Life / Driving test, English speaking driving school in Warsaw? [95]


I get the feeling that goes on everywhere to be honest - if you ask me, the whole system of having examiners (who, in their own self interest, don't want too many people to pass) for driving tests is complete nonsense. Even if it's not organised officially, I dare say that many examiners are indeed thinking about the financial motive of not passing too many people.


I suppose if you can't drive a car round a corner, stop, then reverse back the same way and be able to stop within a set area - then you really shouldn't be driving on the roads. I don't entirely like it - but it's not a bad way to weed out those that are genuinely useless.

To me, it would make much more sense to have a system of compulsory moves in the yard before going onto the road to actually drive - none of this "oh, no parallel parking if they can't find a place" nonsense.


Come on - would you let half of these idiots on the Polish roads supervise a driver? Much safer for everyone if you can only drive with an instructor - I wouldn't trust Poles with provisional licences!


I think Poland perfectly illustrates the problem of people passing a test and being allowed limitless freedom - many of them seem to pass and then just adopt "let's drive like a maniac" afterwards. But as you say, the real problem here is the older people and business types - and to make matters worse, they're about to bring in the law where if you gain 25 points, you do a course and get ANOTHER 25 points to play with!

Poland desperately, desperately needs to bring in instant licence suspension for those caught clearly driving idiotically or dangerously.

Real Estate / Rights To Partners Flat In Poland - Cohabiting Agreement [21]



Or - she wants somewhere for a relative to live for peanuts. And of course, once they're registered to the flat, they've well and truly got their claws in. The flat can't possibly be sold once Uncle Pawel is in there, can it?

Language / Ski Or Ska? - Polish surname endings [44]


Sure, why not? The biometric passports should allow the ability for it to be transliterated on the border guards screen anyway, so it's no issue.

Incidentally - I can't say for certain, but aren't Polish ID cards containing proper letters?

Real Estate / Rights To Partners Flat In Poland - Cohabiting Agreement [21]


I'm wondering the same - I know quite a few people who are struggling under the burden of needing to raise a 25%+ deposit on a mortgage and haven't heard of any such deals for Polish citizens.

Sounds like a nice little scam - get the boyfriend to pay for the flat, then bugger off back to Poland where the flat is nicely in your name and he's unlikely to succeed in obtaining anything back from you.

Life / Driving test, English speaking driving school in Warsaw? [95]

You need the EU residence permit. It can be yours, provided you have a registered address, a valid reason to be in Poland (ie, a job or a spouse), health insurance and some other stuff. Quite painless if you actually want to be in Poland.

Bribing someone? Forget it. Perhaps a few years ago, but now, waving your cash at someone will just make them hate you even further. Personal contacts still help massively, but they won't want money.

Wouldn't it just be easier to do the course in Denmark or Norway?

Language / Ski Or Ska? - Polish surname endings [44]


Why on earth? For example - Sigmund Jähn is Jähn, not Jahn. No reason why they shouldn't be used elsewhere too.

Q doesn't exist in the Polish alphabet, does that mean it should be dropped and replaced with Ku or Koo? Don't be silly.

Life / Good place to live in Poland (if you want to move on)? [66]


Ah, come on, there's always plenty available for cheap if you're willing to eat seasonally. (which is good, anyway, so they tell me).

Life / Driving test, English speaking driving school in Warsaw? [95]


To be honest, most of it has been stamped out these days. The fact that all cars are fitted with cameras and microphones makes it nearly impossible for examiners to accept bribes - the only way in is through the head of the examination centres, and even then, the current case concerns 2006, not 2010.


In a sense, the yard tests that you can actually control the car in the first place - which is no bad thing. What's the point in someone taking the test if they can't even perform two basic tests?


Why not? The test is actually tougher than the UK counterpart, not least because of the system of only allowing 2 minors in a particular aspect as opposed to 3 in the UK.

I don't disagree about driving standards, but there are some very good instructors out there who could easily teach in the UK.


It can be done very quickly - you can do the entire course within a week if you're really so inclined.

As for staying in Poland - you need the EU residence permit and a PESEL. This can take up to 3 months or longer to obtain - though it does depend where you are. Usual turnaround time is about a month.

News / Jarosław Kaczyński sharing his words with Russians! [57]


The thing is - pilots do make mistakes. I know it's difficult for people to accept, but there are countless incidents where experienced pilots have quite literally ****** up -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_flight_into_terrain#Notable_accidents

for instance. Let's not forget that even some of the greatest have managed this - Steve Fossett anyone?

Personally, when the Polish haven't even released their preliminary report yet, all this talk of WE WANT THE TRUTH is rather premature. We still don't know what will be released, we have no idea what theories they're working on - in fact, we know nothing, except idle speculation.

People really should wait instead of jumping to conclusions.

News / Jarosław Kaczyński sharing his words with Russians! [57]


And yet Russia has shown that with the right amount of diplomacy and tact, they're willing to talk about Katyn as well. Trying to constantly blame EVIL RUSSIA does nothing but antagonise them - but careful, pragmatic diplomacy will undoubtably yield many of the answers that people want.

Trying to "force" Russia into giving the answers just seems like a guaranteed recipe for failure.

News / WHY DOES POLAND BUY GAS FROM RUSSIA? [105]


And?

I wouldn't trust the Polish under a Kaczynski-esque government not to pull a Ukranian style stunt.

News / 1945-2010 Poles will march on Red square [66]


As far as I can tell, they've adopted the old Reagan doctrine of "Trust, but verify". No bad thing, I think.

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


Not quite true - there is a certain type of contract where paying ZUS isn't mandatory.

News / POLISH GAS RESERVES [40]


Isn't the answer quite simple?

