UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]


Actually, the rebate was and is because the UK has a tiny farming sector - so at the time of the rebate being negotiated, the UK was paying far more in and getting next to nothing out of it. As most people rightfully say - why are we paying for French farmers?

Scrap the CAP and the rebate becomes a non issue, it's that simple.

(incidentally, why did the Dutch never attempt to negotiate their own rebate? As I recall, the UK and the Dutch were/are the big, big losers with the CAP)


Unlikely. It'll take a long time until people can look at her critically, but if it wasn't for her tough, uncompromising stance in general - it would seem unlikely that the UK would ever have successfully transitioned from a socialist dump into a modern market economy. Look at how dreadfully poor the UK was in 1979, then compare it to 1997 onwards. There's just no comparison.

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]


Blair's giving up of part of the rebate in exchange for precisely nothing tangible was perhaps the worst thing he could have done. He had a golden, golden chance to say "CAP Reform or nothing" - as the UK had always done previously. But no, he wilted in the face of Eastern European opposition - which was frankly ridiculous.

To this day, I'm not seeing what the UK actually got out of it, apart from losing cash.

Food / Why is it that some Polish people refuse to eat anything that is not Polish? [120]


Yet again, your lack of money in Poland becomes glaringly obvious. It explains why your posts are full of hatred for this country - it must suck to be poor and foreign, especially when plenty of your compatriots are earning huge amounts of money here.

It is *perfectly* possible to make non-Polish food for next to nothing here. An example - Kuchnia Swiata is/was selling all sorts of pastes and spices for around 5zl. I bought a load about 6 months ago and there's still plenty of it left, despite using it frequently. Or - right now - you can stuff yourself with homemade Italian food for next to nothing.

Anyway, when you can pick up an absolutely massive (and very edible) plate of Vietnamese food in Warsaw for 10zl, this country certainly isn't "overpriced". Of course, if you can't cook and have to rely on restaurants to provide you with non-Polish food (because your wife can only cook what Babcia taught her) - then Poland is going to be expensive, especially when you've got to pay for her way in life too ;)

Travel / Fish and Chips in Warsaw [53]


Positive, I come from the North-East of Scotland - it would be shameful if I couldn't identify my fish!

(ask Seanus, he'll agree with this :P)

Travel / Fish and Chips in Warsaw [53]


Thought as much, the quality was way too high to be sourced from a supplier here.

News / New cross war in Warsaw [530]


And it seems that under the surface, PiS are starting to realise that Kaczynski is going to lead them to electoral humiliation if he carries on like this. Look at Rzeczpospolita - they're criticising PiS quite openly for Kaczynski's strategy of appeasing the cross loonies.

Certainly, PiS's association with these idiots is only going to hurt them come the next elections - and it seems more than ever, a PO/SLD government could happen and collude to keep PiS (or at least, Kaczynski) out of power for years.


I wondered the same thing - could it be that he's been warned to keep out of it by the top dogs? I know people were suggesting that he could break away from the Catholic church and take the cross loonies with him - but he seems to be rather suspiciously quiet about it all.

Either way, with the church unable to assert control over these "Catholics" - there's now a serious problem.

Travel / Fish and Chips in Warsaw [53]

Tried it yesterday. Certainly a bloody good effort, and while it might not be the best ever, it's certainly up there. It's definitely fantastic for Poland - I really wonder where they get such good cod from? The chips were rather nice too, actually - I expected typical "chip shop" chips, but they were far better.

Pricewise - can't argue with 25zl for fish, chips, mushy peas and some onion rings. I left feeling stuffed and satisfied, so a glowing endorsement from me and it should definitely be tried.

As for the staff - friendly, efficient and even took the time to ask if I had a student ID card to give me a discount. That's exceptionally rare!

Genealogy / HOW TO GET BACK YOUR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE AFTER MARRIAGE IN A USC OFFICE [13]

Harry and Seanus have pretty much comprehensively covered it - I suspect they'll budge once the threat of getting the police involved happens.

Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]


It depends on exactly how they're doing it. If you're familiar with the concept of PKD codes - you cannot be registered to do teaching (85.11.D if I recall rightly) and then be paid under umowa o dzielo/pracy/zlecenie for exactly the same thing - you need to put it through the company. But of course, if you're paid to do translations (for instance) - then you perfectly well can.


It's hard to tell really, but one benefit of having your own business is that you can write all sorts of stuff off as a "business expense" and it's legitimate, unlike the use of umowa o dzielo contracts for teachers. Really, to avoid fuss - I'd just run everything through the business - it's much easier to account for and deal with.

News / Poland and Kresy being reunited? [162]


From Australia?

Sorry, but reading a neo-nazi forum isn't going to spark off social change!

Law / People who have their businesses in Poland must update or face a fine [19]


Something tells me that many of these "agents" are going to cause a lot of trouble for Asians in Poland.

Law / How do you set up a company in Poland? [46]


Why not open it in the UK? Taxation is lower and in your case, it'll probably be much easier.

Law / Brit obtaining driver licence in Poland [4]


Some schools won't let you start learning without the residence card - though there's no obligation to have one to actually have driving lessons.

Travel / Using two or three US passports to stay in the EU longer [4]


Doesn't work like that - your data is scanned at the border and will be caught quite quickly. In fact, it doesn't matter - you'll get caught on the exit from Schengen because the stamps won't add up.

I can assure you that after a few trips to Ukraine over the last two weeks - every passport is scanned and details collected.

Travel / US visa free "extension" while on a Poland travel visit? [6]


Yes, and plenty of them have been caught. The rules state quite clearly that you have 90 days out of every 180 - the existence of a stamp at the border doesn't mean a damn thing, it just means that you restarted the clock on that date. If you can't prove clearly that you're legally in Poland, then it's deportation and a year's ban.


I hope the Schengen states charge Americans for entry now that they're doing so for EU citizens!

And about the foreigners office - oh yes, it's great fun watching that ;)

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


With the PGCE and CELTA, you should have absolutely no problem getting a good job - in fact, my advice to you would be to only consider Poland if you can get a very good job here. You'll certainly be well qualified in Krakow and more than capable of landing a job worth doing. I don't know the market well, but it should be easy for you to walk into a very good job.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


What's the PGCE in? If it's not in English, then it might be helpful to do the CELTA course anyway - but it's definitely by no means required as you've got a PGCE anyway.

History / BBC - Center for Military Studies - Gerald Kochan [28]

Might this be of use?

Domain ID:D149668115-LROR
Domain Name:CENTERFORMILITARYSTUDIES.ORG
Created On:06-Nov-2007 14:30:17 UTC
Registrant ID:D119435727756821
Registrant City:Sunnyvale
Registrant State/Province:CA
Registrant Postal Code:94088
Registrant Country:US

Law / Brit obtaining driver licence in Poland [4]


Nah, not quite. You simply need the EU residence card - which is quite easy to get provided she has an address and a job here. They don't actually care about the amount of time in the country - what matters is that she has the card which proves that she's going to be resident for more than 185 days a year.

Nonsense, I know ;)

Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]


No, not that - but rather that if you're determined to be in "false" self employment, then they can quite legally chase you for the taxes that you should have paid. There's no way of telling what might happen - but I know there was a clampdown a while ago on people who were registered as self employed, yet only working in one job.

Bear one thing in mind - once you open up as a sole trader, you'll have to run all teaching activities through it - you cannot invoice school A (say the BC) and then accept a contract from school B - you must invoice both.

News / New cross war in Warsaw [530]


It's worse than embarrassing, to be honest. There's some good heated arguments going on - and this is fair enough, but to watch the hatred in the eyes of some of the "defenders" is appalling.

We won't say anything about the dreadful English-language sign they have up ;)

Work / Cost of Living, Average Salaries and Job sites in Poland [263]


Quite normal - Poland is very much "we want to see you on the ground" type place. Really - the only people hiring people from out-of-country are the ones that can't get people from within Poland.

