News / Don't go to Poland ... because you could end up coming back in a coffin [313]

man, as a foreigner to Poland or Europe in general, I will never understand soccer culture. i just don't get it.

lots of people taking a sport waaaay too seriously. i just chalk it up to boredom. you gotta have a lot of time on your hands to be that much of a jacka$$ over a match.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]


The elephant in the room here is if you live like most Polish people, you can make it happen, meaning the bills get paid. But who wants to live like most Polish people?

You can shove a bunch of people into a little apartment, pay the rent at the end of the month and say, "we can afford to live in Warsaw", but your standard of living, or quality of life I should say, basically sucks.

In the USA it's not uncommon to find a 2 bedroom apartment with 12 mexicans living in it. it's filthy, unsanitary, but they "can afford it."

At the end of the day, it's hard to have an argument about finances when you have people with different definitions of "afford" or "cheap" or "expensive" or "comfortable".

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]




where in the world do you come up with these numbers?

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

nothin' for nothin', but didn't just about all of Poland's laborers up there skip town to the Scandanavian countries where the pay is like a gazillion times better? but hey, if the money was spent, i guess they see enough people willing to run it.


I don't mean to nit pick this but dude, 250? You said this was "back on topic" but hell, a mere 250 workers in Middleofnowhere Zdroj is hardly contributing to an economic boom. It's a big corp saying to themselves, "how can we make our cheap furniture for the least amount of money? Oh, I know, drop a factory in the boonies of Poland and pay them pennies to do it." It's remedial work done by uneducated Poles, run by wealthy foreigners. Basically, what the USA does with China.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

Peterweg wrote:


"Students" being the key word here. In the grand scheme of things, this doesn't say anything about the price of apartments in Poland for the average Pawel. you spend how long.....3-5 years as a student in your lifetime (if you even go to uni). Then big boy life starts, a spouse, children, cars.....but hey, if your aspirations of the good life is a spouse and 2 kids in a 65 sq. meter flat on the 4th floor of an old commie bloc, go for it.


so in other words, more useless info.


I can't help but wonder what happens when all those old houses and apartments are eventually torn down due to old age and Poland has to start building again. No more free handouts and everyone has to get a mortgage like the rest of us poor schlubs.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

comparable to earnings? what scale are you basing this claim on?

aside from food, what about cars? gas? clothing?

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]


how so?

Travel / What do you think about hitchhikers in Poland? [33]


whereas you are then "overwhelmed" by a horrible smell.

News / Polish baby boom, but not in Poland [40]

Socialized.

Nothing is free.

News / Polish baby boom, but not in Poland [40]


I'd also be curious as to how many are part-timers like seasonal workers, doctors that fly in and out, etc.

Life / Poles always ask how much money you earn. Why do they do this? [30]


You could use that argument for absolutely anything to argue whether something is rude or not.

Off topic, but that statement becomes far more interesting when you use it in a religious discussion about what parents tell their children at young ages, how they're raised, etc.

Life / Poles always ask how much money you earn. Why do they do this? [30]


regardless, it's pretty rude, at least in my culture.

regardless of how rude it is, what's the motivation to ask the question in the first place? why is someone's income of such interest to them?

like i said, it was always odd for me to be asked, where i'm from, it's completely off limits. absolutely nobody will ask you.

Life / What's wrong with you, Polish people - is it an inferiority complex? [120]


it sucks that they upped the retirement age but it's a direct result of a socialized system with mass emigration. people don't work and pay into it, the well runs dry.

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]


I've known the man for 5 years and he told me what he makes. His wife as well (it's funny how Poles talk about salaries like that, in the USA, we're super uptight about salary talk) so I believe them before I believe some link on the internet. It's that simple.

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]


I don't care what the site says, my father in law earns what he earns and he wouldn't care what the site says either. It's a pittance. It always amazed me how I, Joe Shmoe American, who had been in his country for just a few months, earns double what he earns when I'm having a bad month.

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


typical backwards Polish business model. "I got 10 groszy for it today."

when you get meals to go there, do they charge you for the plastic bag?

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


the minute you start talking like it is in fact a poor country, that their salaries will not quadruple in 7 years, and any other delusional bull$hit you know is not true about the place stops spewing from you......my tune will surely change. then maybe we can start ripping on my country? might be fun, eh?

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]


gross dude. gross.

take away taxes and ZUS, what are you left with? his salary as a cop is a little more than hers as a nurse, she pulls as a nurse I think 1300-1400 net/month......so there's your 3,000 net/month, as I said.



all these numbers are great. just great. how about this:

walk up to a teacher who's been working for a school for 10+ years and ask her, "how much were you earning 8 years ago? 5 years ago? 2 years ago?"

do the same for a cop, a nurse, someone at the corner Biedronka, etc.

