UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]


RevokeNice

Shinners? I'm lost here I'm afraid.
I'm one of those 'prods from NI' - the madness there encouraged me to leg it years ago.

Is it likely the schools will make any better job of teaching it than French/German? Things could have improved beyond recognition in the /cough/ years since I left ... perhaps.

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]


Are those seeds not falling in very stony ground? Can anything in the way of usual expanding happen when the entire school system is still split down religious lines?

guess i'm a pessimist and still waiting for the day when the society can stop pretending it's anything other than capital-W wierd.

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]


is that such a bad thing? zit-like, I could imagine ...
(ok, ok, it's been a long day)

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]

Two tribes have been at war for generations,
I know. I grew up there. I'm one of those people who never sat in a classroom with a catholic until tertiary education. I'm from the side of the community that has zero culture because it all belongs to "the other side".

another tribe entering the fray will hardly help tensions.
The tensions will continue at a low, simmering level until something changes that -- I'm simply wondering if something like mass immigration would at least bring matters to a point where they had to be effectively dealt with. Of course the "dealing with" might be a lurch towards being ever more segregated and wierd. /sigh/

I'm still puzzled whether the "NI primary schools" is meant to mean state or RC.

Work / Are there any of you here that only work in English at your jobs in Poland? [3]

I do.
I work as a software team-leader for an IT company - English was a major communication language even before I turned up (all our project documentation is in English).

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]

In the interest of integration etc etc I could understand lessons about Polish culture - about the country in general, some basics of communication and so on. But I still can't understand why it would be useful to introduce the Polish language at primary school in such a formal manner - especially for an education system that probably doesn't have a large budget to start with.

'Twould make a cushy job though - pop over from Poland for a couple of years and learn English while prodding some unwilling youngsters through the basics of Polish.


That deserves my Quote of the Day award :)

Life / Where can i get a real good piece of juicy steak in Warsaw....? [15]

i know i shouldn't've read this thread ...

can anyone suggest similar for Gdansk?

Travel / Help with travel to Gdansk [30]

Langfuhr and Oliwa ?
When i google "Langfuhr I get "Wrzeszcz" - that couldn't be easier :)

Both Wrzeszcz and Oliwa are easy-to-get-to places in Gdansk. They're on the main road - and on bus/tram/train lines - going up through from the city centre.

I'm sitting in Wrzeszcz right now - it's sort of like the city centre for businesses.

UK, Ireland / What do Polish people in Ireland think of Irish food? [90]


Speaking as a Prod, we always blamed the English for adding beans :) Wouldn't've been seen dead adding them ourselves.
And chips? Never, I say.

Anyone got a good word to say about fried drop-scones? Can't remember now where I met them (in a fry)

UK, Ireland / What do Polish people in Ireland think of Irish food? [90]

gosh but i'm starving now.
just eaten 2 wagon wheels on the trot but it's not the same.
emotionally, i need bacon and eggs with fried soda fread and a sausage or two.

Travel / Help with travel to Gdansk [30]

I'll have a go, certainly -- can't promise when I'll remember to bring my camera to work (my memory is excellent but very very short).

I hope your dad isn't expecting green fields and birdsong -- this place is built-up.

How about going to
google.pl -- pick "mapy" along the top, and then put in

Lelewela gdansk 10

That will at least show you where it is -- and if you zoom out a few levels you can see the context (Oliwa will show up once your scale is around 2km)

/cj

p.s.
if the street is indeed ul. Joachima Lelewela then it was called after this guy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Lelewel

UK, Ireland / What do Polish people in Ireland think of Irish food? [90]

i have the buttermilk in the fridge ... no excuse against doing it myself other than laziness.

Law / Opening a gym in Gdańsk [30]

What age group /fitness level are you trying to attract? The bored-but-money-to-spend middle-aged housewife or the atlas-in-the-making teenager?

Friendly staff are my #1 requirement.
And then it's down to the quality/variety of equipment and the space around it (I don't want to be breathing armpit air from the victim sweating over the adjacent machine ...)

Oh, and the gym I used in Vancouver had a small juice bar attached -- sold fresh juices / smoothies etc. That was nice ...

Genealogy / Need photo from Wrzeszcz of childhood home. [53]

i'm in wrzeszcz right now - but of course my camera is still at home ...
If this task can wait a couple of weeks (i'm about to go on vacation) then it shouldn't really be a problem for me to walk round there one lunchtime.

