Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

@English: Hi! Of course, women (and men) vary alot within any nationality. This morning while waiting for the bus (over 1 hour ;)), I was observing girls and women (cf. this post) and they were all different from each other. Unfortunately immature Western men are obsessed by the anorexic fake blondish bimbos from Eastern Europe they meet in bars and think the whole female population is like that ;). Fortunately most Polish girls/women don't look like bimbos. I think it's also insulting to girls/women to see "all" women this way.

However, the 'natural" or "nude" make up is more something to be found in the West. Not long ago, a (highly educated and career minded) Russian client of mine told me since we were talking about that "if I spend over 1 hour to put my make up on, I want people to look at it"... In the West, most women want their make up to be discreet.

As to the OP, if not a troll, I doubt that she is "highly educated". Someone "highly educated" would not write such a post and also what is the "I am proud" for? What's the pride of being Polish, Greek, Bolivian, Tanzanian, Nicaraguan or .... Martian???? Nobody chooses their place of birth.

Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

@Smurf: in Polish stores, they go the European way: 75 (smallest), 80, 85, 90, 95... A, B, C, D. As I said, most bras are padded and most sizes are very small. Don't tell me it's not true, I live in Poland, am a woman and buy some 12/15 bras per year every year. 32 is a (North) American size. I'm not sure but I believe it's very small.

Anyway, most Polish girls when very young have hardly any breasts but they do get huge breats after their 40's-50's.

@Befranklin: you live in the US and I live in Poland where I do all my shopping so I got to know ;).

Life / Advice needed on Dental implant in Poland [119]

@Jardi: it is NORMAL that it is cheapER in Ukraine but is is any better? Nevertheless, in case of a problem, what to do?

Law / Poland student visa refusal - 'intention to leave' [51]

@Mike: all these Mickey Mouse schools want is students' money so they accept anyone. Easy to understand!

Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

@Befranklin: 32D does not exist in Poland (and in Europe). Obviously you don't know situation in Poland and you do not live in Poland. In Polish stores, a lot of ... 75A (padded) bras. Unless no breast, who buys 75A???

@Irish: Yes, most probably a troll and immature guys buy crap without thinking half a second.

Law / Poland student visa refusal - 'intention to leave' [51]

@Mike: maybe YOU doN'T get it but the Polish authorities do and that is what matters ;). If the authorities suspect that applicant may likely overstay their visa they don't issue visa. If the applicant comes from a sh]]]t country, it's obvious that they won't go back home after studying but will stay in Poland or more likely move West and be illegal aliens.

Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

@Jardinero: as a woman, I know ;). It is very difficult to find non padded bras in Poland (or maybe at Marks & Spencer's.).

Polish girls or women are NOT a homogenous block so I suppose immature guys in PF when talking about "Polish girls" have in mind the 22 year-old fake blondish bimbos with chicken's IQ that they meet in bars for expats but fortunately most Polish girls/women are different ;). Nevertheless what I say about bras is true. Polish women when older get fat with huge breasts so they have serious problems to buy bras ;).

@Befranklin: how often do you buy bras in Poland? ;). Believe me, I know what they offer in stores.

Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

Most (= not all) Polish (young) girls are over made up (with cheap cosmetics) and further east (for instance Russia, Ukraine ...) it's even worse. The "natural" or "nude" looking make up is preferred in the West where too much make up is considered vulgar.

Basically too much make up (most often of poor quality) and padded bras (hard to buy non padded bras in Poland) because most Polish girls are flat (until they get old..)

Unfortunately too many (immature) guys like the sl###tish look.

@Jon: and be aware that they most often buy their hair coloring for 10 ZL at Rossmann or Biedronka. I know several 14-year old girls coloring their hair. I know one who even has ... pink hair (she colors hair in white and then in red...).

Life / Advice needed on Dental implant in Poland [119]

@Jardinero: altogether I have dealt with probably half a dozen (private) dentists in Poland and four times I had problems with fillings and crowns with several of them. I NEVER had such problems abroad and I have lived in 6 other countries. I have some fillings done in the USA over 25 years ago and my dentist told me 2 weeks ago that they are good.