I can promise you that the difference in salary will surely confirm that people are not making much more now than they were 5-6 years ago.

then go ahead and say to them, "oh ok, well you earned 1200/month net 5 years ago....now you earn 1300/month net. that's OK, because in the NEXT 5-6 years, you can expect your salary to at least double, maybe even triple."

when they get finished laughing in your face, take a deep breath and rethink what you're writing on here, weg.

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


ha! you say that as if it would surprise me, or have any effect on me whatsoever. dude, i could go on and on with the best of them as far as $hitting on the USA, the place is full of problems and at least half the people here are just out of their minds......if you're gonna play the "I know where to hit the over-patriotic American where it really counts" card, look for another one in the deck, dude.

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]


Minimum wage in the USA is $7.25/hr, that being the fry cooker at KFC. You think an administrative assistant working for an average size company in the USA is making just barely over what a 16 year old fast food worker is earning?

Using a receptionist was probably a bad example because they generally earn less than the national avg.....but $8-$9/hr is just silly.


It's Polish reality, pal.


Please explain.

super-economy.blogspot.com/2010/01/dynamic-america-poor-europe.html


oh for crying out loud. i was there when it happened and it was at 2 for about 20 seconds. aside from that, it's been at around 3 for 5 years now.


hey, didn't like.....something really significant happen in 1989? give me a friggin' break with that, man.

salary.com/Administrative-Assistant-I-Salary.html

The average salary in the USA for an Admin. Assistant (secretary) is:

$36,282

$3023/month

9,945zl/month

between 7,000-10,000zl/month? indeed.

The average salary in the USA is currently $47,000. That's 12,885zl/month.

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


haha, seriously. i mean....is there actually a single highway in Poland....like.....an actual highway.

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]


I lived in Poland from 2007-2011. Since I moved there in 2007, the average salary has gone up how much? 5%? 7%? at all? To be honest, people never seem to be able to agree on exactly what that average actually is, but the range is generally from 2000-3500zl per month net. not 3000-5000. not 3000-8000, and this has remained true since 2007, as long as I've been talking to countless poles and reading countless articles/forum posts. I also know that my in-laws, one is a career cop, the other a career nurse, have been earning the same salary since 2007 and they, combined, barely clear 3,000zl/month.

What makes you think that the next 5 years are going to be so drastically different where receptionists are all of a sudden going to be earning 10,000 zlotych in 7-10 years......or let's say, in 5 years, around 7,000 zlotych?

Can you honestly say that my in-laws can expect to earn at least 10,000zl/month net combined.....in 7-10 years? Do you know how hard they'd laugh if I called them up and told them that today?

This is fairy tale stuff, weg.

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]

dude.......New Jersey has better beaches than Śląsk.....

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]

does it matter? even today's "first world" salaries in mind.....do you think the avg Pole is going to be taking in say $3,500 a month net or 2500 euro month net in 7-10 years? salaries literally tripling?

no way.

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]


You think that in 7-10 years, Polish people will be earning salaries comparable to Germany, USA, Japan, France?

Salaries would have to triple or quadruple to even come close to that.

Language / Mam silnego kaca! Why is this genitive/dopełniacz? [34]


that makes sense.

Language / Mam silnego kaca! Why is this genitive/dopełniacz? [34]


I think you are using that term rather loosely. If a word, in its original form, is placed in a sentence and no change occurs, sure, it always must take some form and we have a list of names in Polish for each form, but to say it was actually declinated when the word remains exactly the same.....I don't know if I buy that.

I've never heard of the term "virile". Guess you learn something new every day.

Life / You've been in Poland a while if .... [49]


haha, totally true. i've heard my fair share of horror stories.

Language / Mam silnego kaca! Why is this genitive/dopełniacz? [34]

there's no change, whether you say, "Mam psy" or "To sa psy". it's the plural form of "pies" in both cases.

there's a declension with the singular form, pies becomes psa: "Mam jednego psa", but "Mam dwa psy". no declension in the plural form.

Language / Mam silnego kaca! Why is this genitive/dopełniacz? [34]

The general rule I use is if something is inanimate and doesn't sound Polish, then conjugate.

Chce drink'a, kebab'a, hamburger'a, SMS'a, etc.

It doesn't explain things like pomidora but more often than not, non-Polish words are conjugated like this.

I always got a kick out of certain animate conjugations like "kot" and "pies". You conjugate "kot" with "Mam kota" or "pies" with "Mam psa", but once you pluralise it, it no longer gets conjugated:

"Mam psy"

Bizarre how case is sometimes dependent on quantity.