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Posts by jon357  

Joined: 15 Mar 2012 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 12 Aug 2025
Threads: Total: 73 / In This Archive: 51
Posts: Total: 24822 / In This Archive: 10045 		From: In the Heart of Darkness
Speaks Polish?: Tak

Displayed posts: 10096 / page 273 of 337
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jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Life / Expat, immigrant, foreigner. Not all foreigners in Poland are expats. [84]

As for numbers I would say there are more Spanish,French,Benelux,Italians and Scand's, there are certainly less Brits and Irish on a expatriate package here. I base this on the schools my kids attend which I believe is a true marker.

A lot of French I knew were recalled suddenly when the economic crisis kicked in, but seem now to be returning.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

Hehe. It is indeed Góra Świętej Anny.

Where's this, and why is it that shape?


  • image.jpg
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

I meant the nude, not the good general.

Where's this?


  • image.jpg
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Food / Poland known for cheap food [7]

I know of Poles getting cheap flights to Doncaster or Liverpool to go to Primark etc for clothes - food can often be cheaper elsewhere too.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

Excellent! Well worth a visit too!

Wasn't it somewhere like Rzeszów or Przemyśl? Probably Rzeszów.

Not sure who the statue's of though, but the face is a bit like the bust of Kościuszko in the klatka schodowa where I live. What was he protesting about?
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

Yes, a Polish mosque. Can you be more specific about the location?
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

I'm sure this one has been up before, but what is it and where is it?
Odd. Looks upside down, but when I rotated the original and reattached, it's still arse end up.


  • image.jpg

  • image.jpg
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Life / Expat, immigrant, foreigner. Not all foreigners in Poland are expats. [84]

Spot on. Echos de Pologne is a similar magazine. Varsovie Acceuil is an expat club, as was the fortunately defunct Britannia Club. There's the 'expat package' thing with apartment, school fees, cleaner etc often included. Plus as f stop says, there are tax issues. Not too many people know about tax equalisation unless it affects them directly, but those lucky enough to be on an expat package can often find their tax bill picked up by their employer.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Life / Expat, immigrant, foreigner. Not all foreigners in Poland are expats. [84]

Their number is dwindling because they are expensive to maintain

I've noticed a rapid decline in expats over the last decade or so, plus an increase in residents born elsewhere in the EU during that same period. Shale gas though has started to bring a n wave of expats, most of whom will leave when their assignments finish.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

I wondered if it was Jaskinia Nietoperza, but the light somehow looks wrong. Is it £okietka?
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Work / Corporate integration or blackmail in Poland's companies? [30]

Quite. Gossip, infighting and power struggles can happen anywhere - the pub after work, at the watercooler, or just staff socialising in their free time. As I say, the popularity of 'integrations' in Poland has a lot to do with the social fund system. That and a long tradition of works' holidays.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Study / SWPS university Warsaw - questions [43]

Edit wikipedia if you disagree :)

Why not, anyone can. Including people who are trying to pretend that a Licentiate and a Bachelors' degree are equal, despite some universities in Europe offering both.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
News / Restoring the Port of Elbląg? [113]

Especially one that's on the same main road to most of Poland as the Trójmasto. More useful to develop Świnoujscie which has proximity to Berlin as a huge plus.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Study / SWPS university Warsaw - questions [43]

So what's this thing about being able to repeat final exams if the student doesn't like the result?

BTW, do SWPS do Bachelors' degrees? I thought they did Licentiate?
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Study / SWPS university Warsaw - questions [43]

When you speak about Poland and write BA then obviously you mean bachelor's degree which describes all undergraduate courses.

No. Many Polish undergraduate courses are these 'licencjat' things, at a lower lever. Not unlike US Associate degrees.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
UK, Ireland / Western Europe is not Paradise after all (Polish doctors in the UK more popular) [75]

Do you really think that the number of drunk doctors on duty is higher in Poland than in the UK?

