Law / Required Documents for Buying a Used Car in Poland [17]


Two and three cars ago, if you know what I mean, I was given temporary plates and a temporary registration document, so my driving was uninterrupted. The last time I did it, I got the new plates immediately, and just had to wait two weeks for the new registration document.

News / 1.3% birth rate = Poland's slow death [221]


No, nor did it ever, except perhaps in the minds of romantics with Polish roots. A bit like the Boston Irish but without the humour.


I live in what, unfortunately, is called Poland B, and I simply do not see the same backward rural hopelessness that you seem to. My area is coming along very well, thank you.

btw way Polonius. What's all this Poland's slow death? You really are a drag.

USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]


The OP did not imply this at all.
Look at the crap we're getting from Polonius, Kondzior, Szlachcic, Goofy, Legend, etc. today and tell me they know what life in Poland is really like.

News / 1.3% birth rate = Poland's slow death [221]

Why don't you come and live here, Polonius? Then you would have more of a right to criticize.


Don't bring this racist when you come.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]

The worst thing PO could do would be to act complacently. We've seen this before. PiS are good at getting their vote out on the day. PO should also focus on young voters as they often don't bother.


I think you're right, but PO is capable of blowing a lot of votes by appearing arrogant. They should act low key and calm. Let the berets threaten and bluster; one more sound thrashing at the polls might just precipitate a reformation. Poland badly needs a good opposition.

Work / Finding work in Warsaw / Poland as an English private tutor [63]


You will find a job.

Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]


What bothered me was that in a huge place with umpteen checkouts it was entirely possible that one of my clients, or one of my wife's clients, or someone we knew might have seen us hauled off to the little room. We are not in the happy position of being able to laugh it off.


Yes, you're right. Didn't think of that. Apologies to Media Markt. btw about four years ago I stopped listening to RMF FM and similar because of MM's infuriatingly aggressive ads.


You have brought up a very sore point Harry. I had about 2kg of the finest mature Cheddar in my hand luggage last March at LHR, as well as two hero-size jars of Marmite. Everything was confiscated. Of course, as a gent I laughed along with the hard-pressed airport staff (gritted teeth). I wondered who the hell makes the rules, and are they that hard and fast that there's absolutely no discretion afforded to the staff. For Christ's sake, it was Cheddar and Marmite.

Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]


I'm not too happy with Auchan at the moment. The last time I was there something in my wife's bag set off the checkout alarm. We were taken to a room to have her bag searched. Nothing was found that might have set off the obviously faulty equipment, and we were given a very lukewarm apology. A company with better pr would at least have given us a 50PLN voucher and a more heartfelt apology.

As for Media Markt, every time I pass our local one I see a crowd of people at the customer service desk. Not a good sign.

Food / Instructions for a nice Polish mix cake to make [5]

Try this. There are about 10000 recipies.

bbc.co.uk/food/

For me, cake schmake. Cook me a pasty.

bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7776/cornish-pasties

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]

I wonder what Polish churches will be used for in the future.

I haven't been to the United States but I've seen sinks with two taps in several hollywood films. It's not just a British oddity.

On the clash of cultures, one thing I'll never get used to here in Poland is not being thanked when I hold a door open for people.

Life / Do Polish people like Turkish people? [66]


Yes, you do. I've been to the annual camel wrestling festival in Efes.

Language / Przyczółkowa - Pronunciation question [11]

There's the old story about a Glasgow policeman who arrested a felon in Sauchiehall street, and dragged the guy around the corner to a street that was easier to spell in his report.

The OP asked an innocent question and jon tried to help. So,


how's this?
prshe choo kova
I know, pathetic, but at least I tried to help.

USA, Canada / Animosity against second and third generation poles ? [26]


I'm not at all mixed up. I have heard of many Polish (and other European) children moving to the U.S. and having to be moved up a year because they were more advanced than their classmates.

The research you quoted is to be expected in the richest, and one of the most populous countries in the world. By the way, these universities buy in a great deal of their expertise from abroad by offering European and Asian academics contracts they would be nuts to refuse.

It's probably a better indicator to look at the median levels, e.g. reading age and overall literacy and numeracy in the general population. I know it's anecdotal but when I read website forums the worst English I read is usually from the U.S. btw, I'm not anti-American.

USA, Canada / Animosity against second and third generation poles ? [26]


Foreign exchange is always welcome; American education? I don't think Poland compares unfavourably with the U.S. I recently read that only 10% of Harvard graduates knew why we have seasons when asked.

Love / What differences is there among Polish girls and British girls as girlfriends? [102]


Most Polish women have a better command of grammar than some Scottish men.


Does your dad know you are making his keyboard sticky?

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]


Unfortunately, some car mechanics in Poland are a bit like most solicitors; they believe they have a God-given right to charge whatever they want for a crap service.

Here's a good one. A friend of mine recently heard a strange noise from her car. She took it to a mechanic, who shook his head and estimated, after making a phone call to his 'colleague', 3000 PLN to repair it. She said she'd have to stop using the car, save up some money and come back. A couple of days later she was passing a garage which she remembered was owned by the father of an old classmate and pulled in to get him to have a look. He reconnected a wire, didn't charge her a penny and the car is now fine.

