars parked on the road, where you could drive only 20 km/h. A system that made sense to me, but you'd have to watch out for many different speed limits depending on the circumstances, usually not indicated by road signs.
I knew the church was important in Poland as an institution, but I didn't know I'd see a big, monumental modern church in every neighborhood in Bialystok. The last time I went to church was for a wedding, but if I was an architect, I'd be happy that I could build something more interesting than offices.
Thanks for your comment, and yes we also noticed that waitresses speak more English that bank or post officers.
Their driving is crazy, they don't care about speed limits at all. Still a beautiful country, especially in the summer and most of the time we do enjoy being here :).
That's a very unusual church in the picture by the way, I've never seen one like that!