Yes. Many times more.

Such cases happen everywhere. Shal I find a few British ones? Come on, if I did, I would be really silly. Don`t be, either.

I'm talking about recent personal experience, not 'cases' however the danger with suggesting finding cases from the Internet is that there are plenty reported in the Polish media too.

:) Are you sure you are not on their pay list? :) Just joking.

Long experience of both systems. Nowadays, if I need to go to the doctor here, I usually go to friends - at least I know what I'm dealing with.

Neither system is perfect, but the NHS in my experience tends to be less hit and miss.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Study / SWPS university Warsaw - questions [43]

One can.

I was surprised at the licencjat a friend has just completed (I say completed, but he's unhappy with 2 of his marks and believe it or not is having a stab at 2 exams in Sept, hoping he can improve them - bizarre!). It just seems to involve turning up at weekends, memorising definitions of things that the lecturer agrees with and trotting them out in 'exams' that you can repeat if you're unhappy about. Very far from the rigours of a UK Bachelors'.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Study / SWPS university Warsaw - questions [43]

That's the point. The number of hours is not the most important factor.

The type of masters' degrees you're referring to are research degrees. MA ones, rather than MPhil, which is usually of a higher level than a doctorate here.

What do you think of the possibility to retake exams here if you aren't happy with the result? was amazed.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Life / Expat, immigrant, foreigner. Not all foreigners in Poland are expats. [84]

So basically you're saying citizenship is what makes the difference.

No. Though it can obviously play a part. There isn't a 'one size fits all' way of looking at it.

What about a self-emplyoed vaccum-clear salesman, car mechanic or English teacher who is not sent by anyone but comes on his own. Expat or immigrant?

Neither. An EU migrant probably. The freedom to live and work anywhere within the Union means that it's time to redefine some of the terminology we use.

If he acquries citizenship then I presume he becomes a naturalised Pole.

Perhaps, just as many Poles become naturalised Brits. We need to wait until the EU standardises the rules in each country before thinking too much about terminology. This process is happening now.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
UK, Ireland / Western Europe is not Paradise after all (Polish doctors in the UK more popular) [75]

Oh, I see, they critisize for nothing. :):)

Yes. Poles often do the same.

2 week wating time for an appointment with a simple GP?

1 hour in my personal experience. Not 2 weeks.

Such cases happen and are made public, but not so often as to talk about regular practice. That is why I must say you were most probably mistaken, the doctor was just tired, that`s all. You watch too much TV and read too much PF. How about relaxing a little? :):):).

He was drunk, not tired. Very drunk. BTW, I don't own a TV. Television is for proles.

Another thing that happened to me. I went to the doctor here in Warsaw with a fairly straightforward ailment. She prescribed me a medicine that puzzled me a bit. It seemed unusual for that particular matter. It didn't work so I went back to her colleague a week later. The second Polish doctor said: "Of course it doesn't work, that silly k*rwa doesn't know what she's talking about"!

No wonder I prefer the NHS.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Work / Corporate integration or blackmail in Poland's companies? [30]

Part of all this is to do with the employees' social fund. Some companies spend a portion of it on integrations. They are usually very popular among staff.

Like, at the begining of independence, the young Poles rushed home and proudly told their folks: My boss gave me a free cellphone and a band to hang it from, not realising it was actually a leash.

Yes!

The worst thing is the sort of person who wears their staff ID card on a ribbon round their neck while they're travelling to or from work. The modern equivalent of a ring through their nose.
jon357   
25 Jun 2013
Life / Expat, immigrant, foreigner. Not all foreigners in Poland are expats. [84]

Even an immigrant can get citizenship providing they meet the criteria - I certainly do and could get it without delay. Not much point though, since I already have a passport from an EU country and the right to live here.

Oddly enough, I probably meet the criteria for being a Polish expat, since I live here permanently but work on postings elsewhere. Funny old world.