History / Wrocław's Train Station: Not A Happy Place. [39]


I think he was a pretty stupid guy, all things considered.

As for his films - yawn. Far better examples of acting exist.


I think it's safe to say that living here, being married to one and working with them every day tends to give me a far better understanding of the Polish people than you will ever hope to achieve.

Then again, perhaps you should pay more attention to what wise people like Radoslaw Sikorski have to say about the subject before opening your mouth.

I don't count "noble" as sending children to certain death.

History / Wrocław's Train Station: Not A Happy Place. [39]


The border is more or less obsolete as it is - to illustrate, I was at a street party in Germany last year. Didn't fancy paying 2.50 euro a beer, so we nipped across the bridge to Poland, bought a load of beers there for .70c each, then took them back to Germany and drank them there. No-one bothered us, no-one said a word. Took about 10 minutes to do.

And people are against the EU and Schengen?


Yay, let's celebrate stupidity.

It's certainly a very Polish thing to do, as witnessed by the endless celebration of Polish defeats.

Life / History of Dzień Kobiet (Women's Day) in Poland: [13]


Hilariously so, in fact. It's quite amusing to watch - those who defend this day are usually the same ones who are very anti-Communist.

It's amusing to see how much the Communists brainwashed the people, even though the people claim otherwise.

History / Wrocław's Train Station: Not A Happy Place. [39]


That was the justification used by the Communist authorities.

Even the choice of name, the "recovered territories" was very much designed to brainwash the population into believing that it was justifably Polish land, even though it had only been in Polish hands for a very brief part of history.


Living dangerously deserves remembered?

I suppose you'll support putting up a plaque where every reckless Polish driver has killed himself, too.

History / Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]

You do realize that by focusing so much on the pact, you're just repeating Communist propaganda?

Travel / Kopernik Centre - worth visiting? [13]

Such is the spirit of kombinować, surely?

History / Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]


Which has absolutely no relevance to today's post-unification Germany.

If you want to throw around dodgy political concepts, I'm sure we can start talking about the crimes committed in the name of Polonization.


Perhaps they actually wanted to stay in a place which has historical interest for Germans, too?

Would anyone grudge Poland staying in L'viv when playing in a tournament in Ukraine, or in Vilnius in a tournament held in Lithuania? Of course not - so don't be silly!


Hmm. It was your country that had nuclear bombs and could easily have forced the Soviet Union into a better settlement, not mine.

For what's it's worth -


Worth pointing out that the views of this poster are not the views of Poland, but rather of Poland 100 years ago.

History / Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]


That's perhaps one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard on here.

Poland got pushed into war because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, combined with a disasterous foreign policy. It was nothing to do with "English assurances" or otherwise.

Erm, you do realise that the headquarters were chosen *before* the draw? It's the reason why England have ended up in Krakow despite only having the possibility of one game in Poland. Furthermore, the facilities available in Poland are far more reliable and superior to that in Ukraine. Portugal are headquartered in Opelanica (near Poznan) despite - shock horror - playing all their games in Ukraine too! Why? Because the grounds there are world class.


Why the hell would the Germans stay in a poor country that hasn't got much to offer them?

Life / If a Pole says something it must be wrong - a prejudice? [25]


Much to do with media brainwashing, I suspect - they never portray Poles abroad in a bad light (despite what we all know - that much of the scum was exported to the West), and so they refuse to believe that it could possibly be true.

I'm thinking specifically of Kuba the rapist - despite being found guilty in every single court, people still believe his innocence.


Who are these people?

News / About fifty injured after two trains collide in Poland [73]


I'm still mystified why EIC trains run through to there - I can only assume that there's some sort of political signifiance behind that one.


A fair assessment. SLD, AWS, PO, PiS, all of them have failed to deal with the monster that is the railways here.

In fact, funnily enough, the PZPR probably did the most for railways in Poland. It was the post-communist governments that devastated PKP.

History / Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]


A terrible deal?

They managed to go from a divided multiethnic state with vast amounts of poor peasants to a state, although war-ravaged, also contained few minorities and had some very good connections. It might not have been the best deal ever, but it wasn't terrible.


Those with half a clue would say Szczecin and Wroclaw these days.

News / About fifty injured after two trains collide in Poland [73]


A great example as to why Przewozy Regionalne should never be allowed near a train.

The latest piece of genius from them is to cut many connections from Cieszyn, making sure that people have no way of commuting to work!

News / About fifty injured after two trains collide in Poland [73]


The workers of Przewozy Regionalne are an utter disgrace and should all be fired, but that doesn't need to be said. There is absolutely no excuse for some of the practices that go on - 4 staff (not including the driver) to work a three carriage provincial train is one splendid example, not to mention their utter contempt for the people who actually pay their wages.

Then there's the vast amount of overemployment. One station that I travel to semi-frequently has someone who is solely employed to make announcements and to operate the level crossing. It could easily be centralised - but no.


