News / The yesterday's referendum in Poland? Results? Attendence less than 8%. [24]

A day to remember: you agree with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a (Polish) taxpayer, I am pi...ssed. What did Komorowski expect?

The only good thing out of it is that it's probably finished for Kukiz but was it necessary to spend 130 m ZL to find out that he is a clown?

PO has made a big mistake with the referendum. If I were PiS, I would take advantage of that ;)

Genealogy / Duda Family [23]

@Rudy: you may be a relative of Poland's new president .....

Love / Wedding witnesses in Rzeszow, Poland [24]

Congratulations! All the best to both! :). Well, ... Auchan???!!!! I would have never thought of that ;). I mean that I would not have thought of contacting foreign companies. Was it hard to find people? Since obviously you guys don't know anyone over there, these people from Auchan can probably be already considered like friends :).

Work / What salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Engineer) in Poland? [59]

Any employer pays for a specific job to be done and doesn't care if the employee has to feed 5 kids, 2 grandmothers, 3 dogs, 5 cats and 10 hamsters. The employee just needs to adjust their lifestyle to their income. To tell a recruiter I need XXXX because I have a lot of expenses is irrelevant when applying for a job.

Work / Snow Plowing in Poland - is it a worthwhile job? [18]

Sure it's done through local authorities and in residential areas, everybody is to do it themselves around their homes.

Life / What on earth is the fascination of Indians, Pakistanis and Nepalese with Poland? [112]

At least 99% of such posts come from trolls. When people cross half of the world to end up in totally different countries from theirs, they always move to countries where they'll find large communities of their people in order to help them and in order to feel more comfortable.

It is most doubtful that a Nepalese, Nigerian, Indian or whatever .....wants to come all the way to Poland, to a country in which they won't be able to fit and which does not offer more than anywhere else. As said, they go to countries with alot of their countrymen already live. People shall tell me about those Indians working in IT. Sure but said Indians come with work contracts from western companies they don't simply immigrate to Poland.

Such posts written from trolls only aim at provoking racist reactions (not too hard in PF).

Work / Snow Plowing in Poland - is it a worthwhile job? [18]

How can one make a "living" out of this? People remove the snow themselves around their houses and furthermore, each year, it snows less and less (it suits me :)) in Poland. Very old people may need help but they ask relatives or neighbors to help them and if the very rare cases, they do pay someone, they most probably just give a couple of ZL (just enough to buy 2 rolls or a postal stamp).

Furthermore, in order to work in Poland, Americans need work permits and I seriously doubt that work permits can be issued for this kind of work.

Americans are really disconnected from the European reality...

Life / Where to buy long wooden chair in Warsaw! [4]

Also for instance: Ikea, Jysk (I saw some a few days ago)...

Life / Any Indians/Pakistanis living in Rzeszow ? [16]

@Atch: most of if not all such posts come from trolls in order to fuel racism (and it works in PF).

If the OP were as you say, he would hang around his countrymen at work.

You are very nice but don't be naive!

Life / Any Indians/Pakistanis living in Rzeszow ? [16]

@Atch: are you naive? Most probably it's a troll.

Life / Any Indians/Pakistanis living in Rzeszow ? [16]

Maybe move westwards to Germany, Merkel has invited everybody!

Love / Would Polish people mind dating someone from Mexico? [12]

Poles (for their huge majority) don't think anything and 99.99% of them have never met anyone from Mexico.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]

@Atch: absolutely! I started school when I was ... 2.5 years old and at my place, even if not mandatory, most kids do before the age of 3, even if mothers don't work (well, in my childhood, mothers did not work). In fact, the rule is "as soon as the kid is toilet trained", they may attend school and most of them do. Not only kids learn to socialize, to realize that the world is not limited to Mom, Dad, siblings and grandparents but also they start learning a lot of things (language, drawing, counting, songs, music and even how to write and to read when they reach 4.5 or 5 so when they arrive in "CP" (Polish "zerówka"), they already can write and read to some extent. I have never met any kid back home not in school by the age of 3. Even if the law does not demand the kids to start school so young, I can expect at least 98% do because parents are well aware that the kids can learn much more with qualified staff than at home where most kids are in front of tv all day.

All the Polish families I know do send their kids to school at such an early age. I suppose those who don't live in very poor rural areas and are underprivileged.

As to the toilets and other facilities, they are obviously adapted to kids ;).

PS: In Poland, kids learn to write and read at later age and I have met several language teachers who had a hard time to teach them...

Life / English Speaking Doctors (Psychiatrist) in Poland? [14]

As per my (unfortunately huge) experience with doctors in Poland, a lot of them claim to speak several languages but they are not able to put 2 sentences together. The only (a very few) doctors speaking other languages reasonably well that I have met are very big shots in some public hospitals (but they were exceptions).

This am, a client of mine, married to a Russian woman was just talking to me about situation: all private clinics in Warsaw claim that all their doctors speak Russian and according to his Russian wife, they do not.

Good luck but don't expect "the moon"!

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]

@Smurf: Yes, in terms of a nation, it is not a fortune but was it really necessary to spend 130 million (ZL) on something not crucial and about which nobody cares? Komorowski's decision was taken in a moment of panic because of the Kukiz at the time phenomenon.

As a (Polish) taxpayer, I'd rather have my tax ZL go to schools, hospitals, transportation, people in need....

