News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


Good man, I admire his "I couldn't give a fuck" stance. Makes such a change!

The fact that he's quite a bit richer than most politicians probably helps, but hey ;)

(and even more reason why it would be bloody funny to watch PO beg Palikot for his votes...)

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]

Much to my dislike :(

If he carried on insulting everyone and being a maverick, he might just have got enough votes to play "kingmaker" - can you imagine what PO would do if they were forced to grovel to him to support their government?

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]


So, supporting a party which has many ex-Soldarność activists who were jailed for their activities is "anti-Polish" now?

Strange logic, I must admit.


Clearly you haven't been there lately. Plenty of cash in that part of town.


Hahaha. An ex-AK member just didn't get such places unless...well...he was actually collaborating scum. You know, after the war, AK types were hounded and generally never rose to any prominence - unless, of course, they changed sides.


Shall we start with the case with that woman from Samobroona, offering her privilege and power if she changed sides?


The SLD will be good for 10-15% again - their real worry has to be Palikot, because he'll take votes away from them.


Errr...you trust a word these documents say?

It's pretty obvious that Kaczynski would have made sure that any documents were destroyed in that chaotic 1990 period - he was a strong ally of Walesa's and certainly wouldn't have wanted such things lying around.


Nice of you to admit that the Kaczynski father was an AK man who turned his back on his fellow men, just for the sake of a nice flat and a bit of power. Incidentally, Zoliborz wasn't exactly for "low rank" members, but rather those with a bit of influence. Amusing, though - perhaps he should come clean about his father instead of screaming about the activities of other people.


Very odd. Perhaps we can say that JK didn't get interned because he was an utter nobody during those times, but Lech was certainly protected.


The problem is that the media doesn't support them. For all their screaming about Gazeta Wyborcza and TVN - I can guarantee that all the hate would vanish if they supported PiS. Hypocrites.

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]


Well, the last 4 years have been stable - certainly a rarity in Polish politics. Seems to me a vote for the PO/PSL coalition is a vote for stability.


Which is still a disaster for PiS - they need the "don't knows" to vote for them. I'm also convinced that most of the "don't knows" are people torn between PO/SLD and not voting at all.


What? Young people in the cities (don't forget - the cities are the ones which decide who wins in Poland) tend to loathe PiS - that much is an undeniable fact. Take a look at the previous elections if you want confirmation of this...


Spare the Polonia nonsense, please.

(tell you what - both of Tusk's grandfathers were imprisoned during the war, and Kashubians have a long history of being on the same side as Poles - perhaps a bit of historical knowledge wouldn't go amiss?)

Still, I look forward to posting all sorts of smug victory comments come the election. It'll be great to see all the PiS supporters whining, moaning and complaining for a long, dark, miserable 3 years without any elections.

Life / Articles of Jamie Stokes concerning an ex-pats life in Poland [10]


Polish sophistication, at the minute, is buying rotten second hand Dutch furniture rather than quality new Polish furniture. For what reason, I don't know.

Law / Why is US $ getting so high or Polish zloty falling? [60]


Maybe from your American point of view, yes. But Poland is socialist, has voted socialist for years and true economic right-wingers are very much on the fringe of politics. People just don't see it the same way here, rightfully or wrongly.


But people here *want* to rely on the government. They're used to it, and it's why the big parties are either ex-Solidarność or ex-PRL. I also don't think it's a good idea to preach to them about what's best for their own country....


It's semi-public. By that, I mean that the city of Wroclaw owns the shares, but the zoo is a limited company. But - uh - again - you're mixing up your numbers. The deficit is around 9 billion Euro - 35 million Euro is a tiny part of that.


It's justified when the majority of people in Poland are socialists who want the services to keep on functioning when there's a crisis. People here are simply not willing to accept slashed public salaries/cut pensions.


40 million zloty really is peanuts. It's what, 1zl for everyone in the country? They could simply cut the financial settlements to the provinces by 3 million each and the job would be done - and there wouldn't be much difference on the local level. A couple of new roads might not get built, that's about it.

UK, Ireland / We live in the UK; my husband is not legal in England [47]


It's the age-old thing - until Poland joined the EU, was anyone particularly bothered about a 'white face' working in the UK?

Law / Why is US $ getting so high or Polish zloty falling? [60]


But Poland can afford it. It's budgeted for and there's no issue with paying it.


40 million dollars wouldn't go far - what, 1zl per person? Pretty worthless in the grand scheme of things, don't you think?


It wouldn't go far. The renovation of one roundabout in Poznan will cost around 60 million dollars. One roundabout.


And then an unexpected crisis happens and there's no money to pay the bills. Woohoo - that'll go down well in socialist Poland.


Yes, we're so much better off when the crisis comes and...there's no overdraft. Is the concept of an overdraft really that alien to you?


Who said Poland couldn't afford it?


