News / Poland's election winning party: PIS proclamations [229]

But this isn't about PO, it's about PiS. I'm not sure why you keep trying to divert attention away from PiS and their broken promises.

Food / Types of CHEESE in Poland [150]


Yes, the 14 month one is quite edible. I've noticed that there's more and more Polish versions of cheddar on the market. I don't remember the name, but Kaufland had some very edible variety too recently at a normal price.

UK, Ireland / Europe first serial killer is Polish. [8]


Spoken as only someone that lives far, far away from the border can speak.

News / Poland's election winning party: PIS proclamations [229]

Polonius, how many times do you need it explained to you that PO still have very, very strong structures in place and haven't just gone away? Do you seriously think that all the local PO organisations said "oh, we lost, time to quit PO"?

News / Poland's election winning party: PIS proclamations [229]


Not really. Nowoczesna have been all over the media in the last couple of weeks, and Petru has been delivering soundbite after soundbite to the media. PO are in the process of renewal, and I wouldn't expect them to rebound politically for 12-18 months until they've had a chance to regroup.

Anyway, this thread is about PiS, and the latest hilarity : PiS are now suggesting that it won't be 500zł for the second child and beyond, but rather 500zł in "vouchers". It seems that PiS know fine well that they won't be able to find the money needed to pay for their electoral promises, so they're looking for desperate ways to water down the legislation.

Szydło is still claiming that the programme is on track, but she's also making comments about the budget not being able to cover the cost of it. It's almost certain that PiS will impose some sort of income limit, turning it into a welfare policy.

USA, Canada / Half Polish, half Russian girl from the US. Would I be accepted in Poland? [6]


Do you speak Polish fluently, or at least very well?

Poles (like Czechs) don't really associate themselves with being Slavs, so I wouldn't mention that.

News / Adam Michnik awarded for integrity, professionalism and high standards. Poland's No. 1 fascist? [321]

Not really. Remember, Michnik was locked up repeatedly for his "crimes", whereas people like Jarosław Kaczyński never saw a day of prison.

Life / Libraries in Poland [20]

buw.uw.edu.pl/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=18&Itemid=51 - the University of Warsaw's library is open until 21:00 during the week as well as until 19:00 on Saturday and 20:00 on Sunday.

SGH's library is also open for quite a while and also open on Saturday/Sunday - biblioteka.sgh.waw.pl/en/hours/Pages/default.aspx

And SGGW's library is also open on Saturdays - bg.sggw.pl/ang/godziny.html

All of them will let you join as a non-student.

Feedback / Should PF have a 18+ disclaimer when entering the site [17]

I'd say that the behaviour on here is often worse than with my 11 year olds in school. Even the worst drama this week was nothing compared to the average day in the random chat thread.

Ugh, there's nothing worse than trying to intentionally defeat the swear filters. It's pathetic.


Point taken - could you edit my post and get rid of the personal reference?


No, definitely not.


It's not bad at all. There's one poster that has a habit of using it, from memory...

Law / EU grants to small business in Poland-advice needed [27]


Difficult. There are some funds, but nothing specifically for opening a language school. You could try and get funds for starting a business, but competition is *intense*. Best to assume that it's not even possible, even if you can apply.


Yes, but they will have considerable conditions attached. For instance, my friend's school got around 120,000zł to provide language classes. The catch? They had to only provide classes to those over 50 in rural areas, and they had to supply considerable paperwork to prove that the funds were being used appropriately. For instance, they were required to have contracts with every student, with a rigorous attendance policy *and* they were required to sign a minimum amount of people up for each course. The money was only actually released once the conditions of the grant were met.

In short, EU grants are good if you already have an established business, but they're not really feasible for starting a business unless you have a significant amount of capital to invest yourself.

Feedback / Should PF have a 18+ disclaimer when entering the site [17]

Actually, I think it would be a very wise idea to restrict access to the off-topic forum to members only. It's been a problem of PF for years that people were attracted to the site simply to post crap about Muslims and so on - if they knew that no-one could read their posts, then they wouldn't bother with PF.

There was a good example years back when the OT forum was only accessible to members - a guy called Des Essientes had a vicious anti-semitic agenda, and when his posts found their way into the off-topic forum, he would cry and cry and cry about it.

Wouldn't object to a blanket ban on bad language as well. Things like the c-word have absolutely no place on here.

Work / How to get hired in Poland teaching EFL? [4]


Absolutely no. Being aggressive like that will not get you anything - mainly because you have very little to offer them. Good jobs require a degree, the CELTA/Trinity TESOL (anything else is simply toilet paper) and experience. Banging on doors and demanding to meet the decision makers at your convenience will simply irritate them - it's not the way that business formalities here. You need to leave CV's and wait for them to contact you at their leisure - which will be rather in August. At the end of June, school directors will be busy with the end of the school year, and recruitment will not be on their mind.

