just to clarify

I really am having a fantastic time, I get frustrated of course, but there are things about Poland and Europe in general that I absolutely love and will be sad not to have in America, or maybe I'll bring back in some form. 

Comradery through food: Making a meal can be a several hour experience here, and one that you can enjoy with friends.  The rationality of this is infinite: make a healthy satisfying meal, learn a useful trade, save money as opposed to going to a restaurant, money spent on going to another place (bar, cinema, mall, etc) is spent on food (which is more gratifying I think, connect and find entertainment within people.  Plus, food is cheap here, which is why going to the market is one of my favorite activities.

Public transportation: very cheap, very convenient, and you don't have to feel guilty about driving a gas guzzler by yourself.  Chicago has good public trans, but in my opinion its rather expensive.

Quality of life: It is statistically worse in Central Europe in comparison to America, but I would argue that the wrong aspects of life are being measured.  Fridays are a holiday here, many things are closed.  On sundays virtually everything is closed.  Breaks from school are much longer and more often.  There is more value placed on free time, reflection, family, one could argue the things that actually matter.   As Poland descends or arguably ascends into its own brand of capitalism this may change, but I doubt ever to the extent that it is in America.  Hyper-focus on success.  That's not to say that Poles have bad work ethic necessarily, although there are countless jokes about lazy Poles.

People are more focused on quality opposed to quantity here.  An example that may be disputed is the correlation between the "quality" of life and life expectancy.  Life expectancy is shorter is Europe, they smoke a lot more and at least in Poland, drink a lot more.  They're of course aware of the detriment of these two factors, but are more concerned about enjoying their time here opposed to prolonging it.

That being said, I have met quite a few nihilistic Poles, although it is a Catholic country, the "new" generation seems to be starting to refute these traditions fervently, the same can certainly not be said for the majority of their parents though.