My conclusion is to be aware of problems and not to take Polish dentists' quality for granted ;). I'm not impressed by Polish dental care. Polish dentists are first of all business people. My Ukrainian cleaning lady says it's much better (and much cheaper) in Ukraine (some people living in Eastern Poland, including from Lublin area, go there) but I cannot travel back and forth to Ukraine whenever I need some dental work done and also in case of problem, what to do? ;).

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]

@Lyzko! Absolutely too! :). A NON native unless after years and years of immersion in target language environment shall not know how to express themselves correctly in most situations. They may know grammar and have a wide range of vocabulary but this is NOT enough. In X language natives say "A" in a given situation whereas in Y language natives say "B" in same situation.

This is the reason why I am most skeptical about 99.98% non natives' ability to teach foreign languages. As a result, I am not surprised that our "ProTeacher" (for example) does not have enough work and has to look for anything through any random forum ;).

There is much more than grammar, vocabulary and even accent. A teacher should teach target language the way it is spoken by natives and 99.98% of non natives cannot. Please bear in mind that in Poland (for instance), in order to teach foreign languages, Polish "lektorzy" are expected to have ... B1 or B2 levels. B levels are decent as far as students are concerned but too low as far as teachers are concerned.

My conclusion: ideal is to have qualified natives! ;).

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]

Absolutely! Culture differences matter a lot when speaking any foreign language. Sometimes grammar and vocabulary are correct but natives do not express themselves the same way in a same situation.

Speaking foreign languages is NOT just learning grammar and vocabulary but it is also to understand cultural context, target language speakers' mentality.

That's why (one example among so many) our "ProfessionalTeacher" claiming to be so great at English shall never have priority over qualified native English speaking teachers. Students need and want the "real' thing...

Of course, this goes for ALL languages.

Life / Advice needed on Dental implant in Poland [119]

@George: Absolutely! Very risky indeed! All the people who got dental treatement in cheaper countries did it only RECENTLY so they don't know what shall be in few years. In case of (to be expected) problems, what to do? Traveling back and forth is not so easy and if western dentists can solve their problems, they'll charge an arm and a leg (logical).

Once more, cheaper does NOT mean better.

Besides, it is completely stupid to take for granted random comments found on the net. Clinics' owners, their relatives and friends all write fabulous reviews ;).

PS: since I live in Poland, I am treated in Poland only and although I'm satisfied with dental care I receive (I have dealt with several big clinics in Warsaw), it is very common that fillings and crowns do fall after a few months and need to be fixed (it has happened to me twice only this year). In other countries where I have lived, NEVER such problem.

Work / Information about jobs for Indian students in Poland [286]

@Krzei: 99.99% of these posters are only interested in entering EU. They figure Poland is the easiest way to the West as obviously they mean to settle further West.

Work / What salary can be asked at IBM Poland? [67]

@Krzei: how do you survive on 60 ZL a week? By simply licking the walls? I wish I could. I spend 20+ ZL a DAY and am not on a caviar (never mind, I don't like that) and Champagne diet. Also bear in mind that Indians won't eat pork, potatoes and cabbage but shall buy imported stuff from India that's expensive and therefore shall spend much more than an average Pole.

Anyway, crossing half of the world, to come to a country like Poland and just .... survive, unless escaping nuclear war, what's the point? There is no way on a GROSS salary of 5,000, they'll even survive and spend money to family home. Most Poles manage on much less but they are Poles, they have their family network, they speak the language and they know how to live the Polish way of life.

And sorry, employers don't pay double or triple salaries simply because employees are married, have kids. Employers base their salaries upon job descriptions and employees' qualifications and experience.

Next posts were moved to the thread about Biedronka Market.
https://polishforums.com/news/poland-surprising-ranking-supermarkets-69217/#msg1496775
From now on please keep this current thread more about IBM in Katowice. Thank you.

