Language / Sentences: stół z powyłamywanymi nogami / Nasi przodkowie na mchu jadali [25]

So what? It isn't a difficult thing to say. Also, most people's ancestors sat down on moss at some time, provided they didn't mind getting a wet arse.

Work / Is moving from Moscow to Wroclaw worth it? (.NET software developer) [39]

You'll find that Wroclaw is a very different animal to Moscow. It's a nice city to live in and that is a very good salary for there. For 2500-3000 you can find a high quality flat in a very good location. For 2000 you can certainly find somewhere very decent.

You're also near several European capitals for weekends away, and if you're single and 29 you will like Wroclaw ;-)

Travel / Whats your favourite Polish city and why? [132]

Sort of true, Dougpol. Some people don't care too much about how things look and one of the downsides of capitalism is the proliferation of foul billboards and garish plastic roofs and window frames.

I'd add though that in Venice it's taken centuries to turn neglect into faded elegance. Some of the old bits of Praga (round ulica Mała etc) have a kind of beauty. The residents may of course disagree.

Białystok is one of my favourite cities, and I've also a soft spot for Siedlce. Not beautiful, nothing exotic, not full of ancient buildings, but just nice. Szydłow has something special too.

Travel / Whats your favourite Polish city and why? [132]


Depends on your budget, but from Rondo De Gaulle'a it should be less than 30zl in a taxi.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]

"I've eaten lunch today" is an interesting example since it's close to two phrases "I haven't eaten lunch today" and "Have you eaten lunch today". "I've had lunch", "I've just had lunch" are more common.

In my experience, only a very few Polish users of English 'feel' the present perfect enough to pick up on that nuance.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]


It's different, however the similarity is so strong that for overseas learners the differences are minimal. For the Polish learner, Irish English is within the grammar family of British English. Australian English too.


If you say "I've been to the museum", you normally wouldn't need to add today. If you needed to qualify it, you'd say "I went".

USA, Canada / For my dad... "free Steve Wlodarz" He is serving life without parole in a United States prison [32]

This seems like a classic miscarriage of justice. Is there a chance of an appeal?

Work / What is deducted from a salary in Poland apart from Income tax? [155]


You can pay a lot less than that, and most people do. One poster here recommends 60zl per week, however that is crazily low. I would say 500zl per month for a single person shopping very carefully.


That's more than many people earn, especially in Krakow, however yes, it's a reasonable amount if you like to go out etc.

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


This much is true.


I'm not sure about that one 'Allison', I don't think it will make much difference in the long run.


Spot on. A lot of people in Poland (and this has rightly or wrongly or neutrally formed the national mythos) are happily ethnocentric due to magic events in history. That and being geographically hemmed in by other groups and changing borders. That isn't racism, nor does it help to reduce racism.

Life / What is the cheapest electronics store in Poland? [17]

Media Saturn is as good as anywhere and quite cheap.

If you want cheaper, there's an electronics market in the underground passages near the tram stop 'GUS'. There is more than one passage, so if the one you go in has entirely different stuff, try the other.

I'm not sure that it will be much cheaper than Media Saturn for headphones etc.

Work / I'M SO SURPRISED BY THIS SALARY FOR IBM in WROCLAW 3000 ZL gross [135]


For 1500 to 2000 you will get a 2 room apartment. You can find 1 room ones for a little less.


That depends a lot on you, however it is possible to save some money each month on that amount.


No. The work permit is specific to one job. It does mean that you can travel to Germany for interviews, however you can't just switch jobs within Poland. If you get a job in Germany, you would need a German work permit.

