News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


Of course, there were plenty of people that couldn't - they were wrecked with illness (for instance, I read about how one shipyard didn't even have gloves for the workers at one point with the inevitable injuries), they had major family commitments that stopped them from doing things, and so on. But I'm explicitly talking about those who were in fine health and had no real commitments of their own - these people now in their early/mid 50's had a great position in life, not least because they lived in a time when careers were made.

Look at Jaroslaw Kaczynski - an utter nobody, but he made sure that when the system changed, he was in the right place at the right time. Even Donald Tusk spent a considerable part of the 80's doing something utterly crap - yet he made sure that he was there when it mattered.


The problem is that people like "szczecinianin" directly contribute to the problems that we're talking about.


The ones who are now demanding that the government gives them this, that and that? I know enough about them to know the reality - that many of them suffer because of their own choices. Should Babcia who worked as a secretary in the police before taking ridiculously early retirement really have a comfortable life in retirement like she may have enjoyed in the PRL with her military status? Of course not. Likewise with the police - if they retire after 15 years, they really don't deserve to have 50 years of retirement paid for by me and you.


I'm judgemental towards those that cry and whine, yes - I cannot stand people who expect the Government to pay for them or to provide opportunities on a plate. I remember going to work in -15c in my first winter here and really suffering because of it - I had never experienced such temperatures and it would've made much more sense to stay at home in my view. Or I remember last year, going to two very important meetings despite being really sick - I had no choice, if I didn't go, then I would've been worse off today because of it.

As I keep saying - the Communist mentality destroyed a lot of people in the head. They had a somewhat mundane, predictable life - one that allowed them to be incompetent without fear of reprisal as long as they kept their mouth shut. These people lost their way badly in the new Poland, not least because society was no longer willing to accept it. And these are the people I talk about- the ones that had no excuse for their failings today apart from their own inability.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]

It's pretty standard in America to go on the road for that sort of time, if not longer. If it's the way that the industry is evolving (being there to meet the customer) - then so be it.

As for right to a family life, there are plenty of professions where you don't really see much of your family for various reasons. Never bought that one personally - if you want a family life, choose a career that has you in your own house by a certain time.

I like my family life, so I chose one that means I spend very little time at work - sure, I'll never be a millionaire this way, but it works for me.

You're right about the money issue - certainly in trucking, it would have made a lot of sense for there to be a requirement for workers to be paid the minimum wage of the country that they are driving in.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]

Poles are wealthy compared to those, sure. But if they want to compare themselves in terms of success, they should be looking at their peers to see what was achievable.

What you seem to miss is that in terms of poverty, Poles aren't poor at all. But when they look at themselves, they should be looking at their peers to see what they could have achieved. Trying to blame Communism is a joke - there are plenty of successful people nowadays who aren't tainted with Communism. You're just repeating the age-old PiS talk, nothing more.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


I never said that. You might want to stop twisting my words, given that the moderators on here have a dim view of people who do that.

Their peers are their fellow Poles living in Poland, no-one else.


People who get paid more tend to have a higher value to society than those that earn less. You can replace the man who sells tickets, but you can't replace Gareth Bale.

UK, Ireland / wife wants to have baby in poland not ireland [52]

I would say that given the mentality of Polish women towards pregnancy, she probably won't get the care that she expects in Ireland.


Well, the cost may have something to do with it...

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


Why should they need to compare themselves to others? Comparing themselves to their peers makes sense, but that's it.


You don't have to be academic to develop yourself.


Incredibly rare to become gifted without putting in many long hours. I remember reading about David Beckham's childhood - to get to where he is, he would spend hours upon hours in the park until well after dark just trying corners and free kicks.


Except they aren't.

Imagine how rich Poland would be if all that undeclared income was declared? There would be no need to speculate about Tusk's words - Poland would be nowhere near a recession.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


Who was talking about Western standards?

Teachers certainly only have themselves to blame - the progression to diploma level is very clear and most competent teachers (and quite a few incompetent ones) get there. Don't forget that teaching in Poland has long been the black sheep of professions, not least because of their multitude of rights that most workers don't have.


I don't call "working hard" being "spending 8 hours in the factory, 40 hours a week and doing nothing to develop yourself".


Football players and film stars tend to work bloody hard for it in industries that are ruthless on those that don't perform, not to mention the short career of football players.

UK, Ireland / wife wants to have baby in poland not ireland [52]


It's worth bearing in mind that in Ireland, he can't make problems go away by handing a brown envelope over.

