Travel / Where to meet English speaking teenagers in Warsaw? [15]


Like its just Poles... Turks, Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese... hmm, that makes you wonder doesnt it... hmmm.. I wonder if there is some tangible lesson to be learned from here. Hmmm hmmm.. I'll give you a hint, try to use the word "assimilation"

Ignoring your sly remark at painting me as a hypocrite, you'd also have to be pretty dumb to not see the difference in the direction and reason of immigration, wouldn't you?

Work / Salary for an architect with 3years experience in warsaw [37]


Interesting. The website now states the average salary is 800 euro.

Btw, this website will give you a good idea about how much life costs in PL.

Life / Free Poland Health Care - Paying minimal to no Zus [105]


Hmmm... you say that it's not comparable, but then you compare how much US specialists' make to Polish doctors, with Poles making oh... 1/8 of what Americans what. Whatever. The incidence rate of individuals who had "sell/lose their homes to pay their medical bills" is minute, but nonetheless a sad fact. But then again I can point out the thousands and millions of zlotys Poles had to hand out in bribes and present to receive standard everyday healthcare. Or those who couldnt wait 2-3 years for an operation and had to pay for it privately. I know dozens who had to do this.


Did I ever say that? I agree with the system and favor it hands over the private healthcare scheme thats back in the US. But the system IN POLAND is rotten. Im interested in the "countless others" you mentioned, can you mention some specific cases. Because the de rigueur of what I'e seen is this: mention "NFZ/ZUS" to anyone and all you'll hear are groans and pleas to skip to another subject or a few hours of recollecting stories about treatment that would've left the SS impressed.


Uhh, wtf. That's why they're doctors. That's their job, to diagnose and treat my medical problems, which in itself requires a bit of personalized human contact to understand why I may experiencing a certain afflication. I'm sure your detective skills have been honed by watching CSI, how about House? You noticed that the whole "patient's medical history" plays oh I dont konw, a huge f-ing role in medicine? Delph, how old are you, 19? Btw, yes, I remember every client of mine.


The ones you teach English to are certainly not poor. The ones you dont, i.e., 75% of the population, makes 2000zl net and dreams of buying a 10 year old VW Golf or going on their first vacation outside of Poland. Of course youd have no chance of talking to normal everyday Poles, so I dont know why Im bringing this up.


Considering it's 5% of an average Pole's median salary who nonetheless pays for health insurance that ought to cover it in the first place, that's it's for more like 10 minutes, yea that's grossly overpaid.


Yea, but it really doesnt do much when you are sick anyway. In my opinion the cost of healthcare in PL should go way up, while the cost of one's pension plan ought to go way down, but of course that goes with salaries doubling.

Travel / Where to meet English speaking teenagers in Warsaw? [15]

Honestly, this crap getting annoying:

"finally, i moved away from (insert: the UK, US, Canada)! time for some real culture, see what life is really all about, pick up a new language! hooah!"

not two hours later, posting on an internet forum...

"hi, im new here, any americans, brits, canucks that want to hang out? i miss speaking normal english and talking with people, like, you know, that know what life is all about"

Life / Free Poland Health Care - Paying minimal to no Zus [105]


Yes, it is true. As a system it is rotten. I saw my grandfather pass away after two years of bad doctors, bad hospitals, bad health care, poor decisions and I dont know how much misinformation, insolent behavior, bribes I had to put up with. As they say in poland... zeby chorować trzeba być zdrowym. Now I help out my grandmother, and its same crap. Bad doctors, long lines, poor or malfunctioning equipment, excuses, lies and the worst, most doctors and nurses dont even look at you like a human being. She's been waiting for 3 years for an eye operation, and now shes got stomach problems, the only gastrologist thats got a USG is one rude little porker and the wait is three weeks. When I broke my ankle the local hospital set the cast wrong and if some private doctor hadnt caught it I could have been disabled for life, and oh yea, I only got two weeks of physical therapy when I should have had at least 1.5 months, plus most of the therapy was a joke anyway. To this day my ankle hurts, Im going to have crippling arthiritis when Im older. And Ive got a million stories about friends and neighbors, two are currently suing their doctors for total incompetence and medical malpractice (of course the lawsuits have been going on for over 4 years), one swore to kill one doctor if he ever sees him as he almost killed his child.


