Work / Chartered accountant from India joining a company in Poland. Cost of living in Poznan? [29]


That's just the way English is - if the legal representative in court (who is defending you) calls someone as a witness, they are representing you if it's a professional advisor. You wouldn't say that they're appearing as a witness, because they're there in a professional capacity (and being paid for it).

USA, Canada / American Polonia. Wisconsin - the most Polish state? [112]

Old post, but -

- yes, very much so. I was reading about those "Scottish-Americans", and they're every bit as lame as the Polish ones.

Work / Chartered accountant from India joining a company in Poland. Cost of living in Poznan? [29]

I think you've misunderstood him - while obviously, you need to have someone qualified to represent you in court, it doesn't stop that person calling your accountant as a witness.

Life / Do I have to do something to start receiving mail in Poland? (moved from the US) [33]


Honestly, it's a terrible problem with most postal systems. I wouldn't send a thing through a national postal system that wasn't securely tracked and with insurance - be it the German, British, American or Polish systems. Sending something valuable across international borders is just asking for trouble, especially as there's more than just the postal authorities involved.

Study / Looking to study at Warsaw university of technology - should i apply as a Polish or American citizen? [20]


Ironic.

Work / Chartered accountant from India joining a company in Poland. Cost of living in Poznan? [29]


Per hour? No, per month. That's to deal with the accounts for a self employed individual who isn't doing anything particularly complicated, but who needs to make sure that everything is in order for the tax office, including dealing with deductions and perhaps a couple of foreign currency invoices. What was interesting is that many Polish accountants try and pretend that foreign currency transactions are "difficult" to deal with - when they aren't.

But bear in mind that this is for someone who doesn't speak foreign languages. She's more than capable of doing what I needed doing - but you wouldn't hire her to deal with Luxembourgish accounts.


If they're half-way intelligent, they'll have finished university. Poland isn't like the West - you MUST finish university to do anything worthwhile here.

As for "no chance to educate themselves", that simply isn't true. Anyone smart can find the 250zl a month to study at a private uni part time - if they're smart, that is.

UK, Ireland / Polish is an official language in the UK? [68]


True, let's deport the millions in the Costas, shall we? None of those ******* speak a word of Spanish.


Strangely enough, many Brits in Poland complain about the lack of English information...

Life / Do I have to do something to start receiving mail in Poland? (moved from the US) [33]


I do question why anyone would send anything valuable via unsecured national postal systems.

I also like the way that you use the word "prove" when in reality, you have absolutely no proof. It might have been stolen by US Customs, maybe German Customs, you haven't got a clue.

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]


If you were working in dead end (in terms of career) jobs, having to fly back to the United States every summer and pay for a girlfriend to come too, wouldn't you be bitter and loathesome too?

Always thought that people's happiness with Poland always coincided with their personal fortunes - I've only ever met one girl who actually hated the place despite having a great career.

UK, Ireland / Is the UK referred to as the Islands in Polish media back home? [62]

Are any British (or Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish) people offended by the use of "The Islands" by Poles?

Nothing offensive as far as I'm concerned - we call Europe "the continent", after all.

(interesting side note - napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Fuengirola.htm - a castle taken from the British by Polish soliders)

UK, Ireland / Is the UK referred to as the Islands in Polish media back home? [62]


I know the links between Scotland and Poland were very strong at one point - there's a thread somewhere on here about it. Really, 2004 was just the latest wave in a long line of cooperation between the two places -

I wonder - has Poland and England/Scotland ever fought each other? I'm thinking about WW1, maybe...?

UK, Ireland / Is the UK referred to as the Islands in Polish media back home? [62]

What, exactly, does this have to do with the topic?

What's your theory on why Polish people call it "The Islands"?

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]


Well, let's see -

Furniture - Poland is producing solid, good furniture for a good price. There's a lot of manufacturers in Poland, and there are huge outlets dedicated to furniture throughout the country - all Polish owned/produced.

Food/drink - plenty of decent brands there.

