Love / Foreigners: would you have moved to Poland if it was full of fat/ugly women? [42]


Yikes....that places has nearly 10% of the pop with HIV...don't be a fool wrap your tool. :P

Harry, for your question....I moved for a woman anyway so didn't really matter......but if I'd know that Poland had such an amount of gorgeous ladies I'd have moved here when I young dumb and full of c.......

Didn't really even know where Poland was when I was 18 tbh, only thing I knew about it back then was some dude with the mustache stopped communism, and that the Germans started WWII there. Oh and Ursus tractors came from there.

Other than that, nada, zip.
Met a young whipper snapper teacher here about 2 years ago, he was 19, he was getting more fanny than a gynecologist with a grupon offer. Lucky so-and-so.

Life / Moving to Krakow (and other questions) [23]


Exactly, the people who earn the big bucks speak 'odd' languages like Finnish/Swedish/Norwegian/Hungarian etc....you won't earn a packet speaking only English that's for sure.

News / Nationalist-socialists gaining ground in Poland [24]


Which she and Robinson did more times that any presidents before them. They had more balls than any president that came before them.


I'm not sure you really know what being President of Ireland entails, they are free of course to comment on issues, but like you said, they really


once they deem it to be constitutional. With Robinson & McAleese both coming from a legal background it makes far more sense to have somebody with real legal knowledge holding the office.


Nonsense, Gallagher was hung out to dry based on a complete fabrication (delivered to an RTE chat show - since found to have been planted by a Sinn Feiner). I wouldn't have voted for him, but he had the same right to stand for election as anyone else....even Dana ;)


We'll see. He seems like a nice enough man, but he'd be better off not gettin involved in political proceedings. For the good of the state and the people of Ireland he must remain impartial. That's actually his job. He must be seen as removed from politics so that when he's required to sign a bill into law he can do it without emotion and with absolute objectivity. If he deems something is not constitutional then he must refer it to the Supreme Court under Article 26. Of course he is free to comment on issues, but so long as he carries out his job objectively and constitutionally then I've no problem with him.

Robinson & McAleese did this more than any president before them, thus fulfilling their job descriptions to the letter. Off the top of my head, I think Robinson stopped 5 bills and McAleese stopped 7. But don't quote me on that though, but I seem to remember those were the figures.


you mean nixers, surely?
I don't see what people in Ireland & the UK having nixers has to do with the Polish economy.


Dole in Ireland & UK is for as long as you are 'actively' looking for a job. That's not the case in Poland. AFAIK, they'll take it off you after a certain amount of time.

But like I say this 13% includes these people on nixers, so the real figure is far closer to between 5-8%.
The recession never came to Poland, Poland's economy wasn't strong enough for it to be affected by it and it still continues to grow marginally every year. Slowly but surely yet quite cautiously. IMO, the proper way for Poland. For other countries it would be a different story of course, but for an emerging country like Poland, let's not forget, less than 25 years ago this place was communist. To transition from that way of thinking to the capitalist one takes a long time.....unless you really want to mess things up and do it quickly and end up like Russia in the mid-late 90s? I don't think anyone wants that.

News / Nationalist-socialists gaining ground in Poland [24]


What a load of BS, Robinson and McAleese were both fantastic statespersons, who carried out their roles as president to the full and exact letter of the law.

Both did wonderful things fro Ireland both at home and abroad.

Higgins only won because of the scandal that surrounded Sean Gallagher (which have been found to be totally unfounded) and David Norris and of course Martin McGuinness being a former leader of the IRA.

Plus, you may have lived in Ireland for 15 years, but to think that


illustrates how little you know about the role of Irish president.

On topic, I would like to raise one thing, as I have in other threads, we get this figure of 13/14% bandied about a lot regarding unemployment, but I've shown on other forums that the real figure is actually far closer to between 5-8% that to 13%.

Just because the media report it as 13& doesn't mean a thing, don't forget that.

