News / Alchemy Polish vodka commercial - "Polaks innovations" [48]

I always find polish humour funny. Especially when they mock themselves. I can understand the bit of worry about opinion abroad. You do get a bad rap from a lot of other countries. That has more to do with prejudice than anything. Don't think the commercials will do it. They will dislike Polish no matter what. Americans are hated and misrepresented constantly. The most famous one is "you Americans voted for Bush twice, so you get what you deserve." I hear this a lot and I never voted for him.

As for vodka, this doesn't really classify, but I normally have a bottle of Krupnik handy to keep me warm during the winter. For vodka it would have to be Wyborowa with some apple juice.

News / Alchemy Polish vodka commercial - "Polaks innovations" [48]


Not really what I meant. Americans in general won't take offense to this stuff. We are used to it, not from friend to friend, but anywhere in general. Polish recently have been upset at numerous digs at them. Americans normally will brush it off. We get it from the brits all the time.

Life / Gay scene good in Poland? [66]

If your gay in Poland your treated like dirt. Gays are not open about it in this country. You more than likely will not get served or worse get your ass kicked on the street. Just for being gay here you most likely will lose your job. So no, Poland would not be the place to have a gay stag night.

Law / Visitor In Love with a Polish girl, UK marriage/Polish residence question [17]

You still have to apply for residence if your married in Poland. It's not automatic. In order to get married in Poland you also have to apply to get married. It takes a bit of time to be approved. Then you might even need to apply for a residence permit in the UK as well. So you probably have a lot of paperwork to fill out and submit.

News / Alchemy Polish vodka commercial - "Polaks innovations" [48]

What company is this for? Polish in the country take offense to this. American Polish have a bit more a sense of humour about these things. It's a very big difference in cultures we live in. In the states we constantly crack on heritage, but in Poland they see it more as an insult. Most Polish here also don't get the American jokes about stupid polish inventions. It is not something they really know about here. My gf when I first told her Americans have the image Polish are stupid she was shocked. In Europe they are seen as thieves.

Polish traveling will sometimes joke if they see a Polish license plate at a campsite. Better lock your car, there are other Polish here. Things like that.

News / Poland and satellites in space [17]

The European Space Agency handles all Space exploration/ Satellites / research for Europe. Which includes satellite launches from the French Island of French Guniana. It's a combined effort with different portions based in a range of countries.

News / Leader Of Poland? [18]

In Poland no one leads. Everyone just sits around and complains about each other.

In theory Tusk is the man who actually has the power in government. The twin has the power to veto. In practice they just *****.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]

I'm talking about regular poles. Check my post above. Teaching english for some reason is more important then regular education. Teachers in schools get paid next to nothing, but an industry based on shipping people out of the country makes the most. I think personally it's unfair. That's just my opinion. It's a free market so nothing technically wrong with it, just unfair.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]

Just to put in perspective, my gf's mother is a headmaster at a primary school here in Poland. She makes 2800zl/month pretax. That is for running an entire school. Not really putting you down for pay that a company will give you, but in reality it's pretty unfair.

Language / Common mistakes made by foreigners in Polish [90]


My response is usually is that no no or no yes

USA, Canada / OBTAINING POLISH CITIZENSHIP (living in the USA). Petition documents? [28]

Interesting. Always thought is what due to place of birth. Read up a little more on this and it seems the Department of State doesn't actually enforce this on anyone and actually looks the other way. They use to enforce this policy, but have stopped recently. Part of the other countries requiring you to renounce your U.S. citizenship is true, however the U.S. will allow you to become a citizen of another country regardless. Wouldn't mind having a EU passport in the future. This might be pretty nice to have. That is of course if I plan to stay here and be married.

Language / Common mistakes made by foreigners in Polish [90]

Constantly saying the slang word noh as to meaning NO. However polish hear noh as slang for yes. This is the hardest thing in two years for me to stop doing. Then I normally panic and say ya, which of course they understand. All when what I'm really trying to say is nie.

Travel / Ticket controllers in public transportation vehicles in Poland [24]

Yes like in San Francisco. What a mess it is getting on a bus there. 20 or so people waiting in line to get on the bus from the front. Takes almost 5-10 minutes each stop if it's rush hour. It's a mess. The polish system is based more on the honor code I guess. Don't be cheap and buy a ticket. There are signs in Polish that say this. Trams now have pictures basically showing stamping a ticket. Most people have tickets or a pass. It's not expensive. One note though is make sure to buy tickets prior to Sunday. Most shops aren't open on Sunday.

USA, Canada / OBTAINING POLISH CITIZENSHIP (living in the USA). Petition documents? [28]

Are you American? Don't think you can due to American laws. The only way you can get duel as an American is if you were born in another country and that country allows it.

Language / "sorry" instead of "przepraszam" [76]

My gf complains when they use English words on the news or even politicians using them. Amongst friends don't really see a problem. My own creation is cho f***in lera.

Food / No Bagels in Poland (even though they were invented in Krakow :/ [11]

Haha yea I've been wanting some bagels. It's impossible to find them in stores. They sell bake rolls now, those hard bagel chip things. As andy said, the only place I know of is in Krakow in the Jewish district.

Travel / Is Wroclaw the best city in Poland? [30]

Prague is nice but is pretty commercialized now. Live in Krakow and it's starting to become more of tourist attraction. Still nice to live. Spent a few years in Katowice and think I lost about 10 years of my life. Wroclaw is nice too. The park and area around the river is one of the nicest in Poland. Gliwice has it's small city charm to it. I don't really care for Warsaw to much. It is exactly what I envisioned a communistic style city to be like. With exception to the Old Town.

