Genealogy / Poland- Stories from the Ancestors Homeland [20]

Whilst walking back from work one evening in the middle of winter in Warsaw there was an old lady who slipped on the ice just outside my apartment block. In falling, the contents of her shopping bags were strewn across the pavement and she was pretty shaken up. I took her to the hut that the block security guard used and after he confirmed that she was OK. I went and fetched some bags and put her shopping in. Through the guard I found out she was only going a few hundred metres down the road so I carried her bags for her and got her back home. Nothing special in that really. When I got home the next evening she was waiting for me drinking tea with the guard. She had been there for two hours (I was later home that night) just to present me with the cake she had made for me. People can make you feel pretty humble sometimes.

Genealogy / Poland- Stories from the Ancestors Homeland [20]


No, a very nice lady in a very nice country :)

UK, Ireland / Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British [273]


Firstly, thank you for taking the time to share the views of a long term Polish resident. I found your comments to be very constructive and insightful

I think that the British, in general, are a tolerant and phlegmatic people. We have a long term history of accepting immigrants from around the world. We have had influxes of people from all around the world and in general they have been well received and our country is richer for their influences upon our culture and certainly from the economic benefits that have accrued. There have been tensions from each wave of immigration and there have been far too many instances of racialism from some sections of our society. Any group of newcomers that have made the effort to integrate are largely welcomed. Groups that have chosen not to integrate or have sought to demand special treatment are the ones where antagonsim from the 'original' Brititish has been at its strongest.

In terms of Polish people, I believe most of us welcome your presence openly. Yes there are some people who blindly repeat the mantra of some of our popular press that you are stealing our jobs. Mainly these people do not want to work as hard as the Poles, want everything on a plate and see hard working, intelligent people as a threat. I guess that is an indication of a complacent but currently successful economy. You pay our taxes so you are benefitting our economy and culture so good on you.

There has to be a time when the pressure on our infrastructure and services from large number of migrants reaches a crisis point. My own belief is that this time is here or just around the corner. It is a factor of numbers not race.

In summary I think we welcome people who will integrate and pay their way but there is a finite limit to the population that these small islands can sustain.

Australia / Famous Australians [97]


Dame Edna Everage
Sir Les Patterson
Barry Humphries

to name but one.

Messrs Castlemaine, Fosters, Coopers Pale Ale.....

Er, that's it I think, apart from the bloke with the webbed feet that won a lot of swimming gold medals.

Australia / Famous Australians [97]

I suppose I should include Harry Kewell even though he only plays half a game a season for Liverpool and his wife goes on celebrity reality shows.

And there's that famous horse Phar Lap

Rupert b****y Murdoch and Kerry b****y Packer

Greg Norman

Ned Kelly

Sir Don Bradman

Yvonne Goooollagonnggggg

And that is the sum total of my knowledge. Anyway most of Australia is living in South Kensington now so it's all irrelevant

Australia / Famous Australians [97]

I think so and you just reminded me....

Elle McPherson

I'm sorry Elle, please forgive me. I'll call later :)

Australia / Famous Australians [97]


....because anybody who sang 'Two Little Boys' is best forgotten, that's why !

Life / Need to send sms to 600 number in Poland [15]

Lee

Have you called the Era call centre. They have English speaking agents.

+48 22 413 6000 - Era Call Center

I use clickatell.com for my PC based SMS messaging. I have access to a corporate deal but I think you can buy credits as an individual too.

Life / Need to send sms to 600 number in Poland [15]

They helped me oit a few years back with a similar problem and they spoke English well enough for me. Just as well cos my Polish was not that good either.

Love / Are you in a Polish-nonPolish relationship? [150]


Until such time as we realise that we can't catch them anymore, whereupon we all take up golf and buy unpractical sports cars :)

Love / Illegal Polish girl wants me to marry her for citizenship [124]


Utterly wrong. The only difference is that in the US you would be applauded for making a success of yourself but over here peoplr tend to resent your success. Hangover from the days of upper, middle and lower classes. Can't have the peasants making money and all that.

Love / Are you in a Polish-nonPolish relationship? [150]


If you marry an EU citizen then you can stay with them anywhere in the EU is the general rule. Not sure how the new entrants are treated in this respect but I think it was subject to a two year period that has not expired.

Not married but living together is more difficult. Have you checked out our Home Office website as there are loads of detailed docs to read on the subject. Can't remember the address but just google for direc gov in the Uk and go in through that portal.

Food / what is szarlotka? recipe too. [11]

apples and cinammon normally but there are loads of variations. It's just plain old apple pie/tart really.

