Life / Help Needed, Which Snow/winter tyres tires to buy in Poland? [7]

It might well be that the biggest problem you have in the winter is with other drivers. The urge to tail-gate doesn't leave people just because it has snowed ...

Life / Help Needed, Which Snow/winter tyres tires to buy in Poland? [7]

Hi Tee,
This isn't my text - I asked someone who has bought tyres in the past (in Trojmiasto)

"These are big rims - so tyres will be big too, though I would think 400 was a bit much unless they were tall tyres, like for a 4x4, which these are not, I think.

Please note that two things make a tyre a "winter tyre":
1. thread - obviously
2. softness of rubber - summer tyres get very hard below 7 degrees Celsius - and hence less traction, though no tyre - except a studded one (illegal here) - will grip on ice!

I will phone around my suppliers and see if I can locate a set that is reasonable quality and still an affordable price - but it may take me a day or two to do it - OK?

Wojtek
"

Back to me : what are your current tyres? Are they all-season or specifically 'summer' tyres? Might be worth checking their specification online to see what they're capable of...

Also, don't forget about snow chains. If you plan to do any countryside driving you might need these. They're a pain to use but sometimes there's no other way ...

Oh, and with regard to countryside driving: be prepared - carry a shovel in the boot...
/cjj

Law / My father is 100% Polish, mother is 0% Polish. Citizenship in Poland. [29]

["No, no, no. You don't have a right to your money. You have to help THIS guy over here. THIS guy, who doesn't work because he doesn't want to. THIS guy who doesn't strive to better." Obama has promised that to give people who don't pay taxes cash back. Where does this cash come from? It's from hard working people like myself.]

You're coming to Europe to escape this? I think I've missed a point somewhere ...

/cj

Life / Fireworks! Where to buy them in Poland (3-city)? [13]

Be careful Griff :)

A few years ago I was at a similar event in Sopot -- which included a van full of police arriving at the front door. A neighbour had reported our host for illegal fireworks and so the polis turned out in what looked to be close-to-full riot gear.

Had to be talked down to the state where they realised they were dealing with a foreigner who hadn't the slightest idea he was breaking the law.

I don't know how much bother it would be to get yourself a permit ...

/c

Real Estate / How much to build a house in poland [7]

and don't forget they tile garage floors here :)

Life / Deadly Roads - "Are polish roads really THAT dangerous?" [139]

Ah, I remember the year they were building the roundabout in Chwasz and the detours meant dreadful traffic jams. I made the mistake of actually *stopping* when the traffic-light went red in front of me. Tosser from about 2 cars back jumps out straightaway and in no time at all is banging with his fists on my window screaming at me that I must have nothing to do and that some people need to get to work in the morning.

So I duly abandoned all signs of feminine self-control and screamed back at him in relatively filthy English. I wished afterwards I'd laughed ...

At least he didn't reach in for my throat - that was the low-loader driver a few years previously...

And then there was my boss a few years back - he was driving to Warsaw with me in the passenger seat. Car in front, car coming: and what does he do? Decides there is indeed space in the middle of the road and pulls out to occupy it. Sure there was space - he was straddling the white line and there was about 6 inches on each side.

neanderthals, the lot of them.

Law / No Karta Pobytu anymore for EU citizens ? [8]

I needed a passport for millenium bank about 3 months ago -- whether or not KPs were being issued they didn't want one. quite happy with my passport though.

/c

Life / Driving in Poland, Zebra crossings in stupid places? [26]

From my experience of a local (busy) roundabout, and the way people drive round it, it seems like they're as surprised as me when they leave ...

And don't we just *love* the strange 'cobbled' areas which look decorative but are usually considered as "extra road if you run out of tarmac bits" - at least they let the locals drive straight across the Chwaszczyno one without even a twitch to the steering wheel.

Travel / Cancel PKP ticket possible with refund? [3]

i believe so - at least you could 6 years ago ...

if it's still possible, don't expect to get the full value back, though

/cjj

Life / HEAT IN POLAND (with no air-condition) [26]

Stop building houses out of wood and much of the problem goes away ...
Buildings here are constructed from bricks / concrete blocks etc. Plus, most of the newer ones have a 2 or 3 inch layer of dense styrofoam on the outside.

If you're insulated to keep the cold out in the wintertime, summer is just a variation on a theme ...