Genealogy / Need photo from Wrzeszcz of childhood home. [53]

picasaweb.google.com/wrzeszcz2009/Lelewela

Freshly taken - around 6pm this evening. I never did promise *quality* photography, did I ? :) I'm very much a point'n'shoot type.

I resampled them to 8x6in - to make them easier for me to upload. If you want the full-blown jpgs then e-mail me and we'll work something out.

hope your Dad enjoys them.

/cjj

Genealogy / Need photo from Wrzeszcz of childhood home. [53]

You're very welcome - I hope your dad likes them.

Perhaps in time Google's Street View will get to Wrzeszcz - that would be much more fun.

Genealogy / Need photo from Wrzeszcz of childhood home. [53]

Does he have memories of other areas ? I don't mind taking more of other places round about Wrzeszcz if you want them (and don't mind a random time lag while I get in gear). I work on ul Matejki which isn't at all far away.

cjj_unlogged

Genealogy / Need photo from Wrzeszcz of childhood home. [53]

tatt2dmoon

danzig-online.pl/dziel/wrzeszcz.html

Down the list you can see old photos of
Kościół katolicki Najświętszego Serca Jezusa (Herz-Jesu-Kirche) przy ul. ks. Zator-Przytockiego (Schwarzerweg).

The cemetary - I'd need a recent name for it. However I'm off on vacation now for 2 weeks - totally cut off from technology (I hope) [[ if anyone else can find out what it's called now then I can see what's left. ]]

Every year on All Saint's Day people go out and put candles on family graves - and on any that look dark and lost. So at least once a year someone will spare a moment for any graves that have lost their family to other countries.

and now ... off to see what other crises have developed (my car broke down yesterday :) that's what comes of driving a clunker)

USA, Canada / WHAT'S THE CANADIAN HEALTH SERVICE REALLY LIKE? [15]

I used it in Vancouver over 10 years ago - mostly for pregnancy and childbirth. It was ok - felt more "proactive" than here in Poland. Some focussed efforts (at least in BC) to educate for health.

I also remember some lonnnnnng waits in crowded Hospital emergency waiting rooms - but I guess that's univeral.

The maternity hospital was worlds away from the one here in Poland - in terms of equipment and attitude. However, the surgeon who sewed me up ... well, his handiwork wasn't praised by the one who had to slice and dice through it 6 years later.

I've no idea of other provinces. (I do remember if you moved from one province to another there was a lag period before you could use their services. Similarly, as landed immigrants, we had to insure ourselves for ... the first 3 months was it? ..)

My main gripe was that you couldn't pay to have a procedure done privately. I like choice. Sometimes I can't afford it (like everything else in life) but that's a different issue (for me).

I also didn't know anyone who went south ...

Travel / Help with travel to Gdansk [30]

All that's left is the undoubtedly therapeutic approach - smile sweetly and rip them apart in fluent English before walking out.

Genealogy / Need photo from Wrzeszcz of childhood home. [53]


Hi

Bretow - change the e to an ę and then decline the word so the ending changes and you get
"Cmentarz w Brętowie" ? Bretow Cemetery?

See this link - it mentions the "Herz Jesu" Church that you were talking about earlier

rzygacz.webd.pl/index.php?id=25,169,0,0,1,0

but also says "Cmentarz funkcjonował do 1946 r. " (closed in 1946)

My Polish isn't good enough to read this through today but maybe it's a step in the right direction.

/cjj

Travel / Driving In Poland ( scooters ) [11]

it will probably take you longer to get the licence than to die on the roads afterwards. I've seen the way cars treat them - I pass the road-side memorials every day.

Travel / Driving In Poland ( scooters ) [11]

You know Poland - you've been there. The drivers are crazy and drive too fast, the roads are full of pot-holes/broken edges, there are a lot of container trucks barrelling along on what feel like B roads from the UK ... and into the mix you have a scooter puttering along on something that goes 40 km/h at max. If it's city driving /shrug/ at least you have more chance of survival -- but on the country roads (my experience is from round Gdansk) it's not unusual to hit pot-holes that a car bounces through (or swerves past) but which leave a scooter rider with little choice between the middle of the road and the ditch. Plus, the long lines of vehicles that build up behind these putters -- the drivers do crazy things to get past ...