UK, Ireland / Negative attitude towards Polish immigration in UK becoming stronger [90]


Ah. memories of the town. where I spent my formative years. All those Swedish girls in the language schools :)

UK, Ireland / Negative attitude towards Polish immigration in UK becoming stronger [90]


Of course, and Norwegian, and Polish, and Czech, and Chinese, and Thai and......it's the UK after all

I was going back a few years to my youth when Bournemouth was the main centre for English Language schools outside of London. Buuba's right though it is a really nice place to live. It's on the coast and has some great nightlife. I don't go back now very much now that my parents are both dead.

UK, Ireland / Negative attitude towards Polish immigration in UK becoming stronger [90]

And to get back on topic I haven't got a clue what the attitudes of Bournemouth people is to Polish immigration. The one word you will hear there is 'grockle' - anybody who doesn't live there, especially holidaymakers :)

UK, Ireland / Negative attitude towards Polish immigration in UK becoming stronger [90]

Great post. The age of jobs for life has long since disappeared. Continuous career development should no longer be the aim of the few but of all of us. The pace of change in the world economy and in technology is such that we have to forge out in new directions, to take some risks and not look for safe alternatives that , outside the ever growing Civil Service, no longer exist.

Your experience should be a lesson to all of us.

UK, Ireland / Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British [273]

My favourite places are:

The Western Isles of Scotland
The English Lake District
The Isles of Scilly
Selly Oak (only joking)

Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Like any capital city, it's not representative of the country I suppose. All I know is that when I had 40 Brits working for me out there for three years about 10 of them never came back. It even merited an entry in the project risk register.

Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

They were mainly males in their 20s, graduates and hell bent on partying. Seemed to get on well with the locals. 6 marriages (are't Polish weddings great) 2 long term relationships and two complete disappearances without trace. Most of them transferred to the local office of the firm I worked for, took less money but still smiled a lot !

Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Oh boy, have I've been dreading this. Sparky this is Globetrotter (I'm in two minds to develop schitzophrenia). It was genuine what I said originally. Some prat started some stupid posts. I have not forgotten you and I have been in contact with my ex colleague (in fact I was in warsaw for a week or so recently). He has not identified any vacancies as yet.

I worked for a large management consultancy firm. We won a large IT project in Warsaw. There were 40 of us from the UK, 20 odd from the local office and about 40 more from sub contractors. It was a project assignment rather than being based in warsaw. We were not based there permanently. Howvever, all of the big consultancies have offices there.

Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Somebody posted in my name and other anmesand even e-mailed admin to take out all my entries. Just a work related issue with a disgruntled systems administrator.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers
deloittes
KPMG
Accenture
IBM
Cisco

all have big practices/offices there with a lot of expats in them. Probably more chance with this type of company than a local Polish one. Mainly they will be looking for client facing staff rather than back office staff who they tend to employ locally but they are all worth a try.

Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Do you want to send me a copy of your CV and the type of job you're looking for. I can cover off two of the other on my list for you (I will tell you which ones via return e-mail but don't wanna disclose it here)

Use johncov1802@yahoo.co.uk. I'm at work now so the filters won't let me access it here but I'll pick it up this evening

UK, Ireland / Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British [273]


Including the only city in the whole world where the entire population has a speech impediment !

Only joking Brummies - I was born a Scouser so have had far worse jokes than this . If anyone mentions hub caps I'm going to lose it big time :)

Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

All of the ones I mentioned do but mainly local staff. There were a few expats in administration in the firm that I worked for but mainly they had worked in the US or UK for a number of years and then transferred out. You can get away with the language deficiency more as externally, customer facing staff where you had specialist accounting, tax or management consultancy skills and were dealing with customers who in the main spoke very good English.

UK, Ireland / Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British [273]


A warm, compassionate person from the fair port city of Liverpool with a wicked sense of humour who does not steal hub caps from cars, or car radios, or grandmothers and who is absolutely not over sensitive to jokes about the preceeding list. Oh, and they must have an intense dislike of Boris Johnson, MP.

Polonia / Germans: Do Poles like them or dislike them? [217]

Yeh its about time we changed the words. We only have half an aircraft carrier, two battered frigates and a fleet of rowing boats nicked from Hyde Park.

Rule Britannia, Brritannia rules The Serpentine.

Or

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy George W Bush
On England’s pleasant pastrure seen?

And did his Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was the White House builded here
Among those dark Satanic Mills?

Life / Need to send sms to 600 number in Poland [15]


Hope they sort it for you

UK, Ireland / Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British [273]

:)


LOL

Bless you my son, you are forgiven

Or Colleen in the sky with diamonds