Expat Wife Moving to Warsaw, Poland

Hello Everyone,
My husband and I will be moving to Warsaw in a few months, currently we live in New York, but are moving as my husband has a job offer from a US firm. Wanted to know if people can help tell me a little about how to meet other expats who maybe helpful in my transitions, are there any clubs organizations I could reach out to? I’ve seen many threads on employment and pretty much have an idea that its going to be tough ( I have an MA in Psych), but for the first few months I really did want to focus on getting to know other expats. Please help or advice.

Thanks!

google expats in poland a good site will come up

wow zion giving advice .. you must have had a good start to 2008 :D

yeah I am happy in two weeks will be going back home in holidays so i am in good mood

is this first time in long time been home since going poland? will the wife be going with you?

Thank you Zion for the advice, I actually arrived at the polish forums by googling "expats in Poland" as you mentioned. Glad to know you're going home for the holidays, have a great time :)

yes she is will go with me and has been 4 years since I was last there.

newbie thanks for the good wishes I dont think I can give you the right web site adress here but pm and I give you via PM

See you

The main contact point for expat wives (particularly the ones who don't have school-age children) is the International Women's Group. Their website is iwgwarsaw.com Nice group and good people. There's a short list of other expat contacts at [inyourpocket/poland/warsaw/directory/category/61341-expatorganisations.html] and a longer one at [warsawinsider/essentials/community.html] The problem with the longer list is that it's badly out of date and can't have been updated for at least 18 months (I can see people on that list who left town a year and a half ago!). There's also a Warsaw-specific forum at nwe.pl/forum/index.php (on the same site you can subscribe for an electronic newspaper called the New Warsaw Express).

Harry, thank you for all your resources! Will definitely look into them.
Btw, thank you all for your feedback, it really means a lot!

Hi Newbie,

I'll be moving to Warsaw in the next few months too for similar reasons. Let me know if you come up with any useful suggestions!

Happy to help. However I did forget one other hub of the Warsaw expat scene: Bar Below, it's the most popular bar with expats in the city, far more English spoken there than Polish!

Is it English that's spoken there? I thought it was only grunts, sighs, burps and the occasional 'YYYYYYYYEEEESSSSS!' or 'NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!' when something happens on the televised football :))

Ah, the glorious language of Shakespear!

hahahahaha

[b]Irishgirl

Hi Newbie,

I'll be moving to Warsaw in the next few months too for similar reasons. Let me know if you come up with any useful suggestions! [/quote][/b]

Hi Irish Girl!
I'll be sure to provide you with some suggestions, we're still not sure exactly when we would be reaching Warsaw, but will let you know if I get there sooner than you do.

Good luck!
:)


Hi Irish Girl
I'll be sure to provide you with my experiance/suggestions, if i get there before you, since its still not confirmed when we would be leaving.

Good Luck :)

Newbie, Irishgirl,

its nice to read about more foreigners moving to Poland.
If You need any help with moving or relocation services like orientation tour, home search, cross-cultural trainings, paper work etc. please feel free to contact me, we will help You with pleasure :)

And charge an arm and a leg with equal pleasure too.

Newbie, seems that you'll be settled even before you get there ;)

In Warsaw all you have to do is go out a couple times. You'll find pleanty of english speaking poles who are just as kind if not more than a expat! I moved here 2 years ago and met so many people just asking for help buying cheese in the supermarket. If you are a outgoing person you'll have no preblem running into an expat or two. I just met one on the bus at the airport last week!

Harry & Mufasa: funny!! With "agents" like these who needs..... ;)

Valmoe, I completely agree with you and have no doubt poeple will be nice. Every Country and Culture has a mixed bag , most have generally good people and thats what I believe in, I especially tend not to pay attention to stereotypes and prefer to judge for myself. For example, New Yorkers (where I am) are known for their rudeness, but I can tell you, I've been here 10 years (and thats good time for accurate assessment) that in general they are extreamly helpful, friendly and hard-to-imagine-trusting of others. All of which goes against whats written and experianced by some people about this city. I think a lot also has to do with your own attitude and what you draw from it.

I've visited New York (and LOVE it) many times and never really got the whole rude thing. I mean, no one rolled out the red carpet or took me on a shopping spree on 5th Ave but I never got robbed, run over or car jacked so I call it a success.

I don't reccomend walking the streets of Poland alone at night but I think you can say that anywhere.

And usually those who visit NY for a short period of time tend to think negatively of it, so yes your trip was indeed a success! Actually walking the streets of NYC is quite safe believe it or not, i mean the city comes to life after 10pm, and there is so much traffic/people that one feels quite secure taking the train etc. I guess the more isolated a place is the more it threatens the safety. Anyway, glad you liked NYC :)!

Anyway, I'm glad you're having a good time in Warsaw, what made you come here?

I'm actully in Lublin. I came to visit my boyfriend who is attending an eglish medical school here and loved it so much I stayed. This is my 2nd school year here. The food is AMAZING! I just learned how to make Nalesniki!!! The scenery is breathtaking and the culture is comforting. The roads and the weather are my only 2 complaints. I recommend shipping your favorite foods over as well. I am told Warsaw has a larger selection of expat treats, but you may want to bring your can't-live-withouts just in case. We have a standing order for Franks Red-Hot and Velveta Shells and Cheese with our family. The food is so great though, you'll soon find yourself craving for something polish!

Warsaw has a couple of shops called Kuchnie Świata which specialise in impossible to find comfort foods. Can't live without Pop Tarts, Oreos and Newman's Own Sauce? Kuchnie Świata.

I'm pretty sure I've seen Velveeta Shells and Cheese there. Will try to remember to check the next time I'm in there (will be tomorrow evening for the fresh mussels or fresh tuna).

Harry, you almost sound like a commerical for these comfort foods..:)
I'll be sure to check out Kuchnie Swiata (what does that mean?), where are they generally located? Also another question. Is Warsaw, a good city to travel on foot, ( i guess I'm comparing it to NYC again!) I mean are places accessible by walking or are the distances far which calls for driving or taking public transport

Valmoe, in case you run out of those things by Springtime, let me know and I'll bring some over :)

I would say, yes because sometimes you can barely drive in the street because so many people are in the way.

Kuchnie Swiata means (loosely translated) "cuisine of the world" (it literally means "kitchens of the world"). There is one in Zloty Tarasy and another in Arkadia (the two biggest and most central of Warsaw's shopping malls). They also have a shop in Konstancin (suburb of Warsaw) and in Krakow and Wroclaw.

Warsaw isn't really suited to getting around by foot, it's a bit too spread out really (and the palace of culture gets in the way). Driving is tragic and parking even worse. Fortunately the tram network is superb and the buses not too bad so public transport is a good option.

The part I was in was crowded with people and cars could barely get around them, I think it was the main square though?

Hello, I was an expat in Warsaw for 1 year and a half with my husband. I highly recommend these websites. mumsandtots.com/index.htm and warsawinsider.pl/essentials/community.html

I hope you find them useful.

There is a really large expat presence in Warsaw who you will get to know in no time. For example, I'm American, our neighbors are Polish, Israeli, and Korean. My son goes to school with French, Swiss, Korean, Russian and Israeli kids and they all speak English to each other, it's really cute.

You should check out American Friends in Warsaw, a great organization for people of all nationalities that live in Poland.