News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

I love how you're repeating TVP propaganda word for word.

TSI - insignificant. It's a talking shop, nothing more.
Visegrad - not a strong group at all. The Czechs and Slovaks don't want anything to do with the Polish/Hungarian anti-Germany agenda. It's mostly a talking shop with a few points of agreement, none of which are significant.

"Right wing political alliance with Italy" - you mean, forming an alliance with a party leader who openly praises Putin and is considered to be one of the most pro-Putin politicians in Europe? That's something to boast about?

You haven't got a clue what's actually happening. Poland is isolated, because these talking shops have produced nothing of note. Boasting about an alliance with a pro-Putin party is about as absurd as it gets.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]

Some might say that those obsess most about it are the ones that wish to dream about it.

Law / Polish citizenship application requirement and an ongoing criminal case in the Polish court [7]


You need to disclose it, nothing more. It shouldn't disqualify you as long as everything else is in order, as long as you're not detained at any point during the proceedings. If you get sentenced to prison, then the application will be terminated. However, you can reapply again after being released, as long as you don't get deported.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]

In hiring? No. Let's just say that proper background screening isn't a thing here. A criminal records check is done, but that's only going to flag something up if something happened in the EU, otherwise the check relies on the 'home' country records.

I'd say more, but one person I'm familiar with would probably sue me if I said everything I know about him.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


Actually, most observers agree that the UK has lost a huge amount of influence because of this mess. They won't be able to influence the EU from within anymore, and with manufacturers abandoning the UK, what's left? It will be trivial for the EU to impose a financial services tax on non-EU transactions, which will demolish London as a financial market, leaving...what?

You're seriously overestimating the UK economy.


The nationalists certainly don't.

By the way, just so everyone knows, Spike's favourite National Movement scored 1.1% in the latest poll.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]


Nor me. I have nothing against it when there are legitimate reasons for it, but those are normally the result of illness.

If someone wants to homeschool so they can control everything that their kid learns, then they're usually freaks.


Ask yourself what you'll do if the school refuses to intervene when your child gets called a Hitlerite. Will you tolerate it, or will you demand action?

News / Do you think Germany will stop buying out Polish media? [15]


Not a bad idea actually. If they include Radio Zet in their portfolio, then they'll be quite a strong media company. They'll have a lot of synergies between print, media and other ventures such as cinemas and shopping centres.

I see "bolek_tusk" fails to mention that one of the other bidders is a company controlled by PiS, which will be granted a loan on a entirely uncommercial basis to buy it. He also fails to mention that PZU (state-controlled) is one of the major shareholders in Agora.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]


Allowed, but the kids must pass a test that covers the entire curriculum each year, or they're returned to school. It essentially acts as a brake on crazy parents, and many parents give up once the material gets too tough (usually from 10 years old onwards, or Grade 4-5).

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


Lech was getting as low as 20% in some polls. Most forecasts had him losing in the first round.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]


Doesn't surprise me. Polish schools are awful for doing nothing about racism and homophobia.

I remember a kid once used the n-bomb in front of me repeatedly. I sat him down, and explained that I wasn't going to punish him, but that he was going to prepare a report on the history of the slave trade, to be given to me at the first break after the weekend. He smirked, thinking that he got away with it.

We had a nice chat about it in the end, especially when he realised that the situation with Poles being slaves in Nazi Germany was comparable to the black people being forced into slavery in the US. And I got my apology ;)

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]


No, not necessarily. Of course, Germany influences Szczecin, but I'd actually say that German is more used in Gdańsk than in Szczecin due to the huge amounts of German tourists visiting. Stettin never really had the same place in the German heart as Danzig did. English is probably spoken more than German in Szczecin, anyway.


American, probably not, as everyone has a fairly favourable view of the USA. Russian kids - yeah, there are issues with kids from the east and Polish schools.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


In fairness, Wałęsa was President at the time when the President still had significant power, and the 1989 amendments to the PRL constitution / 1992 "Small" Constitution did a pretty horrible job of clarifying the division of powers and they still left him with a poorly defined role. As you said, he got punished for it as well.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


Except it wasn't. You only have to look into the studies on the matter to see that.


PiS have had three years and three months to provide a single piece of evidence to the public to demonstrate that it was anything other than a loss of spatial awareness leading to CFIT.

Why haven't they done it? If you know that it was planned by Tusk and Putin, why haven't you reported it to the public prosecutors?

Tell you what, why don't you get in your car, drive at 250km/h and attempt to navigate through fog.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


More than a reasonable chance. Duda has no chance against a charismatic opponent who has a history of leaving PiS for dead in debates.

News / Anti Iranian conference in Poland [24]


Don't watch The Handmaid's Tale if you value your sanity.

