EN
The article is a qualitative study of the selected aspects of the systemic transformation in Poland experienced by foreigners who lived there. Its goal is show the processes which have been the subject of discussions and debates in Poland for more than 20 years through the eyes of „the stranger”. The research consists of 19 biographical interviews. In the article I reconstruct the ways of political thinking and attitudes towards systemic changes. I pay particular attention to the factors which shaped them – both determinants rooted in the period before the migration (such as: social origin, political views etc.) and experiences from Poland. Differences in perception of the time of so-called „Carnival of Solidarity” and the transformation in 1989 and their sources will be illustrated.