Work / New business start-up in Poland - opinions and ideas [32]

Hi! Renting property to tenants is often a lot of problems (my husband and I did have tenants for a few years both in Katowice and in Warsaw and we stopped) and in case of non payment by them, you are stuck. The ideal could be luxury place to rent to expats thru their companies (= rent paid).

Study / Formalities For Studying In Poland - Sponsoring [22]

@Howie: Cuba? Anyway, whatever country he's from is most important to the Polish authorities in order to issue or to refuse visas

Love / Do Polish men think that Polish girls are materialistic and demanding ? [37]

@James; if not most (of) at least a lot of Polish girls are this way. They only see money and men as living wallets. Whereas in Western cultures, girls are raised to become financially independent (even when in couples), in Poland, it's still the old tradition, girls are raised to get married so men shall feed them.

I daresay that based upon my experience, girls that are not this way are rather a minority in Poland.

History / Poland PRL era shops in pictures [17]

@Jon! not in Western Europe 30 years ago? In those days, we had supermarkets and no problem to buy anything (I know, I was around ;)). Based upon what I have heard, it was so in Western Europe during the war.

Study / Formalities For Studying In Poland - Sponsoring [22]

@Howie: where from the Caribbeans? Cuba? Dominican Republic? If from Martinique or Guadeloupe, he's as French as someone from Paris (on administrative terms). So, Carribean is rather vague;)

History / Poland PRL era shops in pictures [17]

Yes, very interesting! Thanks! I first saw Poland (Katowice and then Warsaw) in March 1990 and it was not much better than that, at least in Katowice because in Warsaw things were better (but not that great ;))

Study / Formalities For Studying In Poland - Sponsoring [22]

@Howie: Hi! when you say "non EU", be aware that conditions shall be different based upon the country of origin. If he's from Monaco or Norway, he'll have much easier conditions than if he's from Pakistan or Nigeria....

Study / Formalities For Studying In Poland - Sponsoring [22]

Absolutely, Dominic! The guy may be in England but it does not mean he's English ;). If he were English, he would not need to ask questions....

News / Poland's President-Elect Duda leads in public trust - CBOS poll [185]

"Left" and "right" wings are often hard to figure out... As for Poland, I would say PO and PiS are both right wing. For me, left wing is SLD, Anna Grodzka.... As to TR, it's not so easy: left wing in societal matters but right wing in economics.

Love / Do Polish men think that Polish girls are materialistic and demanding ? [37]

Based upon my experience with Polish life, I daresay YES, most of them are. Generally speaking, Poles (and people in similar countries) are much more materialistic than people from the West. Myself, I have become more materialistic since in Poland - here everybody talks about money all the time, need to impress others... Not healthy as a society! I have mingled with (several) Russians and frankly, their materialistic mentality is sickening.

Yes, the result of communism.

News / Secularism = a dying society. How this phenomenon affects birth rate in Poland? [20]

@Bullfrog; yes, family allowances have been reduced to the wealthy (making over 6,000 euros/mo). and it is normal. Financial support should be limited to those who need it and sorry, when we have 6,000 or even more every month, we do NOT need the State to help finance our kids.

As to flats, when I mention those of 35m2, yes, they were built under communism.

Of course, money is very important but no one can force people to have kids if they don't want any ;). I know that under Causescu (spelling?), women had a monthly gynecological exam at work to check whether they were pregnant and to make sure they did not abort but needless to say that such measures were rather unusual ;)

Life / Which Dentist is the best for Bridges & Crowns in Poland ? [13]

there are tens of thousands of dentists in Poland so how the hell can we say X or Y is the best or the worst? ;).

I personally go to Euro-Dental. Although more expensive, they are worth it and most important to me, they use (at extra cost) nitrus oxyde gaz so no pain :) - Crowns cost from 780 to some 1,800.

Life / Important: A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow [50]

@User: It is very dangerous to self-medicate. Do see a doctor!

@Delph: the guy asks about Krakow ;)

Life / Is it me or do people "seem" to live longer in Poland? Life expectancy among Poles. [52]

When compared to other countries, life expectancy is not that "great" in Poland worldlifeexpectancy.com/life-expectancy-europe. Furthermore, not a lot of people in Poland reach that age, especially men. No proper diet, no proper medical care, hard living conditions don't help and Poles look much older than Westerners at same age (when 50 and older)....

Life / Important: A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow [50]

@User: if what you need to have tested is "rare", better to see an doctor. If you need to have more things tested, the doctor shall give you a complete prescription and you won't have to have several blood tests but only one. Why would a doctor NOT agree?

Life / Important: A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow [50]

@Delph: it also depends on what to test. Sometimes in order to have something tested, we also need to have something else tested otherwise the result does not mean anything and therefore need to see a doctor.

Unfortunately, I had to have hundreds of blood tests in Poland (and I'll have 2 more this month) so trust me, I am sort of an expert ;)

In conclusion: if they want a skierowanie, they'll tell him...

Life / Important: A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow [50]

Ok, since you have no insurance, you'll pay. However, some may ask you for skierowanie and it depends on WHAT needs to be tested. If you don't have anyone to call for you in Polish, just go there and you'll see. If they say they need a skierowanie, then you'll make an appointment with an "internista".