Home appliances - Amica and Zlemer (or however it's spelt) are high quality, low cost brands.

Computer equipment - Ever - they produce UPS systems. Well known in Central Europe.

There's much more - generally speaking, manufacturing is what Poland does well. And those are Polish owned brands, not foreign owned. Problem is, they haven't figured out how to export this stuff successfully yet to the "big markets" of Germany, France, Italy and the UK. They all do well regionally though.


Have you seen the massive amount of transit traffic through Poland? Drive on the A2 or A4, and you'll see endless RU/UA/BY/LT plated cars. Nice cars too.

As for the road systems - as of the end of 2013, every single major Polish city will be connected by motorway or expressway. No complaints here.

As for trains - not much wrong with them. I don't travel long distances on "cheap" trains - only sleeper train/EIC or TLK 1st class with reservation-mandatory seating. Tends to avoid problems. Local trains aren't up to much, but they're no worse than normal commuter trains anywhere. I mean, it's all a matter of what you pay for - if you travel long distance on a TLK train on a Friday in the middle of summer in 2nd class, of course it's going to be overcrowded. Same in every single country.

But if you travel EIC - then - it'll be peaceful. You pay the premium for comfort.

As for Poles complaining about their roads - haven't you noticed yet that they have a habit of exaggerating everything?

Krakow is ridiculously popular with Americans.

The problem is that for Americans, anything "east" is perceived as dangerous. That's why the country must be marketed well and consistently, and crucially, money needs to be put up to encourage American carriers to fly straight into Warsaw. LOT isn't enough - we need others.

Poland's image, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and all the others is that of "Eastern Europe". Until that tag breaks, they won't start coming in droves.

Genealogy / Polish person's average height? [210]

Keep on masturbating, dude.

Yes. My friend is 190cm and simply has no interest in short men.

Work / What is a good salary in Wroclaw? (coordinator position for an IT company) [27]

Beats me. I understand it for the very top jobs where they simply can't find someone of the right calibre in Poland, but that applies all over the world. But for just a random IT worker in a not-very-high level position? Naaw. I mean, for this kind of job, he doesn't even speak Polish - so while it might not be required, he's still at a disadvantage.

I have friends who work for an English-only company, yet 90% of mass spam HR emails are still in Polish.

Work / What is a good salary in Wroclaw? (coordinator position for an IT company) [27]


You're living in dreamland chap.

They likely don't care that he's a foreigner, as (judging by the salary) - it's not a high level job where you need to paying the going rate to attract the best. Experience in the US doesn't really mean anything in the grand scheme of things.


With respect to vodka and cigarettes - it's not worth it when (as a border-zone resident, which is defined as living up to 50km from the border) you can only take half a litre of spirits and 40 cigarettes across. And trust me, having crossed that border a fair few times, they can and will search those people thoroughly. Normally, those from distant places get an easier time, but those living close to the border (so-called "ants") will get a thorough, proper control.

And if I recall rightly, as a border zone resident, you can't import fuel in containers too. To add to it - Ukrainian fuel isn't that cheap (not cheap enough to make it worth the huge wait) - and the Russian/Belarusian bureaucracy at the border is amazingly lengthy and tedious, making sure that it's not worth going across for it.

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]

Course not, I mean - you can't export the image of Poland abroad!

Poland has so much to offer tourists - and that image should be presented in a consistent manner. It's fine to promote regional destinations, but it should be promoted as a whole.

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]


Up to me? Good question - let's see.

- Poland's "sea to sky" - I would push this concept heavily. Everything is here - lakes, sea, mountains, meadows, etc. All of it is also big and important enough to be worth marketing - Mazury/Baltic/Tatry/Wielkopolska/etc. You can also include the cities in this - Krakow, Warsaw and Wroclaw have "it".

- Crossroads of Europe - I would heavily push Poland (even more than it already is) as being in the centre, the crossroads of Europe.

- High quality, low cost products. Poland is still insanely cheap compared to Western Europe - and Poland should be focusing on showing what Polish manufacturers can do. For instance - Solaris - a genuine success story.

