Life / A rant about "patriotism" in today's Poland [60]

Bieganski, you are constantly confusing the international prowess of the English language with the economic and political prowess of the native-speaking states. I don't disagree that Britain is an isolated backwater of declining import, and if America pursues its current financial and military policy then it will go the same way.

But you are ignoring the fact that English is used by 1.1 BILLION Indians, both internally and externally regardless of their contact with Europe to minimise the issue of dealing with their own 2700 languages. You are wilfully blind to Africa, which depends on English and French for its business, despite the vast wealth of the northern Islamic nations which use neither language domestically. And for many diplomatic reasons, the Arabic nations themselves insist on diplomacy and international relations in either British or French to remove any "upper hand" one nation may have by using its particular flavour of Arabic in negotiations (and there are many flavours).

English may decline - a century is a long time. But Poland's children need skills that are applicable in the foreseeable future, and Mandarin and Arabic are not a big part of that.

UK, Ireland / Polish in Uk are some of the hardest working and nice people [37]

Because the CIA is only one agency from one country, and the UN is a massive organisation of various countries, of which Poland belongs to?

Life / A rant about "patriotism" in today's Poland [60]

Gentlemen, I was trying to by diplomatic. But score your points where you will :D

Life / A rant about "patriotism" in today's Poland [60]


You may be right about life in a few generations' time, but children alive now will need jobs within a decade. And Chinese or Arabic won't help them then; English will.

Still, it's only one of a million ways people can offer help; there's no need to turn a throwaway comment into a massive issue.

Work / Is it possible to get work in Warsaw that pays under the table? [7]


Are you attractive? Forgive my directness, but the expats only drink out of doors because they want to a) watch a sports event or b) leer at the local ladies. If you can't match or surpass the comeliness of the local Agnieszkas, you don't have any edge over all the others when it comes to bar work.

UK, Ireland / Polish in Uk are some of the hardest working and nice people [37]

Someone gives you a compliment and you get insulted by it. How very Polish.

Life / Poland monthly bills costs advice [17]

No idea about Katowice, but as an example:

Every apartment block has a cost called "czynsz". This usually incorporates hot and cold running water, building maintenance, waste water and heating. Water meters are installed in the flat to monitor usage, and this affects your monthly cost. For my small Warsaw apartment czynsz is about 400 a month, but it can be up to 700 in some places.

You will then have electricity (100), gas (50) and phone/internet (150) subject to your usage, and if you own the building you are liable to two taxes a year; one based on the amount of land you're using (price per square meter, depending on city; about 130 a year for me) and another that I've never worked out the purpose of but comes to around 250 a year, entirely at the local authority's whim.

As for banks; almost every Polish bank is in crisis mode at the moment, desperately trying to raise money and cut costs which means very very few are hiring. Is your wife a front-desk clerk who works in a branch, or does she have skills that would be useful in a head office (data, back office, audit etc.)? That will determine how successful she may be in her job hunt.

Work / Is it possible to get work in Warsaw that pays under the table? [7]

The normal problem is finding work with a legitimate contract; I'm sure bars and restaurants will have no qualms paying you cash. The real issue will be whether you speak Polish, and how much you want to earn; you will be competing with students who work for as little as 5zl/hr.

News / Beer and cycling - it's time for Poles to act [46]


So not only can your car break the laws of physics, but your reactions are so superhuman that you notice the error, judge the response and take the appropriate action in 10 feet. On snow. In the dark. At 40km/h you're travelling at 11 metres each second; your car will not stop in 3metres.

There's little point discussing the "moral" and "unjust" elements of this topic if such flagrant bullshiit is going to be bandied about.

News / 1.3% birth rate = Poland's slow death [221]


As if men weren't in exactly the same boat, chained to a mindless drudgery to afford the pointless sh!t they don't need.

You're right that TV sells fantasies to women, but it sells them to men and children too. And 50 years ago it sold a previous fantasy; that women should be at home next to the New Improved WonderCook 2000 with built in Waffle Iron, only $99.99.