UK, Ireland / wife wants to have baby in poland not ireland [52]


No Monia, rather the fact that everyone knows the truth about English language medical studies in Poland. If it wasn't for the price, no-one would come.


Sorry, but the internet is full of people saying otherwise. You might be able to bribe someone to get one, but hospitals are generally reluctant to organise them in advance and certainly not on demand.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


That's right. Anyone in their late 20's/early 30's in 1990 in Poland who was healthy has only themselves to blame for the situation that they find themselves in now.

How many times do we hear "retired" people complaining, only to discover that they took sometimes very very early retirement by European standards?


I think the only skill that most successful people have is an ability to work hard without being irresponsible.

A great example can be seen in the trucking industry in Europe. Polish drivers are willing to go out in their truck for 4-6 weeks at a time, British truck drivers want to be home every weekend. Who gets the work?

UK, Ireland / wife wants to have baby in poland not ireland [52]


I never mentioned that the health service was great, only that I had a good experience with it, contrary to what the doom-sayer Milky said about it being dreadful. I also said "can be" rather than "will be".

My opinion (that seems to be shared by others) is that the NFZ system has caused a situation where the care seems to depend wildly on the management of the institution.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


No, I belong in the modern era where success is earnt. There's no room in today's Poland for people who are happy to be lazy, incompetent and useless at work, and nor should there be. One of the worst crimes of the PRL was to create this mentality that it's completely acceptable to screw your employer in any way you can.


Plenty of others aged 50 something today made it too. The ones that did were the ones who did the best they could despite the PRL (and who didn't spend their days complaining about it, but rather trying to work the best they could within the system) - they then were 30-something and in the best possible position. They weren't "communist big-wigs", but rather people who had put themselves in a position during the PRL to make something of themselves afterwards.

But let's not forget that the PRL also trained a lot of people in hard skills. It always amazes me how many people who took early retirement are able to do things for a good price and quality in Poland.

Poland could go a long way by targeting those employers who abuse the self employment regulations. Anyone working in a job where they are told what to do and when by an employer is by nature not self employed.

UK, Ireland / wife wants to have baby in poland not ireland [52]


Ah, corruption at its very finest - undetectable and only open to those who have the means of accessing it. This is one reason why someone considering giving birth in Poland should be aware that unless you are paying, doctors can be unprofessional morons who would rather treat their friends than who actually needs treatments. Same applies in most countries, of course.

It's also worth pointing out that in Poland, the whole concept of "looking after one's own" is taken to extremes in places such as the health service.

As for the OP, the Polish wife is behaving entirely normally. Pregnancy is seen as a life threatening disease in Poland, and must be checked at insane intervals with vast amounts of medicine prescribed.


Common problem in most health care systems, unfortunately.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


And what did they do for most of their lives?

People who were content to rot away in a PRL factory don't deserve any more, and nor should they get more.

I think we all know that there were a significant amount of people in the PRL who were very happy with the way things were - they had a flat, a job that they couldn't be fired from for incompetence, they had their subsidised holidays and an existence that was predictable. Those people are the ones now crying and whining because they aren't rich - although they did nothing to get rich.


That means they were 30-40 when the system changed and they were in a perfect position to make something of themselves. No-one to blame but themselves - but then again, it's easier to blame everyone else than themselves, huh?


Means nothing, considering the large amounts of students who should be working in those places instead of "studying" some joke degrees.

UK, Ireland / wife wants to have baby in poland not ireland [52]

I didn't need to have contacts or pay privately, nor did I need to tell any lies about the situation.

All through the NFZ. Not bad at all, and compares favourably with the time spent getting the EKUZ card (10 minutes including filling out the form).

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


You may also be surprised to learn that the "poor" in Poland are often asset rich.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


I think they're winding you up. It's a common thing among Poles to pretend to be desperately poor - what they don't mention is that the rest of the money comes in a brown envelope once a month while they get 1200zl in their bank account.

I wouldn't believe a word from most Polish people about what they earn. I know one guy who claims to be poor because his business only earns 2500zl a month. What he doesn't mention to the vast majority of people is that many of his sales are done strictly off the record, due to the nature of his business.

A great example is in self employed tradesmen. How many willingly offer a faktura?

Travel / Can anyone help me find the cheapest way to get from Warsaw to Vienna? [13]


Try putting in "Dworzec Warszawa Zachodnia" - the train station Warszawa Zachodnia is next to the PKS station.