I cannot wait to find out about the results on Sunday night ;)

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]

Yes, it would have made better sense. It seems to me that Komorowski after the 1st round was sort of running around like a chicken whose head had been cut off and thus this nonsense referendum. He seemed so scared of Kukiz that he felt he had to position himself according to Kukiz, who lead the dance.

I am sure that as of Monday a lot of people will complain about the cost as obviously the turnout is going to be very very low.

Food / Is black tea disappearing from supermarkets in Poland? [29]

@Roger: since I normally spend 2 or more hours to drink a single cup of tea (or coffee), imagine the strength of my tea ;). That's the reason why I could not drink green tea, after soaking so long, it was so bitter that it was undrinkable. Now, I do drink green tea but I only soak the bag in the cup for max a couple of minutes (or less, I don't count).

I don't drink much tea anyway (only in the afternoon when too late to drink coffee (I can't drink coffee past 4 pm or I can't sleep)).

Food / Is black tea disappearing from supermarkets in Poland? [29]

@Jon: Yes, I have noticed that. A lot of people I know here just dip their tea bags for a few seconds and do drink only colored water with often a lot of sugar ;). I'm on the extreme, I keep my tea bag in the cup until I finish drinking. I suppose it must be somewhere in the "middle"

Food / Is black tea disappearing from supermarkets in Poland? [29]

Yes, since not a tea drinker, I don't chase for the "top quality" and in the past, I have tried "local" brands. There are tasteless and to get a minimum of taste, need to put 2 bags in the cup and still not much taste.

Yes, M&S is probably among the best places for tea in Poland. There is among others an (English) brand of teas and herbal teas sold at M&S which is also sold now at Carrefour and Leclerc (health products section). I don't know the name. Packages are old fashioned, dark green, grey or light blue with big white writings. They cost 10 to 16 ZL. I have not yet but next time I buy food, I'll try.

Food / Is black tea disappearing from supermarkets in Poland? [29]

@Pol3: unfortunately true! Although not a tea drinker (I drink coffee), I am often fooled by all those (on the label) promising fruit or whatever else flavored teas and I buy quite a lot of these ... beverages. They sure do smell "nice" but they have no taste so most often the boxes stay on my shelves for several months before I throw them away.... Since full of chemicals, I doubt they are "healthy" ;). However I like jasmine flavored green tea (only way for me to swallow green tea, which I hate per se).

@Delph: sure, if we want to drink good tea, good idea to go to M&S.

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]

@Pol: of course, a lot could have been done with these 130 million ZL.

@Delph: you know, sometimes people don't have many kids (or don't have any) even if very religious simply because of medical reasons.

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]

if no money were involved, it could sound like a joke.

Barely 50% of people vote in presidential and parliamentary elections so how do they expect to have a 50% turnout on Sept. 6? It is another example of (all) politicians being disconnected from reality.

I don't know anyone who will bother to vote on Sunday. It is mushroom season.

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]

@Harry: 2 wrongs don't make 1 right ;). Wasting (by anyone) so much money does not make any sense. Everybody knows that participation won't reach 50%. I cannot get over it that Komorowski so quickly bought whatever Kukiz said. Well, Kukiz got 21% but not too hard to realize from very beginning that he is nothing more than a clown.

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]

@Pol: So much money thrown away! Most people don't even know what it is about (cf. incl. others today's GW) and most of them don't care any way. I would not be surprised if those organizing said referendum got blamed as of Sunday pm when we know results for so much money wasted. A disgrace!

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]

@Pol: are you sure of the amount? Seems very (too) high to me. Some (pro PO) people around me told me yesterday that they don't expect more than 10-15% participation.....

News / Polish Parents protest against Poland's pro-homo sex education [75]

@Delph: I am NOT talking about your case and about ESL teaching but more generally. Altogether I have met hundreds of school kids and I'm in very close contact with several of them throughout the school year and I see what they do in school in ALL topics. Only memorizing theories and tons of homework. Result is that kids are always tired and even depressed. I have a lot of (Polish) parents around me who complain but what can they do?

News / Polish Parents protest against Poland's pro-homo sex education [75]

@Roger; yes, overloaded and what strikes me is that they don't learn to be critical, to analyze things (no philosophy, no sociology.... for instance in lyceum). All they do is to memorize like parrots (probably the results of communism or good little soldiers). I have quite a few Polish kids around me (from both public and state schools, all grades) so I know what they do in school.

I know an American guy who taught in a so called '"international" school in Warsaw and since he dealt with 12th graders, he often organized debates on various topics as part of his ESL lessons. The guy had a hard time and it took him a few months before the kids got the idea. Polish kids are not taught to express personal opinions... What they had with the American guy was brand new to them.

All they do in school is to memorize...

Perfect parrots!

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]

Anybody with a tiny bit of common sense knows that unemployment rates (in Poland and elsewhere) are not the real situation. In case of Poland, millions of people have left country in the past few years and it is continuing... I do personally know that in Poland B, the situation is dramatic (+ very low salaries when people are lucky enough to work and no perspectives) so the (= any) government should rather keep a low profile.

The situation is for sure bright for the "happy few" but unfortunately rather dark for most...

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]

@Delph: unemployment rates are always unreliable and also cannot be compared from one country to another (different ways of calculating, different population structure (age...)) and in case of Poland, if we add all those who have left Poland + all those on "garbage contracts" who don't work all the time (because no work), the rate would be min. double. Among all the Poles I hang around with, although they are not personally concerned by unemployment, they don't believe governement figures (and I'm sure most Poles don't). In many areas, it is about 40% or more....