News / EU a beacon of light for the World to follow [85]

I would agree with the original comment that the EU is something that the rest of the world could follow.
NOT because it makes us all one happy family, since it clearly doesn't; but every country has a dark past and divisive minority factions that want "home rule" at any price.

India and China will suffer in the same way; as they become more affluent, religious and ethnic factions will all want their own slice of affluence and power.

The EU is the best means so far of papering over the cracks and maintaining a thin veneer of friendly dialogue throughout Europe; without the EU as a sounding board and nominal equaliser, we would all be backing up our prejudices with force of arms again.

Where else would a Slav, a Hungarian, a German, a Frenchman, an Irishman and a Britsh man ever meet face to face and discuss matters of importance?

Travel / Will my rented car be stolen or broken into when in Poland? [24]

Rjrogalla,

There are "pay and display" car parks and car parks with an attendant to issue tickets but for on-street parking (or more usually on-sidewalk parking in the narrow streets) you need to buy time tickets which are valid for 30 or 60 minutes - so If you want to park for 4 1/2 hours you need 4 x 60mins & 1 x 30 mins, which you leave in visible in windscreen like confetti.

Now comes the tricky part: Nominally you can buy these from a newsagent or a traffic warden but you need local knowledge to recognise a traffic warden or find a newsagent.

I was Lucky that my friend was a local and bought tickets in a pharmacy (drug store) and managed to spot the warden on other occaisions.

Like all cities, there are more restrictions close to the centre but if you don't mind a longer walk to the centre, some side streets have no restrictions.

Travel / Will my rented car be stolen or broken into when in Poland? [24]

I rented a Chrysler Voyager and it was as easy as anywhere else in Europe.
My biggest problem for city parking (in Krakow) was not knowing where to buy tickets ( in shops or from traffic warden) but my local guides did that for me.

Away from main lorry (truck) routes the roads are good.
Driving standards are no worse than anywhere else in Europe - and far better than Asia.
As for theft, don't leave valuables visible in the car, and I honestly cannot believe that a Corsa would ever be a thief magnet; people aren't that desparate and even Wildrover would only want a new one.

Obviously all mainland Europeans drive on the wrong side of the road but so do Americans - which is why I always rent cars in Europe, so the steering wheel is in the right place.

Life / Polish-English Bilingual Bible [29]

I have also searched for a Polish/English parallel bible and the previously mentioned NT is the only one that I found available.
Obviously you have considered electronic versions but be aware that Polish Catholic Bibles have the apocrypha and are in archaic language. There are protestant versions (One very archaic) but I don't know any protestant Poles so can't advise.

Unless the NIV has been revised since I last had one, you also have the problem that verses are not numbered at the start, only in the margin; which makes a parallel edition almost impossible and the same problem with a paper copy in each hand.

I've done the two langauages in separate bibles bit and it is not easy, even with Polish friends who speak excellent English.

UK, Ireland / Best county in UK and why ? [45]

Hampshire.
1. Winchester Cathedral has real kings buried in it (not those Anglo-Germans)
2. Sea port with 4 high tides per day
3. Irony - New Forest which is old and largely treeless
4. Climate - warmer than the North, dryer than the West and less snow than the East
5. Good Beer - Pompey Royal or Horndean
6. National Motor Museum (Beaulieu) & Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum
7. Cricket was invented here
8. You can understand the natives when they speak English
9. Jane Austen, William Cobbett, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Craig David, Benny Hill, Ken Russell,
10. We've been dealing with foreign invasions for centuries

Love / I reckon I've met a right plonker here - your thoughts please [44]


riding in competion is sport. envy is for losers

Love / I reckon I've met a right plonker here - your thoughts please [44]


That would include my wife and daughter. I assume you have something to back up this wild assertion or is it just envy that someone actually enjoys a dangerous and relatively expensive sport?

Life / Why do poles drink & drive? [82]

I agree with Eurola. My friends in Poland are absolutely tea-total when driving. To qualify that statement, they are mostly middle-aged professionals.
I imagine that the reason for any disproportionate figures are to do with youth, social class, separation from family and a subliminal thought that in a strange country, there may be some special leniency.

English lads in foreign countries are equally uninhibited by local laws and expect to "get away" with things which they wouldn't try at home.

Life / Thoughs on driving in Poland after two years [9]

Thanks WR, I should have been flying to Warsaw for last week of this month, but cancer op. is taking precedence so all plans are on hold at present.

