Genealogy / Looking for city of Siedlitz, Poland [17]

On the birth certificate, does it just say the town name or are there any other details, and what year was the certificate from?

Life / some poles play the Race games best! [38]

Spot on. The landlady may well have been afraid that the immigration authorities would want to see paperwork. By the way, she didn't know what colour Imano's skin is however the same would be true for a pink-skinned non-EU foreigner and the lady might not be aware that for EU people it no longer matters much.

Work / Opening new college of computer science in Poland - how can I find lecturers? [13]

I think for that salary, you could find someone excellent from India or perhaps Romania or Serbia. I have recruited from both places and been very pleased with the calibre of applicants.

Genealogy / Looking for city of Siedlitz, Poland [17]

Siedlce (a little place near Gdansk) was called Siedlitz until after the war. There's a much bigger Siedlce (both a town and a county) just east of Warsaw, however this had been in the Russian zabór, so Harry's question about dates is significant. If your aunt was born during the WWII occupation, maybe it was here.

To add, Siedlce (the bigger one) was also sometimes referred to as Siedlitz around the time of the First World War (though not necessarily on birth certificates) and a couple of years after and there are a number of very small villages dotted around Poland that also had this name, though this possibility is less likely. There was also a place called Siedlitz much further east in that part of the Austrian Empire that was mainly Polish but is now in Ukraine.

Do you have any information other than the name of the town. And a date (a rough idea even) would help.

Work / Opening new college of computer science in Poland - how can I find lecturers? [13]


This is fairly normal, and worth mentioning that Kurdistan (specifically Erbil) is awash with oil money at the moment. For that salary, it's probably better to recruit in Egypt or India where there are some excellent IT people. The salary, PC Sceptic, that you quote for Indonesia is similar to or less than here in Southern Iraq, except the work is month on/month off and everything, accommodation, food, travel, domestic help is paid for. Our expat tech/HSE trainers, by the way, start at $700 per day on a 28 day stint and some feel this is low.


This is partly true. I find I get on with Iraqi Kurds very well and I would be happy to go to Erbil for, say, a month however what I said before still stands - that every westerner I know who has worked in education in Erbil has not liked being there; indeed there are no shortage of stories on the internet about it.

I suppose it depends what you're looking for and what sort of person you are. A frustration for some (it wouldn't bother me, I'm used to the Middle East and exotic places) is that in Erbil the prices in hotel bars/restaurants where westerners gather (some hotels are for Iraqis and don't necessarily have bars) are geared up to oil company people like myself who are on expenses and don't have to worry about the cost of anything. On that salary (remember people go abroad very often to support their family/mortgage at home) that sort of expat life wouldn't be possible.

Study / Public dorms in Warsaw for students [26]

Which hall of residence? There are several and they are very different. Most are shared rooms, by the way.

Work / Opening new college of computer science in Poland - how can I find lecturers? [13]

No, it's not fine. I know how much people get paid there and that isn't enough. Where I'm sitting right now, elsewhere in the country, we pay locals without teaching experience more than double that. Accommodation by the way is always provided. And to repeat, Erbil isn't a very nice place to work. Only a few months ago a lecturer was shot dead by one of his students.

USA, Canada / Best way to send thousands of dollars to Poland into a bank account. Paying a bill. [6]

Your best bet is a specialist currency broker. They usually charge a premium of about 1% of the interbank rate (banks generally have a mark up of about 3%). Some of them will also do the wire transfer for free.

You should get quotes from several, since they have slightly different offers. Just google currency broker and ask a few for a price.

Work / Opening new college of computer science in Poland - how can I find lecturers? [13]


I've never known anyone like working up there and Erbil is an expensive city for expats at the moment.

Work / I am currently working in Dubai and have an opportunity to move to Gdansk, should I take it up? [25]


Yes. 35 pln for a beer on Al-Rigga Street. Cheap for buying clothes, getting taxis and some day to day items, but your money can easily go quickly there.

The Tri-City is cheaper and that's actually a good wage he's been offered.

Work / I am currently working in Dubai and have an opportunity to move to Gdansk, should I take it up? [25]

That all depends on the company. A few (and only a few) provide a subsidised apartment. Most good employers though will help a new arrival to find somewhere to live, though threads on this forum suggest that quite a few don't. There are quite a few tax breaks like gym membership (this does very much depend on what type of contract you have) and most aren't anything special.

Otherwise there are very few perks in Poland that would make a difference to you. Employers have a social fund which can make a payment before your annual holiday, however this is not much money. You can expect them to provide Polish lessons (either a teacher or money to pay for your own) however you'll probably have to ask.

The Tri-city, by the way, is a very nice place to live.

Work / I am currently working in Dubai and have an opportunity to move to Gdansk, should I take it up? [25]


Not much sand in the concrete jungle that is Dubai, unless you go out of town, and as for heat, it depends how much you like freezing a/c...

Your data about price comparison, Monitor, is fairly accurate as far as I can see (I go to Dubai every month, and was there last week). A few things are cheaper in PL though.

A salary of 8500 net is quite good and most people should be able to save on that. As for growth prospects, what sector of the economy do you mean?

Work / Information about jobs for Indian students in Poland [286]

Yes. The only real chance is through contacts in the Indian community here.

Travel / Trips around Wrocław and in Lower Silesia region [11]

A very nice place to visit is Prudnik. It was once called Polnisch-Neustadt (Polish Newtown). It's just over the border in Opolskie now, but used to be in Lower Silesia.

Life / some poles play the Race games best! [38]


I don't see anything wrong with that at all, just sharing a house.