It's a perfectly example of what would happen if that happened. It's horrible, and I had to give up watching halfway through the first series because it was so terrible and bleak.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]

Even some of the border towns are incredibly inbred like that. Dolno, have you ever been to Zawidów? I went to some pub there on the Czech side, and the owner told me that very few Poles went there, even though there's no pub on the Polish side and that Czech beer is obviously superior.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]


It's probably the most successful case of Polish/German integration. The other border towns, such as Guben/Gubin and Frankfurt (Oder)/Słubice haven't succeeded to the same extent. Even then, a friend of mine comes from Zgorzelec and she grew up without any contact with German kids. They wouldn't go to Gorlitz unless it was to get drunk, because you can buy beer at 16 from the shops there and drink legally on the streets. Even then, there was no contact between German and Polish teenagers, except those that were taking part in international projects or if their parents preferred them to go to school on 'the other side'.

I found it hard to believe that they were so closed, but that's the life of typical teenagers in those towns.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]

Depends on the school director and the council. Some schools will be very left leaning, others will be very right learning, and others still will be as apolitical as possible.

The problem for you is that a conservative school will also believe in the anti-German agenda being pushed by the government. It won't matter how much your kids tell the bullies that their dad is against Germany too, they'll just see a German kid as a potential victim.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]


It's not plain to see at all. Where do you see any mention of "schools" in that post? I don't see it, do you?

As I said, if you show that I said such a thing, I'll happily donate 1000zł to any foundation of your choosing.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


20.7% unemployment in February 2003, before EU accession.
Economy grew only 20% between 1989 and 1999.
Considerable devaluation in the currency at the first half of the 1990's, with several unplanned devaluations due to the economic situation.
Deficit of 7.6% of GDP in 1999

There's more... Poland wasn't doing fine at all, and with huge problems such as the Szczecin Shipyard (which was a great example of financial manipulation) falling - eurofound.europa.eu/publications/article/2002/bankruptcy-of-the-szczecin-shipyard - the early 2000's were pretty horrible for Poland.


They're doing pretty badly. Serbia's GDP in 1990 was around 14,000USD and it's just crossed that line in the last few months again. Kosovo is a basketcase, Bosnia is going nowhere (GDP was somewhere between 7-8bn USD in 1989, these days it's 5bn), Albania has 33% of the population living below the poverty line... should I carry on?

Look around Lower Silesia and Wielkopolska. The place is full of factories and warehouses that cater for the German market. Without the EU and customs barriers in place, what happens to those businesses?

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]

In fact, I said no such thing. I'll make a transfer of 1000zł to any foundation of your choosing if you can find any evidence of me saying that such a thing operated in Polish schools.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]

That's not true in the slightest. They actually steer well clear of anything remotely controversial, because the bulk of their money comes from Asian (including Indian) families. Europeans make up a minority in such schools, but because they're home to a mix of religions, about the only value they broadly teach is religious tolerance.

State schools are home to far more propaganda than private ones in Poland.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]


Trust me. I work as a teacher and a counsellor in an international school, and it is a huge no-no to get involved with anything that might upset parents. You have to step very carefully, and the easiest way to do that is to stay away from anything controversial.

A good example - I teach a "modern affairs" class. We stay well away from anything to do with China, because it's a guarantee that it will upset Chinese parents unless we present a very simple minded CHINA IS GREAT narrative.


That's a very valid point. Poland already changed dramatically since I started my career, and it will keep changing quickly.

If he sends his kids to a traditional school, they certainly won't pay attention if the kids are bullied for being German.

News / Anti Iranian conference in Poland [24]


Frighteningly so. I know one guy who had been a mechanic in the US Air Force, and he had negotiated a package here that was downright ridiculous. His employer was obviously charging a healthy markup to the Polish government, so everyone was losing except the minority as you say.

News / Anti Iranian conference in Poland [24]

What really amazes me about the US is how the same story repeats itself regardless of who is in power. It's like America is locked in this endless "get involved with fights, stay for the long haul, leave, get involved with another fights, etc etc" cycle.

News / Anti Iranian conference in Poland [24]

It is a shame. Iran has done nothing to us, and I've got several friends (both male and female) who have been there and had only positive things to say about the place. Several of them commented that there was a lot more respect towards women than they expected, and that the people were incredibly welcoming and open towards foreigners, even in rural areas.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Not only who commissioned the poll, but also who was responsible for it. Estymator are incredibly unreliable and not credible.

I tend to pay most attention to the polls published by Rzeczpospolita.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Let's just remember that Polish farmers today are wealthier than they've ever been. Asking them to give up their wealth is tantamount to political suicide.

Study / Expat kids in schools in Poland [77]

Generally speaking, international schools focus almost exclusively on academics. They don't touch political ideology or religious influence because of so many different cultures and beliefs that attend such schools.


They'll be fine if they attend Polish kindergartens, then, as they'll have 2 / 4 years to learn. By the time they start school, it's unlikely that anything (except their names) will betray them as non-Polish.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Nationalist fantasies.

The reality is that Polexit will never happen because of the completely different dynamics here. The large amount of family owned farms that receive generous EU subsidies would never agree to give them up.