News / Daniel Libeskind -Polish Jew supporting Poland [19]


ooops! didn't notice that at the first time reading it.
Libeskind was actually born and grew up in Lodz... which makes him polish, i guess.
notablebiographies.com/news/Li-Ou/Libeskind-Daniel.html


that would be Frank Gehry. fantastic iconic building that helped initiating the recent regeneration of bilbao significantly. insiders already speak of Bilbao as the new Barcelona. tough call!

shows what an important role architecture can play...

News / Daniel Libeskind -Polish Jew supporting Poland [19]


i didn't mean that and if i came across like that, i apologise...


THIS is probably the root of the problem. as an architect one certainly has a different view on such things.
i simply like the monument for the boldness of the idea and thew minimalism of its realisation...
many non-architects probably won't see that, and it's okay. imagine we all had the same opinion...

in my opinion architecture, as the fine arts, has to get away from taking itself so extremely serious. in that sense i like the stuff that is a bit out of the ordinary.

i don't want to convince anyone, as i believe we need the variety of views on things. you will never be able to please everyone anyway...


most certainly not! we don't know each other well enough yet, so you can't know. but with my statement of libeskind's clever jewishness marketing i gave a hint of criticism already...

News / Daniel Libeskind -Polish Jew supporting Poland [19]


this is how the business works.
when the wall came down in berlin, it wasn't the local architects that where asked to rebuild their city. it was the international big players. simply because the government of that time thought this way berlin would appear on the map alongside london, paris, rom and suchlike...

libeskind, by the way, is very clever in marketing his jewish heritage to get the prestigous jobs.

one has to understand that architecture is the mother of all arts so even by todays standards a good building (as the whole built environment actually) still has to deliever a bit more than pure shelter. sure. for those who do not bother to learn and understand the underlying ideas and principles which lead to the design of libeskinds projects (or the the above mentioned peter eisenmann), they might seem dull...


you are so wrong... (in my opinion)

i think it is just great...

News / Daniel Libeskind -Polish Jew supporting Poland [19]

daniel libeskind is on of the most controversally discussed architects of our time. for this alone i am not surprised about the mixed reactions on here as well...

the interesting thing is that similar to peter eisenmann (the one who built the holocaust memorial in berlin) he has a very long theoretical background.

both started very late in their carreer to actually build. but both are equally genius at it due to the years of study and theory...

in libeskind's case it might not surprise that his first realised building was the jewish museum in berlin (berlin rules apparently... ;) ), which was equally polarising opinions as can be seen here...

modern architecture has to be seen and felt to be understood. that is even more important the more away you design from the stereotypical (and mostly boring) developers architecture. there is more to it than making some quick money. at the very end architects create the environment we all live in. the more important it is that they pay attention while doing it and create an environment that still works a few decades down the line...

Love / moving to poland to be together is this the right decision? [67]

sounds all very nice but who are you trying to convince???
yourself it sounds like...

i am sorry but if his family means so much to him and you told him you want to meet them before moving to poland longterm, what the hell is his problem?

if you mean that much too him he is to make it possible and consider your concerns...

if he doesn't, he probably is not worth it.

dead simple...

Love / moving to poland to be together is this the right decision? [67]

sorry to say that, but it sounds very blue-eyed to me.

i would not even consider to make the move before i had at least met his family...

i am not saying that there is something wrong, but there are ways to make sure there isn't, BEFORE you decide...

UK, Ireland / UK Car Insurance [13]

i would never change my european licence for the british one.
on my european one i can not get any points and be banned from driving. not that i am consistently speeding but i simply do not like the fact, that there might be points attached to my licence. points on your licence makes getting cheap insurance almost impossible.

consider well before doing so...

also if you go back to continental europe one day to change it back isn't as easy.

police people like to tell you that you had to change your licence for a uk licence within 2 years. this is not true. you are allowed to drive on your european licence until you are 70 years old. that is information taken from the dvla website...

regarding all these comparison websites.
in my experience they do not work. just tried for fun to get a better deal as i have to renew my insurance. all quotes that came up were at least 30% above what i pay now or did not include everything i have included now...

shopping around yourself is tyhe best option.
try hastings or lancaster for example. both cheap for me.

possible reasons that raise your quotos:
- european licence is a bit mor expensive.
- insuring left hand drive cars (if you brought yours from the continent) is much more expensive.
- insuring your car on your european plate is possible for a few month's but also quite expensive.
- the 0 years no claims bonus can be a bit of a problem but my insurance when i first came to england asked me if i had any claims in the last five years and i said 'no' which was true and they accepted it.

