Travel / Rihanna complains about lack of privacy on Polish beach [150]


I'll definitely take a trip up there to see that!


I think the answer to that is pretty obvious.

Those of us living here see non-white people daily. Nothing out of the ordinary or special.

History / 70th Anniversary of Sikorskis Death (Newark) [30]


Except the area itself was very ethnically mixed. It wasn't indisputably one nation, hence why Poland promised to the League of Nations that the area would be autonomous. Of course, Poland broke that promise (like many others at the time), but...

History / 70th Anniversary of Sikorskis Death (Newark) [30]


It's worth pointing out that the infrastructure of the East was still utter crap in 1939 - whereas the far-superior infrastructure in the "Recovered Territories" is still intact to this day.

Life / Immigration in Poland and being surrounded by a monoculture? [134]


Oh dear.

1. Anglo-Saxons didn't have much influence in Scotland by nature of who they actually are.
2. Modern day Scots are seen as an ethnic mix of Celts, Norwegians and Picts.
3. The concept of being "British" certainly is an artificial construct - where were they before 1603?


But being European is also artificial. Where do you draw the line at Europe, given that no-one agrees on what is European anyway?

For what it's worth, people in the UK tend to associate more to the constituent country anyway. No-one is claiming to be ethnically British except morons who didn't go to school.

Travel / Rihanna complains about lack of privacy on Polish beach [150]

It's just not uncommon at all, no matter how much some racists will try and portray Poland as being a sort of white-only "paradise".

Work / Teaching jobs for Americans in Wroclaw? [54]


It does, but what's the likelihood of someone being able to keep up 2x90 minutes in the morning (with a most probably 7am start) and then having to follow it up with classes from 4-9 every single day?


That's the other thing - if you've been at it for years, then you probably have many lesson ideas that you can create in a few minutes in your head.

The only way that I can see this being doable is to teach only Callan classes, but I can't imagine many people's throats would hold up for long at that kind of pace.

Life / Immigration in Poland and being surrounded by a monoculture? [134]

I know I can't expect much in the way of history from you, but you do realise that "Britain" is an artificial construct?


Absolutely. Doesn't surprise me that our racist friends from across the pond are far more bothered about it than we are.

Law / US citizen looking to live in Poland for 6+ months like a long-term tourist [51]


Highly unlikely ;)

I really don't know why they can't just issue a card and get it over and done with - other EU countries such as Estonia offer cards, so why not Poland?

Law / US citizen looking to live in Poland for 6+ months like a long-term tourist [51]


No, they're not the same - what you've got is a document confirming your right to permanent residence, whereas Harry has the one that is literally something like "confirmation of residence as an EU citizen" - which isn't the same as the right to permanent stay :) As I understand it, the permanent stay document (that you have) expires every 10 years, but the status of permanent residency cannot be revoked - which is why your car registration documents don't expire.

I think.

Work / Teaching jobs for Americans in Wroclaw? [54]


Well, let's say he's doing Callan classes. He'd be doing 52 clock hours minus 5.2 hours, so 46.8 hours a week. That's 46.8 hours of almost non stop speaking, which seems highly unlikely. Not to mention that he's a kid, which means that people looking for serious classes are unlikely to take him seriously - so it can only really be Callan + conversation classes at most.


Even the worst Callan schools usually offer 30zl net.


I don't believe it's possible at all. It might be at summer camps, but there's no way that he's in the classroom doing 52 hours a week. It's not just possible to do that with any competence whatsoever - even at a Callan school.

If he wants to prove me wrong, I'll be in Wroclaw soon and he can show me his PIT-11 from last year.

For anyone coming to Wroclaw, a reasonable first year estimate would be to take home between 2500-3000zl a month and to work about 25 hours a week. However, this is for someone with qualifications - Poles are quite ageist by nature, and someone coming without qualifications may find it much much harder. The city is saturated with native speakers - and while there may still be opportunities for those with specialist qualifications, it's not a place to come if you don't know what you're doing.

Law / US citizen looking to live in Poland for 6+ months like a long-term tourist [51]


That's the document now given to EU citizens for the first five years before applying for permanent residency.

