Moved to Poland - Came back after 6 months

Hi all,

I've recently returned to London after spending 6 months living in Poland (Gorzow) and thought I'd give my impressions, please remember these are my opinions only.

If you are considering moving to Poland pick a large city, I moved to a city that nobody ever goes to, and my friends/family only heard of it when it was featured on Ross Kemp's World Worst Gangs:

It was close to the countryside and I know some people prefer the quiet life but coming from London it was a little too quiet for me.

I found it difficult to intergrate with the locals, I tried a number of times to go out to bars/clubs and meet people but the local places seemed to cater for the drink focused elder community, I found a distinct lack of younger educated people around as many have migrated to the UK - Maybe it is different in other Polish cities.

Keep Busy!! I found it very difficult to fill my time, even though I have an internet business and filled some spare time with a little private teaching I found myself with too much spare time.

There will be things you miss about your home country, first few months were all new and I didn't think about them but after a while I started pining for a good Thai meal, a copy of the Times, Match of the Day and some indepth conversation.

As much as I love Polish food I sometimes find it rather heavy and miss some light Asian cooking.

I did have a great time don't get me wrong, but to live out there permanently would be difficult unless I'm in a major city like Krakow or Gdansk with a busy work life and an active social life.

The food was good and it was a cheap place to live, the experience was great but I didn't find exactly what I needed there but I'm sure others can.

Best of luck to those moving out there.

£agów (40c that day) in summer:

Thanks for great retrospection. May I ask what exactly were you looking for in Poland - was it like starting a new life or more like vacation or relax for a year or two in a new country? What made you go and live in Poland in the first place?

A few reasons made me move.

One was I was fed up with my job in the UK and fancied a change and also I'd met a Polish girl who was orignally from Gorzow.

I'd dated a girl from Czestochowa for 2.5 years previous to this and enjoyed my time visiting Poland and learning Polish. I met this new girl and was at a place in my work where I just wanted to get away (I worked in a high pressure city banking job).

It was like starting a new life but I was a bit too relaxed as I didn't need to work (my internet business provided a nice income without much work) so I was often quite bored.

Yes, i think that a big city is a better choice to go to for the first time visiting Poland.
It's more to see, try new food, meet people, entertain....well, you get the picture...
Maybe it's not too late for you to give it another try...
:))

My original plans were to go to Gdansk for 6 months before I met the Gorzow girl so I may give that a try :)

Good :) Gdańsk is beautiful...well, you have 3 cities there, so it's like a "combo fun" :D;)
Enjoy your stay :)

Was living in Poland much cheaper than in the UK? I don't mean London as it is the most expensive city, but other parts of England. And you came back alone, not with a girlfriend I assume....

Good to hear somebody elses point of veiw, i am heading over to Poland myself later in the year but as you suggested i was thinking of going to one of the larger cities, Gdansk was one of th places i've been to before and i really liked it there!

I'm in a small city....25000..... and although it's not been all easy I've always found stuff to do! The most important thing for intergration is learning to speak the language. Of course Polish is one of the hardest, but not impossible!

how can you blame anyone but yourself for that? expand your horizons.

This was too short a time and for sure the wrong city. I recomend Bielsko Biała to you. Approx 500.000 people. Not turistic but very cultural and it's the start of the mountains. And your only a few km from Czech and Słowacia borders! Lots to do, lots to see! Zapraszamy!