Work / I'M SO SURPRISED BY THIS SALARY FOR IBM in WROCLAW 3000 ZL gross [135]

Hi Ssnawin, don't let yourself be put off too much by DominicB's comments, he's actually an American who worked in a completely different field and now seems to enjoy coming on here and deterring people from coming to Poland from India etc for whatever reason. Here are some answers to your questions:


Depends on a few factors, however it should be around 4500pln
wynagrodzenia.pl/kalkulator.php


Yes


Wroclaw isn't an expensive city, however you'll find that rents in the historic centre are more expensive. You will be able to find an apartment with easy travel to your work for a reasonable price. IBM is in the eastern part of the city and is easy to find an apartment near.

gumtree.pl/s-mieszkania-i-domy-do-wynajecia/wroclaw/mieszkanie/v1c9008l3200114a1dwp1?nr=2


That depends very much on you, whether you like to go out much and go shopping a lot, restaurants etc. 2000zl is a good figure however you could spend less or more.


There are some Indian restaurants. I'm not sure about shops, however you can get Indian spices, prepared mixes etc online within Poland. There will be other Indians at IBM who can advise what they do.


No - you'd need another work permit and an employer willing to sponsor this.

Travel / How to get to Kosice from Krakow? [4]

Have a look at the train. It should be a bit cheaper. It takes longer but is a pleasanter way to travel.

Travel / How to get to Kosice from Krakow? [4]

Try this:
tigerexpress.eu/en/news/436-new-route-krakow-kosice.html

It's a bus unfortunately, but at least it's direct.

You can also go by train, which is much nicer. It takes a couple of hours longer and you will need to change.
thetrainline-europe.com/plan/krakow-glowny-to-kosice?departDate=2015-08-27&departTime=morning

UK, Ireland / Poles again shed blood for Britain [13]


In fact only 12 people turned up in a bus laid on by the Socislist Workers' Party. Of those 12, 5 were Polish.

Yes, the blood donating thing was separate and was praiseworthy. It showed community spirit with a nod towards reminding people of wartime sacrifice. Nothing to do with equal rights, since all EU citizens have equal rights in the UK. As far as the state is concerned, Poles do not get a bad deal.

If there's anything on this Buczynski's part about "being labelled benefit scroungers" he should remember that Britain has a free press and if he doesn't like what they print, let him organise a protest outside the Daily Mail office. The state is not going to impose censorship about Poles or anyone else.

Just a shame that Warsaw don't accept British citizens as blood donors.

Travel / Ryanair flying domestic in Poland? [46]


There are limits, and buses are way past mine, especially when the trains are so good.

For domestic air travel, Ryanair may pick up some of the odder routes (though I'm sceptical they'll be a success given the Modlin thing, and as you say, the Ryanair scrum, plus some of the scuzzy people) EuroLOT is excellent. Cheaper or the same as than the Pendolino, decent quality and flying out of Okecie.

News / Is Kinga Duda of Poland the most beautiful first-daughter of the world? [50]

None of those kids were up to much. Messy.

And the Dud's family, although they shouldn't be judged by his shortcomings, are an irrelevance to his political failings.

News / Is Kinga Duda of Poland the most beautiful first-daughter of the world? [50]

She isn't pregnant. That was a fake Internet rumour last year.

Y'know, the daughter looking conventionally attractive isn't any grounds for electing a politician.

In fact if the kids were in any way connected to it Reagan (not an undisfunctional family) would never have made town mayor.

UK, Ireland / Polish candidate for London mayor to represent 2nd-class citzens [26]

The strike he was promoting and the mass demonstration in London attracted 12 participants, 5 of whom were Polish. All were members of the Socialist Workers' Party.

But hey, he got plenty of media coverage.

Travel / Ryanair flying domestic in Poland? [46]


That's exactly what's happened. It's stuffed with people. One downside is that connection times are a problem since the queues for security for transfer passengers can be a nightmare, especially in summer. This mean people miss transfers they've been sold and have to be put on later flights (and their customer services are crap and chaotic) and this just ****** people off and creates more problems later. I can't abide CDG by the way, it's even worse than Heathrow which is bad enough.