Another piece of paper, except this one comes in different colours according to where you reside and is completely useless as it doesn't mention your PESEL on it.

Work / Teaching jobs for Americans in Wroclaw? [54]


Work ethic is pretty meaningless in teaching - no-one wants a tired teacher.


It's not out of reach, but any teacher with such a workload is unlikely to be effective or be prepared properly. I've discussed the subject with many people, and the consensus is that anyone doing more than 30 hours a week of teaching is likely to be a poor teacher. Even 8 hours of Callan a day (so no preparation) is still going to result in a tired, unmotivated teacher.




People will pick up on this very quickly, especially in Poland.


I've met many successful native speakers here who left for something new, including one ex policeman who had reached quite high heights in his career. Makes him an excellent teacher, as Poles respect his natural authority.


Not really. For a start, you need a degree with the right to teach to do what I do.

Like "ismellnonsense" said above - the story seems highly unlikely. I wonder if he'll show us his PIT-11?

Law / US citizen looking to live in Poland for 6+ months like a long-term tourist [51]


A huge improvement, but I think the problem is that Poland has taken the law too literally in this sense - they aren't allowed to discriminate against EU citizens, so the cheapest way to do it is to give a crappy piece of paper. Given that ID cards are now free for Polish citizens, they could really give us the same...


The one issue with dual citizenship is that you no longer have consular protection from the Polish authorities...

(having said that, those of us with British passports know that the protection is worthless anyway as they'd rather just hide in their 40 million pound bunker...)

Law / US citizen looking to live in Poland for 6+ months like a long-term tourist [51]


It is. Apparently it has the lowest levels in the EU - I think it's almost unheard of once people finish studying. There are some cases, such as people volunteering at festivals - but nothing like in Western Europe.

Life / Immigration in Poland and being surrounded by a monoculture? [134]


Doesn't exist.

Hence it doesn't matter what she is - she's still British.

Life / Immigration in Poland and being surrounded by a monoculture? [134]


Actually, that's not true in the slightest. Swiss Germans will understand French and vice versa - the general culture in Switzerland is that you use either French or German and others will understand. They may not speak fluently, but they will certainly understand - I had no problems using French in German speaking areas there.


You've obviously never been to Switzerland if you don't know the difference between the areas. Trying to lump Switzerland in as 'one culture' is naive at best.


It really isn't. It might have tough rules surrounding obtaining citizenship, but that has a long history.


Do they? I notice plenty of non-Swiss in those towns. Perhaps you should stop basing your opinion on SVP propoganda? As for Swiss Germans hating Germans - that's not true as well. There's far more animosity from Austrians towards Germans than from the Swiss Germans towards Germans. Their language might be different, but that's it.


I assure you that the Swiss identify as much with their first language as with the concept of being Swiss.

Ukraine is also a success story - for all the fighting in the Verkhovna Rada, the country works on a daily basis just fine despite two major ethnic groups in the country and other minorities. I know both ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Russians who don't have problems on a daily basis - as in Switzerland, they will just use whatever their first language is and the others will understand, if not speak.

It's worth pointing out that many states such as Estonia and Latvia are working just fine.

Work / Is there a market for teaching Dutch in Poland [22]


Bear in mind that 40zl includes preparation time, travelling time and so on.

Work / Is there a market for teaching Dutch in Poland [22]

That's the thing - for such a language as Dutch, you can already see that people are willing to give classes for as little as 40zl an hour despite being native.

Work / Is there a market for teaching Dutch in Poland [22]


Crickey, 40zl/hour for a Dutch native speaker!


Is the market collapsing in Wroclaw like elsewhere?

Law / US citizen looking to live in Poland for 6+ months like a long-term tourist [51]


You can't apply for a D-visa from outside Poland if you're eligible to enter on a tourist 90 day visa waiver.

Life / Immigration in Poland and being surrounded by a monoculture? [134]


I'd like to believe that, but Yugoslavia showed us otherwise :(

Law / Polish licence question: theory and driving test? Cost and lenght of the process? [13]


That's because the new test forces you to know the rules of the road rather than simply relying on questions that can be memorised. I took the old test, passed first time with perfect marks - but it didn't require knowledge, only memorisation.