I assure you that the writers of the blog (proper address - polishrail.wordpress.com) know far more about the Polish railway system than you, I or indeed anyone else on this forum. The fact that you insult them by insinuating that they have an agenda shows that you haven't got a clue about the railways here. Well, sorry - they do have an agenda, and it's one that sees the railways thrive.


My school? But I don't have a school... I don't even work for one.

Przewozy Regionalne do nothing well. The whole company is falling apart, they owe vast amounts of money to Grupa PKP - and the only reason they're still going is because they aren't allowed to go bankrupt for some odd reason.


What successes? They don't have any! Grupa PKP has quite a lot to shout about, especially the success of the Dworzec Polski campaign - but Przewozy Regionalne? Please...all they've done is cut, cut and cut connections. The same morons even managed to cut connections to Zamosc!


The financial situation that sees them owe tens of millions, the financial situation that has seen the provinces set up rival train companies to destroy Przewozy Regionalne once and for all, and the same financial situation that saw them close down many ticket offices? I'm thinking about my local station - as with many others, Przewozy Regionalne shut the ticket office. They were then reopened by agents - who work for longer and sell a wider range of tickets.


Przewozy Regionalne was doomed from the moment of creation. It was a diabolical idea to create a "national regional" operator, especially as the provinces could easily have run the trains themselves.

Privatisation in Poland was even worse than in Britain, that much is certain.

Life / If a Pole says something it must be wrong - a prejudice? [25]


It depends - I tend to take Polish views with a huge pinch of salt when it concerns bad things done by Poles abroad. You'll never find the Polish media saying "bad Poles", for instance. And there was remarkably no criticism of the way that many children were taken out of school here and dumped in a foreign school with no language skills, then returned here a few years later completely messed up in terms of education.

News / About fifty injured after two trains collide in Poland [73]


What? You attack me for attacking the idiotic way that it was broken up, then go on to say -


Eerrr...you do realise that the Polish model was based upon the British model, with a few "improvements" that were even more of a disaster?

The original PKP should have been reformed along the lines of the German model - it works well in practice, the national operator is protected to a certain extent (which they need in order to invest - look at the power that the ROSCO's have in the UK!), the regional trains are run on a cost effective basis (instead of the moneypit that is Przewozy Regionalne) and in general, the system works.

Instead, we got the situation where we have the Intercity company fighting against another State owned company (nonsense), the "regional" train operator is losing a huge amount of cash and is exceptionally crap (and the absurdity where PR is funding loss-making trains to compete against PKP IC when it's not even in their remit!), a track operator that demands the 2nd highest track access charges in Europe, a multitude of small companies connected to track operation that were privatised and now demand their huge cut - the whole thing is a complete and total diaster.

I could also go into great detail about how the PKP Group are shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly - but it's best just to read

wordpress.com/polishrail

You're in a minority of one if you think that Przewozy Regionalne has a place in the market.

History / Polish Underground in WWII ( interview with Dr. Wojciech Muszynski) [12]


I think Poland is still struggling to deal with the nasty truth that the nasty people were indeed Poles and not something else. The same issues can be seen in Germany - they were even actively teaching "Germany within the borders of 1937" in West German schools.

It is a rather curious Polish trait to insist that anyone who was dislikable was most definitely not Polish.

News / About fifty injured after two trains collide in Poland [73]


In other words, they're doing everything to escape blame for this already. Ridiculous.

Trying to blame the conditions (when they were silent before) is ridiculous - and I'm pretty certain that the people who handle the movements of the trains/level crossings do not do those extra things, except on very very quiet lines and certainly not on the CMK (which was designed as a high speed line from the beginning).


The problems are partially due to the way that the Polskie Koleje Państwowe was broken up in the first place - it was a rather idiotic way of doing things. Add to that chronic underinvestment, along with an attitude of many workers that belongs in 1950, not 2012 and you've got a recipe for disaster.

What's disgusting me at the moment is the way that the cross loonies are trying to pin this on Tusk.

History / Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]


Anyone with half a brain would agree, given the somewhat lack of industrial base in Lwów versus the heavily commercialised/industrialised Wrocław.

Even places like Walbrych are doing better than Lwów economically these days.

The only people who want Lwów and other areas back are the ones with no grasp of economics. Germany is still struggling to pay for East Germany, 22 years on - what hope would Poland have of integrating a region that is even poorer than East Germany was?

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]


No, what she's saying is that the people driving such cars still have the mentality of village peasants - boorish, loud and utterly unsophisticated.


When they're falling through tables, acting like idiots, starting fights and being utter scum, then yes - they have no right to live here.


It doesn't happen in Poznan and it's rarely seen in Wroclaw. For someone who spends most of his time in those two cities - yes - it's a shock.