For centuries women have worked; every cobbler had a wife who sewed the leather, every baker had a wife who scoured the ovens or manned the shop tills, every farmer's wife pulled her own weight on the land, because for millenia there had never been enough affluence for idleness. It's only in the past century that certain economies have become wealthy enough to offer the fairer sex a relatively "easy" life at home with the kids, and this image of the stay-at-home mother is very much the exception than the norm. When marriage was a business transaction between families, no husband would take on a talentless wife without a significant payoff from the bride's parents, and history is littered with those sagas; Iceland's Story of Burnt Njal is a good place to start.

It seems you're the one who's forgotten everything about the past.

UK, Ireland / Learning English but after reading comments in DM I feel it's no use [59]


Those are charming words to learn, and you should take pleasure in using them... but only occasionally. Savour them like a fine, rare whisky, brought out for just the right occasion. English has thousands of words of that calibre; words you only use once, but when you do get to use them its eminently satisfying.

If you're devoting yourself to vocabulary, a very useful website is this: testyourvocab.com. It's a great little measure of your language level which, while very basic, seems to mirror the results of the much deeper tests offered by companies like English First. Take the test, then read the Blog section to understand how your score translates for foreign learners of English.

Based on your result, you can then sign up for vocabulary.com; an excellent tool which teaches you targeted vocabulary based on what you already know. The more you use it, the better it learns your level, and modifies its word list accordingly. You even get real life examples taken from contemporary sources of news, speech quotes, magazines and even literature, so you can get the word in context. Five minutes each day (20 questions) will yield significant improvements.

Then you can sit back, look at the luscious rufescent shades of Poland's trees as they fade gloriously into autumn, and quote to yourself the first line of Keats' Ode: "Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness", enjoying and savouring the mellifluous assonance of that line and ignoring the vitriolic bile of internet forum comments :-D

Love / Why don't Polish women treat education seriously for themselves? [130]

I sympathise with PolkaTagAlong's message, if not the exact concept. There is very much a trend in the media that highlights Women As Good, Men As Stupid (Idiot Male buys inferior Product X, look at his shirts still stained after the laundry; Clever Female buys New Improved Product Z, ha ha ha, cut to shot of stupid looking male); should the opposite be used in advertising, it would cause uproar among the ladyfolk and therefore a drop in sales. As a male viewer you don't notice it, but once it's pointed out (like I'm doing now) you see it on every advert break.

But the idea a person is less intelligent, or less informed, or less knowledgeable just because they haven't been to university is a disgraceful attitude; Universities don't have exclusive rights over the brain. And while there is a need for higher education, it's pointless to give it everyone. It's hard enough convincing a roomful of Kujavian farmers' sons that they need to pass their Matura, let alone sign up for another five years of book-reading when they could be out in the real world, making money, meeting girls and starting families. And by pushing more kids into college, you cheapen the system as a whole; in Poland you now need a Master's Degree just to become a secretary.

Poland treasures the traditional gender role of men and women in a family; Matka Polka is one of the defining ideals of the place, spawned from the generations of women who raised children alone due to the mass death of menfolk in various wars. If the OP seriously believes gender roles should not exist, maybe he has a plan to address that problem, which still exists today:

manwomanmyth.com/equality/workplace-deaths-the-invisible-men

Equalise the ratio of male-to-female deaths at work, and then I'll say men and women are equal. But not before.

Travel / Driving to poland from the west midlands [11]

I've done this a few times, and will be again at the end of October.

What others have said IS sensible; there are traffic police out in force close to most national borders, waiting to catch fines from unwary foreign travellers. Fines can be dished out for driving without lights on, without beam adjusters fitted or for getting out of the car without a high-vis jacket. And these police are very unsympathetic.

The sensible thing is to pack food and blankets in the car, and some small change in euros AND zlotys. Polish motorways are toll roads, and you will have to stop and pay up to five times between Warsaw and the German border, so be prepared. Other than that, just be sensible and take regular brakes. The roads are good, but it's still 1500km across the continent and the worst part of it is the Polish section, which you don't want to drive when exhausted. And if your GPS is more than a year old, expect it to be useless for navigating in Poland; the roads change with alarming frequency.

