Work / Whats the job and school market like in Warsaw? [27]


Not to be rude, but...are you sure teaching is for you?

News / New cross war in Warsaw [530]


Because the President of Poland is supposed to be (at least, in the tradition of Jaruzelski and Kwasniewski) an impartial person who is above politics. The Presidential Palace is not a place for political rallies - and let's be realistic, they're already using it as such. I'm not surprised Komorowski wants nothing to do with the palace - who wants to live somewhere when you're going to have crazed morons outside chanting political slogans?

My view? Let the cross stay, but ban politics from it. They'll soon get bored and start their hero worship elsewhere.

Having said this, all this worship is very much false idol behaviour. Perish the thought that these people are actually anti-Christians though.


The cardinal who had responsibility for Wawel. Same guy who was JPII's right hand man, I think? And incidentally, the same guy who may very well have hid the true extent of the abuse problem from JPII too.


It'll last as long as Jaroslaw attempts to win power, unfortunately. But remember, the people taking part in this hysteria have one thing in common - a lack of education or intelligence.

Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]


Why? I could buy a week's worth of fresh vegetables in the market closest to my office for 20zl. New potatoes at the minute can be had for as little as 0.70zl a kilo - and if you eat seasonally, most vegetables come in/around the 1-2zl mark per kilo.

There's plenty of people in the UK living on 20 pounds a week.

Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]


In Poland? Don't expect anything - you'll have to compete against people who don't require work permits and who can speak the language. In short : mission impossible.


Nearly impossible. No-one is going to hire an Indian fresh out of university unless he possesses phenomenal skills - and being realistic, you wouldn't have to ask here about jobs if you had such skills.


You can do menial labour for around 5zl an hour. Even then, you might find that it's hard to find such work due to being Indian.

Really, if you can't afford to come here without taking loans/having to work, then you won't succeed here.

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]

There's no such system really - the only thing is that you have to meet the standards set by OFSTED or the body that inspects independent schools. But these are flexible - and they recognise that not every school is the same. It's certainly not rigid and inflexible.

I suspect it's partially ideological - British schools have always had a degree of independence.


What if someone is far too good to be kept at school? It seems rather pointless to keep someone at the same pace as everyone else just because that's the way things are done. I'm sure if someone is capable of passing the Matura at 17 - why shouldn't they be allowed?

Having said this - the one bizzare thing to me in Poland is the way that subjects aren't streamed at all.

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]


The problem is not so much with the exam (the exam should be uniform!) - but with the way that the Ministry won't allow schools to...what's the word, administer? the exam to their pupils if the school isn't accredited.

Obviously, the schools should adhere to the exam regulations, but Poland is very rigid in respect to alternative education - Summerhill would never work here, sadly :(

Do you know Magdalena, if there are any schools in Poland which allow the sitting of the Matura before the final year of high school, like is common in the UK?

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]

Can't comment for Ireland, but the Polish education system is dreadfully "one size fits all". It's even reflected in the way that children attending alternative education schools cannot do the Matura unless the school is approved by the Ministry of Education - which is somewhat contrary to the idea of "alternative".

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

There are almost certainly nothing available to you there. You might find menial work for 5zl an hour, but even then, I doubt it. Poland is not for you if you need to work to pay off loans.

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]


At the age of 19, they're more than old enough to work. That's exactly the problem - instead of people moving into the world of work at 19, they're instead going to university for 3/5 years - for what? Someone really doesn't need a degree to work as a secretary or admin assistant - yet in Poland, it's the norm. To me, the whole "must have degree to do mundane things" is almost accepting that the school system is failing children.


Do you think it's really needed? I mean, the UK system of vocational qualifications for these people seems to be far superior - for a start, they almost have to work with children from the very first step. My general complaint with the Polish system is that it's producing people with degrees with little to no experience - exactly the same problem as the UK is now developing.


What, you think it makes sense for agricultural universities to have professors in Business and courses in Economics? Sure, they should be taught basic business things, but there's no need to have anyone with anything more than a Masters to teach it.

(I'm fully aware that in Poland, there would be Spanish levels of youth unemployment if it wasn't for the universities soaking up vast amounts of young people!)

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]


To be honest - I would say that the one thing that Poland does very well is the broad general knowledge. But then again - this is at the expense of teaching things like Business and IT. It's quite scary how people are expected to have a university education to do rather mundane jobs - look at the mess of how someone needs a title to work in a nursery for instance!

I notice that compared to British children, Polish children are dreadfully equipped to go and work straight after high school. Perhaps that's where the obsession with degrees comes from - but at the same time, this isn't good for Poland at all.