Exactly - and there would have been far less expats then than now. That's why I say that if he thinks he can step off the plane and be instantly accepted as an English teaching god, he'll be in line for a hell of a shock. If you turn up prepared, knowledgable and prepared for hard work - sure, you can do well. But thinking that you'll be in huge demand as a teacher and that you'll have the free time/money to go enjoying lots of activities is just...hmm..pie-in-the-sky thinking?

And with more and more foreigners living in such places like Lublin, they'll be able to pick and choose. Acting like you're some sort of gift to Poland is certainly going to wind up Poles!

I've known a similar jackass to this guy. He came here, thought he was something special and was fortunate to land a good job by virtue of being very convincing in the interview. He lasted about 3 months, until he was fired for simply not being able to perform at the level that the students expected. The same guy had previously told me that "I don't work for less than 60zl/hour period" - yet he came begging to me for work, any work after he was fired. Last I heard, he'd gone back to Canada because he couldn't find enough work. No doubt he was blaming Poland the entire way - he certainly acted like "they don't understand me, it's their problem".

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]


When I was there, there were a load of people on the pavements near the PKS station selling all sorts out of boxes - clothes/etc. That was about the only thing that screamed "town" though - the rest was fine.

(people don't sell stuff on the street here - they stamped it all out, but there are many marketplaces with ridiculously cheap rents that they can use anyway)

Harry said it elsewhere, but Lublin is wonderfully unspoilt with stag parties/etc too.

Having said this - while it might be a great place for someone who can keep their head down and get on with it, it's not going to be such a pleasant place for someone who thinks that he can walk into Poland and build things quickly, or who thinks that the dumb Poles want a "teecher" of "conservation".

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]

It is very "town" to have people selling stuff on the pavements, though. Mind you, I've seen the same in Warsaw.

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]


I must say - Bydgoszcz and Lodz are far worse than Lublin!

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]

What's not funny about someone getting a nasty wake up call?

Where's Fuzzywickets when someone needs a reality check?

News / More anti Polish sentiment in western media ("Apple is worth more than Poland") [110]


Why is it that every single person who sees "Polonophobia" is also obsessed with Jews?

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]


You won't be the first, nor the last North American to come to Poland who will get a nasty wake up call, that's for sure.


I'm wondering why you seem to think that I'm an English instructor?

Quite amusing that you think that typos aren't a big deal as well. I guess the Polish character really will be a culture shock for you, especially when you discover that the Polish like nitpicking over small details and how it affects real life.


I'm positively enjoying the part where you think that you'll be able to do all those things on the salary of an unqualified English teacher ;)


I can really see that you know nothing about Poland apart from what you've seen on a holiday. Sure, construction might take 3.5 months, but the planning and permits will take 3.5 years.

Ah well, I look forward to reading your bitter rants on PF in a year. I mean, if you've been building skateparks, why are you even talking about "teaching English"?

Let's be serious dude - you haven't built a thing.

History / Polish Underground in WWII ( interview with Dr. Wojciech Muszynski) [12]


That's a bit unfair - the Communists fought in the Warsaw Uprising too. Their role was well documented by one guy, but I've completely forgotten his name - while they weren't on the level of the AK, they still did their part.

It's an interesting read PennBoy, a bit biased (especially the stuff about Serbians getting slaughtered in WW2 - much of that had nothing to do with Tito) - but interesting all the same. Thank you for taking the time to translate it.

News / More anti Polish sentiment in western media ("Apple is worth more than Poland") [110]


That sort of paranoia is what led Poland to disaster in 2005, and before it, 1935-1939.


Indeed, if Poland had the kind of global reach and power that Apple has right now (with millions of people hanging on every word that they say) - Poland would be a very wealthy country.

Looking for an "agenda" here where there isn't one is almost certainly the domain of right wing racists. No surprise that the US Polonia are screaming, as per usual.

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]


I can only assume you had a "take no prisoners" approach to the building - hats off :)

But - was that 7 months including all the permissions/etc needed, or just 7 months in terms of actually building the thing?


It was me, not pip ;)

And yes, it was harsh, but - I've seen it happen time and time again. A guy moves here, he expects a fun, easy life - only to realise that it's anything but. They can't adapt (they think that their way of things will work here) and end up leaving after endless rows with their girlfriend about the way things are.


That assumes, of course, that he has the temperment for children.

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]


Polish people aren't looking for "fun" people, they're looking for serious people who won't mess around.


You can't build anything in Poland in 9 months.


I'll give it three months before you have no "fiance" and you're on a plane back home.

News / More anti Polish sentiment in western media ("Apple is worth more than Poland") [110]


It's very dangerous, I agree.

Europe (and even America) is looking at Poland as a stable, grown up country - not a spoiled child that whines and complains whenever anyone makes the slightest insult about her. That stable, grown up image is good for Poland - people aren't going to put money into spoiled brats, like (for example) Serbia.