Last time I went, it was Dec 23rd. At exactly half way between Warsaw and Calais, we hit a blizzard that locked the autobahn solid for seven hours. We didn't move an inch. Fortunately we had sleeping bags and thermoses to cope with the freezing temperatures, because there's no way the car could have provided heat for that long. So back everything you need for an impromptu picnic.

UK, Ireland / British - Stupidest nation in Europe [127]

And keep in mind the global economic crises that kicked in 2007/2008...

Love / Chastity rings in Poland - bad news for 'dziwkarze' [42]


There are laws in place to prevent kids getting any of those things; you need to be 18 or over to get most of that stuff.

However, there's nothing protecting children from the dogmatic brainwashing of "sin", making them feel guilty about the most natural thing in the world; sex.

UK, Ireland / British - Stupidest nation in Europe [127]

And yet, when asked on the spot, only one of 35 weekly clients could name all seven states that share a border with Poland. Every single one of these people has a Master's degree. Are they all stupid? No, it's just a matter of not giving that sort of trivia high priority.

The brain is rather wonderful, in that it recognises remote storage. That means if you read something in a book your brain won't necessarily remember the info; but it WILL remember it's in a book, and even on which page sometimes. And as we're forced to process more and more information in our lives there's little wonder people can't answer on-the-spot questions when five seconds with Google will give the answer. There's simply no need to remember that sort of stuff.

There are much better indicators of stupidity than not being able to answer trivia. Reading the Daily Mail is one of them.

USA, Canada / Is there a way I can get a polish dowod osobisty while residing in canada? [3]

Quite simply, no. Your dowod needs to have an address on it, and you can't have an address without being in the country.

Language / Collection of learning resources for learning the Polish language [129]

When learning a language, there's a standard level of grades. Book publishers use this to tell you what level the material is aimed at.

A0 is absolute beginner, then A1 and A2 are the elementary and pre-intermediate stages. From there, B1 and B2 take you to an intermediate level, and C1 and C2 cover Advanced and Proficiency. You'll be looking for A0 or A1 books.

Hurra Po Polsku, while glossily printed with colour photos, is pretty much useless for teaching YOURSELF Polish. It's designed as a classbook, to be followed with a teacher; there's lots of groupwork exercises in there too. So for home study it's a waste of money.

Unfortunately Polish is an unloved language; there aren't many resources out there that simply and logically introduce you to the language. The best start is the free download First Year Course from Pennsylvania University: polish.slavic.pitt.edu

Travel / So where are Warsaw's slums? [30]


Like where?

Life / Cheapest car spares in Poland? [23]

Odd; Lemforder are the OEM manufacturer for a lot of BMW stuff including control arms, and I've not had any problems with them. What I HAVE experienced once was a Polish product sold in a FEBI box, so it's worth checking that the part is "as sold" if you're buying from an Allegro.pl seller (never again!). There's also the fact that Polish roads destroy suspension a lot quicker too.

In terms of parts, InterCars seem to have the monopoly on parts supplies unless you specifically need something from your manufacturer.

Love / Chastity rings in Poland - bad news for 'dziwkarze' [42]

These rings will have as much impact as the millions of wedding rings Polki wear already; none.

Life / Cheapest car spares in Poland? [23]

I don't have much experience with those, although I wouldn't say Renault and Citroen are "popular" makes in Poland.

Business is business and parts cost money, and there are always people who try to make more by charging more. Poland is no different in that regard. If you want a broad stroke sweeping generalisation (which is what your threads always ask for), it's that Poles don't buy into the idea of Full Service History and dealer-only maintenance. They feel (and correctly so, in my opinion) that it's a waste of money because the company will find a way to screw you over eventually, so you might as well take it to a recommended third-party mechanic and pay less.

Life / Cheapest car spares in Poland? [23]

It all depends. BMW, for example, seem to fix their prices across Europe so buying specific parts from a dealership in Poland is comparable to buying them in Germany or the UK - you only benefit from the exchange rate at the time.

However, if you know nothing about your car then you will have to pay a mechanic to do all of the work, so any parts come with a labour cost attached. While labour is fairly cheap in Poland, garages will try to work out how much you are prepared to pay and charge accordingly, regardless of the price of labour or parts.

