Life / WOULD YOU MOVE BACK TO POLAND IF.... [73]

Priorities are priorities, ma man :) It's the simple things in life that make it worthwhile :)

They have pizza delivery, why not beans? ;)

History / Pole who burned himself to protest the 1968 Soviet invasion [81]

'Thank God for that' apparently. The rest was a no comment :)

History / Pole who burned himself to protest the 1968 Soviet invasion [81]

The feminists were an example, Am. Look at the Pankhursts who threw themselves under horses etc.

Life / WOULD YOU MOVE BACK TO POLAND IF.... [73]

So that's settled. Wildrover would move back here for a lifetime's supply of beans :)

Does Russia have Heinz beans, amigo? If not, I'd be looking for those cheap travel options home ;)

Life / WOULD YOU MOVE BACK TO POLAND IF.... [73]

Poland has sweaters, gloves and beanies :) :)

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

McCoy, I sometimes do Zabrze ;) ;) Would be surprised if there was, yes ;0

The bureaucracy would be manageable as the incentive to not get it wrong is high :)

It's because they don't operate the kaiten-zushi places (conveyor belts). I loved Marine Polis in Japan, they had plates of sushi for dirt cheap. You just waited for it to come round and hope that some other guy wouldn't grab it before it reached you :) Sushi restaurants go by the piece or set of 3 and that stings!

Tusk did try to streamline bureaucracy here but he didn't do a thorough enough sweep. They will still try and extend procedures beyond the stated timeline. I even texted the new native today and he cannot work until he gets his card. I told him that they would extend it somehow and, true enough, they did. He has to wait another week and I predicted it quite easily.

History / Pole who burned himself to protest the 1968 Soviet invasion [81]

Some people clearly got overheated that day ;) ;)

Well done to the man! Sometimes fighting is the only way as diplomacy was not on the cards then.

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

I can freely enter into contracts, delph, and have done so. However, being just that, they come to an end. I had a lucrative CPE contract with a company here :) My energy has dipped a bit lately so that's why I'm sticking in 3rd gear. I can increase my private base quite easily and could make a killing. I might look for teaching in the polytechnic when I feel that I am in tip-top condition to do it justice.

Sushi is overpriced everywhere you go, delph. Berlin, Budapest and Edinburgh were evidence enough of that for me. My wife makes it which spares me the need to fork out through the nose. Do you know why it's overpriced, delph? I mean other than the import costs.

Poland really isn't changing that much in a dynamic way, McCoy (not visibly). At least not in little Gliwice ;)

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

Inflation has gone up and my salary (which I can't state) has gone down. Still, I'm happy to have a job here as I'd have to head back to the UK were I to lose this position. My Britam wage was lucrative but let's keep earnings out of this discussion.

Eating out here is expensive. I remember paying 16PLN for a tiny bowl of soup once and can also remember feeling so peeved, as an Aberdonian (you know it, delph), that I headed straight to the deli and bought a cheap as chips 'Cup a Soup' from Knorrs. Ahhh, instant relief for my stingy soul ;)

Zeti, it just so happens that those are the problematic points I have. I have a problem with those because ruch is movement so I associate ruchać with movement. Simple? :)

History / Pole who burned himself to protest the 1968 Soviet invasion [81]

He was doing really well. Some would say that he was on fire that day ;)

On a more serious note, RIP. Foreigners are highly disingenuous when it comes to perceiving communist Poland. They forget time and again that it was imposed and, dispute me if you will, but a fair bit at the hands of those 2 meddling powers, America and Britain. If they care not to show insight, please care not to comment at all.

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

Zeti, because they are those that I must be careful with ;) The funniest was an Australian female who tried to teach the students how to say 'cheaper'. She couldn't work out why they were laughing when I explained to her that 'cipa' (the Oz pron) is funny for them.

I used to confuse ruchać and ruszać a lot to.

The problem with trying to save money here is that the cheaper options are often unhealthy. For example, I can pick up 4 big bread rolls for around 2PLN with some pate. 3PLN in total but a heckuva lot of fat in there.