Law / Establishing LLC in Poland (register in Krakow, business in Warsaw) and work/residence permit [4]

Hi! What is your nationality? Are you from EU? This is most important. Why Poland?

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]

@Wulkan: yes, it's small and very provincial in mentality Depends upon what you've been used to ;). I have lived all my life in huge multi-cultural cities with millions of people and millions of things to do and to see.

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]

@CMC: why several "months"? I would say several days or max. 2 weeks. Futhermore, in a few weeks, it's going to start being grey, days shall become shorter.... Otherwise 100% ok with you.

@Roger: sure Kato is not that far but town is rather depressing too.

For me, only Warsaw although a big village is liveable in Poland. Wroclaw, Gdansk, Poznan, Krakow are kind of ok but small and rather provincial. As to the rest of Poland, after 2 days there, I get depressed.

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

@Rozu: you see! It's amazing the way we can act and think in various cultures! In fact, nobody is right and nobody is wrong. We just have different ways and that's it...

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

@Rozu: maybe to a baby but here boys are 5, 6, 8, even older and they do. It seems that Westerners don't

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

@Delph: or a ballet dancer :).

Personally if I had raised kids in Poland, they would not have been dressed and raised the Polish way ;)

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

@Delph: Yes, boys here wear tights. I've seen that too in "Yugoslavia" (I mean before their war in early 1990's) and with Russian kids in Poland so I think it could be something of this part of Europe. Even in Poland, I would never put a pair of tights to a boy... I guess something cultural.

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

@Rozu: sorry, I MISread "so" by "NOT" ;). As thread is about personal experiences, Esquimos for instance could think Polish kids are UNDERdressed ;). I do agree when it's cold, kids need to wear scarves, hats, gloves, heavy coasts, warm shoes... but when it's like 18° kids don't need to be overdressed like most kids are. I've seen several Western kids living in Poland (= living in same climate as Polish kids ;)) dressed the way most kids are dressed in Western winters and guess what, Western kids are not or very rarely sick in winter. Most probably by being overdressed all the times, Polish kids are not trained to fight against cold... I myself am never wrapped up the way Poles are and all the time their first sentence to me is: "aren't you cold?" ;). Sometimes I even walk around with bare legs underneath my pants when there is snow....

Yes, even if temperature is 18 but it's in April or October, kids shall be dressed like in winter and until let's say mid May most wear hats down to their throats, tied around their necks in order to keep the ears very warm ;). Nevertheless most Polish kids are always sick in winter so overdressing is not the answer. Sometimes, it's even hot, I see mothers who are almost naked but the kids are dressed like in winter .... I assume it's "peasant' (normal and not insulting meaning) peasant's" culture

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

@Rozu! why is it NOT true just because in your family it's different? First of all, read title of thread! ;). And YES compared to where I am from, kids in Poland are OVERDRESSED when the weather is not cold. Where I am from, I have NEVER seen kids whih hats, gloves, scarves, tights (even boys in Poland ;)) on when it's 18 or 20. We dress kids like that (boys do NOT wear tights ;)) when it's close to 0°.

The thread deals with what is different from Poland compared to our own culture and not with the situation with your sister-in-law ;);)

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

@Roger: it may be something regional (I have seen that in other countries in this part of Europe). Kids in general are overdressed in Poland. Kids don't need tights, scarves, hats, gloves and the like in April or May.

As to names, why should people be considered as mere numbers? ;). Why not, Mr. Kowalski rather than "number 47" (inside blocks of flats, NOT in case of individual houses)?. A lot of Poles even indicate their names on their doors ;). As to giving personal info, Poland has PESEL numbers for instance....

@Roger: you also have all those women (aged 45-50 on) wearing knee or ankle high socks with skirts/dresses. Their socks are of same material as regular "pantyhose" but they are socks and in case of knee-highs, whenever they raise their arms a little bit, we see that they wear socks). I have never seen this anywhere else (at least in Western countries). Girls and women (in the West) only wear such socks when wearing pants or leggings but never when wearing dresses or skirts (it would look like someone who has escaped from a ... mental ward)

In the same register, we have large shapeless skirts worn with large white short sleeved shirts not tucked in skirts. Here again, must be regional custom....