My recent example was with Nissan. They offered to change my brakes (discs and pads) either for "Genuine Nissan" at 1500zl, or aftermarket parts (Bosch) for 1200zl. But Nissan don't make their own brakes; they buy from a third-party like every other manufacturer, and in this case that company is TRW. I bought all the required parts, brand new in sealed boxes from a genuine TRW supplier for 600zl, which is comparable with UK prices.

This applies everywhere. An air-conditioner filter/drier is approximately 700zl from BMW, but the identical part from a parts supplier will be 400zl.

Law / Motorbike registration / insurance in Poland, if I'm not living there [5]

It has to be something official; the owner of the property needs to take a copy of his ownership papers to a local government office, along with some sort of contract giving you the right to live there (a rental contract, for example) plus your ID. Depending on the type of ID you have your "registered address" will be valid for a certain length of time. If you are an EU citizen you will receive three months using just your passport.

Life / Under-river tube a mistake! Tunnel flood in Warsaw. [13]


Not a mass-transit system. The current underground carries more than half a million people each day; Monorail systems are not able to carry anywhere near that capacity because they are so lightweight. The world's busiest monorail only carries a quarter of Warsaw's current underground capacity, which is why they're a niche attraction in theme parks, not a serious solution to mass transit in Central Europe's largest capital.

Based on that, a monorail just to cross the river would be a waste of time and money with no scope for future expansion. And extending the line east to west, overground, would be even more stupid considering the real estate factors that it would entail.

Life / Under-river tube a mistake! Tunnel flood in Warsaw. [13]


Because, as I said, they will have used carriages designed for both under- and overground networks. Rolling stock designed for such a purpose is more expensive than single-purpose trains (purely under- or purely overground.)

Re terrorism, it is not likley ot go away anytime soon[/quote]

It's not likely to arrive any time soon either. And the location under the highest threat from terrorism is nothing so banal as a public transport tunnel.


Yes, the L-train system in many American systems can be praised for its "modern" look. And could never be criticised for rendering whole swathes of real estate as worthless due to the noise, reduced light levels, pollution and inherent crime. A perfect solution for the centre of downtown Warsaw...

Next time I go for a stroll along the leafy avenues of kamienicy in Powisle, I'll try to imagine a screeching rattling overhead train and think of you.

Life / Under-river tube a mistake! Tunnel flood in Warsaw. [13]


Of course; terrorism in Poland is rife.


Building a standing bridge on wet mud with no bedrock in strong-moving water with a steep rising and falling gradient that will allow the train (which weighs hundreds of tonnes, unloaded) to climb out of the ground and then go back down would be an immense engineering task. In contrast, there have been train tunnels under rivers for nearly 200 years:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Tunnel

An open bridge would also necessitate completely different trains that were safe to use in an open environment (rain, wind, storms, snow) as opposed to the homogenous underground environment. And the idea of converting an existing bridge to a two-tier system is even more insane; each bridge is designed for a specific purpose, and any adaptation would be more costly than building a new bridge, with the added problem of shutting down an existing bridge for a few years; something that would cripple transport within the city even more than it is already.

Stick to propagating your unique brand of patriotism; you're obviously clueless about civil engineering.

News / "Shale Gas Revolution" will make Poland a Leading Country in Europe! [202]

An interesting read on exactly how shale gas is extracted: sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/343202/title/The_Facts_Behind_the_Frack

Law / Required Documents for Buying a Used Car in Poland [17]

Here's a very basic explanation: ilekosztuje.pl/rejestracja-samochodu (in Polish)

The main cost is that, with every change of owner, the license plates of the car change if the car is registered in a new district. It's a pointless bureaucratic mechanism that slows down the whole painful process of buying a car in Poland, but if gives thousands of otherwise-unemployable grumpy old women some much-needed "work".

When you register your car, you need to hand in your old license plates, which means the car cannot be driven on public roads.

Law / Required Documents for Buying a Used Car in Poland [17]

The tax is on the purchase contract. There is no "car tax" or "road tax" as such in Poland.

However, this tax is in a separate government office from the actual registration process of having the car transferred to your ownership, which will have its own group of one-time fees.