Work / Any Speed School of English in Poland? [54]

Guaranteed? I would love to see a copy of your "guaranteed" hours on the contract ;) We all know that language schools would never offer guaranteed hours on the contract for the simple reason that they can't do it. The reality is that such schools cut the hours of teachers at a whim, especially if the students are irritated.

As for the "method", are you now using Avalon? ;)

As for enough to "live off", sure, if living like a student is what one wants to do in a foreign country.

USA, Canada / Thoughts on moving to Poland from USA [62]


Officially, no. Stare decisis is a feature of common law, not civil law systems.

But Poland does use precedent, especially if it's a Supreme Court ruling. However, this usually isn't relevant in family law cases.

USA, Canada / Thoughts on moving to Poland from USA [62]

Witamy w Polsce. (We welcome you to Poland)

The legal system here isn't often based on logic, but rather arbitrary decisions made by judges. The family courts are by far the worst for this sort of behaviour, but it's endemic in the legal system.

USA, Canada / Thoughts on moving to Poland from USA [62]


This is exactly your problem. Don't make the assumption that the Polish court will even look at any documents that you produce to state your financial position. Family courts are hugely female-dominated, and if the mother says that you're living the high life while she's living in poverty with the child, you can expect the court to rule heavily against you.

This is where the cultural differences will be much bigger than you expect.

USA, Canada / Thoughts on moving to Poland from USA [62]


Just one thing : you need to remember that Poland is *not* favourable towards men in a legal sense. If you have a child and your wife decides that she's sick of you and prefers her old boyfriend from high school, you can expect to lose the property as well as having to pay significant amounts of alimony for the wife and child. You can't run, because Poland will simply put out a European Arrest Warrant for unpaid alimony, which means that you won't be able to visit about 32 European countries without running the risk of being arrested and deported to Poland.

Poland is full of stories of men that were horrifically burnt by women doing exactly that, and courts tend to rule very unfavourably towards foreign men.

Study / International Schools in Poznan Reviews - which is better for my child? [21]


The question is : can you afford them?

News / US military hardware coming to Poland [76]

Merged: PiS potentially putting Poland's security at risk by cancelling Patriot order

Well, well, well. If we didn't need any more proof that PiS is Putin's best friend, we now see the latest story...


defensenews.com/story/defense/2015/11/25/polands-new-government-rethinks-patriot-missiles-airbus-choppers/76395322/

Patriot missiles are very, very good indeed, and this just goes to show that PiS are not really interested in the defence of Poland.

News / Poland's Parliament adopting a 70% severance tax of departing state company bosses [21]

If I understand this right, it applies to any company in which the state (being any unit of the state, such as local government or national government) owns a majority of shares?

Life / HIV/AIDS growing in Poland - more fear of pregnancy than STDs [82]


Wouldn't be a bad idea. It's actually a good question why the EU doesn't have such rules - Russia also demands HIV testing from memory.

Law / International business trip, travel time reimbursement? How is it settled in Poland? [15]

Goncalo, I can tell two things by your post :

1) This is your first real corpo job
2) You aren't very experienced

I strongly suggest that you have a quiet chat with a friend working in HR about the realities of corporate life. You can certainly enforce your rights, but it won't be looked on favourably (you won't be seen as a team player) and you can quite probably kiss goodbye to any career opportunities internally.

Study / Polish Banks - any chance for a student loan? [7]

You won't get finance from a Polish bank. Don't even bother trying.

If you have someone that can provide a guarantee, why not get it from a UK bank?

Law / International business trip, travel time reimbursement? How is it settled in Poland? [15]


Theoretically, you can. However, I wouldn't expect them to a) send you on any more trips and b) consider you in any way for anything worthwhile.

News / Polish Minister of Agriculture stops foreign land-grab in Poland [24]


You can urge all you want, but the average Pole is price-conscious and is always going to buy from the foreigner if he can offer a better price, which usually he can due to modern farming methods.


Let's see...they might...farm with it?

News / Poland's political party to ban pornography? [60]


Indeed. Which is what it exists for - to push the boundaries and attempt things that might not work in a commercial environment. That is the nature of culture.


Go to the theatre often?

News / Poland's election winning party: PIS proclamations [229]


You haven't seen the latest? The Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the OFE funds are revenue from taxes and not "our" money - and PiS are already thinking about taking the remaining money out of the OFE system.

News / Poland's political party to ban pornography? [60]

Regional governments are subject to the voters in that province, not Warsaw.

For what it's worth, what does profit have to do with it? This was just another fringe production that has now attracted huge amounts of attention because of the actions of the few.

News / Poland's election winning party: PIS proclamations [229]


Absolutely. The top jobs in state owned companies should not be going to the relatives of the leader of the party in government.

Interestingly, a quick look reveals that he's already resigned in the past from a governmental post over some scandal.

News / Poland's political party to ban pornography? [60]


Isn't it funded by the province, rather than the country? In that case, it's up to the provincial government to decide what gets funded, not the country.

From memory, the province is very heavily centre-left politically.