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Posts by jwojcie  

Joined: 3 Jan 2009 / Male ♂
Last Post: 14 May 2013
Threads: Total: 2 / In This Archive: 2
Posts: Total: 762 / In This Archive: 486

Speaks Polish?: yes

Displayed posts: 488 / page 2 of 17
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jwojcie   
1 Mar 2013
Language / Ukrainian language similar to Polish? [236]

^^
well, I'must say Russian, but probably because I learnt it... Either way, frankly I don't care... girls are lovely in both versions ;)
jwojcie   
1 Mar 2013
UK, Ireland / Benefit cuts for Poles in The UK? [143]

Dude, are you sure that NHS is refunding NFZ for your drugs? AFAIK EHIC works in that way, that:

It only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country

Anyway, keep the bills maybe NHS will refund it to you back in UK...
jwojcie   
1 Mar 2013
Travel / Is Gdansk worth a visit in Poland? [33]

Going from Poznań to Gdańsk drop by in Toruń. Going from Gdańsk to Warsaw drop by in Malbork.
If you are going back to Berlin from Krakow, then drop by in Wrocław.

There is plenty of other smaller things along that path.
jwojcie   
28 Feb 2013
Travel / Poland-Kaliningrad connection? [6]

Kaliningrad was (is) for a long time treated by Russians like their western unsinkable battleship... except military, there wasn't much there, hence no flight connections...

that is the background. Now there is this visa-free agreement - but it is a fresh thing.
jwojcie   
28 Feb 2013
Law / Companies public information in Poland [7]

For public yes:

gpw.pl/lista_spolek
stooq.pl/notowania/?kat=g2
money.pl/gielda/spolki_gpw/

example: money.pl/gielda/spolki_gpw/cez;a;s;,cez,finanse.html

all in Polish...
jwojcie   
28 Feb 2013
History / The Humble Beginnings of Empik in Poland [14]

Frankly speaking whenever I can I buy elsewhere. Those kind of mega books shops are kiling all kind of small and nice ones.
Besides, the prices for a small things there are ridiculous.
jwojcie   
22 Feb 2013
Real Estate / Astounded by the poor value of residential property here in Wroclaw [92]

Not sure that's strictly true, not if you know all the areas I mentioned in my posts, and I do. The TVP Wroc area is one of the better areas but by no means the best. It's the right side of the middle, that's all.

Every city has its own specifics. It just happens that southern Wrocław - so called Krzyki districts is one of the safest places in terms of flood risk (there was a big flood in 97 which deluged huge area in the city center). At the same time it is close to the city center and close to the one of the fastest growing areas around A4/A8 intersection. Hence big part of new development took place there. Yes, this district in many parts is also ugly as hell because of commie city planning and not so much better contemporary developments. But historically speaking places along Powstańców Śląskich and parts of Karkonoska was full of nicest buldings in the city - almost all of it destroyed during WWII because Russians attacked from the south + Germans systematically were destroying quarter after quarter to defend themselfs. You can see the rest of its glory at Powstańców Śląskich square. Still what is left its a location which is considered by many as the best. So to sum this up you are looking for a place in the wrong area with your budget. Also if you must compare this location with London, then instead of Stevenage you should rather choose some fine district in London proper.
jwojcie   
21 Feb 2013
Real Estate / Astounded by the poor value of residential property here in Wroclaw [92]

Thanks for your post, but no the town (or actually city) I was referring to isn't little. It is very big and famous and fairly upmarket. Its prices compared to upmarket Wroc seem good value considering the wage possible there v Wroc.

So? My point was that you cann't compare prices of one of the costlier precinct of ~1100000 metro area using some distant suburb even of 15000000 metro area. This comparsion makes sense only if you use for that flats from Brzeg/Oława/etc, 30-60 minutes from the city center. Doesn't matter of how low average salary in Poland is, because still even 1/10 of the population with good salary would give you 110000 people which will crowd you out from the market. On top of that, Monia was right - the market is relatively small in comparision to the city size.
jwojcie   
20 Feb 2013
Travel / One-day-bike-tour from Wroclaw [6]

Try cycle path along Bystrzyca river, or maybe area around Wojnowice (little) castle. Here you will find some pictures and maps (description is in Polish):

rowerowy.wroclaw.pl/index_rekreacja.php5?dzial=3

There is also worth consideration cycling toward Ślęża mountain near Sobótka (30 km south).

Wrocław lays on a basin of couple of rivers, so Odra is not the only choice. Good idea is to use train to get outside and get back on bicycle for farther distances. Some nice paths inside a city limits but with village like feelings would be:

- go along right bank of Odra toward the west (among others under bridge on the highway),
- the same, toward the east up the river (starting at Zwierzyniecki bridge),
- another one would be along Oława river toward the east (but that one is best in canoe - which in spring maybe avaiable alread in front-of Ostrow Tumski near National Museum).

It is also possible and quite entertaining to do a loop along Odra and Flood Canal around "Big Island" - so again start at Zwierzyniecki Bridge but turn left at the dam.