For the 5-10 minutes they spend on you and then quickly forget you, oh yea, plus the fact that most Poles make 2000zl, that's quite a lot and in my opinion they are grossly overpaid. Prices in the West are inconsequential, who cares.


Well then the UK sucks, but thats no surprise. In the US I had annual checkups with reminders with what I needed or should do. My father just had a full body CAT scan done since he hit 60 plus a whole battery of tests. Just because... i.e., preventive medicine.

Life / Free Poland Health Care - Paying minimal to no Zus [105]


Like someone mentioned, you can set up a one-person company and pay about 450zl for the first two years which would cover all three of you, it's not a bad deal really. But then your ZUS payments are jacked up to the normal rate (970zl or so).

Nonetheless, the entire NFZ system is in such a state of disrepair you will be going to most doctors privately, maybe not to your family doctor ("doctor of first contact") but certainly to see an ob gyn, pediatrician, orthopedist...etc. There are a number of private health insurers that offer decent medical care with most specialities covered and zero or short wait times, but which does not include hospitalization or cover serious long-term diseases. That's why I have both.

NFZ for accidents, amublances, hospital stays, and I dont know, chemotherapy and heart surgery. Some priv health insurers do offer hospitalization/surgery but its quite expensive, others offer "perks" like a private room or a private nurse.

Priv health insurance for day to day stuff like the flu, back pains, broken leg and most important, preventive medicine. My biggest beef with Poland's public health care is the absolute lack of preventive healthcare, i.e., no annual blood tests, urine samples, and all that routine checkup crap that is considered barebones standard in western countries. My insurer/doctor just scheduled a round of chest xrays, full blood tests, urine tests, and some other tests/analyses just as a routine control and had everything done in a period of two days.

Work / South Americans living in Poland, what are my chances of teaching English and Spanish there? [23]


You will have no problems, you are more bound to deal with people who are aggressive in general than any extermists or racists, in fact I dont think Ive ever met an "extremist" in Poland. There is a sizable Spanish/Portuguese group in Wroclaw, most of them Erasmus students. If you wander off to some of the more rough neighborhoods late at night or walking around by yourself you may be accosted by some toughs or hear some insults (in Polish) hurled your way. How you deal with them is up to you.

Btw, your English is very good.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

Most Poles dont want to rent to foreigners for two good reasons. Foreigners can always skip and bail out quite easily, so the chances of dealing with unpaid rent/utilities or a demolished flat are far higher, with the landlord having no way at filing suit. The second is even more practical. Most foreigners have to declare their place of residence, and the authorities do check up on this. I would say 70% of landlords do not declare their rental income and the last thing they need is any official attention brought their way.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]


hahahaha, check your tire pressure... hahahahaha
I dont know how it is in England but in Poland if you're stupid enough to pay for something like that, here is what'll happen:

you drop off your car and are told this "full service" should take two hours
you come back after two hours, not finished, another hour or so
you come back two hours later, still not done, one more hour
this time you call, should be done any second
you call just before closing, still not done, but tomorrow morning the car will be ready
you call tomorrow morning, "almost ready" you hear
you call a few hours later and finally are told the car is ready
you show up, but hear that the full service cost a bit more because "xyz" was difficult to check/replace/inspect, you pay, because youre a big enough idiot to pay for something like that

few months later, when your car is falling apart, you hear at another mechanic

"why didnt you 1. check your brake/oil/coolant level 2. change your spark plugs/filter?" or even " why did you replace your original parts with these cheap knockoffs?". turns out nothing was done at that "full service check", or even worse, parts were stolen off your car.

Travel / Will I get instantly laid with my American accent when I speak Polish? [30]


Yea, taco dude, the days when being from the US made you a hot item were 15 years ago. I guess it might turn on a few chicks at the local wiocha club in the middle of nowhere, but in any city, if you try to play that up, the "dzem dobrym, yestem TaCoPL from ameryka, jestem tutaj zeby fu.ck ciebie" you'll get scorned with laughter and a well-deserved punch to the face.

How old are you btw, 18? Young dumb and full of ... as they say

Life / Is it common in Poland to reduce the km numbers of the cars? [11]

A few cars? How much is a few? As in guessing that youve been in Poland for a few years and buying cars that often, for me it means that youre buying lemons.

Fine, you're not, maybe its because you probably know what fuel injection or a differential is. If you know a lot about cars, repairs, etc, then sure, it's easy to spot when your being ripped off. The vast majority don't and do get ripped off.