Food / Is it possible to buy Live yoghurt in Polish shops? [23]

Probiotic yoghurt drinks like Actimel are available pretty much everywhere - or at least 'everywhere' in my experience (that's Gdansk urban, plus na wsi)

Yoghurt in general : very little 'low-fat' stuff available (contrast to Vancouver where it was sometimes impossible to buy 'not low-fat' versions. It's all suspiciously pleasant though - even the 'natural' versions are easy to eat ... I suspect ingredients not on the list (I still don't quite trust the lists of ingredients in Poland)

You can also get buttermilk very easily - it will have more of a zing. Homogonised (sp?) versions are commonly available so no need to learn how to drink lumps.

p.s. a Polish 'Apteka' (pharmacy) will be delighted to sell you capsules full of these little bacteria. You can swallow the pill or empty the contents into the food of your choice. It's quite a national habit here - every prescription for antibiotics will come with instructions to take bugs as well.

[I'm hoping that the evil habit of using glass phials has passed for ever - but always good to check for digestible capsules before buying]

Life / Cost of living in Gdansk [16]

>because my partner and I have so much stuff

whoa.
maybe a good idea to check out the average size of a flat here ... and what people do for seasonal storage. (hint: if you're used to Vancouver-style long-term-storage arrangements there might be a problem)

Life / Cost of living in Gdansk [16]

i can't do the bills thing as we don't live in a blok ... we don't even have cable/sat so let's leave cost of living to someone more useful.

how were you planning on finding accomodation? where? trojmiasto is strung out sandwiched between the coast and the forest so where you live and where you work need a bit of coordination.

if your car is right hand drive it's no use here long term .. should be a good few threads about that here and there.

are you familiar with Poland in any way? how are your patience-with-bureaucracy levels?

p.s. could you PM me?

Life / Cost of living in Gdansk [16]

1. What programming are you experienced in ?
2. 4.50 zloty/litre for petrol. diesel i've seen at 4,42 but our local filling station is still cheerfully hooking cars at 4,67
3. are you bringing your car here?
4. what about car insurance? car tax is in the fuel.
5. I'm not much help on food bills as I'm buying for 4 people but it's not as cheap here as you might imagine / hope. Oh, and forget buying in bulk to save a few zloty - things come in much smaller packages (often individually sized) so sometimes cost a ridiculous amount.

6. no idea about teaching salaries. will you be paying taxes? the equivalent of N.I. ?
7. are you any good at stringing words together?
8. travel in and around Trojmiasto - will you be living in the city (and which) or out in the sticks?
9. a ticket for Multikino (a cinema in Gdansk) will cost 17-20 zloty depending on the day.
10. A packet of M&Ms is 2zloty in the vending machine downstairs (and chilled, too - excellent value)

end of random thoughts.

Language / How to learn Polish ASAP? (speaking is my priority) [22]


and this is the beauty of Polish ... Learn the pronunciation rules and a great deal of what you vocalise will be pretty close*. It's not like English where you need to learn the pronunciation of word after word after ....

Unfortunately it's a bit of a two-edged sword - I can read stuff out loud that is passably-understandable to someone listening, but which I don't understand at all :D

*given the expected difficulties with some sounds - for me they represent a physical problem of delivery unrelated to my head knowledge of the sound.

Language / How to learn Polish ASAP? (speaking is my priority) [22]

Reading Polish isn't so difficult actually - learn the rules for how the alphabet and a few letter combinations are pronounced and you'll be well on your way.

I've never had much luck learning Polish words out of context - stick them in a sentence and they change their endings and sound different. It often seems more useful to learn phrases - or several words stuck together in a useful and grammatically correct combination.

/c

UK, Ireland / Polish homeless in the UK [42]

I understand the Barka Foundation help people back regularly ...

barka.org.pl/index_eng.htm

Life / What and why would anyone need a PESEL Number? [6]

I think many countries have their own "magic number" - the problem for me is when lazy software designers use it to try to identify people uniquely in the programs they're writing - especially where there's a database involved. I know I overheard some analysts, a few years ago, confidently deciding "we'll use PESEL as the primary key - everyone has one".

Once that decision has been made, the end-user of the package has little choice ...

I had a spate of out-patient hospital visits about 5 years ago, and each time I went to register my visit I had to provide my "fake" PESEL so I could be entered into the computerised system. The ladies at the desk made it up for me on my first visit :) Thank heavens the programmers hadn't put in some silly detailed validation of how a PESEL should be formed because this one had a lot of zeroes. But it seemed to keep everyone happy ...

/cj

Life / The Polish Flag Is White, with red tape! [32]

There's extra fun when you move house and go from one district to another - then you have to go back to the first office to 'de-register' one place of abode before driving off to the new gmina, clutching the little piece of yellowing (but stamped) paper that looks as if it was printed in 1973.

Because I'm living in my husband's house ;) I had to bring him along to provide the necessary permission for me to register - and of course he had to have the 15zillion pieces of paper forming an unbroken audit trail right back to his birth certificate.

It all feels like the traffic light issue* - so many little rules stacked one on top of the other that in the end they collapse under their own weight.