If you're in central Warsaw, just jump on a "WKD" train two stops from Warszawa Srodmiescie to Warszawa Zachodnia. The Srodmiescie station is right in the centre of Warsaw :)

Travel / How would you describe Krakow ? [8]


Don't listen to them. One of them is trolling under endless guest names, the other is known to sneer at everything in Poland.

Krakow is perfectly fine if you enjoyed Warsaw. It's much the same to be honest, except a bit smaller - if you're looking for a city that is attracting a lot of foreigners and has a soul, Krakow is it. Wroclaw is another option, although it looks wrecked architecturally in many places.

UK, Ireland / wife wants to have baby in poland not ireland [52]

Where are you seeing these widespread amputations?


Not true in the slightest. The reality is that it is incredibly difficult to get into medicine in a Norwegian university, so for them, having to pay something around $30,000 in total for a year's tuition/living costs in Poland isn't actually that much money by Norwegian standards - it's only 6 months gross average salary. Hence they come to Poland to get a cheap education that allows them access to the profession in Europe.

It's nothing to do with the quality of the education and everything to do with the rights that the papers give.

For what it's worth, I called my doctor at 10am on Thursday morning and had an appointment for 12.30 same day. Not bad, not bad at all... and the visit to the doctor was absolutely perfect in terms of being checked thoroughly.

Travel / Can anyone help me find the cheapest way to get from Warsaw to Vienna? [13]


Around 39 Euro for a sitting place, I believe?

Another option could be Polski Bus to Bratislava and then a short hop to Vienna on a very frequent train service.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


I don't think anyone here claims to have a better understanding than they do, except perhaps one guy from America.


If you want to fight, take it elsewhere.

As for that piece of information, she posted it very publicly not so long ago.


How queer. I could have sworn that I use Polish every day in work due to working in a more-or-less monolingual company. Must have been dreaming.


Perhaps that explains the sneering attitude towards Poland among some of them.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]


Who are those people? There are very few posters on here living in Poland who don't have at least a reasonable command of the Polish language.

I'm also not sure why you're abusing ESL teachers when you are a French teacher yourself and therefore could be called an FSL teacher. (Mods, she has posted it in public before - I'll supply a link if you want)

Study / AFRICAN STUDENTS INVASION in Krakow [197]


As I've said in the chatroom - I'll give you 500zl to do this on film.

USA, Canada / Polonia picket BBC office in New York [15]


Tim, perhaps you've missed something, but the whole point of the BBC is that it is a public broadcaster. The role of a public broadcaster is to allow all views to be aired regardless of orientation. You need to understand that the views of an individual do not represent the BBC, but rather represent the strength of the BBC. There have been plenty of very positive things on the BBC about Poland and Polish people, too.


Certainly the World Service played a role during the dark days.

Travel / Holidays next month - suggestions for which part of Poland to visit [14]

Yep, I'd second that. You can also make a day trip to a rather strange divided town - Cieszyn/Cesky Tesin. The Polish side is very normal, but the Czech side is....not.

News / Poland Confiscates Half Of Private Pension Funds To Cut Sovereign Debt Load [4]

It would help if you actually gave credible links about this story.

These aren't "private" pensions at all, because the Polish system was never truly private. People haven't lost anything as such, and it's pretty obvious that the way that the Polish system was designed (having a public component alongside a component that was managed by private funds but was in reality highly controlled by the State) was unworkable in the long run.

What's actually happened is that these "private" pensions have become a huge rope around the government's neck. The system at the time was quite revolutionary, but it proved to be unworkable in practice. When such a large proportion of public debt is to companies that were getting - more or less - free money from the Government, then it's obvious that it couldn't work in the long run.

USA, Canada / Polonia picket BBC office in New York [15]


Could you, really?

Bear in mind that it would require you to prove that it was maliciously anti-Polish rather than being merely a critical observation about Poland.

Law / Rada Gminy - idea to stand as a councilor in Poland [7]

That's a curious restriction, I might have to make a complaint :)

(Polish citizens aren't bound by the same obligation in the UK, so...)

Travel / Warsaw Chopin Airport Exchange [7]

To be fair, there are at least two good currency exchange places in Poznan train station - one inside the old building (which will close soon...) and one just outside.

Worth pointing out that you should always attempt to negotiate with them - it's only in my local one where the miserable old man that runs it doesn't seem to understand the concept.