Life / The Polish work ethic - or the lack of it [23]


Too true, but well - it's no big deal on my part to go to a chain shop. It's their loss - 10-20zl isn't going to make any difference to me.

As for that Friday/Monday holiday thing - I'm used to it. I was amazed to get an e-mail this morning from a supplier :)


Holiday was yesterday - so the culture is to take the day off as if it's a holiday too. Nonsense, but that's how it is.


The thing is - can they really get it? By all accounts, domestic demand is slumping - you'd think they would want the business!

News / Tomasevski makes an idiot out of himself yet again [28]


The offer extends to you - I'd love to see you tell Wiara Lecha and friends that you think they are Russian secret services.

As for the banner being the same - you do realise that Poles do have a superiority complex over Lithuanians? Telling Lithuanians (especially from Vilnius) to bow down to their masters sounds entirely normal for Poles.

News / Polish police chief removes crosses [250]


It is very odd that a man who seems to push a religious agenda at every opportunity would willingly move to a secular country (and one - at the time - was barely tolerant of religion) and would continue to stay despite that country establishing a new, clearly secular Constitution.

News / Polish police chief removes crosses [250]


Polonius, do you have trouble with the Constitution? Poland is not Catholic.


No, it really hasn't. Have you forgotten already about the vast nomeklatura that provided the backbone of the PRL? Even if they go to Church these days, they've already shown that they are nothing but opportunists who realised the advantage of associating with the Church and before that, the Party.


The strange thing about this scenario is that those who are preaching about Polish culture refuse to even consider Polish citizenship.


May I remind you that secularism is guaranteed by the Constitution?


Quite what that has to do with crosses in police stations is beyond me.

News / Tomasevski makes an idiot out of himself yet again [28]


And he is accusing Wiara Lecha and others (who make a *very* strong claim to being the real heart of Poland) of being Lithuanian agents. I can't imagine anything more offensive, especially given the banner in question.

As for political leader - he is a man who has entered a coalition that involved Russians. What kind of Pole would do that?

News / Polish police chief removes crosses [250]

I think he is genuinely fantasising about gay propaganda in schools.

Why is for the reader to decide.

News / The Bauman Affair: A Clear and Present Danger to Democracy and Academic Freedom in Poland [26]


No, there is considerable doubt, given that Communism ended in Poland over 20 years ago and that very very few people identify as Communists today. If we want to label people according to their former beliefs, then we must also be mindful of the many individuals on the "right" in Poland who owe their careers and livelihood to their Communist past.


In the correct forum. Turning up at a lecture (that you had no right to attend) to abuse a professor is not heckling.

I suppose you'd be the first to howl should the "antifa" take to abusing right wing politicians at every single opportunity.

News / The Bauman Affair: A Clear and Present Danger to Democracy and Academic Freedom in Poland [26]


Indeed, you can notice on these very forums - bad Communist Poles are labelled "Soviets".

Real Estate / Stronger zloty - potential driver for Poland's property market [42]


In my humble opinion, this is long overdue. I know of several companies that produce very very good products and export to the local markets as well as domestically - Lithuania, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Their products are decent, they just haven't wanted to try and enter new markets - so if domestic demand slumps, they may finally bite the bullet and go to where the real riches are to be found.

News / Tomasevski makes an idiot out of himself yet again [28]

You would listen carefully to a man who was exposed on numerous occasions for outright lying, and who regularly whips up the fear of "Polonophobia" among the Polish Lithuanians for political purposes - and - a man who entered a coalition with the Russian minority in Lithuania?

It is well documented that he's a smart guy who took advantage of the fear/ignorance of the Polish minority in Lithuania.

Study / Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow? [60]


Fully state approved and registered, there's nothing to worry about there.

It's only the system of governance that is different, that's all.