Just for the record it is worth to mention a little farther place:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milicz_Ponds
it is great for cycling
jwojcie   
15 Feb 2013
History / Poles and Russians -- love-hate relationship? [209]

There is some well known Polish artists who lived and performed in Russia.For example Edita Piekha

Yeah, that what I meant, it is all the past
jwojcie   
15 Feb 2013
History / Poles and Russians -- love-hate relationship? [209]

How is the mutual love manifested in this love-hate relationship?

It is kind of a thing of a past. For example Russians loved Anna German Poles loved Władimir Wysocki...
Currently Russian artists are unknown in Poland, and of course even more Polish artists are unknown in Russia...

so only distate towards another version of tzar remained... that thing kind of don't want to let go...
jwojcie   
15 Feb 2013
Real Estate / Astounded by the poor value of residential property here in Wroclaw [92]

What is small is the chance of securing a decent flat at a sensible rent, especially anywhere near TVP Wrocław

Well InWroclaw... you do know that you are looking for a place in one of the costlier areas of Wrocław...? :-)
I certainly understand the logic which says that a place in the costly area of provincial European town should be cheaper than a place in some no name town 1 hour by train outside of London which is obviously global mega city... On the other hand every agglomeration has its own dynamics... So sorry, but there is no linear function here. Little town is a little town regardless of where it is. I don't know, probably the issue is "how far is to the nearest cinema/theater/pool/opera/etc"? So maybe you should try flat in Brzeg? Half an hour by train from Wrocław centre, 55m just for 750 PLN a month... ;) :

brzeg.nieruchomosci-online.pl/mieszkanie-w-bloku,po-remoncie/4802935.html. They have great castle by the way...

To be more serious, of course current prices are post bubble prices. But due to lack of serious crisis in Poland + lack of cadastral tax + many things which Monia wrote being actually true, there is no fast fall of prices here. Sorry, but you have to probably wait for inflation and demographic to change the floor... of prices, in real terms, I don't expect nominal to fall much.
jwojcie   
15 Feb 2013
Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

As you are currently in Berlin, and smaller cities are recommended, maybe such cities like Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski or Zielona Góra are good to start with?

Not big but not so small, close to Berlin... just saying
jwojcie   
15 Feb 2013
History / Poles and Russians -- love-hate relationship? [209]

I`m interesting where this love for a freedom in Poles came from

From loosing it obviously...:

"Czegóż płaczesz? - staremu mówi czyżyk młody -
masz teraz lepsze w klatce niż w polu wygody".
"Tyś w niej zrodzon - rzekł stary - przeto ci wybaczę;
Jam był wolny, dziś w klatce i dlatego płaczę."

Ignacy Krasicki, "Praszki w klatce"

"Why do you weep?" inquired the young siskin of the old,
"You're more comfortable in this cage than out in the cold."
"You were born caged," said the elder, "this was your morrow;
"I was free, now I'm caged-hence the cause of my sorrow."

Translation by
Christopher Kasparek
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fables_and_Parables#Birds_in_a_Cage



:)
jwojcie   
4 Feb 2013
Work / I'M SO SURPRISED BY THIS SALARY FOR IBM in WROCLAW 3000 ZL gross [135]

Best of luck with the job OP, but if they offer you less than 4500, tell them to shove it.

I suppose it is about first line of support, it is not engineering position. It is mostly about shovelling issues and beeing nice to people.

well sorry but i am skilled i have 3 yrs experience in call centers,2 university degrees and i speak 4 languages.Do you think i deserve 590 euros?Plus my first job ever back on 2002, i was paid 600 euros... So i guess after 10 years i shouldnt be offered the same amount of money, no??

Yeah... and how much do you know about IBM xseries? On the one hand I do think their offer was to low, on the other hand - this tells a lot about the market today. Without something extra in IT field, you are just fluent in some foreign language for them. But maybe some story to think about: my colleague, whose only IT skill was knowing French + a few months on a call in some IT company, took a job in IBM in Wroclaw couple of years ago (I think that he got a little more money though at the start). Anyway, in a year he managed to get some promotion, a bunch of trainings, and... left IBM and took some job in Spain, doing exactly the same but for around 2500 euros... The moral of this story is: get back to the work market, and abtain some new skills - don't wait for a white knight...

To be totally honest though, I think 2000 net is hardly enough to survive for foreigner in Wroclaw. Possible, but very modest.
jwojcie   
4 Feb 2013
Life / Foreigners in Poland - the identities of our native or the host country [66]

Well, just for the record there was an amnesty for illegal immigrants in Poland last year... so it isn't like Polish gov. don't see the issue of immigrants to Poland.

Poland is not like any country, it is a fully participating member of the EU, therefore the responsibility is on Poland to actively welcome all EU workers and business people with equal opportunity.

It is worth to mention that EU job market opened entirely to Polish citizens quite recently (since may, 2011).
In case of business - "Directive on services in the internal market" so called Bolkestein Directive - was hugely castrated and EU service market is still full of obstacles to foreigners. So both Poland and EU are still in the transition period.
jwojcie   
31 Jan 2013
Australia / I am moving back to Poland - to live from Australia. Is it a good idea? [29]

Well I am thinking of moving back to Poland to live and work there.