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

There are a lot of things in Poland I still cannot get over. Maybe what strikes me the most is the large number of leg/arm amputations. We see for instance in Warsaw's Centrum area (in front of metro and of churches (for instance the one near the famous Rainbow) quite a few amputated people exhibiting their stumps in order to get a few coins from sympathetic passers by. As I first saw so many amputated people in Katowice, I first thought about victims of accidents in coal mines but in Warsaw, I see the same. So many men, women, including very young are amputated in Poland. Prior to coming to Poland, I had seen a few guys amputated because they had lost a limb in a WAR. Now, I know that they amputate a lot in Poland (a former colleague of mine, in her mid-20's at the time, got run over by a truck while crossing a street some 6 or 7 years ago. At the hospital (in Warsaw) doctors wanted to cut off her injured leg but the girl's parents refused and doctors did not (the girl is now fine and can walk with no problem) and that articifical legs/arms Poland are expensive and not paid by NFZ (same for amputated breasts in case of cancer, each breast costs some 10,000 - as a woman, I am sympathetic and feel concerned). I am personally scared that something happens to me and that doctors, choose the "easy way" and amputate me.....

Something much lighter that amazes me in Poland is the way small kids are dressed. Even as late as May, small kids are always over dressed, with ridiculous hats (I have never seen any such hats elsewhere), scarves, gloves, tights (boys as well, which I have never seen elsewhere since only girls wear tights in the West) on (even in temperatures like 18-20 ... ). A lot of people (including several Poles) told me that it is (+ poor diet) a main reason why kids are always sick in Poland during winter.

Another still lighter thing: no names on mailboxes

of course they are a lot of more examples of things that can "shock" me..

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]

@CMC: 100% ok with you!

Work / Salary: 24,000zl a month - how much I will I have after tax in Poland? [29]

@Roger: for sure most Poles (I would say at least 98%) manage with much less. Some don't even make 24,000 per year.

News / Poland in ruin or flourishing? [35]

@Roger: no need to wear rags and starve to be "poor". Europe is not Africa ... Believe me, a lot of people in Poland don't even make 2,000/month (for instance school teachers, shop assistants ....) and of course a lot don't have work. When I moved to my new flat, less than a year ago, as I meant to change my furniture and a lot of things, I helped some poor families from Praga North through charity and believe me, their situations are very bad and unfortunately there are a lot of them in similar or worse situations.

Although Poland is not a rich country, authorities should do something against poverty.

PS: I lived in the US, mostly in Georgia so I know but even if poverty is worse in the US than in Europe, it's not something to brag about.

@Harry: no, all those young guys who left Poland B = PiS (or SLD, maybe PSL) voters and not PO.

Classifieds / Help the little boy from Poland (he has cancer in his both eyes) Jesli mozecie pomozcie temu dziecku! [11]

@Stan; thanks!

@Delph: I don't have time now and also don't want to make it public ;). Briefly, I'll be at hospital all next week for routine tests as per Polish protocole (INSPITE of my tests being good) = an example of waste.

News / Poland in ruin or flourishing? [35]

Differences in Poland are huge not only from one region to another but also within same region. This can be seen also in places like Warsaw. Some are very rich (I know a "lot" of people who have 5 (even 6) digit salaries) but others are very very poor. I have to travel alot through Warsaw for work and often I go through areas that look like other planets to me in comparison with where I live. Of course, things have improved, there are shopping centers (there are shopping centers even in very poor countries, so no reference) and besides a lot of people can buy only because they have credits (not to mention those "galerianka girls" who sell their bodies in shoping centers' toilets in order to buy leather bags, perfume or designers' jeans (a movie was made about topic) but nevertheless, a big majority of Poles (including in big cities) are still in big poverty. A lot of areas in Praga North, Wola, even in Bemowo are quite desperate. When I go to Poland B, I am very often very shocked.

Despite the huge improvements, mainly thanks to EU, still a majority of poor in Poland.