News / Kopacz wants PO to hire more professional PiS-bashing haters [66]


In many ways that's PiS in microcosm

Study / Study in Lublin - what is the student life here? Any racism? Accommodation and part time job possibilities. [17]


When were you last here? Probably ages ago. I see it more and more.

Stop trying to discourage anyone who wants to study in Poland.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


Spot on.

Many outsiders (and even some Poles) here wouldn't necessarily know about it or if they're a PiS supporter want to acknowledge it (in fact they'd probably get in a typical PiS flap at the very suggestion), SLD and PiS are much closer on a local party (and business) level than either party would care to admit. It isn't unimaginable that they'd strike a deal to keep their rival out.

Easy to forget also the PiS PO (unfortunate name) coalition project that never happened in the end.

And yes, PSL always do better in elections than in surveys.

News / Kopacz wants PO to hire more professional PiS-bashing haters [66]


Nope, since every indication is that he was about to lose (badly) the election that year, even assuming he didn't have to leave office earlier.

I wonder if you consider online activism (after all, the topic of this thread) in Poland to be a "hair-brained scheme". Interesting which other parties use it.

Law / Ways of getting Permanent residency in Poland [101]

Not really, unless you have a lot of money and even then it isn't easy. I think your best bet would be to look for another way. Are you married with kids to a Polish citizen?

News / Presidential elections and debates 2015 Poland [472]


Pretty well. One positive is that Polish political parties are constantly shape-shifting and the next grouping will appeal to the next generation who turn out regularly to vote. All signs suggest that whatever comes next will be closer in spirit to Platforma than to the PiS flappers.

Something I've noticed. On here some of them always seem to see it as a 2 way thing. As if it's republican v democrat etc. The third largest grouping in parliament, PSL, is very rarely mentioned yet their presence in a coalition can (and does) make a difference.

Study / Study in Lublin - what is the student life here? Any racism? Accommodation and part time job possibilities. [17]

@DominicB, don't forget that the OP's range of choices may not be broad and in some places in the world, almost any European institutution impresses.

I'd also disagree that there are "no jobs for foreign students in Poland". There certainly are and I see this often, especially waiters etc, but not in Lublin. The OP would do better to look in Warsaw or Wroclaw.

@Masqur, though racism can sadly exist everywhere, in Poland you'll be fine - especially in the bigger cities (which Lublin isn't). As I say, try Warsaw or Wroclaw (Lodz, Gdansk, Kraków, Poznan are also OK but not so much so for work).

UK, Ireland / Lost a hard working builder to Poland - how to find other trusted co-workers in Leeds? [11]

Pretty well and to advertise citing nationality would be illegal in most circumstances. Since this is just a question rather than an advert, I suspect the law doesn't cover it.

One thing I'd say to the OP though is that Poles aren't that different from anyone else and there are as many as English people - he'd found a good worker and was lucky - there are as many bad ones as good ones in Poland (if not more) as anyone living here can testify and choosing someone because of the country they come from isn't the best way to find an employee.

News / Kopacz wants PO to hire more professional PiS-bashing haters [66]


They're talking about that already - evidently monuments to an unpopular figure are a better way of spending money than schools, hospitals, prisons and social housing. My feeling though is that we'll see plenty of nonsense like the issue this thread is about (almost invariably backfiringnon them as this has) however over the coming months they'll (especially Duda and Jaro) say very little to try not to remind the voters of their true colours before the election.

Life / Polish men mostly have short hair, why? [43]

Perhaps where you live - certainly not in Poland. Though a shaved head with a beard is sometimes seen.

Life / Polish men mostly have short hair, why? [43]

In what sense are shaved heads 'trandy'?

News / Presidential elections and debates 2015 Poland [472]


Or rather undermined it, as underlined by the speed in which his party (led by his twin) were dumped from office.


They'd better be quick, given their ageing support base.

News / Kopacz wants PO to hire more professional PiS-bashing haters [66]


Exactly. Quite normal for political parties to use online activism, even though the PiS flappers probably consider telex and carrier pigeons to be cutting edge technology.

Life / Polish men mostly have short hair, why? [43]

Basically the bone-headed look of lumps wanting to look tougher than they are. That and the fact that 30zl for a haircut every couple of weeks is an extravagance for some that they can't (or just don't want to) pay.

News / Kopacz wants PO to hire more professional PiS-bashing haters [66]


Bs of the first order. Basically someone spying at a private meeting.

PiS flaps over any thing they can find. The PiS flappers themselves of course only praise their political rivals ;-)

News / Presidential elections and debates 2015 Poland [472]

Now Kwasniewski was a good president, though not so good as our outgoing one. Both far better than Poland's worst ever, who came between their terms of office.

Food / Where to go for the best steak in Warsaw? [77]

Yes, very much. Especially in my home ;-)

One thing that maybe explains why some people say they can't find a good one is the culture of cooking meat here. I remember serving a steak to someone who rented a room from me. The steak was done to perfection, absolutely flawless. He asked that it be returned to the frying pan for (wait for it...) 20 (yes 20) minutes!

