Life / Cost of living in Gdansk [16]

Hi,
I am about to qualify as a teacher of English as a foreign language (CELTA for those in the know). I am also an experienced computer programmer (10 years)

So, moving to Gdansk in late September and trying to work out if I can earn enough from teaching to live in Gdansk. I also have to pay for my car back in England which is on credit. Unfortunately, getting rid of the car is not possible or I will still be paying off the credit and simply have no car!

I understand my cost of living may be something like this each month

Flat 1300
Bills 300
Car 1000
Food 1000 (for 2 people)

Does this sound about right for the area? Is there anything I missed? Could bills be more?
of course, this means I need to earn at least 4000zl net to just survive to a basic level. Anybody know the TEFL industry know if this is even possible for a newly qualified teacher?

Many thanks in advance and maybe I'll be on this forum a lot over the coming years.

Tony

Food / Out of date kielbasa! [5]

I just bought some kielbasa at my local shop... to get home and notice it is dated best before 21st July!!

But, my Polish is so week that I don't stand a chance of trying to get it exchanged at the shop. I could work out how to say "I bought this yesterday"... but then what?

I have an intense Polish course soon, maybe that will help me not break out into a sweat every time I have to try and talk Polish to a stranger.. seriously, that's how bad it is... I can chat with a friend in basic Polish but lock up with strangers.

So, is it safe to eat 2 weeks out of date or just throw it away?

Tony

Work / Voluntary charity work (Englsih teaching) - Gdansk [5]

Hi,

As some of you know, I'm moving to Gdansk soon. You may also recall that I qualify as a teacher of English in 2 days time. What you didn't know is that I have an awful habit of giving my time away. Whilst I will no doubt want to suplement my income with private teaching, I am also keen to give up a little bit of my time to help those who could benefit from some help with English. of course, only once I've actualy got a job and settled, so it coule be a couple of months.

Does anybody know of any charities, scout groups, etc in the area or other such non-profit organisations such as local schools who might be interested in such assistance? Note that I will only do this for non-profit organisations.

many thanks

Tony

Of course... it would help if I could actually spell... English!! oops !

News / British war memorial in/near Trojmiasto? [19]

Hi all,

That time of year is approaching where those of use who still care, choose to remember our fallen in gratidude for their suffering and sacrifice in the many wars that have scared our history. Now I'm in a foreing country, that saw more than its fair share of action and attrocities, I continue to choose to consider that this rememberence is not only about those fallen from myown nation, but also about all those fallen in wars, old and new, and as such am seeking a place to pay my respects this November. I'm not a religious man so will not choose to remember them in any church ceremony, but may choose a simple silent moment in the vicinity of a memorial and maybe lay some poppies if I can find any to buy.

So, to the point, does anybody know of any of an British war memorials I the Trojmiasto area, or, failing that, any international or Polish memorials? Maybe even a simple British war cemetary?

A few people think I'm a bit strange for this, but this is me, this is how I feel, so if you don't like it, please just click 'back', the flaming is simply not going to change my opinions.

Lest we forget.

Life / Satellite type connections in flat in Poland [18]

Hi,
I have a question regarding the various connections available in my flat. There is the usual TV/Radio connection ont he wall and then next to that another box with downward facing satellite type connections.

I tried connecting my Polsat digital receiver and got a bit of a spark! So, I instructed the decoder to NOT send power to the LNB and tried again, no signal on any satellites that I can see (or maybe I didn't wait long enough to find out). There is a large satellite dish on the roof but I'm not sure if this is what is piped into these connections.

Anybody have any (sensible) suggestions as to what these connections may be? Is there anything else that is sent down cables that are identical to satellite connectors?

many thanks

Tony

Real Estate / Accommodation - Legal advice request [15]

Hi All,

As one or two of you may know, I have my unappreciative and disrespectful ex staying with my whilst she "looks for her own place". I kindly offered her accommodation for 2 months whilst she was supposed to find a job and a room. This has not happened and she continues to be a bit of a 'princess' living of me and being as nasty as she can.

So, the final straw, I told her she has to move out before the end of the month. This was greeted with laughter and the word 'maybe'.

As she points out, she is listed on the contract as living here, but is not a signatury to this contract so I can't just move and leave her with the rent. In England, this would mean that she was a lodger and I can force her to leave, with police assistance if neccessary, without notice. Can anybody advise me what the law is in Poland? How can I get this parasite out of my hair? I am at the stage where I will be happy to use police assistance, even if that results in arrest.

Her name appears on the contract where it says: "najemca ma prawo używać lokalu wyłącznie na cele mieszkaniowe dla " in addition to the contract holder (myself).

any advice will be greatly appreciated

thanks

Tony

Life / I need general health care - can I pay ZUS monthly for this? [8]

Hello again,
The job I have right now is on one of these awful "Contact for a specific task", which is nice because it gives me a known income each month but bad because I don't get paid holiday or health cover, but I do of course pay tax, that's done by the school for me.

So, I'm here with only the basic emergency health care provided by the NHS through the EU agreements. That OK if the only illness I get is an emergency, but what about day to day health issues that may arise? How can I get health care? Can I pay ZUS or something each month to obtain this right?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated and I'm just a little annoyed that my school wasn't better prepared for native speakers to help me with all this in the first place. I will have to prepare some document for whoever replaces me when I decide to move on.

many thanks

Tony

Life / Calling Emergency Services in Poland [6]

Hi,

I have a question regarding the legal use of emergency services in Poland. Two weeks ago I spotted a fire in one of those large metal recycling containers accross from my flat. I wasn't overly concerned because the fire was contained within this metal casing, however, there was a car parked about 40cm away, the heat was obviously building and then children started playing with the fire which provoked its strength somewhat. So, at this stage in the UK I would have called the fire brigade without hesitation.

However, my Polish friend told me that if you call the emergency services and they consider your call not worthy, then you may be in trouble. Is this true? If so, how am I qualified to tell if a situation is worthy of attention? Wait until there is a direct threat to life or until somebody has been injured?

In addition, I have been experiencing chest pains, sometimes painfull enough for me to have to stop what I'm doing and clutch the left side of my chest (not the centre which would make me really worry). I have a feeling it's just muscular as it was a year ago or indeed stress related, However, it was severe enough so that again, if I was in the UK, I would have sought immediate medical assistance, possibly even an ambulance. However, once again, my friend tells me (in this case my ex), that if it was found to be muscular and therefore not life threatening that I'd have to pay for the ambulance and treatment and maybe ven get into trouble.

So, can somebody give me an 'official' version. Can I call in a report of a fire that is non life threatening and can I seek medical assistance if I think it is urgent? Obviously, I'm not qualified to say if a medical problems is urgent or not, so I'd err on the side of caution.

Incidentally, come pay day (any day now), I'm going to talk to one of my students who is a GP and get this chest checked out, just in case.

regards

Tony