Study / Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow? [60]


I can answer that one easily :

Good IT professionals in Poland have been noticed in the West - they are throwing very very good money at Poles to join them there (particularly since the media noticed that Poland has been winning all sorts of international competitions) - and companies are now struggling to attract Polish labour at the right price. They invested very heavily in Poland - and now they need to look to India to fill positions. Ukraine/Russia is a no go because their IT wages are higher than in Poland - and getting paid in hard USD is common in Ukraine - they're not going to come to Poland to work for the relatively soft PLN.

Study / Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow? [60]

Generally speaking, standards are quite good. Of course, no two schools are the same, but I've rarely heard bad words about such schools. From what I gather, they do tend to be used by professional people who have no interest in sending their child to a school that requires a ridiculous uniform and endless petty rules.


The best advice I can give is to get them studying Polish intensively every day - they will need it. 9 months of intensive Polish practice should get them to a reasonable level.

Study / Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow? [60]


They do. But it's worth bearing in mind that it's already very late for school admissions - schools are normally required to finalise their admissions for the year by the end of May. You may find that such schools will be already oversubscribed and closed for new admissions this year.

Study / Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow? [60]

They do, and these schools are a good choice for younger kids (anything up to 9 in my opinion) - but a 10 year old may struggle with having to study separate subjects in Polish even if up to half of the timetable is in English.

In my experience, what tends to happen in these situations is that teachers will just give the child a pass - they won't give the child any attention, but equally they won't expect the child to do particularly much in the class if they don't have any Polish skills.

I'm - personally - of the opinion that if you can't afford a solely English medium school, then you shouldn't come to Poland.

Study / Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow? [60]


All public Polish schools are obliged to offer such assistance.

However, bear in mind that this assistance is limited - and that you will certainly have to pay for extra Polish lessons on top of what the school provides.

Study / Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow? [60]


Not going to happen. You might find some schools that offer additional English classes, but the vast majority of schools will still require heavy knowledge of Polish.

Polish law allows your children to receive one year "extra" Polish classes in order to catch up.

If you can't afford international school fees, then you don't have much hope.

Life / One of more conspicuous Polish traits - inconsequence? [37]

Indeed. For me, the worst thing about it is that the Sejm was never given a vote on the issue.

However, it defeats me as to why someone simply doesn't take the cross down. It wasn't placed there democratically and doesn't have any basis in law, so why doesn't someone simply remove it?

Life / Is 10500 monthly is enough for a family to live in Warsaw Poland [136]


Shh. You're a teacher, you're meant to plead absolute poverty.

Life / One of more conspicuous Polish traits - inconsequence? [37]


It is of course worth pointing out that the cross in the Sejm was never voted on, but rather placed there in the middle of the night. Hardly the action of the majority, Pawian.

News / Tomasevski makes an idiot out of himself yet again [28]


Like Harry says, I'd be quite willing to chip in to pay for your ticket to tell the Lech Poznan fans that. I wouldn't insult them by suggesting that they were infiltrated by Lithuanians - Lech Poznan fans are fiercely patriotic and regard themselves as being the genuine soul of Poland - the mere thought of them being "Lithuanian secret services" is incredibly insulting. And I say that as someone who regards Lech as his Polish team.


You should trust Wiara Lecha and the other fan clubs that there's no way that they would allow themselves to be infiltrated by Lithuanians.


He does, but equally Poland should be aware that he's a proven liar on numerous occasions. Lithuanians have made a mockery out of him in the past, including when he bussed in Polish-Lithuanian schoolchildren to Vilnius to "protest", only for the kids to blow the whole thing by being honest.


But Tomasevski needs attention!

Life / Is 10500 monthly is enough for a family to live in Warsaw Poland [136]


Perhaps. But it doesn't tell the real story of many teachers at all. Trying to quote the base salary is absurd when they're only contracted to work 15 hours a week!

Travel / Parking in Poznań without a valid ticket? [7]


Outdated opinion, it's becoming gentrified very very quickly. Lazarz is still dodgy, but Jezyce is pretty much quiet these days - there was a murder a few months ago, but there was some history between the murdered person and the murderer I believe.