Poland is fine at the moment. Ryanair's hub at Modlin is tiny though and never intended as a hub. If Ryanair want to do more with it, they'll have to sort something out for transfers plus there need to be lounges etc. For domestic travel it's OK. I can see Okecie reaching capacity soon, too.


It's OK for short hops especially if you get priority - makes the queuing (bad at Modlin) a bit more bearable. You don't even need to print the documents on Ryanair - you can get the boarding pass sent to your phone. A pain for connections though because of the Modlin thing, and other low cost airlines like Wizz, Jet2 or Air Baltic always seem that bit better.

News / New constitution In Poland? [57]


There's no such thing. People didn't want it.

News / Poland's President-Elect Duda leads in public trust - CBOS poll [185]

That example is of the film is just reality. Exactly the same in Poland and always was.

Duda and his supporters, by appealing to a demographic who hate the present, fear the future and take refuge in a past that never was (except they were young enough to deal with it better) is simply abrogating responsibilities and retreating to fantasy land.

News / Polish-foreigner marriages increasing [48]

What's any of that got to do with Polish/foreigner marriages?

And yes, there are specific characteristics with Polish men and various threads already about this.

News / Poland's President-Elect Duda leads in public trust - CBOS poll [185]

That's meaningless, Pol3. However much you dislike it, nowhere, not even North Korea and certainly not Poland, is frozen in time.

This Duda can no more stop that than Canute could hold back the tide.

And there's no real appetite in Poland to be anchored to a vision of the past that never existed.

News / New constitution In Poland? [57]

Basically someone ultranationalist, extreme authoritarian and proto-fascist. A Polish Gabriele d'Annunzio, who would have abused the constitution (as some wanted) to make it like the three descriptions in the first sentence. The treasonable and failed Fourth Republic project was the last gasp of that.

I forgot to mention the theocratic element that Annunzio (perhaps his saving grace) never tried. Basically a leader in thrall to the more conservative elects within the hierarchy, a constitution skewed in favour of a religious body an religion used as a tool of oppression. Basically Franco's Spain translated to Poland.

News / Polish-foreigner marriages increasing [48]

First you said you're British, then Welsh (the two are not of course incompatible), then you said English is your second language (almost all Welsh speakers under a certain age are bilingual and in any case the transference errors you make are not consistent with being a native speaker of Welsh). And then say you're a 20 year old female from Britain.whose friends visit her in Poland.

While perhaps not looking for a crosscultural marriage (the topic of this thread) your take on Polish men doesn't bear that much scrutiny. Yes, there are some good ones, but there are far more who are emotionally needy, socially inhibited, tied to the apron strings and/or on the make.

Also a 20 year old boy, not nowadays in the marriage market is one thing. His beer bellied older brother of 30 is quite another.

News / Poland's President-Elect Duda leads in public trust - CBOS poll [185]

Rubbish. That entire post simply makes no sense whatsoever. It contains a huge contradiction and just shows a fear of anything new.

Not everyone defines themselves solely by remnants of the culture their forbears had. You just seem misanthropically afraid of any and all change, harking back to a past that never was. Perhaps Duda appeals to similar dangerously nostalgic fantasists. Most people are happy with the way the world changes.

I also detect hipocrisy in your post, since now you're attacking assimilation which you have previously praised.

As I say, rather than a reasoned political outlook, just plain misanthropy.

News / New constitution In Poland? [57]


He was voted into office with strong support, which is the first and biggest step. As for being 'not presidential material', you have nothing to say on the matter since he didn't hold office long enough, due to dark forces who did not respect democracy.

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


Perhaps he/she meant echt in a kind of Thirties kitsch way.

Whatever he/she meant, this thread could give a very misleading impression of Poland to a prospective visitor. And the sad thing is that the racist comments come largely from people who either live a long way away or have never set foot in Poland.

News / Poland's President-Elect Duda leads in public trust - CBOS poll [185]

He's a non-executive President, Crowie. He doesn't make policy.

Anyway, nothing at all wrong with assimilation.