Life / Thoughs on driving in Poland after two years [9]

Thanks for the viewpoint WR, bumpy roads are no problem so I might give it a try. Because of friends locations, I am considering two choices:

1) Via Frankfurt (Oder) for overnight stop, then on to Warsaw next morning.
2) Via Brno to Bielsko Biala/Krakow (probably stop near Linz overnight and avoid Prague.
I'm not a big fan of motorways and main truck routes but they are the quickest way to the Polish and Czech borders.
I'm about to have a major op which may mean the BMW will be too heavy in future, I'm tempted to try a Steet BoB at the M/C show in November; on the principle that if the weight is low enough it won't matter (Last year I tried a V-rod and thought it lacked soul). The lightweight alternative would be a Triumph 675 Street triple which I recently tested - very nimble.

One son is into 4x4's and just fixed a winch on his Shogun, I have a grand cherokee tow barge, so a trail tour is another option.

Life / Thoughs on driving in Poland after two years [9]

Wildrover, Expats in Thailand used to say: Brits drive on the left, Yanks drive on the right and Thais drive in the shade. My personal favourites are Indian railway crossing grand prix - like a motorised rugby scrum.

I have driven in Poland using a Polish hire car and found the potholes made me feel quite homesick (My local council has just estimated 100 years to repair roads at their current rate of progress). I found city parking more problematic; buying parking tickets in bulk from a chemist shop wasn't what I expected.

I notice Motorcycle hire companies don't last long in Poland, I assume that either poor trade or high repair/replacement cost from accidents and theft must be the problem.

I have considered riding my 1150 oilhead to Poland, but the state of PL roads isn't very encouraging compared to older EU member countries; so honestly, biker to biker, is it fun on a bike there?

UK, Ireland / Polish woman shot in London. [57]

Guns in Britain. Current statistics are hard to come by but this was reported in 2005

guardian.co.uk/gun/Story/0,2763,1647293,00.html

Britain is one of the few places in the world in which the vast majority of police officers are unarmed. Just under 7,000 in England and Wales currently carry firearms - about 10% of the Metropolitan police in London and 5% elsewhere, although it varies from force to force, depending on operational requirements.

· Gun crime in Britain has almost trebled in the past eight years, from 4,903 incidents in 1997 to 11,160 in the past year (2005), 28% of which involved imitation weapons. Sixty people were shot dead last year (2004), down from 70 in the previous 12 months.

· Police believe there are almost 300,000 illegal guns in Britain. Much gun violence is gang and drug-related. Three-quarters of those killed or maimed in shootings in London are black, as are 80% of the gunmen, statistics mirrored in several other English cities.

The bottom line is that as the proportion of Poles resident in the UK reaches 1 in 70, they will suffer a similar proportion of crimes.

UK, Ireland / Polish teenager murdered after arriving in UK [117]


Your pupils are in dire straits: marks for punctuation 0/10

UK, Ireland / Polish teenager murdered after arriving in UK [117]


"Jareck" - Any shallowness is in your mind and comprehension

I apologise for my shorthand phraseology. Gender is irrelevant, the students were specifically introduced by a mutual friend for the sole purpose of learning English with an English family during holidays.

As my wife is a registered childminder, my entire family has passed Police checks for legal and moral suitability.
Our family hospitality to students has not been restricted to females or Poles and I recommend that foreign nationals use official student schemes when coming to the UK if they have no family connections.

BTW I regard all non-member comments as suspect in motive and content.

UK, Ireland / Polish teenager murdered after arriving in UK [117]

For all that are interested, the best way to find news is to use Google news and type in "Zuzanna Zommer".

One sad comment was:
The resident said there was a large Polish community in the area who mainly kept themselves to themselves.

Britain has had large influxes of immigrants at various times before; West Indian, Pakistani, Ugandan Asian etc, but now it is the turn of Eastern Europe. This forum ought to be a vehicle for promoting understanding and integration. We all have ideological, religious and even racial predispositions and bias, but that should inspire us understand each other on a deeper level.

The constant threads on sex do not help integration, very few are amusing; most are puerile.

This 14 year old girl was sexually assaulted and killed, probably by a neighbour of a similar age as her own father. That is the ultimate result of one man's sexual fantasy.

Please do not misunderstand. I enjoy sex, but there is more to life than this; just as there is more to Poles than the colour of their hair or their eyes or thier physical attributes.

My interest in Poles started because of girls coming to stay in the summer and improve their English, now my family visits theirs and the circle has widened to include friends on both sides.

I don't want to see or hear of ghetto mentality - just integration and respect.

My heartfelt sympathy goes to the bereaved family with prayers for them all.