Yep, I could talk all day about how the UK system suffers from the same problems as the Polish system (grade inflation, anyone?).

My gut feeling is that the Polish system desperately needs to be reformed properly. The problem is that the mess starts at the very beginning, with the requirement for nursery teachers to have degrees (why?!) and goes right through to the way that universities have far, far too many staff with ridiculous titles.

Some of the problems in the system are simply due to inflexibility - for instance, if someone is following a languages profile in high school, then they shouldn't have to do all three sciences, but rather just 2 hours a week in "general" science instead. Likewise, if they're following a scientific profile, what sense is there in forcing things like geography and history down their throats?

Travel / Trains in Poland - Poznan to Gdansk [9]


TLK doesn't necessarily have lower standards - while the name tells you what you need to know (it's meant to be cheap!) - they frequently use EIC carriages on TLK services.

What's ridiculous about unreserved seating? It costs money to administer reservations, and the lack of reserved seating means that boarding times are faster. If you want a reservation, you travel 1st class - simple.

Anyway, from Poznan to Gdansk, the journey sucks regardless of which type of train you use. There's no direct EIC service, so you have a choice of InterRegio or TLK services. For such a long trip, I'd steer clear of InterRegio (though it is cheaper!) due to the unreliable quality of the services.

As I recall, Poznan-Gdansk is through Bydgoszcz.

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]


Same here. The problem is that the process is abused by the secondary schools, as part of the score is dependent on the grades from the 9th class. And of course, school directors in Poland (being fundamentally weak due to the nature of getting the job) can be influenced by parent pressure. It's just one small failing in the system, but there are many, many others.


Of course, the age old tradition of a place being bought still goes on. I could tell you countless stories about schools being "full", only for some extra students to be admitted. Perhaps physical cash bribes aren't so common, but (referring back to above) - school directors are still open to pressure because they simply aren't professionally trained.


What stops them from going if they do the ordinary Matura? That's just snobbery, nothing more. Sure, the IB is more well known worldwide, but any university worth its salt will be happy to accept the Matura. Also - given the general quality of Polish teachers - I'd question the wisdom of attempting the IB in a state school. Don't forget (and Warsaw will be no different) - you can become a teacher of English with as little as a BA with the appropriate pedagogical training during the BA.


There are still plenty of private schools out there where grades are handed out like sweets - and unfortunately, the shocking lack of care in the Polish education system means that no-one is actually auditing these grades.

Education in Poland is sadly a bit of a complete joke. There are of course exceptions, but the general quality leaves a lot to be desired.

News / Will Komorowski be Poland's worst ever president? [72]


A better deal? You mean KRUS isn't a great deal as it is? Farmers are probably in one of the best positions in Polish society - they gain EU money from the CAP, plus they pay next to nothing in taxation. I'd love to be a farmer here!

As for me - I expect Komorowski to follow Kwasniewski's path and get the job done. The veto should only be used in truly exceptional cases of public anger - like the Icesave deal in Iceland was understandably vetoed.

History / SEE DANGER AHEAD FOR THE KAISER IN POUND. July 24, 1902 [14]

Ah, come on, someone even speaks English in the Foreigners Office (and will use it!) these days!

Even my local post office is strangely efficient...

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]


Still, the provicinal cities do well in their own right - thinking about Poznan alone, there's a wealth of things going on. Certainly, more than enough to keep the average person (ie, not someone obsessive about the arts) going. Even Poznan, which seems to have a small sector, still has quite the wealth of options - and Stary Browar is doing a lot to encourage it.


There's really no difference - public education is fundamentally flawed from the base up regardless of where yuo are, and private education isn't particularly better. Perhaps the schools are more expensive in Warsaw, but that's no measure of quality.


Sure, but suburban rail isn't too good in Warsaw, and the state of the stations leaves a lot to be desired. The inability to even get Line 2 finished says a lot - and the traffic in Warsaw is horrible, even to the point where the southern bypass is now going to be an expressway rather than motorway.

Of course, you can make much more money in Warsaw - but the cost of living there is bordering on the ridiculous. I suppose it's all a matter of opinion - at least for foreigners, Warsaw is much better set up in terms of being able to start than the other cities.

History / SEE DANGER AHEAD FOR THE KAISER IN POUND. July 24, 1902 [14]

You can still see the lingering Prussian mentality here, things just work and the job gets done!

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]


No way. Fair enough, the arts and culture scene is much smaller in Poznan and Krakow, but there's still plenty of it to go round. Krakow and Wroclaw are every bit as artistic and cultural as Warsaw is, perhaps even more so.

Restaurants? I think you'll struggle to find anything that beats the Blow Up Hall restaurant here in Warsaw.

