Life / TV / Internet provider and stores (Warsaw area) [21]

Hi Ukpolska, Was not able to get in. I go into a contact page (the only link) and not sure if i just tell a few white lies.....

Life / TV / Internet provider and stores (Warsaw area) [21]

Ok. Completing the message seems a wee bit easier than Uk proxy servers. Will give it a go. Thanks.

Life / TV / Internet provider and stores (Warsaw area) [21]

I tried to access tvcatchup.com and i was told that they could see i was not in the Uk so i was denied access. Oh well..

Life / Banks in Poland - Any good recommendations [30]

I am actually with WBK. While all staff are pleasant, their ability(or lack of) to follow up anything is unreal. I am not demanding but the hassle i have had with the simplest of things. And i have dealt with a number of branches and they all seem to be the same. Their internet banking is great thought.

Life / TV / Internet provider and stores (Warsaw area) [21]

WOT 30, Just wondering if you contact with UPC was in enlish or polish? I need to get internet in but i dont speak polish so any companies that provide an enlgish speaker would be of use to me.

Thanks.

Life / Banks in Poland - Any good recommendations [30]

Agree with you Wroclaw boys ....but there seems to be a huge number of idiots sitting behind desks....Thats the problem......!!!
I have the internet banking from BZ WBK and it is great. I am relunctant to move for that reason. I just have to avoid dealing with any actual people behind desks.

Thanks for all recommendations.

Life / Banks in Poland - Any good recommendations [30]

Thanks for all suggestions. Will check them out.

Life / Quality and availability of Sky channels in Warsaw [5]

Hi. My understanding on how it works is that you get your satelite dish pointed at the right angle and satelite and you can connect up your sky box and receive the programmes. Reception is as good as in the UK. I inquired to a company satservice.pl. They might be able to give you more details. Beware though as they sell subscription to Sky. I inquired if they provided the service in poznan. They told me that they did not install satellites dishes there(in poznan) but could provide me with the sky subscription. They told me to get a local company to install a satellite dish and point it at a certain satellite at a certain angle. Unfortunately i dont have the details to hand.

Try and pay for your subscription in the UK as any company providing subscription to sky over here seems to add on a nice little sum for themselves.

Real Estate / Estate Agents with property details and photos in Warsaw [14]

ober-haus.com

Click on the map of Poland. Big selection of properties with photos.

Real Estate / Co-operative ownership in Poland - - explain [3]

ok. Thanks

UK, Ireland / Experiences of Irish people who moved to Poland [27]

No problem. Glad to be of help. Hope you have fun in Krakow.

UK, Ireland / Experiences of Irish people who moved to Poland [27]

Only been down to Krakow twice for weekends so not sure about the irish community. It is the tourist place in poland for foreigners as there it is a lovely city, and has auswitch and the salt mines near by so there is plenty of things to do.

In relation to the catholic thing, dont be too frightened by it. Dont get me wrong, there is huge catholic influence here in goverment and among older people. But among younger people it is not as forceful i.e. a lot of the young people are not going to mass...and believe me, they are not afraid to show their love....It is quite similiar to ireland in the 80's. In relation to homohobia and xenophobia, yes there would be some of that there. But it warsaw is anything to go by, you can be gay and have a very good time here. Just dont expect to be able to get married any time soon. Really dont know about anti- capitalistism...from what i can see, polish people are very into setting up their own businesses and being successsful. Dont let some of the views on this forum sway you. I live in poznan, spend a lot of time in warsaw and wroclaw, and all these cities have something to offer.

You should avail of the cheap flights over here to get to know the place better as i first came here in 2002 and saw it as a country waiting to happen...and believe me it is.

In relation to the work thing....i think it depends on where you work. If you work for local authorities, you do as little as you get away with. And then the bell strikes, they are out of there.

If you are in the private sector, then generally, is would be harder. Work life here is still quite hierarchical...you have a boss and you treat them like a boss....I am not saying it is like it in all places but generally, there is this 'control' thing going on.

In relation to lunch breaks, they are not as prevalent as in ireland. When working in offices here, they would take about 15 to 20 minutes.

Oh...you said you like challenges.....This country gives you loads of them....