As I recall, there's a parking lot close to Polna on ul. Dabrowskiego - but don't quote me on this. There should certainly be something close by - and in that part of town, you should be able to get two weeks parking for 200zl at the very very most (and most likely less). There's a car park here - goo.gl/maps/mwwl1 - that should be available for semi-long stay parking. There's also one here -goo.gl/maps/vt4xc - that will certainly be able to accommodate you.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EUCARIS

As you can see from the table on the page, Poland has no current interest in sharing data. It doesn't mean that they can't chase you, but in reality, Poland isn't going to bother you in Austria for the time being. The real issue comes if Poland does start to share data - you would find yourself unable to drive not only in Poland, but also in any country that Poland shares data with.

Travel / Parking in Poznań without a valid ticket? [7]


First rule of Poland : assume nothing about what is and what isn't seen as criminal. The justice system in Poland is widely accepted as being broken - hence the abuse of EAW's and general incompetence of the courts/prosecutors. It's unlikely that they'll chase you to Austria at the moment (there's no data sharing between Poland and Austria) - but do you really want to have unpaid parking fines hanging over you if Austria/Poland agree exchange of driver information?

As for parking fines being considered criminal - as I understand it, parking isn't decriminalised - if you get a ticket and don't pay it, they're quite within their rights to tow you away.


Nope, no free parking unless you're registered locally. I believe the car documents must also be registered to the local address. The best bet is really just to pay up for the guarded parking in the centre - if you tell me where you'd like to park roughly, I'll tell you where you can park.


At least in Poznan, the paid for parking exists so that there are parking spaces to park in. It would be complete chaos were parking to be free - Sundays are a great example of this, as are warm weeknights.

Travel / Parking in Poznań without a valid ticket? [7]


Your best bet is just to find a car park in the centre and pay for a weekly/monthly ticket. There are a lot of car parks in/around the centre, and they aren't expensive. The most expensive one I know is about 90-95 euro for a month.

News / Hierarchy of Polish people - CBOS newest research [17]

Yes. It's a rule on PF.

News / Hierarchy of Polish people - CBOS newest research [17]

I don't know any Polish people that would put religion first, except a very small minority of nutters. Would you really put religion above your family?

Life / Is 10500 monthly is enough for a family to live in Warsaw Poland [136]


Sorry, but you've been caught lying yet again -

experto24.pl/oswiata/place-i-finanse/bez-podwyzek-dla-nauczycieli-men-chce-utrzymac-obecne-zarobki-nauczycieli.html

The link very clearly shows that the minimum for a teacher with a Masters degree and pedagogical training is 2265 zł. That's for a teacher at the "stażysta" stage - which lasts for one year. It is almost unheard of for a teacher to not move onto the "kontraktowy" stage - at which point, they earn 2331 zł brutto. A teacher in their 40's would be highly unlikely to remain at that stage - mianowany is relatively easy to obtain, which carries a salary of 2647 zł brutto for that 18 academic hours a week. It's also unusual for teachers to do only 18 hours a week - overtime is quite common and nothing out of the ordinary in Polish schools.

Now, if you want to get into the nitty gritty (and I wouldn't - you've been caught lying about basic facts, you're not going to win any sort of debate with me on this topic) - what you say is also nonsense. Yes, there are meetings with parents, but school trips are not compulsory for teachers (indeed, many teachers refuse due to liability issues) - and teachers have very few internal meetings in school. In fact, what's interesting about Polish schools is how little management oversight there is of teachers.

If you want, we can discuss it further - however - given that I work in a semi-public school and know a thing or two about how teaching works in the real world, you might not want to go there. I notice that you've also completely failed to mention many of the benefits we get that most employees in businesses only dream of getting. Trying to quote a salary that isn't even real - schools *cannot* pay someone less than the minimums quoted there - isn't a good way to debate.


I think you're making one big mistake, typical for foreigners in Poland - you believe what Poles tell you when it comes to salaries. Poles are utter liars in my experience when it comes to talking about money - pretending to be poor is almost a national sport here. I think almost everyone on this forum that's lived in Poland has a story or two about "poor Poles" actually earning a significant amount on the side.