You do realise that in Europe, we count billions differently?


See above. The deficit is most certainly not only 40 million dollars.

You need to look at your maths :)

But hey - I'll help you -


So - the deficit is actually around 9 billion Euro. Or around 10 billion dollars. 40 million dollars is..well...

UK, Ireland / We live in the UK; my husband is not legal in England [47]

It was you that was smuggling Poles to work on that gypsy slave camp, wasn't it? ;)

(did anyone ever see Poles as illegal immigrants, even if they were?)

Law / Why is US $ getting so high or Polish zloty falling? [60]


Uh, it's quite normal for companies to have an overdraft facility available even if they don't use it. Why are countries any different?


Not a good excuse? Perhaps making sure that there's always cash available to pay the bills isn't such a bad thing where Governments are involved?


40 million dollars is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I mean, right now, in Wroclaw, they're about to build a new attraction in the zoo that's going to cost around 130 million dollars. For one attraction. What's 40 million dollars? Peanuts.


Uh, insurance against another crisis? It's not difficult to work out, surely...


They don't need it and they're not in trouble, but who can predict the future? If another Leeson took out PKO, Poland would be in financial trouble.

Law / Why is US $ getting so high or Polish zloty falling? [60]


It's a non-issue - it's there if Poland needs it, which it will if there's another crisis. Poland survived (just) the last one - but if it happens again, then IMF money will certainly be needed.


It's not a bad idea to have it available just in case - certainly, makes more sense than needing it and not having it available.

Call it an insurance policy.

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]

It's on the basis of one poll, and the same poll makes it clear that a majority of young people prefer PO/PSL/SLD/Palikot. In fact, the poll you reference shows a crushing defeat for PiS - they can 'only' count on 29% support from young people. That's pretty devastating - no matter how you spin it, they're still 22% away from gaining a majority. And in fact, this poll might do more harm than good - it'll remind young people that they need to vote against PiS in this election.

As I've said countless times - it doesn't matter if PiS wins - they need to put together a majority in the Sejm. And they won't - because we already saw in many places that PO/PSL/SLD are willing to form a "cordon sanitaire" against them.

Fundamentally, not one PiS supporter has yet explained how they propose PiS can form a government when PO/PSL are already in a coalition and the SLD/PO manifestos aren't so far apart (as well as common, shared visions between the PSL and SLD). Remember, the Prime Minister needs to win a vote of confidence. As it stands, PiS can't win that.

(for the moderator : the summary of the link is that a poll was carried out among young people, and the poll revealed that 29% of young people will vote for PiS, and 27% for PO. It's a strange poll, because it goes against all the other ones)

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


I've always thought of them as being "national socialists" (I know that's what the Nazis called themselves, but no relation) - they're willing to spend big on things that are perceived as being nationalistic, such as miners and shipyards, but not willing to spend money on things like education and health - because these things aren't "national".

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


IT IS NOT BLOODY RIGHT WING. Gah. Perhaps socially, it is, but economically, it's further left than the SLD!


HAHAHAHA. As if - they're bigger socialists than the SLD are. They don't support the free market at all - if they did, why are they so utterly against privatising things and why are they courting support from Solidarność?


This is true, at least. I've always thought that the PSL would make a very viable 'big' party with their policies - but I guess they're happy being kingmakers.

Love / Why Poland and Indian Sub-Continent? [30]


Poland is, not the people. It's a piece of cake to get into Poland as a non-EU national.


The ones with cash, yes. The ones who need to work part time jobs in Poland to even put food in their mouths? naw...

Love / Why Poland and Indian Sub-Continent? [30]


Check you out, acting like an authority on Poland when...err..you've never been here.


If they were already in the UK legally, of course not.

But the ones who move here to study some useless crap courses at dodgy "universities" who will pass a soggy biscuit - come on, are they in Poland for any other reason than to find a way to stay in the EU? The fact that many of them come on here looking for jobs should tell you all...

Law / how much should a babysitter in warsaw cost? [6]


She more than likely won't take the money - in fact, in the Polish culture, it can be exceptionally awkward to take money for such a thing.

If you must, throw her a couple of 100zl notes and she won't be complaining at all.

Love / Why Poland and Indian Sub-Continent? [30]


You think Indians come here because it's worth coming here?

Come on, the only reason they come here is because it offers an cheap, easy way into the EU.

Love / Why Poland and Indian Sub-Continent? [30]


I think such relationships are almost always about the EU passport and possible residence rights for family members and nothing to do with love.

Or at least, not on the Indian point of view.

Work / How is the living standard in Poznan? Does 5200 PLN enough for a decent living? [32]


You might want to be careful about this - I'm almost willing to bet you that it's some sort of scam. You might get here and find that they can't give you 5.2k, but only 2.5k - I just don't believe that any Polish business would give you that sort of money given your experience/qualifications.