I know I sound rude - but the whole idea scares the **** out of me. It seems much better to wait until you can get a motorbike with a decent engine and have your own place on the road. A young boy was killed a few weeks ago near here - car didn't quite get finished overtaking him before it had to swerve back towards the kerb to miss the oncoming vehicle ... the driver just didn't choose to hit his metal box off the other one and instead chose to bounce off an unprotected body.

fwiw the actual test is quite simple though I've no idea about the bureaucracy to take it as a non-resident.

/cjj

Life / What to bring, ship, pack for our move to Warsaw [67]

random thoughts - we moved to Gdansk from Vancouver.

Our North American microwave works on a stepdown transformer - but the frequency is different (unchanged by the tranformer) so the clock and power etc are a little crazy.

The washing machine ... well, it was a German one imported to Canada so has a North American motor: we had to get a special transformer for that as the 110 was coming across differently than expected pins.

I still can't find cornstarch (what the Brits call cornflour) - the locals use potato flour which creates a totally different effect. I give up.

There is still a lot of MSG in foods / spices here. Obviously not if you get the basic spice, but anything that is a 'mix', it does not harm to check the skladniki list.

Toys. Over-priced imho. The selection and price have improved somewhat in the 8 years we've been here, but there is still a lot of cr8p - stuff that would probably not hit the shelves in the US/UK. The small toys are the devil as you often have to ask for each item you want to look at (while being sternly observed by the bored assistant). I miss Toys'R'Us. The super/hypermarkets are pushing through some choice though.

Brown sugar has appeared (in the 'Real' chain, at least) in the past 8 years, and I've just managed to source treacle (molasses) and golden syrup - in a "Kuchnie Świata" that someone mentioned earlier.

Bookstores I miss the most - the ability to wander in on a whim, or even to pick up a child's book ... I was in Empik in Gdynia yesterday and had to forage for the foreign language bookshelf.

Films are obviously dubbed for kids, but at least the ones for adults are subtitled.

Fresh milk - pasteurized, homoginized is slowly coming in. However, I've stopped buying it at my one-stop supermarket as some dorks down the supply chain haven't twigged on that it needs constant refrigeration ...

cheese is European :) If you want Cheddar, Red Leicester, etc you will find it hiding for its life in between the gruyere and the boiled goats cheese.

I miss Esquires ... (and my big-squishy-sofa-with-magazine-and-coffee fix)

Life / What to bring, ship, pack for our move to Warsaw [67]


Maka kukurydziana can indeed be found everywhere. In my experience the direct name translation doesn't provide a product with the properties I'm looking for.


As I said - in the past 8 years.


I'm comparing with Vancouver. One-stop shopping removes a lot of hassle.

------------

Marmalade. Marks&Spencer have a small food hall in Warsaw and stock both sweet and bitter marmalades.

Tumble driers - they've appeared, and are a more useful size than the average UK ones - but I can't find anti-static sheets (I brought a supply from the UK instead)

Family Packs. I haven't had much luck with this. Things still seem to be packaged for single use events. For example, if you want to make custard, the pouch does for half a litre of milk ... Not life-threatening but curiously irritating.

Work / 5 months looking for a job in PL and nothing! suggestions? [22]

I'm in the software industry and to be honest I've found it tough here. I came from Vancouver where staff turnover is high and companies are constantly expecting to hire people with experience, into senior positions. Here, it so often seems that these senior positions are sourced internally -- or at least without the rigourous impartiality that I was used to in larger western companies. I've managed to get back to Team Lead level (where I was umpty years ago in the West) but it hasn't been an obvious journey.

Language / How do little children know that they should say "mamo" rather than "mama"? [23]

it's not the mamo that gets me, it's referring to grandparents in 3rd p.singular that I find bizarre. "would granny like a biscuit?" when referring directly to said granny is a step too complicated for me

Work / Job opportunities in Poland for a foreigner? (other than a teacher) [175]

and I'm currently looking for a software engineer (maybe >1) - C++ background (or C at a pinch), ability to work in a team, multi-threading/embedded experience welcome but not essential. the post is full-time and in Gdansk. if anyone is interested, please pm me.

(the "ability to communicate" is a must -- "in English" as the extension)

Life / Surgery in Poland (varicose veins)...anyone with experience/advice? [18]

My husband is wondering about starting this whole process :) He's been for a medical opinion so is now waiting to hear about options ...

Life / Surgery in Poland (varicose veins)...anyone with experience/advice? [18]

and ripping them out still takes weeks in bed? (or am I mis-remembering 1970s NHS ?)