- being 'too young' and having the 'wrong' job also makes quotes more expensive.

good luck finding a good one...

Law / Making proper sausages (ex-pat expers in Poland)? [32]


wrong...
ever cooked german or polish sausages? these don't 'bang'...

but there are some not-too-bad varieties on farmers markets i have to admit...


thangs for clearing that up. i was always wondering how they fit cottages into these small boxes... ;)

Life / Gay scene good in Poland? [66]


which only proves that religion is not always a good thing as it makes people narrowminded e.g. easier to keep under control...


such as??
are gay people genarally having more flus and colds during winters? what social issues are there? and moral issues are only a problem if you are narrow minded. in that case see above...


you do see the difference here, don't you?
if two grown up people make a decision for each other on the basis of equality it surely is different then with kids or animals...


isn't that a general problem of our times? can't see anything gay specific in this one...


pity, isn't it?

Polonia / Polish-German Language Exchnage! [10]


just to complete that... it has to be "mir fehlen die worte!"...

as mentioned above: you would be better off with these questions in a german-polish forum...

History / Poland Betrayed in WW2 [243]


Laughing My Backside Off ...
that's how i understand it...

Language / Common mistakes made by foreigners in Polish [90]


hehehe...
my girlfriend says that often and i always ask "polish 'no' or english 'no'?"... ;-)
but yes. that is quite confusing...

Love / Polish women are more inhibited in bed? [51]

hahaha...
NICE!

on a personal note i have NOTHING to complain about my polish gf's 'performance'. it always takes two to do it good...

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


i did NOT call anybody anything a single time but made some points that others apparently disagree with but which started a fruitful discussion.
you should be happy with the result...

regarding investment i read here a statement about holiday resorts which seem to be a good option as you won't have the problem of long term tenancy and possible problems of evicting tenants.

on the other hand you'd have to calculate for a far higher wear of your property (believe it or not long term tenants often take more care of their homes than anyone in a holiday place would).

than there is the problem of maintaining the property (checking and cleaning after one tenant left, preperation for the next one etc).
so the maintenance factor is quite considerable and probably not easy to solve with either yourself or a trusty person on site...
but possibly one or the other landlord on here has directly experience with that?

regarding long term tenancy projects in bigger cities (which seems to me to be the other end of enquiries here) it appears that most landlords that did the step and are posting on here feel the problem of the legislation being more pro-tenant is more present in poland than in the uk.

and only to clear my point that i earlier made one thing: the renting market (legislationwise) will always be more pro-tenant. where ever you are, simply because the tenant needs protection as property owners are in tenancy agreements usually in the stronger position. unfortunately there are a few landlords out there who do not believe in equality of human beings and that behave as little monarchs within their properties.

seeing that, i believe that many uk landlords who think they have a very unfair pro-tenant legislation at home, get quite a wake up call when they consider investing in buy-to-lets (at least in parts) in mainland europe...

i am not sayingit is paradise for you landlords in the uk, but you are certainly closer to paradise than you would be in many of the above mentioned places...


thank you. i take it as you said it...


okay. that explains a lot. i've gone through that after smoking for 23 years... it's not easy and you act like a wounded animal for about a week. but i am sure you'll get over it...

shall we make peace then?

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


compared to the mentioned other european countries that is still true... i listed a number of cases and so did others... what is the problem with that? yes. even in the uk property development and letting properties is not an el dorado anymore. sorry if that bites into your profits but that doesn't change the facts mentioned in this thread.

as a landlord in the uk you are still most likely better off than in many other countries...


i never said that most uk women are fat. i always had the comparison to victoria beckham (ie other countries) in my statements...

apparently you must have edited your post while i was posting mine which makes my previous post look a bit funny. sorry for that...
but quoting parts of your post after editing and me posting my post is not a very clean argumentation...


again. i never made this as a standalone statement without further explanation...


cleared that one up already a few posts ago...


i am not THAT desperate yet...

Life / Cigarette Smoking in Poland [146]


hmm...
very good self control then.
why doesn't he stop altogether? sure he knows he is doing himself no good...
sorry to hear about your loss by the way...

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


didn't you read the whole thread??
i keep repeating myself...

oh and i see even you did quote it...

thanks, no shovel needed...