News / Interesting article about mess in Polish offices. [22]


Indeed it is, I'm waiting for the chance to change.... i.e, I'm too lazy...maybe I need to wait until the end of the tax year, which I think is in May?


+1

News / Interesting article about mess in Polish offices. [22]


Wait a second, you don't see the advantage of having one central tax off for an entire city?
Seriously?

Jesus wept.


Yea, I'd bet my last buck that you're flat out wrong here, sori ;)

In this day and age all of these things should be done online anyway, I reckon that about 60-70% of the workforce would be totally gotten rid of over a phase out period.

News / Interesting article about mess in Polish offices. [22]


+1


Yet people continue to put the same idiots in power.


A complete and unmitigated mess, unlike any other country I've even had the pleasure to live in. It's a shambles, sorry to disagree with you, but it's near impossible to get anyone to do what's supposed to be their job in government bodies here. I think bringing in something like performance-related pay would shake things up.

But ridiculous things like, for example, where I live, Katowice there are something like 4 different tax offices for the different areas. I'm sorry, but Katowice is not a big city and needing 4 tax offices to run the city is beyond a joke.

News / Interesting article about mess in Polish offices. [22]

I didn't mean a mess in translation though, I meant a mess that he was fuqed around so much ;)

News / Interesting article about mess in Polish offices. [22]

Jebus, what a mess.

News / Demolish Poland's Palace of Culture? [55]

I think it looks pretty cool, would be a shame to destroy it.

Life / Moving to Krakow (and other questions) [23]


You've got two choice, do as Monitor suggests and get the steering and all that's connected with it changed, or sell it in the UK.

Mate, do not try to sell it here, you can go to Polish eBay (Allegro.pl) and you can find tons of UK reg cars for sale for half the price of a left-hand drive. You won't get anything near the current value of the car. My suggestion would be to sell it at home and buy a car when you move here. Car are reasonable prices and insurance is dirt cheap compared to UK, here you insure the car and not the person. MY insurance on a 1.8 Focus was only 1300zl, that would be around 270 UK pounds-ish.

Moving your things can still be done pretty cheaply, there are many white-van man types who drive to Poland weekly who would transport your belongings, check out sites like gumtree etc to try and find some. When I moved from Ireland I hired a guy and it cost less than 100 euros for a van full of stuff.

Without Polish you will find it extremely difficult to find a job. Krakow, especially, is awash with people who fell in love with the city and moved there. You could teach for a while, until you find your feet and build up a list of contacts. But you will need at the very least a CELTA qualification. But I guess you could finance this by selling your car?

Don't want to p!ss on your chips man, Poland isn't an easy place to live without the lingo or the qualifications to get a job.

The likes of Google/IMB are relocating here as we speak, but they will be hiring Polish people who already have 2, if not 3 languages and Master's degrees in IT/Finance etc.

If I was you, I'd do the CELTA, teach for a couple of years, build up tons of contacts, try learn some of the lingo and then get back into business thru the people you've met on the way.

Life / Poland - royal baby bonkers? [17]


That might be true, but it's far less expensive to advertise on a púrn site that gets 10,000/5,000 unique hits a day than in a national newspaper y'know.


I'd agree to an extent, some schools take it too easy on students, but I know from teaching here in the past that the youth of Poland are far more driven and determined than their counterparts where I come from. I'm still very optimistic for the future of Poland.

We should remember too:


Who said that? Socrates!

Life / Poland - royal baby bonkers? [17]


I don't necessarily agree with this. I actually think the public are far smarter than the media give them credit for.
I would love to see the purchase figures for yesterday's papers, I doubt that they were enormously higher than usual.
I would love to have seen some kind of survey done too, I believe that satisfaction levels would've been pretty low among readers because of the blanket coverage.

I think people are far more media-savvy now, I would presume too that quite a lot or people yesterday would have avoided stories regarding the royal sprog and clicked on more interesting actual newsworthy things.