It may well be nothing to do with skin colour. Some older people don't like renting to foreigners. Remember, until only a few years ago, Poland was a difficult place to live in with contact with the authorities often unpleasant. People can even now be afraid that renting property to a foreigner can put their head above the radar, especially the radar of the tax authorities and other public bodies like the immigration authorities etc. I found that out while trying to sort out a flat for an employee - some just didn't want to rent to a foreigner.


That sounds really bad - did you report it to the Police? There's a very short time period to get a doctor's report (obdukcja) on injuries if it's a police matter.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]


Spot on. The concept of the nation state was barely evolving then and those who cared about identity had a very different set of loyalties.


He was dead and buried for a long time before the Enlightenment.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]


And therefore one that Copernicus would have felt at home with.


You mean the Knights? I'm not sure why you'd call the builders of Marienburg "dogs" however I suppose they were eastward looking after all, unlike Copernicus, a true Middle European.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]

Actually you did say Timbuktu, and the flowering of scholarship in Spain at that period (which by the way Copernicus didn't rely on that much; his best known achievement was proving the heliocentric theory which originated elsewhere) was definitely in Spain.

And whether Polish, German or a bit of both, he was definitely part of Mitteleuropa.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]


Yes, actually, you did. Here:


You put your foot in it there rather.


You were right one one point however, even though you didn't know it and were just attempting to be sarcastic. It was


since they were all from Spain.


So in fact absolutely irrelevant. And no evidence I can think of that he'd even heard of the place.

I wonder if he cited any great Russian early scientists? Thought not, and in any case he'd have to have chosen from a microscopically short list, since all intellectual development in Europe at that time was in the direction Copernicus looked. Westward.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]


A little more research and you'll find that he cites the Corpus Hermeticum rather more than the lost scrolls of Timbuktu.


It's true that Poland has a long liberal tradition, though this has always been (and is now) more western than eastern in character. If Copernicus had had the misfortune to come from further east, we'd doubtless never have heard of him since higher learning was not valued (if it existed at all) until Peter the great's visits to Amsterdam and London.


This from a Canadian.
.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]

No need to thank yourself at all, especially since you were unsuccessful.

Copernicus, whether Polish, Silesian, Warmian, Prussian or German was still part of the Western European Renaissance tradition too; the same tradition that included Galileo, Leibnitz, Newton, Priestley and Curie, all of whom faced culturally and intellectually westward and none of whom owed anything whatsoever to the less developed feudal society to the east.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]

Haha, I knew you'd say that, word for word. Though it changes nothing, Russia can't claim the credit for Maryja Sklodowska-Curie or Tesla in any way. Neither had anything to do with the place, although Madame Curie's family suffered under the brutal Russian occupation of Warsaw.

News / GERMANS WANT TO GERMANIZE KOPERNIK (COPERNICUS)! OUTRAGE! [1016]


Or Serfdom and a brutal autocracy. Any sort of progress came from outside


Only one of the 3 was Russian and Russia is neither the exemplifier of Slavic culture nor responsible for Marija Sklodowska Curie (whose family were repressed by the Russians) and Tesla.

Love / Too late for a serious relationship? or not - I'm 39 and looking for someone Polish [27]


A reasonable assumption given:


But don't worry. You'll find someone when the right person comes along. The key is that the less you look, the easier you find and also beware of 'rebound' relationships - they're very real but rarely work out.

And 39 isn't old at all.

Law / I have overstayed my visa and been banned from Poland. Is leaving Schengen zone and coming back a solution? [10]


The law prevents it unfortunately. I suppose you could write the letter and get someone to mail it within Australia.

If you've been excluded, there are indeed no quick resets.


Where are you now?

Life / Legalising Marijuana in Poland. Therapy available? [76]

An anecdote from a notoriously conservative publication is proof of nothing except the hack's opinion. Reality paints a clearer picture and nobody is forcing the woman in question to go there, though plenty of families were there enjoying the sun last week.

I wonder if the same woman would give a more positive sound bite about a trip with her kiddy to a beer garden?

Good that you googled it though - why not have a look at some of the tourist review sites?


Just as it was in the US when the failed alcohol prohibition law was in force, and so it is now when the failed marijuana prohibition law is in force in Poland. Overly restrictive barriers to the market just drive away respectable money and leave a void for criminals.

Life / Legalising Marijuana in Poland. Therapy available? [76]

No, Holland and Berlin. In Germany things are done on a state by state basis. Though since you mention Amsterdam, it's worth mentioning that the legal changes last year in holland don't include Amsterdam.

Personally I find the way it's done in Berlin to be very civilised however it would make a lot of sense to collect the tax revenues. The atmosphere at Görli is so much nicer than for example a pub with the same number of clients and for those who want a drink as well the are a couple of rather classy bars there too. Plus a restaurant if you get the munchies.

Love / Too late for a serious relationship? or not - I'm 39 and looking for someone Polish [27]


I think it's a very good sign. After all, unless he's looking for someone very young or for an old spinster all probability suggests that the person he meets will have had previous relationships.

And don't forget the OP is separated himself.


It reflects very well on them, unless you think there's something admirable about hating yourself so much that you stay forever in a dead relationship.

Life / Legalising Marijuana in Poland. Therapy available? [76]


I doubt there's much on sale in North Korea - perhaps you know more about the market there since you seem to like very conservative societies and as far as I know it's always been legal in Cambodia but is falling in popularity as alcohol becomes less socially unacceptable.

None of those are relevant to Poland's situation; at best, Warszawski, a meretricious example and a sure sign that as usual your argument is less effective than the one you're disagreeing with.

Holland and Berlin however are very similar.


Spot on. After all we've semi-legalised alcohol, a far more dangerous substance, and tax it for as much as society can get.

Life / Any ideas on where to buy a 'Smoking Suit' for a wedding? I am slimmer than most Poles. [5]

At M&S you can choose the trousers and jacket separately. Also try Peek & Cloppenburg.