History / Katyn - the Polish movie [29]

Katyn premiered in Warsaw on 17th September, so general release in Poland will be soon.
Like the majority of Polish films, general release in other countries is in the hands of film distributors and cinema owners. You have to hope is does well in the festivals over the coming year...

official website (Polish only) is

katyn.netino.pl

This website shows all the Polish films you may have missed....
pisf.pl/index.php?tresc=0761d3b823ef5f0

Life / Surviving the Polish Winter [27]


The "Met Office doesn't claim to "manage" anything, but the Polish "Water Management" is a claimed activity and judging by the frequent flood damage, their "management" is not working.

Life / Surviving the Polish Winter [27]

Some facts for the Brit Bashers.
The UK has a temperate maritime climate so we don't have extreme cold.
UK public buildings, shops and workplaces have more air conditioning and what private homes have is a matter of personal choice - but double glazing has been a mandatory minimum requirement on new buildings for many years.

Brits talk about weather because it is more changeable than continental weather and therefore more interesting.

Here are the FACTS for London and Warsaw:

bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT003790

bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT004140

Precipitation is greater in London but only for 5 more days than Warsaw and since London is warmer, it doesn't fall as snow. Humidity is always greater in Warsaw, so I'd rather be "daft" and dry, than Hot/Frozen and bathed in sweat.

My Warsawarian friends always ask after the English weather, usually because they are envious in their sweaty offices.
Oh, and the UK has more convertible cars on the streets than Poland too, especially in the south.

Note that the UK only has a "meteorological office" while Poland has an "Institute of meteorology and water management" - so who is obsessed now?

USA, Canada / What's easier- Working in England under Polish or Canadian Citizenship [15]

Polish - no contest.
As a Canadian you have no rights of residency, therefore no other rights other than a non working tourist.
All EU residents have rights in all EU Countries - rights to residency, work, health care and later on; unemployment benefits and pensions.
So Poles automatically have these rights.

UK, Ireland / Advertising for Electricians in Poland to work in the UK [14]

If they wait a few months, they can work in Radomsko and it will save the bother of emigrating or gaining British EIC certification:

Travel / The Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland [14]

I would agree that the Salt mine is a "must see" if you are staying near Krakow. I would just point out that if you visit in mid-winter, it is pleasantly warm compared to the frosty temperatures outside - gloves and scarf not required.

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]

The memory posts are excellent, thank you for sharing them - and keep going!

One of the things that intrigues me about Poland are the narrow strip fields; from the air they look almost feudal.
Are they the result of imposed agricultural collectives in the communist era or is it because fields are/were split between family members when the owner dies?

UK, Ireland / The true about the British People [51]

vindictive lies and corrosive half-truths are never amusing.
This is the truth from visitors to London: static.visitlondon.com/corporate1/assets/facts_figures/q12007.pdf

UK, Ireland / The true about the British People [51]

The word is TRUTH, the blog is not.

UK, Ireland / The true about the British People [51]

I was about to comment on the thread title grammar and the inaccuracy of the content - but it's not worth the effort.
just look up the word execrable in a good dictionary.

News / Polish religious pilgrims crashed coming back from a pilgrimage [62]


I was waiting for the heart warming humanist words of consolation, inspiring and uplifting thoughts, helpful insights and heartfelt words of support to carry a bereaved stranger through the next hours, days, weeks and years - fortunately prayer doesn't have to wait for anything.

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I can pray to a father, common to the victims, and call on all his promises to console, help, encourage and sustain them, so I don't feel I'm in a hole, more like on a mountain.

I don't have to send flowers, write words in books or send cuddly toys; these dear souls had the faith to go on a long pilgrimage and some reached home sooner than others.

The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ear is open to their prayers.

News / Polish religious pilgrims crashed coming back from a pilgrimage [62]


Sorry, I must have missed the rule that says all members must agree on all subjects and only post nice things.
I fail to see the benefit in requesting condolences from atheists for Catholic pilgrims.
Next you will tell me that George Bush prays every night that Osama bin Ladin will enjoy better health and that all Americans love the Dixie Chicks.

May your god/spirit/ancestor/karma go with you.

News / Polish religious pilgrims crashed coming back from a pilgrimage [62]

I have experienced of these things too.

News / Polish religious pilgrims crashed coming back from a pilgrimage [62]

I don't see the point of public anguish and words posted on a web site.
Words make no difference if they are unread so who benefits?
I see no difference between a physical rubber-necker and a virtual voyeur of tragedy.

News / Polish religious pilgrims crashed coming back from a pilgrimage [62]

So bus passengers die and its all about your feelings?