Life / Polish Train Travel - Scary? [101]

I was talking more from a safety standpoint.

But I've been delayed on every nation's trains, Poland included. The worst delay I have ever had was in Germany if you can believe it. I was going from Heidelberg Germany to Zurich Switzerland. Had to take a regional to Stuttgart and change to an ICE train bound towards Zurich. I figured that I had about 25 minutes between trains.

Needless to say, the train from Heidelberg was delayed about 40 minutes. We arrived in Stuttgart on track 15 and I had to pick up my train on track 3. I was the first one off the train, ran like hell and was able to touch the ICE train as it pulled out of the station on me.

American trains are mostly on time. They're just expensive and they are overbooked (at least they used to be). I went to university in Rhode Island, and I'd take Amtrak back to New Jersey during my first 2 years there. There were many times that I stood in between cars for the entire trip. I've also stopped taking Amtrak unless I absolutely have to in this country. If I need to go to Washington DC for the day, it is actually cheaper for me to fly than it is to take the train many times. But I do liek pulling into the Union Station there and seeing the Capitol Building right there....

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]


That's along my line of reasoning too. I think the spirit of the amendment was to keep the population ready to react to a police state or to any invasion. Remember the minutemen that they had in Massachusetts. The US needed people that could react quickly. Thus the need to bear arms.

Remember that in colonial times, most of the citizens were equipped with old muzzle loaders that were out of date and muskets. The British army was the most impressive, well run army in the world. The Americans were woefully behind them and at a tremendous disadvantage.

But again. That was then. I think it was totally a right and a need back in 1787. In the modern day, I think it is a priviledge.

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]


I thinkthat in the modern day, it is more of a priviledge to own a gun than it is a right. I believe that when the amendment was made in 1787, it was truly a right for a variety of reasons.

I had to go through a variety of hoops to get my gun license. I had to get fingerprinted and have those fingerprints run through the State Police, FBI, etc. I had to submit to a background check and the State Police definitely checked my background. I got calls from a bunch of people letting me know that they were contacted.

The main thing is to keep everything safe. Now that I have a baby on the way, I am going out to get a gun safe. I do not want little hands monkeying around with anything that will hurt them.

I own 2 shotguns myself. I like to go pheasant hunting in the fall. I've gone deer hunting a few times as well. You are going to meet jerks everywhere. Most of the hunters I see are stand-up people. But there are those who WILL shoot something and leave it (i.e. shooting a deer just for the antlers). Those people are the people who make the news and give the rest of the hunters a bad name.

If I shoot a pheasant, I feel badly for the bird because I just killed it, but I also know that I have a really good dinner coming my way in a few days. Same with a deer. If I am lucky enough to shoot a deer, I will have 200 pounds of meat in my freezer. Neck meat makes WONDERFUL chili!

I'll tell you something else about hunters (well... at least myself). When I go into the woods or corn fields to go pheasant hunting, I come out of the woods with garbage in my pack more often than I come out with pheasants. I am always picking up empty coffee cups, beer cans/bottles, and other assorted garbage and putting those items in their proper place.

In the US there is a group called P.E.T.A. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). 2 years ago, I had some woman from PETA screaming at me as I came out of the woods about how bad a person I was. After she was done with me, she started yelling at another hunter. I noticed that she was just finishing her cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and she threw the styrofoam cup on the ground. I then went back to her and told her that, by her littering, she was hurting more animals than I was.

One of the PETA woman's arguments was that I could go and get a pheasant in the supermarket. This is true. But a fresh pheasant in the supermarket costs USD 25. For a shotgun shell costing USD 0.5 and an investment of time, I can bring home my own pheasant.

Besides, I love walkign through the woods and seeing what I can see. There was one time that a Bald Eagle let me get within 10 feet of him. Then with just 3 flaps of its wings, it crossed he Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. Amazing!

I agree with you as well regarding M-16's. I also draw the line with assault weapons. I do not know why you need an Uzi in your house.

Hanguns are another matter. I can see the arguments of both sides. But I support people owning hand guns. I can only see that if the hand guns were taken away from all people, the honest ones will turn them in, but the criminals will still have theirs.

Boy! That was long winded, wasn't it?

Life / Why are Polish people cheap? [126]


I agree with that too. I can see that happening in any place. Some people just don't understand.

Life / Why are Polish people cheap? [126]

I agree. I'm fully American. I'll shop at factory outlet stores, as well as warehouse stores, like Costco and Sam's Club. Why pay more than you have to?

I'll tell you another thing. Most of the Poles I have run into don't have a whole heck of a lot of credit card debt either. Everything that is purchased is purchased with cash. I always found that trait to be much more financially responsible than I could find with other Americans.