And Im not generalizing, if you in fact did try to buy a car in PL then the amount of hidden defects that no one is ever upfront about, the all too famous "powypadkowe skladak" i.e., a car buy together from two or more cars, and the now infamous "owned by a woman, garaged, never smoked in, never driven in rain, only used on sunday to go to church with" description is rampant. Totaled cars bought in the UK, repaired in Poland, and then registered in Germany as to appear as an original well maintained DE car for Polish buyers are incredibly common. Or my favorite, the "fully service history", all backed up by doctored stamps and forged signatures. I've seen one with my owns eyes. So take a hike, Im not generalizing, it's common practice here, just go to any sunday car market and ask if you can take their car to a mechanic or inspection station, or even check their car with a paint thickness meter, must will flat out refuse or even assault you.

Life / Is it common in Poland to reduce the km numbers of the cars? [11]

the car market in Poland is the absolute most vicious, brutal, dishonest, scam-filled, heap of sh1t you will find in all of Europe. Good luck.

UK, Ireland / "If it's not Polish, it's shite" - What is great about Polish Beer in UK? [78]

Most Polish beers have already been ranked by foreigners at ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com. Nice site though

Work / South Americans living in Poland, what are my chances of teaching English and Spanish there? [23]

You are quite right, I misinterpreted the results provided by:

cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/

Poland actually is the least corrupt in Central/East Europe.

However, Spain is less corrupt than Poland.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]


Uhhh can you translate for us what the dollar figure of "social security and a small pension check" is?

These are very general prices, but expect to pay 2000zl for a studio including utilities. Food depends on how much and what you eat. From 400 to 800zl a month. Other random costs like phone, transport, ermmm 300zl. So 3k a month for Warsaw.

Travel / What do you think about hitchhikers in Poland? [33]


Nope, they had no chance like most foreigners in Poland, I raped and killed them. Sorry, better luck next time.

Travel / What do you think about hitchhikers in Poland? [33]

Hmmm... you are quite right here, the amount of Poles I met whose definition of a good job meant not a good career track, an executive office, bonuses or professional enrichment... but a "ciepla posadka", a desk job where you sit on your ass, drink coffee and read a newspaper the whole day, was quite astounding. This is considered a dream job in Poland to be making 3000zl a month doing nothing. NO ambition, work ethic, hope... at least they're cheap in this regard, most Westerners want jobs paying 3000 USD/EUR/GBP per month for doing nothing.

On the other hand I know many Poles who bust their ass day in day out, 12 hour days, sacrificing family, friends and life to make the boss happy. I can quite honestly point to them and say "here are the ones trying to make their own lives and the country better".

But like you, I do not sympathize nor understand the "woe is me, I have no job and can't find work". There is tons of work out there. It is, in most regards, due to sheer laziness.

Travel / What do you think about hitchhikers in Poland? [33]

Ive picked up numerous hitchhikers and most were very polite and I remember a few good conversations. I just dont commit to driving them anywhere in particular or for any distance, its not my responsibility. Thats what hitchhiking is all about.

And the fact that there are people who dont want to work is shocking to you? I met boatloads Americans, Canadians, Poles, Brits etc who turned out to be parasitic leeches, the worst are the upper middle class college grads, they expect everything to be delivered on a platter to them. Poland is absolutely normal in this regard.

Work / South Americans living in Poland, what are my chances of teaching English and Spanish there? [23]

Poland is the most corrupt country in the EU besides Estonia, but who ever heard of Estonia... Of course its critical for development, but money is so poorly mismanaged Im actually thrilled that they did anything at all with it. of course most public projects require maintenance works within two to four years after completion because they were so poorly built, but hey..

300000zl-250000zl is considered the "standard" price for an apartment in Poland in all of the major cities except for Warsaw, everything there is 1.5x to 2.0x more expensive. The problem with Poland is that although real estate is cheaper outside the major cities, the salaries are even crappier, not to say that life in a small city without knowing Polish will be very hard. The only cities worth considering are: Krakow, Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan, Katowice. Warsaw is the "best" in terms of salaries.

Work / South Americans living in Poland, what are my chances of teaching English and Spanish there? [23]

I spend sometimes up to an hour driving 10 km. the traffic and public transportaiton system is so bad that i bought a bike and scooter.

No major crime like murder and the need for a weapon, but petty theft and muggings are quite common. Ive had two bikes stolen, everything that I ever left outside in the yard, my car's side mirrors and bumper. ive been in two fights with strangers.