Life / Poles working abroad - do they integrate well? [4]

first of all, i have to say that i like your approach.
it is a very well balanced post, which unfortunately is not the usual thing happening here...

to your question.
you will see that in higher education jobs poles do mix more than in lower education ones.
this is not about valueing these jobs...

for everyone going abroad (i am german, working in the uk) it is difficult at first to integrate and most people tend to stick with everything that seems familiar. that is mostly the case with people from the same country.

people who work in higher qualified jobs tend to identify with their work and here it is easier to mix and find shared interest with your hosts. (architects love to talk about architecture for example no matter what nationality they are...)

another thing is probably language.
the polish language sounds very unfamiliar for english people. so if poles start talking to each other in their language the impression of not being part of it is very present...

for me one of the key things is though that once poles start integrating and being encouraged to do so they are very loyal friends and very warm people...

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


reasonable comment...
thanks.


which confirms exactly what i said as this means that compared to poland (or germany where i have more experience from), in the uk the landlord is more favoured...

so i don't really understand why one certain person is throwing all those insults at me...


i am really thankful that you allow some tenants to pay off your mortgage... the world would be a sad place without people like you... ;)


which again confirms that many (not all!) landlords over here seem to see people who are renting as 2nd class beings...


it is YOUR property, so YOU should be able to decide who you are renting it to, right?


see. that would solve your problem then... why all that moaning then??
did anybody ever say that the property business is easy money?


well... that sounds so not right to me. if they simply stop paying there should be a mechanism in place to speed that up. 3 years is by far too long and unreasonable...


not really...
my initial statement was just confirmed (top in this post)...

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


sorry, i missed your post earlier.
i never said that you should not be able to cancel your side of the contract if someone else does not stick to it. but as you both have a contract to fulfill there are rules how to get out of it... for both sides.

a tenant should have the right though to reduce the rent if something within the property is faulty and the landlord (or in many cases a letting agency) refuses to do the repair. the rent in this case is the only lever the tenant has. if i buy a jacket in a shop and i really like it but there is a button missing i get a rebate as well. that is fair...

as for all other answers...
you all simply do not get my point and instead pick on some controversial statements i made to provoke some thought here...
trouble is that i actually get exactly the answers i expected. landlords here clearly believe they are monarchs within the boundaries of their properties and it should be them who make the rules, not some government...

you landlords have to understand that without tenants you would not be able to make any money out of your properties. it is some kind of co-existence...

the number of people renting is on the rise due to the recent development of houseprices and therefor less people being able to afford a mortgage. so there is a need to review the legislation as the group of people renting is no longer a minority (in political terms). that is what i mean when i speak of infancy. NOT the simple view of time...


didn't i say exactly that somewhere above??


i know what i need to know. my job is to design the things you rent, no less. no politics involved on my side...


why i didn't buy?
hmmm... let's think. i simply haven't been here yet before the prices rose that ridiculously...
i also do not intend not to stay here for ever and the profit i might make by reselling after a few years is in the current situation eaten away buy fees, taxes and generally the hassle of the whole thing... in your position i would be a bit more hesitant before making any assumptions.

but, of course, you used your crystal ball and know my situation well enough to make the following statement...


that really wasn't necessary, was it? disqulifies you as a "lady" as you call yourself...
and also downvalues the fair points you made before...

Life / Cigarette Smoking in Poland [146]


no signs of addiction??? :D
try to hide his cigarettes and you'll see...

"i simply like smoking" is the typical cover up...

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]

as matter of fact the number of people living in their own property is one the lowest within the eu in germany.
ergo in the uk there are more people living in their own property and less people are renting.
if you look into the legislation... the "rulebook" in germany contains a few more pages than over here.

tell me. why is none of the landlords so far answering any of my questions in previous posts?? i made a couple of comparisons and there are no answers...


unfortunately that exactly confirms what i was saying earlier.
the right of the tenant goes apparently not very far and the usual landlord will try everything to keep the deposit at the end of the tenancy...

don't get me wrong, if a tenant really causes damage to your property you as the owner should have every right to keep the deposit to cover the cost and even throw people out of your property.

normal wear though is not to be covered by the deposit but by an allowance you calculate into your monthly rent...

remember the original question of this thread?
i simply try to show WHY there might be the impression that there are pro tenant laws on the continent compared to the situation over here in the uk.

the legislation over here is less detailed and worked through and most certainly in favour of the property owner...
try to compare a german tenancy contract to a uk one... the german one is at least twice the size to cover all (well... most) eventualities...