Explains quite a lot really.

Food / Where to go for the best steak in Warsaw? [77]

Quite. Hard to say where the best steak is in Warsaw, but easy to say where it isn't. I had one in TGI Friday last week which was terrible - really actively bad. Oddly enough, one in Sphinx (yes, I know) a little while before was almost perfect.

The steaks at the Hotel Sobieski are also good (or used to be).

Btw (and very quick) you don't need either ice or CO2 for a cool box - just polystyrene will do for a plane cabin - certainly enough to keep ice cream solid.

News / Presidential elections and debates 2015 Poland [472]


'Was' when and by whom?

Food / Where to go for the best steak in Warsaw? [77]

3/4 hours? 3 or 4 days is fine - it isn't India here where meat goes rotten before people eat it.

And nothing unhealthy about steak that's gone black on the outside either - some seek that out especially.

Life / Boy Scouts in Poland = Patriotism, honesty, and self-sacrifice [13]

The various well-publicised scandals (usually involving church people) combined with there being far more to actually do these days that is within reach of ordinary people has driven some well deserved nails in scouting's coffin, however it is still popular, as is its alternative The Woodcraft Folk which would actually be a very good thing in Poland.

Food / Where to go for the best steak in Warsaw? [77]

Steaks tend to be much better when the meat is far less fresh than most housewives would buy. Ideally part of the surface should have gone black.

Life / Boy Scouts in Poland = Patriotism, honesty, and self-sacrifice [13]

Very much so. Especially aimed at boys who didn't have access to a cadet corps at school. The Boys' Brigade (a slightly more religious version) used to be even more army focussed.

One interesting fact about the Scouts and Poland is that there have been Polish-language scout troops in the UK for many years, usually attached to Polish parishes (scout troops in Britain used to be always attached to a church) and intended to maintain cultural links with Poland, whilst remaining part of the UK scouting movement. Sadly, when some English-speaking residents round the Trojmiasto wanted the same, the Polish scouting association (rather small-mindedly to say the least) refused.

Life / Boy Scouts in Poland = Patriotism, honesty, and self-sacrifice [13]

It's world wide, however each national group has its own characteristics. The Polish one is actually quite interesting.

UK, Ireland / English IP address to watch UK channels from Poland? [21]

I've used FilmOn on and off for a few years and found it generally good - especially the choice of channels. One problem though is the quality of some of the live streams - they don't just buffer, they sometimes break down. I still have the subscription but now sometimes use an iPad app called TVPlayer. Probably every bit as illegal but seems to work better (needs a VPN though and of course a crap VPN with low bandwidth is still going to cause problems - I use TunnelBear now which is good, Astrill is also good).

They seem to have some different streams to FilmOn for some of the channels (but the same problem with a few so probably the same stream for some). The only drawbacks are the channel choice - no More 4 - and the fact that some of the channels they offer seem to come and go.

One tip by the way if you're watching UK television in Poland (with VPN or not) is that when the BBC One stream stops, you can (on FilmOn) switch to the BBC One Northern Ireland stream which usually works. TVPlayer had even more regional streams when I last needed to do that so more choice when the main one is down.

Study / Poznan University of Economics or University of Warsaw ? [25]

It also depends on what he or she likes doing while not studying and which city has an atmosphere that suits - the OP gives no clues.

Travel / How to travel to Rzeszow - flight is expensive, is it worth to fly to Warsaw first and then get there by road? [9]

Modern carriages, and far less crowding - the last time I used TLK it was impossible to get any food or drink because the whole train was standing room only, including the dining car!

That's going a bit off topic, so I'll reiterate the suggestion that the OP looks for internal flights - they aren't usually expensive in Poland and are obviously a lot quicker. The train is second choice and to Rzeszow the bus is a poor third.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


Actually we do: Platforma. Although they're a little too religious for my taste, they aren't beholden to the Curia and tick all the other boxes.

Law / Allegro for non-Polish users -- Cancel order, bank transfer, contacts for help, etc. [19]

I will ask around - better than just looking online however I'm posting on a phone from the pub so it won't be today. Some very good jazz from Poland, especially a couple of decades or so ago.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]

You have a very distorted view of politics here (that bit about Russia and Orban actually made me laugh) if you think Poland hasn't made huge progress since Platforma were elected. Especially compared to the tragi-comedy of the PiSuarzy and their appalling coalition partners.

In the scheme of things, how Russia etc look at Poland is a small issue in the scheme of things (assuming they aren't about to illegally invade as they have in brave little Ukraine). How the economy has grown, how Poland has helped the rest of free Europe deal with the Putinist threat, how Poland has grown in stature on the European stage, inward (and outward) investment, artistic, cultural, educational (even sporting) achievements and progress in Human Rights all count much more. Po.and has done well in all of these under Platforma's watch, though there is still a way to go. The real struggle is keeping the PiSuarzy and the other forces of Ciemnogród far away.