Eavesdropping in Polish

While out at the bar on a lazy Saturday night and having a few beers, we were in a cozy little pub, just perfect for chatting with closely aligned but not overly crowded seating. There were two young ladies, perhaps in their early to mid 20's at the table next to us, having a lively conversation in Polish. I was hearing bits and pieces and trying to guess what part of the country they hailed from as the accent was difficult for me.

Mid-way through the evening, one takes a photo of the other, and then hands over the camera, and the second takes a photo of the first. D and I see this--and I always feel obligated to offer to take a photo of the people together. D asks if he should take their photo and they immediately agree. He has to ask them where they are from (Poland) and what they are doing in the UK (working and studying). The one's English is much better than the other's and she continues the conversation like a pro, and it branches onward when he asks her why she chose to come to England, and not, say, Germany as it is a closer country to her native homeland.

'Oh no, it's not for me, I wanted to speak English'. Although she has Polish friends in multiple English speaking countries (Canada, USA, Australia, etc.) so it wasn't necessarily anything with England in particular except that she found an appropriate school program, and hearing that I was from the US spawned further conversation. Gradually we drifted back to our original conversations...

Later in the evening, the barmaid is coming around collecting glasses. The barmaid says something to her and she laughs and then responds. Then she says a little louder gesturing to us, 'Don't worry, they don't speak Polish'. She then turns to us to explain this inside joke--the barmaid had learned some dirty Polish words and apparently could pronounce them quite well, so they share this little joke that the barmaid speaks Polish. (Teehee).

At which point I had to respond straightfaced: Ja mówię po polsku.
I then watched both Poles instantly freeze and the barmaid looks on confused.
Their conversation for the rest of the evening was racheted down a few notches in volume after that.