If you want, you can send me a private e-mail to office@lindenia and I can double check for you - I live in Poznan :)


There's not much of an industry and a lot of graduates - that's why I'm very suspicious as to where this offer has come from. 5.2k gross is well above the normal salary for this sort of thing...

Law / What are the legal and financial consequences of DUI in Poland? [12]

You really wonder what you have to do here to get banned for life!


This is going to change, apparently - to give the prosecutor discretion rather than the current situation where they absolutely must prosecute. Only when it comes to bike riding crimes, however.

(if you ask me, the law is targeted towards drunken moustache arseholes)

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]


Moved ahead? Where?

And it's pretty obvious that you're not in Poland - among the young educated ones, PiS are about as unpopular as it gets.


You obviously didn't live in PiS-Poland then, what with plenty of corruption going on within PiS too.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if PiS actually gain the most seats - the PO/PSL/SLD trio will combine to keep PiS out of power regardless.


You think they ever started?

I mean, the President of PiS had a collaborationist traitor for a father - shouldn't he sweep himself away, too?

Incidentally, like the other polls - there's about 20% of people who are "undecided". Those will vote either PO or SLD - which essentially is a vote for Tusk.

Travel / Any Hooters in Poland? [28]

There was one here too, went by the wayside too.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


Bear one thing in mind - the average wage doesn't tell the whole story. Plenty of workers will be doing extra 'on-the-side', so to speak. There's a lot of nice new houses going up in even allegedly "poor" areas - where's the money coming from?

(plenty of teachers work a mere 9 hours a week to get ZUS paid, then work the rest in lucrative private classes - at 50zl a shot, that can easily be an extra 4000zl in income that no-one knows about)

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


There is one little point though - it's lonely. If you've had a hard day, or if you get sick - it's your responsibility to sort things out. You can't have a whine to some fellow teachers, or convince the director to give you a couple of days off and let him/her deal with rescheduling classes - you've got to deal with it on your own.

Don't forget, a good school will look after you.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


It's hard to do a good job - I know one school director who does a great job, but he is dedicated, takes the time to care about the students and really, really puts a lot of effort into hiring people. He actually rejected the best teacher I know!


I know....4 good school directors. Plenty of useless ones too, mind.

I even know one woman who owns a franchise for a certain chain - and she actually ordered the "training" guy never to ever come back to her school after he acted like a cocky prick to the girls working there.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


Bear in mind that it is much easier to work for a school and let someone else deal with the hassle of finding clients, getting paid, etc etc. I know a couple of people who work for 40zl an hour in one school, simply because they're guaranteed x amount of hours every year and don't have any hassle whatsoever.


That would require some sort of cooperation between teachers. Not gonna happen.


Bit harsh, especially as some schools do a fantastic job of looking after the teachers. Some don't, sure - but not all.


Depends if you're a socialist or capitalist, surely?


In all fairness, I'd rather work for someone who had a business degree than a teaching degree - business types tend to be able to make sure that the teachers are paid. I've known quite a few schools run by Poles who had English degrees - and they tended to be utterly crap.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


From the Polish teachers - many of whom will be working for far less. I know one school chain that was paying natives 50zl an hour while paying Polish teachers 25zl an hour, for instance.


It very much depends on the school, but remember - just because the natives are getting 75zl an hour in Warsaw doesn't mean the Polish teachers are. But - let's hypothetically say that our company signs up for 4 group classes twice a week, plus private classes for the director and vice-director. The native may teach 6 of those classes, while a Polish teacher takes the other 6. The company pays 90zl an hour, the native gets 60zl an hour and the Polish teacher 30zl an hour. That, from one client, means the school gets (after labour) - 540zl a week profit. From one client. Then there's the in-school classes, where the Polish teacher earns 30zl an hour while the group of 8 pays 15zl an hour. Not bad profit, huh?

I can't name names, but I know one particular school which (this year, as a corporate policy) is paying no more than 60zl an hour to teachers, with Polish teachers being asked to take a pay cut. They're still charging 90zl an hour to corporate clients - and furthermore, they take payment up front for 40 hours from the corporate clients, to be used as the clients wish. That money sits in the bank, earning interest.

History / The story about German- Polish reconciliation [194]

Exactly. All this official declarations are just that, declarations - what matters is how things are on the ground.

I've got a photo for this thread - a kamienica in Germany (about 20m from Poland) - full of Polish names ;)

History / The story about German- Polish reconciliation [194]


I can give you a great example - in Frankfurt/Slubice, the Poles in Slubice all speak German, while the German supermarkets accept Zloty. Works well :)

(and saved my ass once - I was buying stuff in Frankfurt, only to realise that the Germans are morons that don't accept Visa Electron in a normal supermarket. Faced with looking exceptionally stupid, the guy saw a 100zl note in my wallet and said (in Polish!) - we can accept Zloty. Very useful!)