*the way it was explained to me ... the rules say you can't drive through a red light therefore they had to remove all the lights on the exit side of junctions ... just in case drivers were held up in the middle and then had no way to get out :D

Law / Do EU members need RESIDENCE CARD IN POLAND [29]

Splendid ...

So does this mean that I should carry my passport at all times?

/hits head gently but repeatedly off desk/

Life / Polish products for sensitive skin, are they available in Poland? [17]

I mention suncream because there can be allergic reactions to the ingredients, especially in the brands which don't cost an arm and 2 legs. My daughter is allergic to a very widely-used compoment, and Vichy is on the short list of suncreams not containing it.

Vichy skin care products are indeed widely available, but the suncreams not necessarily so. I had choice of SPF in my local chain-style drugstore in Canada whereas here in Gdansk I really had to hunt for the single bottle I found last year.

At over 50zloty for the bottle I'm content that the rest of us don't need to share it ...

Law / Do EU members need RESIDENCE CARD IN POLAND [29]

fyi
Last week I tried to use my karta pobytu in a bank in Gdansk - opening a new account type of transaction - and the bank wouldn't accept it. Passports only, said their rules...

Life / Polish products for sensitive skin, are they available in Poland? [17]

No sign of Aveeno here.
What suncreams do you use? My daughter needs Vichy and it's tricky to find.

Life / The strangest things in Poland [468]

>>>8) Peeople dress up to go to the store.

ah, they do that in Quebec city too ... a very strange experience for visiting vancouverites :D

Travel / No Polish villages on google earth [13]

as I said, i'm able to see more detail than that - in the north of Poland. I can zoom in to the penultimate level. In Gdansk itself the extra level is available.

In contrast with this, when I last zoomed home to NIreland it was very patchy indeed with many areas still like blotting paper after a boring lecture ...

Travel / No Polish villages on google earth [13]

what resolution are you expecting? i can get close enough to see our house but not the dog's kennel :D

USA, Canada / losing canadian citizenship at age 28 [7]

afaics it's relevant to people born outside of Canada in the 2nd generation ... or however that sentence goes. at that point you're either keeping in touch with the country (and what is needed to gain/retain citizenship) or you're not ..

USA, Canada / losing canadian citizenship at age 28 [7]

cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/retain.asp

"Some citizens born outside Canada to a parent who was a Canadian at the time of their birth are required to make an application and meet certain requirements to keep (retain) Canadian citizenship before turning 28 years of age. This is called retention of Canadian citizenship.

"Retention applies to Canadians born outside Canada after February 14, 1977, to a Canadian parent who was also born outside Canada to a Canadian parent. The Citizenship Act says that this second generation born outside Canada will lose Canadian citizenship at age 28 unless steps are taken to retain it.

"No later than April 17, 2009 the law will change to end the need to retain citizenship for many people. However, people born outside Canada who are subject to the retention rules and who turn 28 before the new law comes into effect must still take action to retain citizenship."

Travel / Taking a Camper (Motor-home) to Poland [16]

a couple of pieces of potentially useless information (from the north of the country)
- any campsites we've seen charge separately for everything carried/driven onto the site - x zloty extra per child, per adult, per dog ... be aware.

- were you planning on parking outsite of campsites? we tried this and found it difficult to find somewhere to stop (without the feeling we'd be moved on for illegal parking) - no convenient overnight stopping places like you might find in the UK (and no WalMarts for those familiar with their policy in the US :) ) And then there's always the matter of safety ...

- these people managed, mind ;)

landyonline.co.za/off_road/dipli/twd10.htm

/cj

Travel / Tips for travel with 1 year old needed [17]

Be prepared for screaming no matter what you do ... mine did. especially when it's time to put on the lapbelt and they don't want to ... There's not much you can do when they're that age - especially if they've got to the cranky stage. Appealing to their better nature can fall rather flat ...

toys .. .toys ... toys ... anything. every 5 minutes is a bonus ...

i'd put the carseat in hold luggage as it probably won't be any use on the plane (even if they let you take it on). Bassinets are only useful/provided while baby lies prone.

are you brining a pushchair? i've had horrible experiences trying to bring it to the plane steps - hoping to collect it immediately when disembarking (long story involving illness meant I couldn't carry my son). On a 3-stage flight it was lost relentlessly each time. I'd recommend a sling ... and wonder how these things all fit in with the current "very very few pieces of hand luggage" rules.

and you can't have enough wipes ...

and it's well-nigh impossible to change a baby in those toilets ... especially if there's anything evil in there. Plus, baby will remain dry *all through the flight* only to poop with rage once it's time to land :D

cluster with people who are also travelling with children - they;ve at least been there and understand the problems.

good luck