> My Polish friend also introduced me to 'pierogi rooski'? Apparently, a Russian take on pierogi, with more meat.

If you mean "pierogi ruskie", they don't have any meat in them, just quark with potatoes and onion, though they're often served with bacon. And this dish comes from "Ruś" (now Ukraine), not "Rosja", otherwise it would be called "pierogi rosyjskie". I hear that in Ukraine they call this dish "Polish pierogi".

> As a Jamaican, [...], it was amusing to see "chipsy bananowe" for sale.

I believe "it" was not a Jamaican, however amusing it was.