Too many people live from paycheck to paychceck and juggle credit cards to pay for things they cannot afford. If a paycheck is missed, the house of cards comes down. I have not seen that problem with any of my Polish in-laws, friends or colleagues.

Life / Babies names - spelled similarly in Polish and English [29]

Wow!

Thanks for all of this! My wife and I were having this exact discussion on Sunday! There are girl names listed here we didn't come up with. We want names for our child that would fit well between Polish and English too!

Life / Polish Train Travel - Scary? [101]

Polish trains are no better or worse than in any other nation.

I had my pockets picked once in the Copenhagen main rail station (very polite criminals though. They took the money and put the empty wallet, credit cards included into the post to get returned to me).

I've almost been pickpocketed on the Metro in Paris. (Bad pickpocket... I actually broke his finger getting it out of my pocket. I can honestly say that I didn't mean to do it but I am also not sorry about it).

I've seen other people getting their purses or bags stolen in Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Zurich and London. I even think I got shaken down by a fake policeman in Prague once. But as the damage equated to USD 5, I didn't put up much of a fuss... I sure as HELL have seen enough of that in New York City (especially during the bad old days during the 1980's/early 1990's).

There are bad people all over the world and trains are an easy target. You just always have to watch out for yourself anywhere you go.

I personally enjoyed my train travels through Poland. I didn't have any problems on the trains and I didn't see all that much in the way of shady looking people to get excited over. I only really had my radar going a few times, but those times were late at night in either Krakow or Warsaw rail stations when the places were the stations were more or less empty and the people who were there weren't the kind I would want to bring home with me...

Love / A Polish Married Girl Rocks my boat!! [54]


Sorry. I don't quite know how to take that.

Are you currently married with a family?

Or does she have children and they are really yours?

Life / popularity of sperm bank in Poland :) [15]

I was thinking along the lines of one of the Little Britain Characters named Daffyd.

Love / A Polish Married Girl Rocks my boat!! [54]

Run away screaming before the situation gets even more messy, Senator!

She has feelings for her husband. She married him. And if she has feelings for you, the only result is trouble. If her marriage is over, you're great. You can carry on as you want. If there is any indecision, run away.

I have a question. Are there children involved?

Life / popularity of sperm bank in Poland :) [15]

Nice!

The world just keeps getting crazier! I wonder what the lesbian couple had to say in this matter and why this all came about?

I think I need to do a little surfing during my lunch break....

Aha!

The lesbians broke up...

Sperm donor fight

Sperm donor law change fight

Oofah!

And this link has a picture of the two mothers....

dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=499342&in_page_id=1770

Life / popularity of sperm bank in Poland :) [15]

And then there's the porn that they have there! :0)

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

My family history is interesting. I wish I could know more of it than I do.

All 4 of my grandparents came to the US in the 1920's by themselves. They all met their respective spouses in New York City. 3 came from Germany and 1 from Switzerland.

As far as one grandfather is concerned, the trail grows cold with him. I can only go back 1 generation with my father's mother as she came from what became the DDR and all old records were lost. Her father came from Poland and forgive the spelling, his last name was Mikolajczyk.

I have the best results with my father's father's side and my mother's mother's side.

My mother's mother is the one who came back from Switzerland. Some of my cousins still live in the town she was born in. During one of my visits there, I was able to trace the church records back to the 15th century. My earliest known ancestor on her side was a criminal who was arrested for stealing linen. He was caught while bleaching it.

As far as my father's father's side is concerned, I am able to get back to the late 1700's. I also know that my last name should be the German equivalent of "Cooper" and not what it really is. Seems that there was a baby born out of wedlock....

As far as my wife is concerned, she can go back a little ways. She came to this country from Stalowa Wola, Poland. I have to have her sit me down and explain something a bit more to me. She actually brought this up last weekend, I haven't quite gotten my hands around the issue yet. Supposedly, she has some Polish nobility in her, but then somehow, there was a theft of the title of from the rightful owner and then a sale of that title. I am really curious to see how that stuff works!

USA, Canada / Dear American Poles, look how much Brits make in Poland [28]


Thanks Sadek. I saw that too in my research. The blurb I saw said "in certain circumstances" and I couldn't find what those certain circumstances were.


And thank you, Scarbyirp! I was going in the right direction with my analysis then!

Cheers,

Kman

USA, Canada / Dear American Poles, look how much Brits make in Poland [28]


Hi All,

I am still curious about the tax rate structure in Poland. I wasn't knocking anyone in my original post. I just have a natural curiosity about taxes since I deal with them for a living.

I did some research, but it was at a very high level.