Life / Polish Train Travel - Scary? [101]

I have not even been close to being robbed in Poland. I use the trains, trams and buses. I have no problem with the transportation. The people getting robbed are the people making themselves targets. I try not to speak english to loud around people who look a bit shady. A lot of tourists on trains try and advertise the fact they are tourists. So they make easy targets.

Horror stories and Wise tales are just that. The stations at night are the only time where it looks really bad to be there. For some reason the Police do nothing to these people hanging around the stations.

Personally growing up in Miami seemed more dangerous to me. I feel much safer here. I'd rather be robbed then shot. Just my opinion though.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]


Talk about unfair to polish.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]

Yea I live in Krakow. Been in Poland for about 2 1/2 years. Polish tend to think very poorly of their life in this country. Dealing with some aspects of life like getting paperwork and dealing with some of these offices their entire life, I can see why. It's pretty much this way with any office with some kind of authority. The best is the blame is always on you, regardless of how much they screw up. The pay to cost of living ratio is pretty bad as well. I have no idea what they pay people to teach english, but I can't imagine it being to lucrative.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]

Well good luck with all that. You should probably get more answers to your questions from an employer. They most likely will treat you a bit better than the local government offices. Other than the crap quality of the state offices, Poland is actually pretty nice to live. You just have to get used to the bit of "I'm doing you a favor" attitude of authorities and some of the major service companies like TP (phone). American style of "ass licking" (as my Polish girlfriend likes to say) is not really the way they do things here. But that's another subject entirely.

News / Polish citizens given away to foreign law courts - is this normal? [29]

Pretty typical worldwide. Foreigners will get the death penalty in the U.S., just like any American citizen.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]

Well first you would need to get hired by a school in Poland. Then get the necessary paperwork from them. As for length, I have no idea, I bet most working in the consulate wouldn't give you a set date either. I wouldn't count on it being any less than a month.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]


You don't need a visa for 2 weeks, just get on a plane. But the guy at the consulate telling you to leave to Germany would count as leaving the country is exactly my point. That law doesn't exist anymore because of joining the Schengen Agreement in December of 2007. They have a common border now with most of western Europe. So if you enter in Germany and then stay for 30 days, then Poland for 30 days. They both count to your total of 90days in a 180 day period. Most government workers have no idea what they are talking about. But if your just traveling for 2 weeks, none of this really applies to you.

Life / Polish Green Card [23]

You still have to go through the process of getting a residence permit. You have to get all the necessary paperwork and file it before 45days after your entry into the country. This is if you are in the country already. I'm sure you can also do this from the States.

You will hear people say Americans don't need this to stay in Poland. But to work you will need it. In the past Americans could stay in Poland without a permit to live, because there was a loophole that basically allowed us to go to another country and come back. That would reset the 90day visa. But this all changed after Decemeber 2007 when Poland joined the Schengen Zone.

Those are the requirements if applying from the U.S. They ask for a lot more information and documents if you are actually in the country. Really depends on where you plan to apply. Inside Poland everything has to be in Polish, english documents have to be translated by a Notary translator. You have to be registered with the city and have a form of Health Insurance, basically something to cover your doctor's visits. I also believe if you are in the country you need to leave back to the States to get your permit to be able work. I haven't applied for that, but I have heard that. Hospital and Emergency insurance is not necessary. Obtaining proper insurance for that is a bit more of a challenge due to Polish laws associated with it.

Welcome to the fun process of Polish government. If it's confusing now, just wait till you actually start asking questions. One person will tell you one thing, another will completely contradict the other person. It's how most things work here. It won't be easy getting through all the b.s.

Life / Compulsory National Service in Poland [26]


Well seeing as they fought for the American Revolution, are fighting in Iraq, in Afghanistan (in the worst parts), they also played a big role in WW2. They are also part of the EU force being sent to Chad. Polish do plenty of fighting. The U.S. has praised the Special Forces in Iraq for their work there.

I think if your a student in university you can bypass the conscription law.

News / Will Poland become green? [122]


Funny thing about this is many Polish plants that use coal are now starting to buy cheaper coal from the Ukraine and Russia. Something to do with it being cheaper to mine. Apparently Polish coal takes more money to get because it's deeper in the ground.

Katowice and Silesia in general has horrid air quality because of all the coal plants and mining there. Sure it might be cheaper, but this stuff is horrible for the air.

Life / Polish Terrestrial TV [15]

I use Cyfra+ so you get the good movie channels (Canal,HBO,Skinemax), Eurosport, CanalSport(EPL,SPL) Discovery Networks, decent News and the occasional addition of new channels. Regular "free" TVP and such are pretty poor. With the exception of the odd sports broadcast, it's hard to find most of the Champions League. Cyfra+ allows for most of the channels to be broadcast in the native language of the program, so that is a plus for the english speakers.

Travel / How do i stay in poland longer than 90 days if im already in poland [37]

In the past, say pre December 2007 you could just go to the Czech Republic, Germany or any other country for a day and come back. That would reset your 90day travel visa. However with the schengen zone now being active since the New Year this has all changed. The only way you can stay longer than 90days in a 180day period is to get a temporary residence permit. .You would have to fill out an application, provide justification for stay, like studying polish, prove your finances, prove health insurance, must be registered with the city, etc etc. Visit the local Polish Immigration office for the paperwork. You must also submit this paperwork before 45 days after entering Poland. Try and take someone who speaks polish and make sure to ask every question you need answered. They normally won't tell you all the info even if you ask. The polish government workers are notorious for not giving all the needed information.

By the way I'm American and just went through this process. I have been living here for over 2 years using the old way. Now I have to actually get a permit to stay. My reason for staying is because of a hot polish girl. :D