40% of your salary also goes to the government
23% VAT on all goods, gas costs almost 6zl or 1.4 euro
Nothing works that well over here either
corruption is rampant, the bureaucracy mind-staggering complicated and slow
salaries are low, costs of living are very high
an average apartment in an average part of town costs 300000 pln,
most people make 2000-3000zl net a month, just to survive costs 1500-2000zl a month

oh yea the winters are brutal and depressing if you dont do any winter sports (good luck affording them)

Work / South Americans living in Poland, what are my chances of teaching English and Spanish there? [23]


THE GRASS IS NOT GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE.

If you dont understand this proverb, it means people always thinks someone "over there" have a better life than you "over here".

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]

Uhhhh, you say "dzien dobry" to random people on a street? That's not quite "lol", that's "I'm totally inept in all social situations".

Work / South Americans living in Poland, what are my chances of teaching English and Spanish there? [23]


What kind of opportunities are you talking about here? Fighting skinheads? Selling drugs? Teaching Portuguese? Learning Polish? Opening a business?

Work / South Americans living in Poland, what are my chances of teaching English and Spanish there? [23]


You're insane to want to move to Poland, but whatever, the world needs idiots. If anything half of Spain's, Portugal's and Italy's students are moving to Brazil looking for work right now.


Yes. You are an EU national and a part of the Schengen zone. You can live and work anywhere. I do recommend reading a bit about this as some of this information could be very useful for you.


It kind of depends where you live. A 25k person town in the middle of nowhere? No. Any of the large cities in Poland (Poznan, Wroclaw, Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk), there are numerous courses to choose from.

Law / "Good" Polish Bank ? [19]

ive had experience with bz wbk, mbank, pko bp and pekao (the one with the bison logo)

pko bp was the worst in terms of service, fees, relatively slow bank transfers but its cash machines are everywhere
pekao i dont remember it was so long ago, but my girlfriend has her acct there and is content
mbank - excellent customer service, excellent website (although very dated looking), fast bank transfers and overall low fees. a number of customizable options which i appreciated. not a physical bank bank. cheap debit/credit cards though, as in low quality

bz wbk - customer service ok, suffers like most banks from long waits, delays and bureaucracy. i have a free account there so i still use it but i use my mbank acct more often

anecdotal evidence of course

Life / Looking for my old car in Poland (is it registered?) [16]


like mentioned above, this is called a bill of sale


hahahaha i laughed

Real Estate / MNE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY , LOFTS, U SCHEIBLERA, LODZ [36]


Yup, you're right, I got my developers confused, apologies for that. I get so incensed with what these people do (and i think youre a developer arent you) in terms of shoddy construction, bad contracts, overcharging, hidden fees, hiding information or not being upfront and it goes on and on and on

Real Estate / MNE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY , LOFTS, U SCHEIBLERA, LODZ [36]

that mne development and all of Opal's other "subsidiaries" i.e., shell companies like MFJ investments were going to go bankrupt was well known months ago. i remember back in november it was already on the news how mne/opal had monstrous debts and incredibly poor sales with their "u scheiblera" lofts plus already dozens of people who already "owned" them who were already oepning up lawsuits. if anything, did you at least know that another of their subsidaries TUP S.A. already declared bankruptcy over one month ago?

how the hell did you not follow this and continue sinking money into something that was not legally yours? i apologize for berating you and of course its too late to do anything about it but god damn... you are the umteenth foreigner i know who got ripped off from buying property in poland during the boom and not just by local thieves but major developers.

News / Radek Sikorski, Polish Foreign Minister, tries to annihilate Polish Slavic identity [19]


Ah yes, Hitler's famous 1933 diary entry, where after having a particularly bad day dealing with his Polish plumber and seeing all the money blown away by Poland's goverment on yet another pointless shopping spree (happily it wasnt on armaments), Hitler personally noted he wished for a "final solution" at seeing a "punctual, hardworking and fiscally sober" Poland and wrote that he would personally come to Warsaw to make it happen.

Love / Do Irish / British guys like Polish girls? [138]


Oooohh someones been following my posts. So in response as Ive got the whole day to waste...

Expat?? Wtf? Im Polish. Next. My comment was directed towards Poles, not English guys, try reading comprehension ya limey toad. Next. Im engaged. Must have hit a bit too close to the mark with you, eh? Awaiting your reply.