History / Was there sex in Poland during communist regime? [60]

Hehehe, that was a top comment there :)

History / Was there sex in Poland during communist regime? [60]

Was she banned during the communist regime? I thought 'no sex please, we're British' was solely a British way of thinking.

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

I think the language was more tempered than Aussie Sheila's. He did make some valid points that really needed to be said. Delph has been here for a while but I'll happily take him up on some statements he makes. I would have agreed with him some time ago but Poland has turned a page and not for the better (in the cost sense, I mean). The advent of the Euro will only compound peoples' problems when it finally comes around.

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

Scots tend not to be able to produce the difference between cz and ci and that can lead to problems. I cannot say CZ as hard as Poles do. Czipa and cipa, for example, or picza and picia. I also have problems with Szczyrk. I always say it too weakly.

Hmm...partying is such a transitory thing ;)

It's nothing to write home about here.

History / Was there sex in Poland during communist regime? [60]

No, just gender

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

True, a very good point! The instincts were suppressed for so long and we have witnessed an explosion.

Good at polish? What, Kiwi? ;)

What friends? ;)

Gliwice is conservative, remember?

Life / WOULD YOU MOVE BACK TO POLAND IF.... [73]

Spaceman, LOL. Ground Control to cadet 77, you have hereby been ordered to stop floating in a mowstapeculiar way and get back in touch with reality :) Thank you!

Now, who else doesn't understand the 2nd conditional? ;)

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

I know what smurf is getting at. I have noticed that Poles, more than other Europeans I have been with, have wanted to switch it back to Polish ASAP. This is their God-given right, of course, but they tend to want to gibber after beer and not cater for their guests. I tend to mask the fact that I can speak Polish in order to keep things in English as long as possible. If it is only Poles, I will speak in Polish.

Love / Ideas For A Good Gift for my Polish girlfriend [16]

You can buy one from an Albanian, they are everywhere in Tirana :)

Life / WOULD YOU MOVE BACK TO POLAND IF.... [73]

Would you move back to Poland if you were offered a salary of 6k a month? This is for those Poles away, of course.

Law / Signing a contract from Poland Telecommunication (TP) I didn't understand [20]

They are duty bound to ask you in English if it's official. If I request an English language version in an administrative office, they have to comply. You should have asked them for an English copy.

Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

It was a misspelling ;)

Language / Polish filler words? [24]

Basically, yeah :)

Language / Polish filler words? [24]

My mum used to tell me that I said 'basically' too much. Sometimes you just aren't aware until someone tells you about it.

Ten is very common too. Um, wiesz, no, ten.... :)

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

Delph, the same problem existed in Scotland but most didn't take off to foreign climes, certainly not on the same scale as Poles moved. We had 21,000 graduates out of work. It was reality for them and there were just no jobs. I remember my friend's strife when he came back from Japan. He got management exp there and had his postgrad MSc. He couldn't find anything and had he not studied again, he would've been doing work not befitting of his character.

You can't blame the Poles for taking off. Not being able to 'hack it' is a bit unfair. Many were just uneducated and, thus, at an instant disadvantage. Minimal prospects are better than no prospects at all.

Language / Polish filler words? [24]

The most common by far is 'po prostu' ;) When I listen to Polish females on talk shows, they can chalk up 30 in the space of a few mins.

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]

Well, if he knows his stuff then he can command that kind of sum. Me? I don't so I improvise and look at the context. EAP or ESP would involve more preparation on my part. I don't like taking money like candy from a baby.

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]

Aha, thanks. Well, I'm in that business but am not racist. I made the point on the other thread that I really respect the achievements of many black folk. I certainly wouldn't make a success of myself in any medical job. I'm teaching a to-be vet and the terminology is so esoteric and tough. One would wonder who the teacher was if we were being observed. I consider myself to be pretty well read and have a massive vocab but I still come up well short in that sphere.

Life / My own thoughts about life in Poland (have lived here for two years) [133]

My rent shot up from 750PLN to 950PLN (with internet and bills paid) in one change. That's another major expense. I've had my business since Oct 2007 and the 330PLN ZUS was fine :)