No doubt it's an important event, afterall this kid will be a future king of England....unless we witness a Medici-style takeover attempt undertaken by ginger Harry. But those with half a brain know that it's really a non-story and far more important things were happening around the world, all accessible at the touch or a button.

Things like this blanked coverage are just further evidence that tradition media is on its last legs. Instead of diversifying their coverage/news they are relying on the same thing to sell to the same target markets.

Life / Poland - royal baby bonkers? [17]

This was the best Headline from a British media outlet: Royal Baby.

I don't get the infatuation, I don't even get the royals. How they haven't been outed yet is beyond me.
I saw a good tweet from a well-know UK comedian regarding the birth, it was something like:
"One dole sponger gives birth to another dole sponger"

However, I think it's the way media has gone, they have to use stories for a long as possible and get as much out of them as possible, regardless of whether it's actually newsworthy or not.

For example, the BBC journalist, Simon McCoy who said in a live broadcast from outside the hospital "oh, plenty to come from here; none of it news:

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cQZKooDv1D8

And let's have a look at how media reported the birth of this royal sprog's auld fella: King in waiting, King Bill.
It made the front pages, but they did realise back then that world events were far more important. Unfortunately we're living in an age where the media has been totally dumbed down. Is it because people are dumber? Of course not, media needs to appeal to the most common denominator in the chase for money. They care not about spreading information anymore, they need to fill column inches and sell advertising space. Anyone who believes that the mainstream media is interesting in real news is either deluded, an idiot, or a mainstream journalist, or all three.

The Times:

The Guardian:

History / Not only Mazowiecki damned an innocent bishop [74]


No, we are.
You war-mongering Septic Tanks are.....well, at least that's what the propaganda machine tells you. When really it's a war for control of fuel.


Bah-hahahahahahahahah!
Funny how you lot only get involved when the country you lot are 'liberating' has some natural resource though.


Maybe once upon a time it was. But it's fallen a long way since then.

Work / Why are so many PF member in Poland working in education? [19]

Same as man, my first year I wasn't driving so was always catching 40 winks on public transport.
No a good way, but as you well know, I was on one of those crappy contracts where I wasn't getting a red penny for holidays so tried to work as many hours as I could.

Still though, I met some great friends while teaching and am still on contact (i.e drinking buddies) with a few of the peps I've taught over the years.

Work / Why are so many PF member in Poland working in education? [19]

I did it for the first few years.
Liked it at first, but then increasingly felt like I was becoming an English-speaking psychologist where people would dump their problems on my in English while I sat there and corrected their grammar when they said something wrong.

I just did it because I knew it was a way to build up contacts and get a foot in some places. Total last resort kind of thing. I did take it seriously though and not one single student of mine (private or from a class) ever failed an exam they were studying for.

But I've no regrets about leaving it. The hours nearly killed me. Sometimes I was working from 8am-9pm, with a break here and there during the day.

I've got a few mates here that still do it and they wouldn't change their job for the world.

USA, Canada / Living 16+ years in the US. Is moving back to Poland a good idea? [14]


Yea, you're young and have got family here.
Why not, you've got nothing to lose and loads to gain.
Re: teaching, contact a few schools or research your qualification to see if it's appropriate to get a gig here.
Otherwise do a CELTA before you move.

& remember too, that there are less native speakers in the smaller cities, so you can earn more dosh living in them.

Life / Door-to-door charity appeals in Poland [3]


My advice would be not to open the door to anyone.

If someone's coming to me they'll call on the way over, or tell me a few days before.

This used to annoy the gas meter dude, but he's got my number now, so he texts me when he's due over.

Life / Security services in Poland - high divorce rates support argument for early retirement [4]


Hahaha

comment of the day!

History / Vilnius Region must be returned to Poland! Right away! [10]


No, they don't.
People are far more concerned about paying their mortgage or who won a football match than some mickey mouse treaty that was signed nearly 100 years ago.

Wouldn't Poland prefer to have Lviv, (or Lwow), back anyway, that place is way nicer than Vilnius?

