History / Defying Germaniztion in 1901 Polish boy writes 'German girls are ugly' [128]

I suspect that you have never actually visited Poland, what with your utter inability to understand how the Polish psyche actually functions. Tell you what though - spend some time learning about the II RP educational system, and you might just get a bit closer to understanding that Polish children in 1900 simply didn't "rebel".

It's certainly obvious that you're attempting to apply American ideas of "liberty" and "freedom" onto a society which didn't particularly believe in it - especially where children were concerned. In fact - children only really gained "liberty" with the coming of the Communist system - which had other ways of making children behave than physical violence.

But go on - how often have you visited Poland, and what knowledge do you have of the Polish educational system?


It's just sentimental Polonia rubbish. Polish history alone shows how Poles of all ages collaborated as much as they opposed - but they don't want to talk about that, do they?

Life / Number of foreigners in Poland? [28]

Oh yeah, that much is true - I was talking to a guy today who was telling me (as a Chinese-American guy living there) that Spain is quite safe for him, because all the vicious knife fights are between "real" Spanish people and Latinos.

The Spanish Government is officially welcoming them though - they've got some very liberal passport laws at the minute.

History / Defying Germaniztion in 1901 Polish boy writes 'German girls are ugly' [128]


You can't use a modern day example to explain these acts.

As I said - you simply don't seem to understand (surprise) Poland of 1900. Children simply didn't "rebel" in those times - it was unheard of, and unless they had parental consent, they would've never done such a thing. It's as simple as that. Nowadays? Different story.

Still, I wonder when you're going to visit Poland and see this for yourself?

Work / 20 years old moving to Poland from Canada, is it hard for me to get a job in Poland? [20]


No-one will employ a 20 year old unless they're truly desperate - and such schools are becoming less and less these days.


People just won't pay a 20 year old that much money - especially one without "papers".


In Warsaw, it's not particularly impossible - I know in Poznan alone, schools are charging companies anything up to 100zl/hour.

Life / Number of foreigners in Poland? [28]


Bear in mind that many "foreigners" in Spain are actually Latin American people with clear roots in Spain.

Spain was horribly unattractive for them until they started welcoming them in recent years - the explosion between 2000 and 2010 can be well attributed to that - as well as the country being very attractive for Brits and Germans. In Spain alone, I seem to recall that they had estimated up to 2 million Brits actually living there semi-regularly!

USA, Canada / Study in America. Is Polish financial aid/loans available for Polish students in the US? [10]


I'd say that a German degree would be as good as it gets.

Viadrina makes a hell of a lot of sense for Poles - on many courses, they get a "German" and a "Polish" degree for the same course.

Real Estate / How do i know if my Polish Flat is let living in UK [6]


If you can't register - send me a mail at office@lindenia and I'll pass it onto Harry :)

Work / 20 years old moving to Poland from Canada, is it hard for me to get a job in Poland? [20]


I can only give one example - I was looking to recruit an native English primary school teacher - and I was looking at a salary in the range of 4000-6000zl brutto with a proper "umowa o prace" contract. Certainly not bad money.

Life / Poland has to pick a nation and accept 3 million people of that nation - who do you choose [59]


Look, enough of diversity!

I nearly crashed my car today when driving - I was driving through your very average communist roundabout in a very average communist suburban part of town - when I spotted some very, very black guy, dressed like a stereotypical rapper, with a load of suitcases.

Wish I'd stopped now and asked him where the hell he was going, it was just.....strange :P

Life / Number of foreigners in Poland? [28]


The UK is actually really weird like this - I cannot understand why they don't at least pretend to have some sort of registration. It does exist, but seems to be totally ignored by everyone. Almost every EU state has a similar scheme - Poland isn't unique.

(mind you - Poland never had any nonsense like the Worker Registration Scheme post-accession for EU nationals).

But I'd say that the vast majority of EU citizens here haven't bothered with any formalities apart from what's needed to actually work. I only bothered because I wanted to pass my driving test here!


Bloody hell, it's so low?

I admit it - I know **** all about them, but I thought most of them were here after coming during Commie times.