Work / Why is Polish workmanship so bad? [52]


I practice this - if someone doesn't do something that they're supposed to do, I don't work with them again. Plenty of other people to work with in Poland.

I walked away from a huge advertising deal the other day, simply because the person couldn't give me exact specifics there and then.

History / Polish painting.....Jan Matejko's titled "Under Arrest" [16]


Wrong. They're not right-wing, but rather fascist-socialist. A contradiction, yet very Polish.


Worth pointing out that the same media in Poland has been propagating the myth of this painting.

Law / Credit card fees vs. Cost of Using Cash in Poland [15]


That's about normal in the UK - a range between 2-3% is normal for small retailers. Big retailers will be paying more like 0.2%, which is a bargain.

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]


Aha, okay, I see your point :)

The real question with the event is whether Poland/Ukraine can export a positive image.

In Poland, it all depends on whether the hooligans can behave.

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]

How come, Wroclaw?

I'd have thought that this event would give a hugely marketable image to take abroad?

History / Polish painting.....Jan Matejko's titled "Under Arrest" [16]


It means Des should learn Polish if he thinks that he's such an authority on Polish issues.

(and yes, it is interesting, thank you for the research!)

The comment about "one minute google search" was that it only takes a quick search to see that the usual suspects are spreading this story - and so - it has to be nonsense.


No no no. You don't understand - it was a comment about how Des claims to be knowledgeable about all things Polish, yet can't speak the language. It's impossible to get any sense of this country without speaking some of the language, let alone relying on dubious Polonia news sources with their horrible bias.

It's no slight on Polish speakers or Polish people - just an observation that he talks constantly about such issues without being able to spot the agenda behind it.


I'd argue that most American Polonia sources tend to be utterly unreliable and rubbish - anything I read from them, I immediately cross-check with Polish sources because 90% of the time, it tends to be twisted rubbish that they report. The problem with them is that their readers tend to be easily manipulated- because they can't read Polish.

For instance, the website he linked to - linked to this page - wpolityce.pl . So - I go there, and I see a prominent link to "Smolensk". Anyone who actually lives here (or who knows anything about Poland) can spot the political stance straight away.

Work / What is a good salary in Wroclaw? (coordinator position for an IT company) [27]


Not worth it really - the queues are so long to enter/leave Belarus that it just isn't economically worthwhile.

Law / Credit card fees vs. Cost of Using Cash in Poland [15]

Part of the problem in Poland is the idiotic implementation of chip and pin in many stores, which slows things down tremendously.

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]


Thing is, for major tournaments, the usual football fans tend to be replaced by people who can afford it - ie, people with money.

I know for instance, a group of very rich lawyers who are coming to the Irish games in Poznan.

News / What part of Poland's image do you think is the most exportable? [90]


Mods?


Oh yes. **** yes. There's so much that hasn't been exploited (except the Baltic Sea) to Westerners - Czechs/Slovaks/Hungarians know about the mountains, but there's still so much to see.

Always thought that Poland needed to present one image abroad, instead of the current mess where every city and region is promoting itself. Euro 2012 was their chance, but they've blown it.


A lot was exported for hard currency, rather than used to satisfy domestic demand. I don't know the name of the Polish organisation that did this job, but in East Germany, the "KoKo" did a great job in the 70's of exporting East German products to the West.


Usually just a copy from abroad, unfortunately.

History / Polish painting.....Jan Matejko's titled "Under Arrest" [16]

Not to mention much slagging off of Russia in the press, and general mockery by the people.

UK, Ireland / Polish Doctor in UK discriminiated and bullied against gets millions. [28]


Honestly, in Poland, they are problematic for exactly that reason. The tendency here to keep kids off school for the slightest thing (OMG RUNNY NOSE END OF THE WORLD) causes much of this, I think. And that's without mentioning the maternity culture whereby every pregnant woman wants to get signed off sick at the start of the pregnancy.