Better chances to find some work will be in bigger cites.. Radomsko as a small town don't give many chances. Maybe it would be wiser to move to some bigger city, rent something, find some work. And only after some period try to buy something. Otherwise you risk to end with a place you cann't sold in a place you don't want to live...

Besides, well I don't want to be rude and it is not my bussiness... but I'm under impression that it is not as much a new place you need but some new people.. It is so much easier in a bigger city..
jwojcie   
29 Jan 2013
Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]

Just avoid trains with football fans... Probably the safest bet are InterCity trains.
jwojcie   
23 Jan 2013
Travel / Where can you get a good cuppa coffee in Wroclaw? [7]

I heard some tales about some delicious latte in University campus at the Koszarowa street. I didn't try it myself though. It is far from typical city center area...
jwojcie   
12 Oct 2012
Study / Concerning studies in Poland! Cheap options? [10]

Yes there are semesters without laboratories, but there are hardly semesters without practise lessons..

Dude, from the sound of you so far one could gather:
- you have no real desire to study (in the meaning of learning not parting)
- you hate math, yet you consider economy or which is even more hilarious, computer science

So to answer you, yes there are many higher schools in Poland that offer easy studies, but it is really not worth to bother .. There is plenty of people especially after various "management" studies without any chance to work in the field... Any serious economy studies involves some math, so don't even think about any serious university before some attitude change.
jwojcie   
11 Oct 2012
Study / Concerning studies in Poland! Cheap options? [10]

If you are looking for easy studies then don't bother with computer science (engineering studies are generally considered not easy, but on the other hand maybe math is your native language).

As for economy studies, the most prestigious in Poland is Warsaw School of Economics, maybe Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego also, but this one is not public.

Wroclaw uni of economy is ok, somewhere at the top of the list also.

I will have to share some times between greece and poland...

It depends but generally lectures usually aren't mandatory, but practise or laboratory lessons are. So it is rather impossible to spend a couple of weeks in Greece during semester.
jwojcie   
29 Sep 2012
Language / Polish word "no". Is it a slang word? [22]

There is this old joke (in Polish "suchar" ;)) about no:

"Turysta uliczny pyta przechodnia:
-Czy ta budowla, to Pałac Kultury?
-No!
Po chwili pyta drugiego przechodnia:
-Czy to Hotel Forum?
-Tak!
Turysta zaczepia policjanta:
-Czy tędy dojadę do Zamku Królewskiego?
-Oczywiście!
-Proszę mi powiedzieć, dlaczego w tym kraju jedni mówią "no", drudzy "tak", a jeszcze inni "oczywiście"?
-"No" mówią ci, którzy skończyli podstawówkę, "tak" - ci, którzy skończyli szkołę średnią, a "oczywiście" - ci, którzy skończyli studia.

-Aha, to pan skończył studia?
-No!"

anyway, this word can be used in couple kinds of contexts
jwojcie   
12 Sep 2012
Law / The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 [2]

This ranking is a joke because it is based on general population opinions. So for example if someone ask a Pole: "what is an infrastructure state in your country" the answer is mostly from not very good to terrible, because a Pole compares it to the west of Europe, mostly German autobahns of course, the newest sections...

So for example supposedly Poland, Czech Republic, or ... Norway! has worse roads than bunch of third world countries... come on how monstrous BS is that?

If someone would ask Eskimo if 10 Celsius was cold, he would probably answer that it is considerably nice summer :-) What is the point to compare that with the answer of Egyptian ?

This report is totally out of context and compares apples with oranges...
jwojcie   
4 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

^^
media is an alternative world, parallel universe of events with totally distorted image of reality... Or to put it more straightforward, most people don't give a damn about leading media topics, so sorry, but no, nobody can pretend to know some country just by following it's mass media... It's kind of theory vs practice question, where theory is not even a science but bunch of opinions from which a person abroad creates some image accoriding to own ideas, prejudices, personality.
jwojcie   
28 Aug 2012
Travel / Warsaw city bikes [14]

Where can find bike to rent

nextbike.pl/locations10.html

I don't see English manual...
jwojcie   
27 Aug 2012
Travel / Warsaw city bikes [14]

Why do so few Polish cylcists have bells on their bikes to warn hapless pedestrians, playing children and other cyclists they plan to overtake?

I guess because many shops sell "naked" bikes without all this useful trinkets, just to make an offer price for a bike to look cheap... So, people just forget about this....

Anyway, excluding the fact, that cyclists shouldn't ride on the sidewalks (except some special cases - like when the street has speed limit greater than 50km/h),

there is just no protocol about using those bells on sidewalks. One pedestrian will shout that you rang at him, the other that you didn't. What is more, behaviour of "ranged" pedestrians varies greatly, one would turn left, the other right, if they are in the group, then sometimes they behave like a bunch of balls droped on the sidewalk...

The best way is just ride on the street...