Here are 2006 Statistics:

Tax Base (PLN) Tax %
0 - 37,024 19%
37,025 - 74,048 30% of base exceeding PLN 37,024
74,049 and over 40% of base exceeding PLN 74,049

I also saw that Polish Social Security Taxes were 18.71%

I am assuming that you would deduct the social security to come up with the base (they did this in Denmark). I am also assuming that you go through a graduated rate. For example, if the taxable base was PLN 50,000 you pay 19% of 37,024 and then 30% of the difference between 50,000 and 37,024.

In my example of a 250,000 gross, is this how it would work in Poland?

Gross 250,000
Social Security -46,750

Taxable Base 203,250

Tax 19% -7,035
Tax 30% -11,107
Tax 40% -51,680

Net 133,428

Overall Tax Rate 53.37%

Any comments would be appreciated!

Cheers,

Kman

Genealogy / Polish surname meanings and origins [25]

My wife's surname was Szewczyk (it's now mine...). She said that it means cobbler. So there must have been a shoemaker somewhere in her ancestry.

On the German front, my surname is Neulinger, and I feel awful for the guy who got stuck with it. My surname literally translates to "New Person". So, at one time, some ancestor crossed over a mountain in Bavaria and settled into a town. The people called him the new guy. I can only imagine how angry he would have been in his old age. Just imagine that he lived in that town for 40 years and was still called the new guy every time he walked down the street!

USA, Canada / Question about calling Poland from the U.S. [4]

You've got the wrong number. That's the correct way of dialing. Does your mobile have a "+" on the 0 key? You can try +48 just for the heck of it. But 011-48 should be the exact same thing...

USA, Canada / Dear American Poles, look how much Brits make in Poland [28]

What is the tax structure like in Poland?

Let's say that a person makes 250,000 PLN per year gross. What does that person keep?

I totally agree that the quality of life is much better in Europe. Head and Shoulders over the US. I found that when I lived and worked in Europe, I had more time to do things and I wasn't rushing all over the place. The saying was that the Europeans worked to live, while the Americans lived to work. That was true and gave me a terrific attitude adjustment towards my future endeavors back here in the US.

However, with the 2 countries I have the most experience with (Denmark & Germany), it was tough to keep the money you earned.

In Denmark, people with that salary would pay an overall 65% income tax. VAT on what you purchased was 25%. If you bought a car, a car carried a 190% surcharge (after factoring in the cost of the car PLUS VAT), so it was hard to keep the money you earned. Social programs were great however. A University education was free. Health care was very good. Public transportation got you where you wanted to go at modest cost.

Just curious....

USA, Canada / How to send money back home (to the US) [12]


You're wrong plk. If you are a US citizen, you pay tax on your worldwide income, no matter where the money is located. US has a foreign earned income exclusion. If you lived outside the US for the full year and spent under 30 days in the US, you still have to file a tax return, but you are able to exclude USD 85,700 from your income. If you earn more than that amount, you are subject to US tax on the difference. However, you will then get a credit for taxes paid to the other jurisdiction (i.e. Poland). Normally, US citizens living in Europe won't pay US taxes because the European tax rates are higher than in the US.

But again, that rule goes for US citizens and green card holders only.

Whether you pay the bills out of an account located in Europe or the US doesn't matter.

The US taxing authorities will tax a US citizen on money they earn wherever they live. The money you transfer back is basically after-tax and has no income tax consequences.

USA, Canada / How to send money back home (to the US) [12]

Hi Jones

In your example, you aren't liable for any taxes whatsoever. No issues there. Yes you are liable for the interest that is earned int he account, but that is all.

It's just as if you were flying to the US and someone gave you money to buy them something to bring back with you.

My only issue would be if you were doing it routinely (a couple of times a month). Then someone might take a look at it and say you were doing some type of business transaction. Naturally, you still aren't liable for any tax, but you have to go through the hassle of proving it.

Cheers,

Kman

USA, Canada / How to send money back home (to the US) [12]


I agree. When I lived in Denmark, this was the easiest way to get money back home. My bank charged me $10 per transaction and I did not get beat up on any currency exchange fees. The fee was higher if I needed the money quicker, but in normal events, the money was in my US bank account within 3 business days.

If your bank does not have a SWIFT number (my bank did not as it was a very small one), they will use an intermediary partner's (mine had the Bank of NY as their partner) so you won't have any issues.

Sometimes for international transfers, your US account will need to be 10 digits. My account had 9, so they made me add a zero to the account number.

Call your bank and they will help you out. It's easy.


That's kind of correct too. In my normal life, I am a tax accountant here in NJ. As a US citizen, you have to pay tax on your worldwide income. You probably already know this, but contact the US Embassy in Poland as soon as you can. They have the average exchange rate you will need to convert your Polish income into USD (they may have it on their web page) when you file your 2007 tax return. You don't have to file by 15 April either. Being out of the county, you have until 15 June.

