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Posts by pip  

Joined: 4 Jul 2011 / Female ♀ 		Last Post: 12 Mar 2013
Threads: Total: 10 / In This Archive: 8
Posts: Total: 1658 / In This Archive: 1401 		From: poland, warsaw
Speaks Polish?: yes

Displayed posts: 1409 / page 20 of 47
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pip   
7 May 2012
USA, Canada / Living in Poland - prospects for Alabama guy ... need some advice! [146]

German, for the most part makes everybody cringe- you are not alone there. However, I have done exactly what you are talking about. I left my country with no language skills and moved to Poland with my husband(then boyfriend) who was lifeline.

I have never been to Wroclaw but there are loads of English speakers in Tri city, Warsaw and Krakow---Wroclaw shouldn't be any different.

I have lived here for 8 consecutive years and 2 before that for a total of 10. My language still isn't perfect but people don't seem to mind that my grammar is in the can- as long as I try. But I am also assuming you have a funky southern accent to deal with too.

maybe a trial period is in order? put your stuff in storage and see how you manage for a year- if you can't get a job or start your own business and you are having an awful time then move back- then you can say you tried.

Perhaps you could even do some sort of freelance while still living in Poland. I had a friend who did this- the world is a smaller place thanks to the internet- it doesn't matter where you live anymore.
pip   
6 May 2012
Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

we are shopping for a bachelor apartment in Warsaw to rent out. The prices for this category have not fallen. Even a small place in a run down building is more expensive than a new build. The prices so far have been from 7,000 pln per m2 to 15,000.
pip   
5 May 2012
Food / Miracle Whip availability in Poland? [43]

Its not actually "Chedder" cheese if its from Germany, real chedder cheese comes from Chedder, sorry, I thought I point that out :)

funnily enough it is Irish Cheddar but it is made in Germany. Welcome to the EU.
pip   
5 May 2012
Food / Miracle Whip availability in Poland? [43]

Today I found Cheddar Cheese in my local shop, for instance

Cheddar cheese from Germany has been here for a while- there is another one from Ireland. It has been here for at least 5 years.

If you buy processed food --that is what you get. Polish food is not processed. Companies are cashing in on the "convenience foods" but traditional Polish food is all made from whole foods.

Bland, maybe, but if you cook from whole foods you can add whatever spices you want instead of buying pre made, processed foods.

Miracle whip is also a Kraft product- which there are not a lot of here. Kraft and Jacobs are the same company as is the maker of Milka. I am waiting for the Kraft take over into Poland.
pip   
4 May 2012
USA, Canada / Living in Poland - prospects for Alabama guy ... need some advice! [146]

Interesting situation you are in. I couldn't live in Bama either....and I am from Canada. I could do NYC, Seattle and maybe San Fran---so I get where she is coming from. That said, I have been living in Poland for 8 years. I worked in design and then this past Sept. I opened my own place. It has taken off and people are receptive to the fact that I speak Polish with an accent and don't mind that my grammar is horrid.

Most of the time people can't believe I left Canada to live in Poland....even last week my chiropractor asked why I was living in Poland over Canada--I like Poland. It is a great place to live. Yes I get homesick and even last month I had decided that I wanted to move to Vancouver- I had had enough. But it passed and all is good again.

In order to live here and start your own business or whatever- you don't necessarily need to speak Polish if you are an expat. But you will need an assistant of some sort who is bilingual.

The American restaurant is a great idea- it would totally fly here. You just need a good idea that suits this population. Expecting something to be successful here just because it is American- will not work.
pip   
28 Apr 2012
News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

you cannot tell me that those who drink Polish beer on the jobsite, behave poorly and work labour jobs are educated. There is no way. With such a huge number leaving Poland- of course many are educated- but loads are not.
pip   
28 Apr 2012
History / Film Research - Need info on Poland Martial Law period [9]

my husband is a walking encyclopedia of all things post ww2 and ww2. It is a hobby and and obsession. If you want to send me a private message with an email address--I will pass it on to him.
pip   
28 Apr 2012
News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

the millions of Poles abroad are uneducated labourers looking for a quick buck to take back to Poland. Those that are educated are doing well. Of course it is not "booming" for those that work factory jobs with no hope of promotion. Those who have started their own business are also doing well- it is time to be smart in Poland- money is there to be made- you just need to know how to make it.

What is wrong with setting up a company with the hopes of hiring cheap labour? would you rather it go to China? What would uneducated Poles be doing otherwise? And your comparison of minimum wage at 2 Euro is not in context. When we pay everything in Euro then you can compare it.