The new test isn't more difficult (I've tried several practice ones) - but you can't memorise the scenarios because they simply aren't available. But they are still mostly based on common sense and understanding of the road - anyone who does the 30 hours of theory will have a solid understanding of what to expect in the test.

As for the failure rates - most people are simply unprepared. How many people bother to go out in a car with someone who has a licence and analyse scenarios, or how many people walk the streets analysing potential scenarios before the theory test? Hardly any. Yet it is by far the best preparation - you need to be aware of the rules and how they apply in real life, and that's exactly what they are testing.

If you're having problems with the test, then you probably didn't get taught properly during the theoretical stage.

Life / Immigration in Poland and being surrounded by a monoculture? [134]


The United States has done pretty well for itself, don't you think?

For what it's worth, can anyone name a single country that lived in peace for generations? I can't...

News / Poland's John Paul the Great canonisation this year [177]

To give an example - the well known Marie Stopes clinics are run by an NGO, not a private business.

I'd be interested in the names of "mighty abortion corporations" though.

News / Poland's John Paul the Great canonisation this year [177]


There are mighty abortion corporations?

Off-Topic / Loading a photo of Poland from your mobile/cell phone takes 30 seconds, come on! [86]


Looks like Wesola Szkola, am I right?


Me too, it just seems to take forever...and it wasn't even me doing the work :P

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


This is the thing that I keep repeating on this thread. They have a lack of coalition partners, particularly as all the poll results show any gain for PiS resulting in a loss for Solidarna Polska. The other parties aren't going to go into coalition with PiS after what happened last time, which means that PiS would be backed into a corner. If there needs to be a second election, then PiS (in line with history) would be punished for not managing to form a coalition - so they would want to avoid that at all costs.

The current electoral mathematics make it nearly impossible for PiS to win without a huge compromise on their part.


Indeed. This is why I can see a coup within PiS with Ziobro forcing out Kaczynski and a viable coalition being formed, perhaps with a social agenda (with the SLD, perhaps). Kaczynski has just too much history for anyone else to support him - and the smaller parties aren't going to risk their electoral credibility for the sake of 4 years of power.


It would have to be one of the most stunning victories in the history of democratic politics. The general consensus is that any party seeking an outright majority would need between 45-47% of the vote - which even the PO and SLD landslides failed to get anywhere near.

The only way out for PiS right now is to use Kaczynski's charisma to win the election, then force him out in order to put together a viable coalition or at least a minority Government that can do deals on an issue-by-issue basis. The situation in Elbląg suggests that PiS as a party have no problems with doing deals with whoever can help them - but on a national level, Kaczynski has to be reckoned with.

For what it's worth, I think a PiS-SLD social democratic coalition would be popular with many voters. But Miller is no political novice, and PiS would certainly have to eliminate many of the old guard to get anywhere near an agreement...

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]

Latest news from Elbląg - not only did PiS finance the campaign for a new election there, but it is also coming out that PiS are attempting to go into coalition with the SLD there.

So much for the 4th Republic.

Travel / The Magnificent Beauty of Nature's Landscapes in Poland [44]

Bieszczady is beautiful, but it's being destroyed by tourism. Villages like Wetlina are being turned into "domki" hell, while villages like Wolosate and Ustryki Gorne are being destroyed by ridiculous amounts of development that simply don't belong there. Last time I was there, almost every village was suffering nightly with ridiculously loud music - even after the night silence started.

Then the mountains themselves are being destroyed by too many tourists, especially idiots from the cities who have no idea how to behave in such a place.

I fear the magic will be gone within 10 years if development isn't restricted. Cisna is still one of my favourite villages in Poland, however :)

(just...don't make the mistake I did and go to Polanczyk during a festival)

Law / Polish licence question: theory and driving test? Cost and lenght of the process? [13]


Doesn't exist, although from the sample test I've tried, it's no more difficult than the previous test.

As long as you know the rules of the road, it's simple.