However, the IRS won't really make too much noise about you transferring income back to the US because you have to file an additional form with your taxes. You have to file a form TD F 90-22.1 separately disclosing that you have a foreign bank account and letting the IRS know the account number (You also have to file schedule B with your 1040 that contains the check box stating that you have a foreign bank account).

Don't know who actually gets it though. I sent all my tax returns in certified mail with a return receipt requested. The receipt for the TD F 90-22.1 never ever came back.

If you have any questions when it comes down to filing your tax return, give me a shout. I've been through it myself before...

Cheers,

Kman

USA, Canada / Polish Church in the Morristown, Morris Plains, Boonton areas [6]

It might be too much of a hike for you as you are almost the same distance from churches in either direction.

I live out in Hackettstown. My wife (she and her mother are from Poland) and I just moved out there and we found that there is a parish called St. Peter & Paul in Great Meadows that will do a Polish mass. I have not gone into the church yet, but I drove by yesterday (Sunday) and it seems like a very decent sized Parish. We're going to check it out next Sunday.

However, if you drive the other direction to Clifton, you can go to St. John Kanty. It's where my wife and I were married and it is on Speer Avenue. It is also a decent sized parish and they do 3 English masses and 2 Polish masses on Sundays. They also have a parish school.

Good luck!

Life / Presents that remind you of poland [15]

Hi Snap,

If you are in the US, here are a couple of places. I bought my mother-in-law and wife some presents from these sites for Christmas. Some items on these websites are touristy junk, but there are some nice items..

polandbymail.com
polstore.com

USA, Canada / Polish Social Club/Associations in/near Warren County New Jersey [9]


LOL!

Yup! That's the area! While I was dating my wife, there were 2 times that I pulled into a gas station after dropping her off just as the person robbing them was makng his getaway....


Thanks very much, Zgubiony!

Most of those places are too far away for my mother-in-law. I actually came to this forum through the Polish Falcons of America, and found the church close to our house through the Polich Cultural Foundation.

I actually emailed the Polish American Congress, but they never replied.

Your list gave me a couple of other foundations that I haven't tried yet.

Life / POSITIVES ABOUT POLAND AND POLISH PEOPLE.... [119]

Building big bonfires so that you can at first keep warm, and then bake potatoes.

Life / Do Amish exist in Poland [23]


Sorry Harry, but I do not understand. How am I a bigot? I was relating exactly what one of my friends told me about her life. She had her one year out in the world. She decided that she wants to be a part of it. Her family has now shunned her. You are right that she can visit, but nobody will talk to her. Her family will not sit down to dinner with her. She will have to eat in another oom or wait for the family to leave before she can eat.

I think that is unfortunate. And that is exactly what I meant when I made my comment. Nothing nasty or bigoted about it. I would never want my family to shun me and that is what happened to my friend.

Food / Christmas Dinner in Poland [33]

Did you also have to bring as much money as possible to put under your plate? We had the Polish 12 course meal at our house this year. Granted, this is only my second experience with Polish Christmas, but my wife makes everyone bring money to put under their plate.

You get to take the money back home with you after the dinner, but I was sure hoping that some people would drink a little too much, forget their money, and then I would get a Christmas present of my own! :-)

Life / Do Amish exist in Poland [23]

Unfortunately, they sure do.

I have an ex-Amish friend. Seems one of their customs is also to let all children coming of age (I believe at age 18) experience the modern world outside their community. They have 1 year to experience everything and then they go back home. They then decide whether to accept the Amish traditions or not. If they don't, their families will not have anything to do with them anymore. They won't even sit at the same table to eat with the family member who becomes part of the modern world.

Life / Bloody Priests in Poland... [58]

Back up one verse, Harry. Here's verse 20...

And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

I don't think this applies to an unruly 6 year old whose priest lays hands on him.

But we are in agreement however. You quoted the Bible where it states that the parents must reprimand the child.

I totally concur and restate what I said. The parent reprimands the child. And if I ever found out that an outsider laid hands on my child, there will be problems. Nobody messes with my family.

Life / Bloody Priests in Poland... [58]

I'm sorry Harry, but I disagree. I agree that the child should be reprimanded for acting out in church. But the person to give whatever punishment is necessary should be the parent.

If I found out that anyone put their hands on my child for whatever reason, I will be seeking that person out to give them 10 times what they gave my child.

Yes kids can be brats, and yes they sometimes need a quick slap on the behind. But if that hand doesn't share my DNA code or my wife's DNA code, there will be trouble.