Travel / Przemysl and/or Rzeszow and/or Sandomierz [14]


It's not a big place, but it has a few things of note. Several interesting churches, the castle is interesting - and in particular, there's a rather big park leading up to a truly fantastic vista of the town (along with a great downhill track). I'll find more details for you - I spent a really enjoyable afternoon/evening there. The Rynek is also a very interesting place, especially in the evenings in summer.

Sadly, food-wise - Przemysl seems pretty poor. There's an okay pizza restaurant on one of the main streets, and I'll dig up the details of an acceptable restaurant on the Rynek.

If you're interested in modern things at all - take a trip to Medyka and see the Polish/Ukrainian interaction at first hand. It's still rather wild on the Shegyni side - border formalities are a doddle, but you can see the gulf between Poland and Ukraine in those two villages alone. It's a 2zl trip each way on a minibus from the train station in Przemysl. What's most notable is the Biedronka just outside the border crossing - it seems Ukrainians bring vodka/cigarettes to Poland and then bring back all sorts of other stuff to Ukraine!

I was only in Rzeszow for a couple of hours - but it seems that it has been renovated well - it certainly seems nicer than Lublin or Wroclaw in the centre!

History / Defying Germaniztion in 1901 Polish boy writes 'German girls are ugly' [128]

I think you dreadfully underestimate the power of parents and religion in pre-WW1 Poland.

We don't know the facts and there's no point speculating about it, but in those times - children simply didn't 'rebel'.

What you say holds true nowadays, but certainly not then - especially as these would have been rather wealthy children and not ruffians.

History / Defying Germaniztion in 1901 Polish boy writes 'German girls are ugly' [128]


Manipulated by their political leaders to 'hate' people who are the same as them.

If you can't see that children are very easily manipulated to follow certain paths, then you need to spend more time analysing them.

Life / Number of foreigners in Poland? [28]


As far as I know - the statistics are simply based upon valid residence permits issued.

Now, how many EU citizens actually bother to obtain them?

As for the Vietnamese - wouldn't many of them have Polish citizenship these days?

Work / 20 years old moving to Poland from Canada, is it hard for me to get a job in Poland? [20]


Yes - it will be difficult. You'll be seen as a student, not as someone serious - and because of that, most jobs won't be open to you.

Get the degree, then think about moving - you can use the time to learn how to write in Polish too, which will help you immensely.

Real Estate / Tips for Renting in Poznań? [8]


Yep - when you come here, give me a shout and I'll help you out. :) It's a shame I was on holiday when you were last here - I could've helped you out then.

As for your questions -


It's advisable - everything is done by bank transfer here. You don't *need* it - but it makes life easier. However, bank accounts can be set up quickly and painlessly.


Passport is all you need - they shouldn't have any issues with your work address for correspondence purposes. However, you can start to rent the place and then open an account - it won't be an issue.


What you can do is use a service like moneybookers.com :)

(Vaasa, who are you working for? I'm wondering if you aren't working for a certain employer who has an office in San Francisco too, owned by a certain guy who is rather famous...if you are - good ;)).


Insurance is cheap - maybe 100 dollars a year at most? I'll do some research on this for you - but anyway, it's widely available.


Don't worry about this - give me a shout when you come, and we'll find you something decent. :)


Yes - know me - and I'll make sure you get a soft landing :) No, in all seriousness, the city is quite well set-up for foreigners.


There are some interesting flats in that area - I know one block in particular that might serve your needs well without being ridiculously expensive. But - send me a PM with your budget and I'll do some investigative work for you.

Feedback / PolishForums Motto? :) [149]

You'll never get banned permanently - enjoy!

Or maybe, even.

Stormfront is rather jealous of us.

USA, Canada / Study in America. Is Polish financial aid/loans available for Polish students in the US? [10]

Polish loans? Hahahahahahaa....HAHAHAHAHAHA.

No, sorry, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sorry, but if you're Polish - then you should know what's available - exactly nothing. There are loans available for studying within Poland, but these are never going to be available to study abroad.

However, American universities do boast wonderful scholarship programmes - I suggest you contact individual institutions and see what's on offer. For instance, any Ivy League university will offer truly amazing packages - if you're good enough.

Travel / Differences between trains in Poland? [15]


Alas, the track is in a dreadful state in most of Poland - years of under-investment has led to this situation.