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


yeah, right...
ever been renting on the continent? apparently not...
believe me i rented in germany and in the uk. NO comparison. in the uk you are still a second class human if you are renting...

so why is it that as a landlord you get the interest my deposit earns over the years for example? there is absolutely no reasonable justification for this...


proove it, instead of just making a remark like that...
tell me about the percentages in renting in the uk compared to for example poland or germany...


well. make a guess. the choice of your temporary nick shows quite clearly which side of the story you are from... unfortunately you fail to mention anything to support your claims...

i can only hope that you act differently as a landlord...

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


that is exactly what i said.

and in many places on the continent this is practised since ages, whereas the rental market in the uk is still in its infancy.
naturally therefor you have a pro-landlord system.
once renting becomes more common (which will inevitably happen with house prices being too high), the leverage will change as the number of people renting will be big enough to be recognisable...

that is when there will be a change to normal conditions as we have them for example in germany or poland already.

just an example:
over here what possibilities as a tenant do i have if my boiler breaks down (which is part of the property as it was in the house already) over here to get it fixed?

if the landlord is a bit on the rubbish side and does not fix it, i will be cold in winter and no one cares...

in germany for example i have the right to pay less rent (a certain percentage depending on how essential the broken down appliance is) until it gets fixed. or after a few letters i can get it fixed and pass the bill on straight to the landlord...

over here in the uk it is not widely recognised yet that as a tenant you should have some rights too.

i pay rent for something and if it doesn't work i should be able to do something about it. imagine you rent a video (or dvd) and when you want to watch it, it does not work... would you pay for it?

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


wrong.
here in the uk the laws are weighted towards the landlord which might give you the above impression. over here as a tenant you have near to no rights at all.

in countries were renting is far more common (as poland or germany) the leverage is far mor equal.
it is for example a constitutional right to have shelter. therefor you can not simply get someone out of your property because you do not like his nose anymore (here in england that would work!).

also landlords actually have to pay out the interest gained on any deposit given by the tenant. in england? they try everything to not even pay the deposit back at all, let alone talking about interest...

it is an endless list...

however... people invest in poland and let their properties... would they do it if it was that bad?

Law / Making proper sausages (ex-pat expers in Poland)? [32]


are you aware why they are called bangers?
apparentyly you prefer the 'watery' english ones to the 'bready' irish ones... :D

qualitywise you'll find better sausages in almost every other country. the proper german 'bratwurst' for example that has a far higher meat content...

so i can understand the idea of having your own sausages made but if you do so, DON'T ask the butcher to make 'bangers' in the real meaning of the word. you would end up with poor quality...

HAVING SAID THAT...
bangers and mash on a sunday in my local pub... yam!
the sausage should not be any meatier for this particular dish... the taste comes from the gravy anyway... ;-)

Love / Polish Girlfriend obsessive and not trusting [59]


wouldn't that express that i am not married anymore???

"i am married to my husband/wife for 17 years" be correct so that people knew i still am married?


oops! my mistake. sorry.
"i am married since 1971" should be correct as well, i guess (?)

Life / Cigarette Smoking in Poland [146]

actually the quote is already wrong.
it is not the tobacco that causes the cancer but a few of the approx 200 chemicals that are put into cigarettes, such as fire accelerators...

luckily after 23 years of heavy smoking i woke up one morning in march 2 years ago, realising that i do not need that stuff anymore...

vicious things like all the drugs...

interesting by the way how a 15 months old thread got dug out again... ;-)

Love / Polish Girlfriend obsessive and not trusting [59]


both works...
"i was married 17 years ago" to mark the day when the wedding took place.
"i am married since 17 years" to say i am still married to the same person...

Love / Polish girlfriends family, they want me to become Catholic. [20]


also with generalisations like this you are not going to be very popular with her family, no matter what your faith is...
you wouldn't like to be called a terrorist, only because you're muslim...

as to your gf. at the very end it is not up to you yo ask her to let her family behind. it is completely her decision and your role in this is minimised to being there and support whatever decision she makes... once more communication is key here. where are you going to live? what happens when you have children? etc.

it might well be that her family changes their minds once they see that you treat her daughter well.

my gf's family was sceptical when she started dating a german. the family realised though that her behaviour changed in the last year (we both live in the uk) and when they finally met me they accepted me immediately because i treat her daughter miles better than any of the previous bf's...

time might tell a different story here as well...