Schools? Every bit as good here.

The quality of life is actually lower in Warsaw in some respects - I mean, having to see Warszawa Centralna more than once a year would lower anyone's quality of life!

News / Will Komorowski be Poland's worst ever president? [72]


Good, that's exactly what the President should be. Just as the Queen theoretically can put a stop to anything that goes too far, the President of Poland should do the same. But equally so, the President shouldn't veto things for the sake of politics.

Travel / Longhaul coach connections in Poland [4]


To be fair, some coaches are excellent - it is just very hit or miss as to the standard. Generally though, the large (or tourist orientated) companies are fine.

Law / Driver's licence - How to exchange British one to Polish legally? [34]


No chance, sunshine. You want to add categories, you need a Polish licence.


Yeah, it's how it works. It's why you have to go to the police station to find out your driving record - it's all through the PESEL.

Of course, if you're stopped for something mundane, like speeding - don't volunteer any information about your PESEL at all and act stupid about it. The beauty of being a foreigner is that you can play dumb and get away with it - after all, they can only add points to a PESEL that they know about.

Quite clever really, especially considering the way that the UK can't add points to foreign licenses!

Travel / Longhaul coach connections in Poland [4]


PKS doesn't exist in terms of being national - but instead, it's a patchwork of independent companies all operating under the PKS fare rules. But yes, they can do long distance - there's a bus from Poznan-Przemysl for example. Connections tend to be very odd though - but that's because of the lack of a national operator.

rozklad.com.pl is your friend :)

Real Estate / Relocating in Poland - what's the best area? [56]


What social life? Poznan is dead during the summer...

(proof of this was several good bars being shut by 2am on saturday night!)

News / Komorowski won Poland's presidency vote? [125]


Well - the data available is enough to tell us that he put the plane into the ground. But it doesn't tell us much more beyond that - for instance, the actual position of the plane is still speculation (until it hit the ground).


I wonder if there was actually any concerns at all - it seems to me like there was an attitude of "no problem, we can do it" - the Yak pilot landing without permission seems to be an example of institutional rot that was tragic in this case.

As for the experience - the navigator was dreadfully lacking in experience and definitely shouldn't have been on that plane. The others weren't that much better when it came to flight time in the Tupolev.

Please don't use this thread to talk about the plane crash.

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


Probably because they have to check everything to make sure that it was pilot error - rushing out a report saying so wouldn't be believed by anyone, but if they do the job properly and really investigate what happened, they might be able to prevent future accidents.

Certainly, I wonder if the Polish report will comprehensively examine the Air Force culture.


There's something odd about this whole interview with the ATC guy - I wonder if it's actually genuine?

News / Komorowski won Poland's presidency vote? [125]


This is the problem - the available data is frankly rubbish. I'd like to see the GPS track of the plane (which the Polish investigators have confirmed as being available) - but all in good time. I suspect that there might be a release of some information in the coming days, actually.

Personally, I'm surprised people aren't asking questions of the Minister of Defence as to what the hell such an inexperienced crew was doing flying such important cargo!

News / Will Komorowski be Poland's worst ever president? [72]


To be fair, Kaczynski fought the better campaign. But a better campaign alone wasn't enough to win the election.


Something similar to Kwasniewski's presidency, I hope - non-controversial, leads the country by example (no making enemies, for instance) and follows the will of the people rather than his own personal agenda.

He will be very bland as President - but as far as I can understand it, that's what they intended the President to be anyway.

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


Is "the pilot put the plane into the ground" simplified enough?

Seanus - sadly, you've posted a link to someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.


As I'm sick in the face of saying - what ILS? There certainly wasn't a "standard ILS" system installed at Smolensk-North.

There's other mistakes too, but this one kinda puts a hole in his credibility, don't you think?

Ah, what the hell - he also mentions that the outer marker was "2 kilometres from the runway" - which is yet another verifiable mistake on his part. Ahh...too easy :)

(I'm still waiting for a conspiracy theory that actually gets the facts right)

News / Will Komorowski be Poland's worst ever president? [72]

Well, for now - all I have to say is -

HAHAHAHAHA PIS VOTERS, YOUR MAN LOST

:)

News / Komorowski won Poland's presidency vote? [125]


Seanus - the investigation isn't complete yet. Asking these questions is pointless, because we don't know what the Polish investigators are actually asking.

News / Komorowski won Poland's presidency vote? [125]


Komorowski has done it - well done to him :)

The statistics are very interesting - for instance, Komorowski has won 60-40% in cities. In the countryside, it's the reverse - Kaczynski has won 60-40% there.

And now, the excuses, conspiracy theories and rantings start from PiS members....