Krakow-Wroclaw should really be no more than 3 hours, but...

Real Estate / Thinking of buying an offplan Luxury Property Wroclaw [79]


As far as I can see (not including Warsaw) - that type of property just isn't desirable at all at the minute - no doubt due to the rubbish build quality of most of them.

"dnz" that sometimes posts on here used to live in a place that was no more than 18 months old - and was already falling to bits.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


It is?

Why can't I find a consistent supply of it? Why does my restaurant-owner friend pay a small fortune for a consistent supply?

Feedback / Language used here - how come this forum is all in English? [78]


I'd say that Poland's ability to climb from destruction to the present place today is very admirable. Compare to places such as Albania today, and you can see how Poland has done a good job, all things considered.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


And stay away from Tandoori Palace, unless you like the grotesque sight of a middle aged sleazy Indian berating young Polish wait staff in front of paying customers.

There was a cracking little place in Centralna (of all places!) run by a Vietnamese bloke - but it looks like it's gone now :( Had an orange decor, if that rings any bells?


There's one place in Poznan that does Indonesian food that I've never heard a bad word about, although the service is diabolically rude.

Also, strangely enough - a Serbian place, run by a Serb, that does fairly decent food. Whether it's still in business, I don't know - but the food was very good.

Feedback / Language used here - how come this forum is all in English? [78]


Agreed. It was sheer stupidity on Poland's part - and I cannot understand why they did it.

It would've made far more sense to ally with the neighbouring countries (who also had a hell of a lot to lose from the Soviets/Germans) from 1920 onwards - they might not have been much individually, but a military alliance made up of newly-independent countries such as Poland, the Baltic countries, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia et al would've been a powerful force at the time and would've discouraged German/Soviet expansionism.

Travel / Differences between trains in Poland? [15]


You do, but it changed at the end of last year ;)

Feedback / Language used here - how come this forum is all in English? [78]


expatua - It doesn't stand out for anything, because racism, homophobia, etc are all banned on there.


Aww. My heart bleeds.

Feedback / Language used here - how come this forum is all in English? [78]


So, so true.


That right is suspended for anyone who spends more than 5 seconds a day thinking about Jews :P


;)

Not you, that rule is also suspended for those who admit to being drunk :P


I actually get the impression that they come here because their views aren't welcome in America. Seems to me like they come here, looking for this wonderful racist paradise - only to discover that they're the victims of racism. Certainly explains the bitterness.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


Could it be because it's very labour-intensive?

Just thinking about it now - it doesn't have the sex appeal of French food, yet it's difficult to produce quickly.


Yep, totally unkwown - probably because there's not actually much difference between German and Polish food.

(speaking of which : is there such a thing as a German restaurant outside of Germany?)

Feedback / Language used here - how come this forum is all in English? [78]

It's an utter travesty, I thoroughly support the banning of such racist scum. They're bringing a bad name to Poland, and should be dealt with at the earliest possible convenience.

We could also ban those with clear alcohol problems, particularly as they lower the tone of the forum during one of their frequent hangovers.

Travel / Differences between trains in Poland? [15]


No - you need to have a TLK ticket.


Different companies. Unfortunately - Poland didn't introduce "impartial retailing" laws for the railways.


Right now, you've got several different types - but I'll try and do my best.

EC - EuroCity - international trains operated by PKP InterCity.
EIC - Ekpress Intercity - the most expensive. Usually very nice trains, modern, fast, etc. The most expensive (belongs to PKP InterCity)
TLK - Twoje Linie Kolejowe - the "cheaper" PKP IC brand. The quality can be utterly variable - sometimes nice, sometimes not so.

--
InterRegio/RegioEkpress - the long distance brand of Przewozy Regionalne. Again - quality can be utterly variable. Usually about the same price or a bit cheaper than TLK.

Regio (also known as osobowy) - the local train brand of Przewozy Regionalne. Cheapest tickets.

They're the nationwide operators - there are some local ones, priced at the same level as Regio tickets.

The important thing is that you need to make sure that your ticket is valid for the train that you want to travel on. However - sometimes - if a train is actually cancelled, then you can hop on a different service operated by the same company.