It guarantees supplies to Poland at a fixed rate. Poland can plan ahead, perhaps paying a bit more than is necessary at the time, but the taps won't be turned off - and people won't be going cold in winter.

Unless of course, you think it's wise to rely on unpredictable supplies when you have a very vulnerable section of society living in sub-standard accomodation in many cases.

Work / Girl looking for job speaking English apart from teaching English. Ideas? [30]


It's a great way to know the market and how it works, I think. There's always other ways, but in the beginning, you can make a lot of valuable contacts and gain a lot of valuable information simply by teaching the right people.

Work / Girl looking for job speaking English apart from teaching English. Ideas? [30]


This is the problem - you're looking for jobs that pay well, yet you're not as well qualified as native Polish individuals. To be brutal - forget about it, unless you're sent to Poland. There are occasional jobs advertised, but these jobs almost certainly go to people who are connected in some way. I know of several jobs that required English only staff - and every single one of those jobs went to someone already connected to the existing staff.

Your only way in is to get sent here - and that's easier said than done.


Again - you don't speak Polish, so what's the point in hiring you when they can hire bilingual staff? The fact that you're looking for a "well paid" job is also going to make it even harder for you - why hire a foreigner on 3000+ zl a month when you can hire an English speaking Polish person for 2000zl a month?

If you don't want to teach, then the only realistic option is to start your own business.

However - call centre work is always available for native English speakers. But the pay is quite frankly rubbish.

News / WHY DOES POLAND BUY GAS FROM RUSSIA? [105]


From your link -

Off-Topic / I need Polish nationals. Who wants to be a millionaire? [54]


MediGoogle!

Off-Topic / I need Polish nationals. Who wants to be a millionaire? [54]


The Ministry is also very tied up in private schools, so there's potentially problems there. I'm sure WB's done his homework and knows about the mindless inflexibility of the Ministry though!

News / Zloty exchange rates - is this just speculation? [87]


It's not really that ridiculous - it's a small currency in a country that hasn't got the financial muscle to defend it. It's why Euro membership is going to be so problematic for Poland - when it ties into the Euro in ERM2, everyone will be trying to attack it as the instability is well documented.

Fundamentally, the Zloty is undervalued - but this all relies on continued sensible management by the Government.

News / Zloty exchange rates - is this just speculation? [87]


I remember a few months ago, being confident that it wouldn't go below 5 - but it did!

I wouldn't even begin to guess now - seeing it collapse to 4.2 against the Euro shows how wrong I've been so far!

The problem is that the Polish fundamentals are sound - but the market is simply scared of what could happen.

News / Zloty exchange rates - is this just speculation? [87]


Collapsed to 4.90zl now, lunacy!

Off-Topic / I need Polish nationals. Who wants to be a millionaire? [54]


Yep, can't argue at all - in fact, I'd argue that Poland is more than fertile ground because they aren't tied into expensive IT contracts, unlike British schools for instance.

Life / Living Costs and life in Poznan? [70]


I assume that you'll be staying in a hotel when you first move here - if so, feel free to give me a shout when you come, I'll happily help you find somewhere decent to live. There's some choice - but if you tell me where your work will be based, I can give you a reasonable idea of costs and prices. The city centre is quite spread out, so it does depend on the exact location.

Off-Topic / I need Polish nationals. Who wants to be a millionaire? [54]


Bingo, I wasn't a million miles away from what I guessed.

If you can get the right sales guys, you'll make a killing. The only problem that I can see is that school directors are very politically appointed - if you can get people in with connections to local politicians, you could easily do well.

I was actually reading about something similar to WB's idea - and the industry is due to grow 3 times within 3 years. Not a bad idea at all!

Off-Topic / I need Polish nationals. Who wants to be a millionaire? [54]


Actually - I had you down for being savvy enough to flog existing products at a high price because of something (technical support?) bolted on. It's how Linux has been monetised, and I fully expected the same thing from you - schools in Poland are dreadfully lacking in IT infrastructure, and some sort of easy, off the shelf solution, packaged in a nice way would be a nice little earner for anyone with the gift of the gab here.

Come on, I was actually complimenting you for being bold enough to sell something that isn't really taking off in Poland yet (but it will in time), to a market which is susceptible to being sold stuff!

Off-Topic / I need Polish nationals. Who wants to be a millionaire? [54]

I'm fairly sure I know what you're talking about - you're looking for someone to sell a certain concept, which has already been tested on quite a significant scale in the world in quite tough conditions.

If I'm right, you can pretty much buy the product(s) off the shelf and they just work - which is what makes them so attractive. But of course, the trick is to take a nice commission for things like support and supply of the product.

News / Zloty exchange rates - is this just speculation? [87]


It'll be interesting, I don't want to make the call at all because it depends what happens - I can't see the markets reacting positively to a Labour win on Thursday. I also suspect that part of the reason for the Zloty weakening against the Pound is because the Zloty is seen as joined to the Euro - the PLN/GBP rate has always been more unpredictable and wild than the EUR/PLN rate.

Mind you, a decisive Tory victory on Thursday might easily push it to 5PLN/1 Pound.

News / Zloty exchange rates - is this just speculation? [87]


Well, you can make a pretty educated guess based on what's happened previously and the fundamentals of the market. Right now for instance would seem to be a very sensible time to bet against the Zloty in relation to the Pound - if the Conservatives win, then the Zloty will weaken against the (artificially) weak Pound.

Law / How much do Polish people actually pay in taxes? [12]


About 36% in direct taxation for those earning less than 85k PLN a year.

Indirect (consumption) taxes - how long is a piece of string?

American taxes, on the whole, are lower than in Europe. A lot of this is undoubtedly due to the fact that Europe is far more subsidised - for instance, free university education in Poland versus extremely expensive American university education - but this isn't a 'tax'.