Poles that have post secondary education are what companies are looking for. They are educated, usually speak a second language and are able to work in International companies and in Poland they make good wages- compare it to the Euro and it is not accurate.
pip   
21 Apr 2012
Life / Activating remote for Cyfrowy Polsat [5]

you might want to call them. I despise Polsat cyfrowy. we live in a part of Warsaw that has new construction however, for some obtuse reason, builders do not arrange infrastructure. This i will never understand. anyway, we don't have a home phone or any other wires coming in- everything is satellite. we had a really hard time with polsat cyfrowy- the internet. It would never work and then when it did- the maximum limit lasted for about a week. so then we got unlimited use and had to pay an arm and a leg for it.

so we switched internet providers, and now we get unlimited for 99pln per month. anyway, so we cancelled polsat cyfrowy with a written letter and not two days later did we start getting calls and emails how they would increase our limit and offered us all kinds of perks. to which we declined.
pip   
20 Apr 2012
Life / Teenage Pregnancy in Poland [108]

no it isn't

Abortion in Poland is banned except in the following three circumstances.
When the woman's life or health is endangered by the continuation of pregnancy,
When the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act, or
When the fetus is seriously malformed

this is from wikipedia so I take it with a grain of salt. There is loads of info- Poland does have strict laws but it is not illegal. There is always going to be a dr. willing to stand up for women and let them decide what they want to do with their bodies.
pip   
16 Apr 2012
Study / Information about Polish Public Schools (Warsaw) and Zerówka [8]

I live in Warsaw- I could probably give you better advice but you need to figure out where you will be living first and then decide what school. Zerowka is offered in regular public schools however it is my understanding that they are trying to change the system so that 6 year olds enter class 1. They tried to do this last year but were not organized enough to pull it off. But what this boils down to is that your daughter will be able to go to a Polish public school- it just depends on which district to intend to live in.
pip   
14 Apr 2012
Travel / House hunting in Poland (something didn't feel right) [16]

agents are a joke in this country- If you can buy without one- do it. The problem is that there is no exclusivity with listings so they poach off other listings and they don't know their product.

I worked with a developer that had in house agents that were trained for about 6 months and knew every tiny detail no matter how abstract. This is rare- but the builder was also American.

Pip-this was some 10 years ago, I think it would have been an excellent purchase as the buiding was near completeion

no no no!! do not buy an apartment in Poland until the entire thing is built. There are loads of carcasses littering the country from builders that tanked.

What is good for you at this moment is that the market is saturated. There are loads of apartments to choose from- it is not like 10 years ago. Take your time, research the builder---do not rush into it and do not buy until it is built!!
pip   
14 Apr 2012
Travel / House hunting in Poland (something didn't feel right) [16]

there are good developers just as there are bad. anybody that asks for cash up front.....bad. warning signs.

the prices have dropped recently- I don't know Krakow prices- so can't help there. Do your research on the developer before you buy.
pip   
10 Apr 2012
Life / Poland needs more immigrants and their children - which nationalities are the best? [518]

American. Otherwise, apart from certain regional/ethnic areas, how exactly is the culture so different? Would you also say that the US culture on the Mexican border is the same as that on the Canadian border? Does the culture change noticeably and radically when you cross into Canada?

Americans are raised to think they are the best in the world at everything. They are ego centrical by nature and expect the world to accommodate them because they are American.

Canadians don't have that. Of course there are A-holes in every country and I am finding that Canadians are starting to find American behaviour acceptable within Canada. But within Canada you don't find the same amount of people spewing "it is my right to (insert current issue) because I am an American"

Canada is more socialist. We have health care and generally take care of the people- we have a safety net---Americans think the safety net is "anti American and communist"

youtube.com/watch?v=m0EsYiNA76Q

This is a cute parody on Canadian words.

Canada is not a melting pot. We are a mosaic and those that immigrate are encouraged to keep their culture as long as they learn one of the official languages.

There is not one culture. We have aboriginals, French, English and depending on which part of the country you live in- there are pockets of Indians, Lebanese, Greeks, Portuguese and many Asian cultures- all living together.

If you are interested there is an Indian Canadian comedian named Russell Peters who makes fun of other cultures- he is really funny--not offensive- he makes fun of himself and his family and growing up Indian in Canada.

The culture is different. I can spot the differences between Americans and Canadians living in Poland. Americans are louder and more in your face. Accents and use of language also plays a huge part in it too.
pip   
10 Apr 2012
Life / Poland needs more immigrants and their children - which nationalities are the best? [518]

A lot of Canadians are very very similar to Americans in many more ways than they are different. It's more a question of geography than nationality with a lot of the U.S. and Canada. Minnesotans and and Manitobans are very similar in a lot of ways perhaps moreso than Minnesotans and Georgians or Manitobans and Quebecois.

I disagree. Sharing the same weather or geographical area doesn't make them similar. Otherwise you could say that Germans and Poles are very similar or Poles and Ukrainians--and we know how that goes.
pip   
6 Apr 2012
Real Estate / Real Estate Agencies in Poland (they are greedy for money) [18]

pip: Polish residential real estate agents are a useless bunch of effing retards.
You really do have an unfortunate way of communicating your points. Are you about 15 years old?

no, but I am adding emphasis on the uselessness of the residential agents here. This is after having our house listed with seven agents as well as my husband doing work for it- and none of the agents knowing the specs of the house when showing it to a client.