UK, Ireland / Experiences of Irish people who moved to Poland [27]

Hi. I am an irish person who has moved to poland. I moved here last year. My experience has been good for the most part. The biggest hurdle is mainly the language. Socially, it is not a problem. However, for business e.g. dealing with local authorities, it is a bit more challenging. You have to organise a translator for everything. And you cant just pick up the phone to do things. You have to arrange a transalator for the simplest things. Apart from that, the only 'hurdles' that i have had to overcome, is ones that polish people have to overcome...and that is the general apporach to customer service in poland. I have met some very good people, but i have also had to deal with some incredibly awkward people. I intend to stay here for at least another year or two.

Law / I want to move my bussines to Poland [13]

Hi. I am an irish man living in poland. One thing i would say is that the Polish love to dance...the whole thing around Ballroom daning, Latin, Tango is very big here.

You may want to check out the competition here as there seems to be a lot of dance schools popping up. Best of luck with it.

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]

Is the beer that strong...!! that explains so much from some of my nights out on it...!!

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]

Taste wise, as good as, if not better than import. Though if you drink to much you can get bloated from the gas. The beer is stronger, about 4 .5 % i think so 4 is usually enough to get me going. But unfortunately, it is normally by the 6th that i reaslise it and then it is all too lare.

And Red Bull and vodka is popular, along with other energy drinks for mixing with vodka.

Real Estate / PLN or CHF currency - Home Loan for mortgage in Poland? [7]

That question for me? Load to irish guy? Which one?

Oh sorry, figured out what you were asking. I think he got about 800k pln from them. He was a bit surprised how good and quick they were. He would be a It contractor in a bank.

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]

I live in poznan and the price of the beer in bars here range from 5 zlt to 9 zlt per .5 l depending where you drink. This is for the local beer.

Real Estate / PLN or CHF currency - Home Loan for mortgage in Poland? [7]

Thanks JkChambers. I was enquiring as i was looking at maybe changing a Eur loan to CHf. Thankfully, i am not applying for a home loan here. I do think BZWBK will give you 70 per cent, but be prepared to wait an age for a reply. A colleagu of mine(from ireland) went to Noble bank here in poland and found them to be very flexible. Just in case you were looking.

Real Estate / PLN or CHF currency - Home Loan for mortgage in Poland? [7]

Actually, i should have alos asked the comparison in relation to Euro.

Real Estate / Problems with switching apartments at short notice [10]

DeeIrish,
Hi. I am an irish person living in poland. I am renting an apartment. I also have an apartment which i rent out. In both cases, the notice of moving from an apartment is one month. You agree to the terms when you sign the lease. The best thing to do is to state things upfront and only sign a lease with a landlord who accepts that. One other thing, make sure that there is not a minimum stay. Sometimes this can range from 6 - 12 months.

The one reason why landlords do not like short leases is because they have to pay an estate agent in order to rent out the apartment and if they have to do that twice in one year, then it can be costly.

Nevertheless, you will normally find someone who is wiling to go for a 6 month lease.
Happy hunting.

Dee irish,
i have just read your initial mail again and there is one important point you need to know....In poland, YOU have to pay an estate agent to find you a place. The landlord also has to pay his estate agent to rent out his place. The cost to you is normally .5 to a months rent. If you are going to be moving around this might get expensive for you. Not to mention full of hassle. Bookratts idea of staying in short term accomodation may be good until you find out where you want to lay your hat. These can range from service apartments right through to the good aul fashioned Hostel.

Real Estate / Bad news for house self-builders in Poland (building material cost up) [15]

Hi. I was talking to a designer yesterday in wroclaw, and she was also saying that there is a huge shortage of building materials. This is due to the mild winter and the fact that builders were able to continue building during the winter. This shortage has also added to the price increase.

Law / Poland's Home Improvement Market? [14]

Hi. I have recently got a new apartment done up. From what the designer was telling me the cost of getting workmen is on the way up all the time. Also, in poland it is just not home improvments that you can look at. When you buy a new apartment over here, you generally get it as a shell i.e. only the walls inside and you have to finish it off i.ei put in a kitchen, bathroom, floors etc. So there is a huge market there as well.

Real Estate / Top Warsaw Real Estate Agents or Agencies Wanted [8]

Hi. Try Ober-haus.com. They have a number of offices in Warsaw and I have dealt with them. They have a number of staff who speak english.

Work / What is the ZUS rate? [3]

Thanks for the info. Had gotten that amounts alright. Just thought it was quite expensive but that is apparently the way it is......And from what I hear, the goverment have given ZUS money to the church