Study / Top Warsaw university recommends remedial classes to new students [20]


Woah, school headmasters/mistresses are elected?
WTF kind of BS system is that?
Why?
I'm dumbfounded here.
*drops jaw

Study / Top Warsaw university recommends remedial classes to new students [20]

If you think the above, then answer me this, why are the matura exams widely regarded as becoming easier and easier year on year?

Life / Why is Orange Poland such a crappy / expensive network? [53]


Woof, naw, you don't need a bill phone so ;)

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


That's all nonsense, nostalgic crap in my opinion.
Imagine if people still watched VHS or Betamax, or used 4-track for their music. And don't get me started on vinyl. Hipsters and their feckin vinyl :P


There is no God, please stop bring it into every time something not relevant to religion.
Also, if you were getting away from it all, why would you read a mass produced ad-filled rag?
A book yes, that's stirs the imagination, but a newspaper? Hardly.


It is lovely once in a while for sure. However, taking a pic on your smartphone of your wonderful surroundings and sharing it with friends by sticking it on Instagram is a nice thing to do. too.

I don't miss newspapers at all, less ads on the Internet and in PDF/ePub versions of the subscriptions I get.
And like I said in a previous post, end Internet ads by installing adblock for your browser.

Books are a different thing though. I mostly read digitally now, but I have no prob forking out for an old book on Amazon or something. Try to get a first edition kind of thing. I think that's how books will go. Limited print runs to keep value up, but otherwise digital.

Life / Why is Orange Poland such a crappy / expensive network? [53]


You can keep your number now...well for contract phone anyway....pretty sure it can be done with credit phones too.
I'd no idea credit phones were still so popular here until I read this thread.

Don't know why you all dont change to a bill, far more value.

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]

Kind of feel sorry for people who still read newspapers.
All news can be got for free in the Internet.
Twitter is prob the greatest source of news for me.

Although saying that I do subscribe to a few mags, but only in digital form. Don't see much point in continuing to use paper when it can be avoided.

Life / Poznan - we need to talk [3]


Yea most of them were cool.

They did cause some trouble between themselves though. I think it was two sets of fans from the Zagreb clubs. They had a few pints, us lot just looked on and laughed at them.

Spaniards were cool, but they're always cool. Good craic with them.
And singing the Trapattoni song with Italians was a lot of fun too.

Work / Moving to Lodz - will my 2500 PLN salary be enough? [52]

I wouldn't worry too much about it.
I know from doing interviews here that they always offer the lowest they can at first.

Just tell them you've been doing some research on wages in £odz and you believe that for your position you should be earning more.

The worst that can happen is they say no....and if that happens you'll have avoided working for a low paying job.

I could be wrong here, but if they are hiring you for your Dutch skills then you're in control?
I can't imagine that there are many Dutch speakers living in £odz, looks to me like they need you more than you need them.

Don't be shy about asking for more money from an employer, you're the one that's going to be doing the actual job, not them.

Work / Moving to Lodz - will my 2500 PLN salary be enough? [52]


Ah OK, sorry I didn't realise that.

So lets say, worse case your rent i s 12000 per year (but will prob be cheaper) they'll pay 10,000zl, now it's looking much better.

You're pretty much rent free!
That would make a huge difference.

Still though be careful, go through the contract with a fine tooth comb and insist they you're given it in Polish and Dutch (or at least English - so you can get it cheaply translated into Dutch)

If.....and only if you're living where you're rent will be reimbursed, then you'll enjoy living here a bit more. However, you won't save much 2900 isn't a great monthly salary.

According to 2010 figures, the average salary in Poland is around 3400zl. But it depends on where you live. In Warsaw it would be higher (4800). In fact the highest is in the south in Katowice (around 5000zl)

So as you can see 2900zl isn't wonderful, even if they do pay your rent. It's not minimum wage, but it's still well below the average.

If I was you I'd demand more.