Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]

I will let you think about that statement for a while
perhaps you would like to sleep on it and come back with a reasoned response after the benefit of good night's rest

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]


I thank you for the validation Sir. One had to be on ones toes as certain money exchange johnnies were not adverse to slipping you currencies which were even less valuable than the humble zlot. I believe you could buy a million zlots for 38 quid in 1993 whereas you could buy a million Turkish lira for far less, which could cause some of the thievin' bast@rds to slip you a few kebab notes

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]


in that case might I be forgiven in thinking that your knowledge of global exchange rates, might have been a bit shakey (no Shakin Stevens pun intended)

I can see that you and me are really developing our online friendship.

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]

not in 1993 they weren't. there were lots of money changers. all wore black leather jackets, all were surly

clearly I am stupid, I am trying to educate you about the difference in exchange rate results in you getting more Shakin Stevens tapes for your hard earned zlots

I am clearly wasting my time.

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]


were the exchange rates the same? no, they were not.
the black market rate on a dollar was higher. certain kantors offered better rates.
Just because you could pay in zloty it does not mean you were getting the best rate.
you probably did not shop around for the best rate and now you are just sore.

Had you exchanged your money more wisely you might have been able to buy additional Matchbox models.
Perhaps you feel emotionally scarred as a result.
There is no need to feel this way. You are still the same person irrespective of which Matchbox model you bought.

Perhaps owning another Smokie tape or the latest offering from the Rolling Stones would have made you a hit with the ladies,
who knows? we will never now but you just need to be brave and move on...

if only I could turn back time, but I can't.

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]


the banks had one rate, the kantors had another and the surly men in black leather jackets had yet another rate
not all kantors charged the same rate and some of the surly chaps were not adverse to slipping monopoly money into the wodge
that they gave you.

honestly chubs, please do not argue about things you have no idea about

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]


on the contrary, I have been inside a Pewex store, my chubby friend
in fairness I have never bought anything from Pewex as I considered it to be overpriced when I was able to buy the same items for

far less in the UK. Having never bought anything in Pewex it means that my knowledge of the currencies that were accepted
and the means of payment is perhaps a bit shakey. Did they accept Greek Drachma for example?
Polish friends used to point at the store and tell me that they took US dollars. I visited the store, window shopped, but no money changed

hands, so you may indeed be right.
Had I known that the payment terms would be of such importance I would have paid much more attention 18 years ago

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]


indeed you could however I seem to remember you got a much better rate paying in yankee greenbacks which you could obtain from surly middle aged men wearing black leather jackets and who hung outside the Pewex stores

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]

let's put things in perspective for all you young whippersnappers whose parents bailed to Canada and the States in the 1980s
but still consider yourself to be on the same telepathic wavelength as the rest of Poland

In 1993 I was talking to a friend who had studied at a Polish university in the 80s.
He told me that there were Arab students studying there and they would offer a dollar to fellow Polish female students to
sleep with them for the night and would get takers

I do not mean that all the female students would jump at the opportunity but some of them would.

Now bear in mind that these were female university students not prostitutes

such is the value of the dollar at the time.
Pewex was still running in 1993 where you could buy luxury items but they would only accept US dollars

UK, Ireland / Culture shock (my neighbours in the UK are Polish and Slovak) [88]

what might work would be getting your children to play with their children.
or offer to look after their children if they need to go out

as for your Slovakian neighbours, avoid them like the plague. they appear to be scum

don't worry about the Poles and the Slovakians ganging up on you as Poles generally think that Slovakians
are a bunch of village idiots whereas Slovakians dislike Poles

Czechs generally do not like Poles. Poles think Czechs are a bunch of cowards as they openly collaborated during the war

Poles like Hungarians, Hungarian like Poles
Hungarians hate Slovakians

a bit of a generalisation but not all Central Europeans are the same

UK, Ireland / Culture shock (my neighbours in the UK are Polish and Slovak) [88]

when I first went to Poland I thought everyone was argueing with each other.
they were just talking
one interesting cultural thing is that Poles tend to talk over each other in conversations
they do not wait until one person has stopped talking, they just butt in

UK, Ireland / Culture shock (my neighbours in the UK are Polish and Slovak) [88]

forgive me, the gender symbol thingy should have given me a hint that you are a lady

Poles are abrupt but they are not being rude.
It is their language
In English you would say 'might I trouble you for a piece of paper', whereas in Polish you would say 'give me a piece of paper'

they are not being aggressive it is just the way they roll

By and large, they are decent people and you could have far worse nations as neighbours

UK, Ireland / Culture shock (my neighbours in the UK are Polish and Slovak) [88]

I believe that the gentleman in question has moved from a village in the UK to a city in the UK.

My advice would be to smile and to generally leave them to themselves.

I would not expect them to rob you blind.

As you are clearly well qualified and have opportunities to be successful might I presume that your neighbours also live in a
decent house? if so, they are even less likely to be blaggers and might be professional people such as yourself

UK, Ireland / Culture shock (my neighbours in the UK are Polish and Slovak) [88]

would I be right in thinking that you are attending university for the first time?

