USA, Canada / What can I expect in Poland compared to the United States? [48]

I have a question about the food -- we're moving there within the next month or so. I've been looking at carrefour ads and notice you do not refrigerate your milk? It looks like our apt. has a very small fridge, is this common?

Life / How important is it to have a car in Poland? [37]


No Kids. We'll be living in suburbs of Olsztyn, so not a big city. We go shopping once a week, but since I won't work, I'll probably go every couple days or so. We live in the country now, but have lived in cities before without problems.

Oh and I've never driven manual before and I am pretty sure that's mostly what they have over there.

Life / How important is it to have a car in Poland? [37]


Our budget isn't tight at all, as my husband's company is paying for everything but utlities. However, I did not know how hard it is to purchase a car w/o much savings, or how much insurance is. I feel like it will be more of a hassle than what it is worth.

His company will be giving us a rental car for three weeks. We can probably test it out then to see if it will be beneficial.

Life / How important is it to have a car in Poland? [37]


Our budget isn't tight at all, as my husband's company is paying for everything but utlities. However, I did not know how hard it is to purchase a car w/o much savings, or how much insurance is. I feel like it will be more of a hassle than what it is worth.

His company will be giving us a rental car for three weeks. We can probably test it out then to see if it will be beneficial.

Life / How important is it to have a car in Poland? [37]

I know there is a great deal of public transportation, like buses and trains, but what about taxis? I'm asking incase we go out at night. The buses stop running around 11.

Life / How important is it to have a car in Poland? [37]


most likely, we'll be in Jaroty.

Life / Is Poland cold? [40]

So Poland's colder in the south than the north? That's good news for me! I'm used to bitter cold winters though.

Travel / Weekend trips from Olsztyn [5]

Wow that sounds awesome! So much to do!
I'm in the rural USA right now and all we have are corn fields and cows :)

I'm excited for this adventure!
Stupid question -- but do trains ever shut down in the winter b/c the tracks are covered with snow? We don't have any commuter trains around here, so this is all new to me.

Life / How important is it to have a car in Poland? [37]

Thank you for the responses. We are still going back and forth about the car. We think it's going to be more of an expense and a hassle than what it's worth. We'll do without for as long as possible.

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

You are being a total alarmist.

Life / The Quality of Water In Poland. Should we boil and filter it? [38]

We drink tap water all the time, We live in the "green" area of Poland though... no harm done yet!

Life / A trip to a Polish supermarket [136]

Since my Polish is awful and I stare at the cashiers with a dumbfounded look, I too have found that paying with a debit card is a lot easier.

Life / A trip to a Polish supermarket [136]


Not when they're yelling at you for correct change! I've been here three weeks, cut me some slack, k? :)

Life / A trip to a Polish supermarket [136]


Ok... If it wasn't for the language barrier, things would be great. My husband starts Polish lessons and I've been using Rosetta Stone, so hopefully things will be easier after we can speak some Polish.

I find myself saying "yes" instead of "tak" all the time.

Life / A trip to a Polish supermarket [136]

Rosetta Stone does not teach you important, every day things off the bat. It teaches you like random things like car, plane, cat, dog, boy, girl, things like that. Basic numbers (jeden, dwa, etc) I'm on the second round of lessons and I can say things like "Man on Bike"

That won't get me far when I'm lost.


HA that's hilarious!
I bought pickle flavored noodles the other day, and I still don't know what I'm getting when I'm looking for hamburger. It's usually sausage, I picked up hamburger once.

Life / Redheads in Poland - How many? [95]

I saw a redhead at the gym. I am a natural redhead, but not "ginger" red, it's dark auburn

Life / Where can I buy very soft Toilet Paper in Poland? [47]

I second the lambi. It's better than Regina and the worst I've had is scented velvet. It flat out hurt.

Travel / Train Stop Closest to Gdansk Airport? [6]

Awesome, thank you! Would you need a taxi to get there from the station or could you just walk and be ok?

Life / Dog's life or what to expect when living in Poland with a dog [22]

I buy my dogs the same food I do in the states, Royal Canin. It's very expensive (140zl for 8kg) but worth it, as they don't eat as much because it's a high quality food. You can never find good food at the grocery store, you need to go to a pet store to get decent food.

Life / What should be done to make life in Poland better and more enjoyable? [94]

It'd be nicer, and I know this will never change, if the holidays weren't so serious. Every holiday involves a trip to the cemetery. Independence day isn't celebrated with fanfare, you're lucky if someone puts up a Polish flag. Have some fun on your holidays! It's just so stuffy, and as a foreigner living here, it drives me nuts!

Another thing is when you're in line at the grocery store and you see that I have not put all my goods down on the belt, don't put all your stuff down on the belt just because you got in line and you're near it. Please be considerate and *gasp* wait a second.

And lastly, trust us. I find it ridiculous that there are security guards everywhere. 99% of the people won't steal anything. Theft losses are often calculated into company's earnings. There are 1000 speed cameras up on highways that have warnings before them, and then we slow down and speed right back to what we were going. Just trust the people already. I've noticed here people are much more cooperative than back in the USA.

Travel / Best way to get from London to Olsztyn [7]

I live in Olsztyn and when we fly out of Gdansk we take the train to Olsztyn, there are maybe 3 or 4 direct trains from Gdansk a day. It takes about 3 hrs or so. I hope that helps!

Life / Receiving a order from Amazon.com in Poland [11]

We buy stuff from Amazon USA all the time and have no problems at all. We have bought DVDs and books, there are certain things, like electronics, that they won't ship over here. Plus our voltage is different, so it's a moot point have the time anyway.

And the shipping is relatively inexpensive too. Usually around $10-12.

Life / What do you live in, apartment, house, car? [19]

We live in a flat built during communist times, but it's been updated a lot since then, we have nice floors, remodeled kitchen and bathroom, I happen to like it. Of course it doesn't compare to life at home in the USA by living in our own house with a big yard, but I don't mind the apartment life either. We live on the top floor and have 2 floors to ourself and it's on the corner of the building, so it's nice and quiet. Except when our neighbors are blasting some T-Love :)

Life / What do you live in, apartment, house, car? [19]

LOL I love that!! I need to show it to my husband, he'll crack up.

Life / IS THERE NFL PROGRAMS IN POLAND [60]

We have a sling box that we hook up to our house back in the USA and it's been a life saver for us! We watched Packers/Vikings last night, well until half time.

Travel / Pets on a plane to Poland? [16]

We brought our dogs (two small dogs) on LOT for $100 a piece and they were under the seat with us. We had no problems with them, we didn't give them any anti-anxiety medicine. The flight attendents let us take them out of their crates to stretch and put them back in. We were in the very back of the plane so we didn't cause a problem.

Customs was very easy. They didn't even check our papers. I imagine the way home will be a little more tricky.