News / Secularism = a dying society. How this phenomenon affects birth rate in Poland? [20]

@Rozu: so in (most) state schools, it's more of a dress code than a "real uniform"! I've seen the situation too in some private schools in Poland (white polo shirts and navy blue pants/skirt so bearable in terms of costs).

Probably good idea to avoid outfits not really "suitable' for school ;). Sorry, but some teenage girls dress like sl..ts when they go to school.

Life / Important: A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow [50]

@Roger: if the guy has a (private) insurance, he needs a skierowanie. I have had several insurance programs (currently my 4th one) and in order to have services covered by the insurance, I need skierowanie. If no skierowanie, I'd pay and believe me, blood tests can be expensive (I had some costing over 200)

Life / Important: A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow [50]

In most places, you need a "skierowanie" = a doctor's prescription for such tests.

Law / I'm on Schengen Visa - can I work in Poland? Post training. [6]

@Nilo: Residence permits are not work permits and the other way round. A residence permit allows you to live in Poland (for a certain period of time) and a work permit enables you to work for one employer and at one job only. The work permit is to be issued through the potential employer who needs to prove that he cannot hire among locals (not only Poles but also residents who don't need work permits).

Where are you from and what are your qualifications/experiences that would make you "unique" in the Polish labor market? Why should an employer in Poland hire you rather than a Pole or a EU citizen, for instance?

News / Secularism = a dying society. How this phenomenon affects birth rate in Poland? [20]

Not only families need financial support (concrete money not BS like a few symbolic ZL) but also helped other ways: construction of day care centers and of nursery schools (of course free of charge) and also of bigger and affordable flats. How can families be raised in 35-40sqm flats, like often the case in Poland? I am also shocked by the fact that parents need to buy schoolbooks.

I have read that someone referred to France. If France has such a "good" birth rate, it is only the reasults of (generous) pro-family measures started in 1945, which enable women (if they want to) to have kids AND work at the same time. In most countries, including Poland, women cannot do both. When there is not babcia around and when not having a high salary, impossible to put the kid to a private facility and/or to pay for a niania. Average Poles cannot.

Low birth rate, short life expectancy and emigration are serious problems but I doubt that any politician in Poland feels concerned. Instead of worrying about BS such as JOW and consorts, they'd better see to real problems....

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

@Delph: A lot of Poles told me campaign is to start in September. All candidates are not even registered so how can some already be campaigning?

@Delph: Sejm shall be closed all month of August so the current governement does not have 3 months to get things passed. Futhermore AD becomes president on August 6 and obviously he would put his veto to anything.

PS: who pays for the PO's campaigning? PO or the Sate (= taxpayers)?

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

@Pol: what amazes me (right now, among other things) is that the campaign has not officially started but nevertheless there are EW posters (style "I listen, I understand, I help"...)) in bus stops. Is it legal? Nevertheless, I am also amazed that PiS and other opponents don't say anything about that.

If the campaign has not officially started, why letting some candidates do campaign?

On top of that, these posters were made with public money, I suppose, not PO's.

Language / The lost literary languages of Poland [54]

@Lyszko: same for me!

Law / Norwegian lad wishing to get a car driver's license in Poland but it's expensive [13]

@Delph: Hi! How many Spaniards do you personally know who took their driving tests in Poland? If in Spanish, all languages are possible and I serioulsy doubt they don't offer it in languages such as Russian, Ukrainian (due do the huge number of citizens of such countries in Poland), French, Italian, Dutch and whatever other language in the European Union (logical). In any way, I would not take my driving test in Poland considering their crazy way of driving (I took it in the US).

PS: Delph, don't you think, it must be possible to take tests in ALL EU languages? Probably they have tests in ALL EU languages and thus a Norwegian guy can take his test in Danish or Swedish (closest languages to Norwegian).

It's just that Spanish and NOT other EU languages does not make sense ;).

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

Witam! I seriously doubt that 50% of Poles shall bother to vote in September and hence waste of public money and waste of time talking about an issue hardly anyone cares about (instead of talking about real problems).

Life / How much money should I save to move to Poland? [17]

sure, it's not good quality but I heard that in Poland it's the number 1 store for furniture. I often go there and believe me, it's crowded.

Life / How much money should I save to move to Poland? [17]

@Davey: if you need furniture, go to Ikea's. I don't know if you have it in North America, it's a Swedish store very popular also in Poland. I have bought some furniture and I regularly buy a lot of things for my flat (I like to go there and also to their restaurant, unbelievably cheap with some of the best cakes I've ever eaten in Warsaw ;)). Also to buy cheap furniture, you can go to Black Red White and to Agata (about same prices as Ikea but less choice). Of course the quality is not great and it won't last for several generations but it does not matter.

for example; you can buy a bed + mattress for 1,000 ZL at Ikea's. Last fall, I bought a great mattress for some 500 ZL.

Life / How much money should I save to move to Poland? [17]

@Davey: they don't provide you with the basic furniture!!!!!