There are some honourable exceptions like Program-Bell in Poznan, but the vast majority prefer people to be here.


Hmm. For someone in their first year, outside of Warsaw - you should be able to take at least 25zl an hour with accomodation included. That's the wage for a rubbish town nowhere near civilisation - so use that as a starting point. But it's worth noting that many better hourly rates are without any sort of accomodation - it's only in small places that accomodation tends to be offered.

Do you have an EU passport? If so, just come on over - it'll be much easier to find work that way :)

News / New cross war in Warsaw [530]

I've just seen the cross a couple of hours ago. And....blimey. I watched some granny push a small 11-12 year old boy because he dared to argue with them - and the hatred in their eyes is absolutely incredible. There's even an old, confused man holding a rosary there - to say that they're being manipulated is a gross understatement.

The sad thing is that there's endless tourists mocking the whole thing.

Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]


Yup, that's a fair deal. He should save you more than he costs - especially if he's always open for phonee calls/visits about what you can and can't get away with.


And no doubt they'll get away with it despite it being illegal to do so. I'm just sitting and waiting for the day that the taxman takes a very close look at the ESL industry here - I wouldn't be surprised if many schools are hit with a massive bill.

One bit of advice in this respect - if you can, try and get some private lessons to run through the books as well as the work at the BC. It'll save your ass in case of future problems :)

Work / Cost of Living, Average Salaries and Job sites in Poland [263]


It's not good, unless the accomodation is decent. The wage is very, very bad - how many hours do they expect you to work a week for that wage? I know a lot of nonsense is spoken about wages, but if that's the sum before tax, you'll struggle to live. After tax, it's livable - but definitely not enough to put any money away.


It's worth a try. I'd try and get them to agree to 2000zl/net a month with accomodation - if they agree, then it shouldn't be so bad. It does depend though - if the contract ties you to that school and no other (including no private lessons!) - then it's a bad deal.


No way - you can get a good connection for around 70zl. If you're paying 130zl, what the hell have you got - 16mb+?


Finally, someone who is realistic about prices in Warsaw. I'm here now - and the prices are only slightly higher (and in some cases, lower!) than in Poznan!

Travel / Car hire Przemysl [11]

They are - because they're the "cheap" trains run by the premium operator - PKP Intercity. IR trains are so called "inter-regio" - which means long distance by the regional operator, Przewozy Regionalne. TLK trains are built to go long distance - IR - maybe not so, as it depends what they have to hand - and it's the same stock used for regional services, so can be very uncomfortable on long distances.

If you ask me - the safest, best bet is to try and get a reservation for 1st class TLK (no reservations in 2nd class) in a non-smoking compartment. Or travel by EIC train.

Travel / Getting back to Poland on an old ID. [15]


Nope. Not a valid travel document according to Schengen law.

In all likelihood, Polish border guards would let him in - but he wouldn't have a chance in hell of getting on the plane as the airlines aren't going to let him without a valid document.

Real Estate / PLN 2,500 the going rate for an apartment in Poland [210]


Because, quite frankly, the house prices reflect the amount of black money floating around.

Do you really think that houses in for example Bieszczady are really bought/built with 100% legitimately earned/taxed money? Don't be ridiculous.

Travel / Car hire Przemysl [11]


They're as safe as houses on the Krakow-Przemysl route.

News / The Polish government has announced a potential VAT rise from 22% to 23%. [19]


No, not quite. It's already part of the purchase price - the price you see is the price you pay.


Well, VAT does a great job of that too - it's a tax on consumption and an indirect tax, which people ultimately prefer. PO are right whent hey say that it's the least painful way - people who must have luxuries will be taxed, while those who need protected won't really see any difference whatsoever as it won't be levied on essential goods - or at least will be kept at the 3/6% level rather than 23%.

It's worth noting that as part of this proposal, lawyers and doctors will be forced to issue proper VAT receipts for the first time. The 1% increase is only temporary as well.