Travel / Social Culture - Confused - good place in Warsaw to make new friends [19]

just hang out at the British Council library

Work / Looking for accommodation & teaching job in KATOWICE [78]

not only the corporate clients. In most schools, the director will have a chat with the 7 year olds and ask whether you sang songs and played games with them.

your fate will be in the hands of your clients. having said that it is much easier to blag a primary class than a CAE class

Work / Looking for accommodation & teaching job in KATOWICE [78]

I found them friendly.

especially when compared to people from Warsaw

Work / Looking for accommodation & teaching job in KATOWICE [78]


find a Polish student who is willing to look at the classified section of Gazeta Wyborcza and who will advise on finding a good location.

your student would be able to call the landlord and arrange a viewing. Although a good test of how good your school would be is to ask the

director if the school secretary would be willing to help with this matter

does your school have a clause in the contract preventing you from offering private lessons? some of them do but them enforcing it
is a bit tricky.

make a fuss of your private students. meet them socially, meet their friends and the private work will come rolling in

Pszczyna and Bielsko Biala are a train ride away and are good venues for a day trip from Katowice

the town is OK, the people are friendly but it is not the most attractive place in Poland.

Study / Warsaw School of Economics (SGH)-how is it there [10]

just seen the post.
It might be a bit late as I suspect that you have probably made your mind up by now

SGH is a good school. Their MBA program is one of the best in Poland and living in Warsaw enables you
to get a well paid job teaching English at hours to suit as opposed to flipping burgers or doing a crap part time
job

The qualification is recognised throughout Europe

contrast this with many Polish medical schools offering degrees being taught in English where the standards have dropped so much that their medical
degrees are not being accepted any more in many countries

Law / How deep is the Gloom in the Poland's Economy [84]

Poland is likely to do better than most places
Shale oil fracking will decrease the dependence on Russian gas
and wind farming is starting to take off finally

the bankrupt shipyards are being used for wind turbine production

as for the Poles returning from abroad
you are better off on the dole in the UK and particularly Ireland
than you would be jobless in Poland, particularly if your kids are settled in the local schools

what Poland needs to do is to stop pensioning off civil servants in their late forties

Law / Is having private students in Poland legal? Or a registration as self-employed is required [30]


in Poland the VAT kicks in more or less immediately as far as I am aware. if you have a Sp zoo there is no VAT threashold

however it would be best to check with a book keeper

bragging about your tax free income on a public forum is probably not the wisest course of action

Real Estate / Restructuring of polish chf mortgage [42]


a valid point. A friend of mine who bought in Krakow about 10 years ago is kicking himself for not taking out a mortgage in dollars.

News / Are Polish newspapers causing problems for Rom? [35]

I never met him.
He laid claim to the fact that his grandfather was an Irish bare knuckle champion
His father was Welsh according to Wikipedia

I will reiterate though that all the English gypsies that I have met and worked with
over the years have been decent people.

Thank you for mentioning Johnny Frankham and his jail sentence. That is absolutely
disgusting and I have utter contempt for the man.

News / Are Polish newspapers causing problems for Rom? [35]


Bartley was not Irish. His mother was.

I did not know that Johnny Frankham was in jail. A google search revealed that he tried to scam 9000 quid out of an old lady.

Oh dear. In light of recent evidence I might have to review my opinion of the Frankham family.
Johnny coached Brad Pitt as far as I remember. Both the Frankham boys lost their boxing licenses for attacking the ref

News / Are Polish newspapers causing problems for Rom? [35]

the English gypsies stopped travelling years ago

they are mainly living on static caravan sites

if you are genuinely interested, read On the cobbles by Jimmy Stockin

it was ghost written as Jimmy cannot read or write

all the English gypsies I have met have been decent people.
The Frankhams are probably the most famous UK gypsy family or
possibly the Gormans or the Bowmans from Cumbria

Irish knackers are another breed entirely

As for Polish gypsies it depends on where you are living
the ones in the West seem to be successful businesspeople
the ones in the East resort to begging and trading

Life / My impressions on Poland I: The People, Politics, The Countryside and Infrastructure [39]

I am fascinated by your report.
Please provide your address and I will pay for a subscription of Razzle magazine for you

Work / JOB in Wroclaw for a Business Student fluent in ENGLISH/FRENCH/RUSSIAN/ROMANIAN [56]


'
don't wait until you finish the course, market yourself as a business English teacher offering the 'MBA Lite' language course

pleasure to help

there are a lot of trolls on this site but a lot of good people too

Work / JOB in Wroclaw for a Business Student fluent in ENGLISH/FRENCH/RUSSIAN/ROMANIAN [56]

a friend of mine just moved to Wroclaw and she was fluent in Polish, English and Dutch. She is working for HP.

why not contact a few firms and see if anyone wants business English with business training as part of the package - that way you can recycle the material you learned on your MBA

your English is more than good enough for you to teach other business people in Poland. Remember not everyone is looking to speak the Queen's English.

They are looking for European business English - ie very few idioms, few phrasal verbs,
there is a real rarity for anyone to teach business social English (what we used to call small talk) in Poland

Work / JOB in Wroclaw for a Business Student fluent in ENGLISH/FRENCH/RUSSIAN/ROMANIAN [56]

Elena, do I understand that you took French as your first degree prior to going on the MBA?

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


exactly and the answer is probably not.
people are living too long and the birthrate is too low to expect state pensions to provide anything more than utter poverty and if you go for a private pension, you are equally screwed when the stock market takes a dive just as you retire, like now for example

that is the reason why property is so popular
many people do not have a clue how the stock market functions however it is easy for most people to
understand that some people will not be able or willing to get a mortgage and they will be forced to rent