I had some terrible cars in Poland back in the days when imported cars were prohibitively expensive and I had to buy junkers that I could afford, and I wasted a lot of money having them fixed (or Fixed) at backyard mechanic's. Even now, things are dodgy. I bought some summer tyres this year and the garage told me my steering arms would break in max. two months. I took the car to the mechanic I've used for several years (they don't sell tyres) and they said there was nothing wrong.

Find a reputable mechanic by talking to people, and stick with them. I must have been to a dozen places before I started using the one I've now used for about five years. They are decent guys who tell the truth, provide a full faktura and know that if they rip clients off, they won't come back.

Is it really any different in other countries?

UK, Ireland / Hyperthetical question about publicising information about a Polish citizen in the UK [8]


Not much else is clear. Come on, Ant, spill the beans.

Love / How many Polish girls are married to foreigners? / How many Polish boys to foreign girls? [104]


Please post this regularly on every thread, eve.

Real Estate / Buying an old-ish house in Poland - how to get it evaluated [7]


If my understanding of Polish tax law is correct, the tax office can arbitrarily value the house for their own purposes if they think it has been sold for too low a price. Frankly, if they didn't do this, people would be buying and selling for peanuts officially and paying the rest under the table.

News / Poles, Polonians and aliens on Pussy Riot? [182]


They did what they did because they saw that the Church is hand-in-glove with the Putin adminstration. Their actions were distasteful to many people (myself included) and I believe they should have respected the property rights of the owners. Nevertheless, the sentence given by the Russian court has been viewed by a great number of people (myself included) as being grossly disproportionate.

Russia as a country is in danger of repeating old sins in another guise. Totalitarianism, whether in the form of Soviet Communism, theocracy, or a convenient accommodation of the two is no basis for social or political progress. And neither is suppression of a few young people making a point. "Why break a butterfly upon a wheel."

Work / Profi-Lingua - Still dodgy/shady? [13]


I worked for these creatures a few years ago until they cut pay. I don't remember anything about bank credit affecting teachers but


were appalling. I used to send corrected versions of their dreadful stuff (which was often adapted from coursebooks, but with special speak up errors included) every week to head office. They changed some stuff and left other handouts as they were. In fairness to students I used to point out the errors at the start of every class. Once I offered to check every piece of material for them. I said it would take me two weeks, working full time on it, and asked for a very reasonable amount to do it. No.

News / Poles, Polonians and aliens on Pussy Riot? [182]


The group were protesting about the Church's links to Putin. As we know from Poland, priests can deliver a lot of votes.
Just before the sentence the Church called for clemency, but until that time had been lobbying for a stiff sentence. Very Christian.
What P-riot did should have been viewed as no more than breach of the peace. Their two-year sentence is a political message to Putin's opponents in the entertainment world.

News / Poles, Polonians and aliens on Pussy Riot? [182]

P-riot have successfully shown up Putin's Russia for what it is. Two years in a penal colony for upsetting the superstitious. What they did was offensive, and what the Russian judiciary has done to them is offensive, but who's got the guns? The message is clear to dissenters. Mess with Putin or his political allies, e.g. the Church at your peril.

Real Estate / Buying an old-ish house in Poland - how to get it evaluated [7]

My Polish wife and I built a house here in Poland, and we needed a certified building manager to OK every stage of the process by law.. This is the kind of guy you need. They don't have a vested interest in the house and don't care whether it's falling to bits or in good repair, so they are impartial.

Is the house occupied? The bank (God damn and blast their eyes) will certainly need a report before they bless you with their generosity.

A good building manager will go through everything like bad mushrooms.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

Tabasco 13PLN. Elsewhere?

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

15 point Red Deer stag antlers 75GBP. ebayuk

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

There are Roe deer antlers on ebayuk for between 10 and 60 GBP.

Language / Polish regional accents? [141]


I haven't heard that line of reasoning since I was about six.


Just shows how wrong you can be, then. For me social class is irrelevant.


How did you arrive at that idea? I merely want to point out that regional accents exist, even among what you term the middle classes.


I am not qualified to comment on Polish accents. I am, however, somewhat qualified to comment on English.


I see nothing noble in your comments. If people look down on me, that's their problem; I have no self-esteem deficit, I can assure you.


I challenged your assertion. Anyway, I'll let you have the no doubt withering Parthian shot. Subject closed as far as I'm concerned.

Language / Polish regional accents? [141]


Did I say I was?


You sound like a snob to me.
Believe what you like. You grossly over-simplified a linguistic point. My response was aggressive, I admit, because people who don't know better might believe you, and I wanted to counter your assertion.


You must lead a very sheltered life. How old are you?


Your circle of friends must be tiny.


Perhaps you think that I should know my place, your ladyship.

News / 70% of Poles like Komorowski. Do you? [120]


This is exactly what we mean by him being a national embarrassment. He looked like a village idiot in this clip.