Study / Living in POZNAN in the Eskulap dormitory - big deal? [47]

Hi Jelena, merry christmas too :)

Public transport is cheap - currently, it's 40.50zl for a monthly pass (for a student) on all buses and trams within the Poznan city area.

Shopping - there's plenty of malls, and Berlin, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Lodz are nearby too if you really need more ;)

Dorms - I don't know, unfortunately..if you let me know where you're thinking about staying, I can ask around if you want?

Sightseeing - hmm, Cytadela is always worth a visit :)

Anything else? I live here, so I'll be happy to show you round if you want :)

Travel / Free wifi in wroclaw and krakow? [12]


They have it here too, I think it's actually worldwide.

Real Estate / How do you comment on "Poland real estate analysis" of the biggest property site [24]

Jesus, Mark, shouldn't you have been spending Christmas Day with your wife and baby rather than spamming Polishforums?

The article you posted is from 6 months ago and has very little relevance to the marketplace today - if you're going to spam the forums, at least post up to date articles!

Law / Polish Citizenship for a foreigner whose parents was born in Poland [174]

From a practical point of view, having Polish citizenship and thus an ID card is much more convenient than having to lug around a British passport. Much cheaper to renew, too! You can also use the ID card for intra-EU travel.

You can also vote in Polish elections.

What else? Hmm.. could be useful in some parts of the world to be Polish and not British.

And there's no guarantee that the UK won't leave the EU.

Real Estate / ADVICE please: Rightful owner of property in Poland? Property Value? [32]

Gah. Maybe in the new year, I'll go and make a fresh attempt at finding one...there must be someone out there who charges a fair small premium for speaking English and who doesn't immediately see $$$ in their eyes from foreign clients :(

Real Estate / ADVICE please: Rightful owner of property in Poland? Property Value? [32]

Ah come on, there are some good ones out there...somewhere!

(Still looking for a lawyer that I could actually recommend to people...still can't find one with experience that I would trust to charge a fair price to foreigners!)

Love / English girl. Do Polish men afraid to show their feelings or they are just not comfortable in UK? [84]


Exactly ;)

But no, Glasgow has changed beyond belief. Places like Blackhill, Possil and the Gorbals have been thoroughly modernised - and would anyone believe 20 years ago that Clydeside apartments would be desirable?

Even the neds don't seem so bad these days!

Real Estate / ADVICE please: Rightful owner of property in Poland? Property Value? [32]

Be careful with this though - there are a *lot* of sharks out there who will take a significant amount of money for doing very little. I'd actually advise getting a translation done before proceeding - because the papers might be complete nonsense.

(even with a translation, be careful - one particular troll on this forum charges 50PLN/page when a sworn translator will charge half that!)

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


And that is why British girls are obese ;)

Love / English girl. Do Polish men afraid to show their feelings or they are just not comfortable in UK? [84]


Bradford is a time bomb waiting to go off, I think.

Food / Why carp for Polish Christmas? [157]


Better not to eat it at all :(

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]

Difference is, that's about as high as crime goes here. Compare this to America, where you just wouldn't walk in certain areas. Heck, people get killed in casino car parks in America!

Work / Will it be easy to find a job within 6-10 months of moving to Poland? [41]


You need to get out there and network with people - sending CV's blind is rarely going to see a result in Poland. Especially in Warsaw, there's a lot of opportunity to do just that.

If you can't get through security - find a way in - initative!

My other recommendation would be to take a teaching job in the meantime - many interesting people take lessons and can help you :)

USA, Canada / Tracking a package through the Polish Postal system sent from US [57]


Shouldn't you take up the price with Royal Mail?


The Western World isn't going to stop dealing with Poland anytime soon. It's one of the largest countries in Europe, it has a stable government and tax laws and crucially, it's very friendly towards large new investment.

For every business that leaves Poland, two are coming - even Dell have now quit Ireland in favour of Poland!

Work / Will it be easy to find a job within 6-10 months of moving to Poland? [41]


You're making the big mistake of searching for jobs online. The vast majority of jobs are by either word of mouth, or by personal contact. The internet is *not* a reliable measure of the jobmarket, unlike in the USA.


I think it's doable. Drop me an e-mail at office@lindenia and I'll be happy to give you some advice :)

Language / Why in the world there are three ways to write simple U ?!?! [54]


Bearing in mind that you barely know your own language Mark (yes, I'm reading your blog - you write like a 7 year old!) - how can you comment on any others?


Have you talked to an English grammarian lately?


I can find insanity in any language in the world. You might want to ask yourself why English has so many silent letters - what's the point in them?!

Law / Retail shop, Import tax on textiles, Clothing, Perfume and other to Poland [13]


That's the EU 'luxury goods' VAT rule coming into play - that maddeningly seems to be interpreted differently according to where you are.

To the original poster - be warned, you'll have to pay VAT and duty when the goods arrive in Poland, and the VAT threshold is way, way lower than it is in the UK. Currently it's 50,000PLN, though there are discussions about raising it to 100,000PLN or higher.

You're not thinking about importing "Hugo Doss" or "LaCoast", commonly seen on dodgy markets? ;)

Life / British sky satellite TV in Poland [87]


So...Sorry guys, but they completely failed on their promises to make the service available on that date.

Not available.

Anyone surprised? Placing so much emphasis on the December 19th date was always bound to be a bad idea.

From the TVCatchUp forums, it appears they didn't even know what was going on themselves - so called 'lawyers' on the 'staff' couldn't even figure out if the UK had implemented the directive or not!

(anyone with passing knowledge of how laws are passed in the UK will be able to have a good chuckle at such excuses!).

Work / Will it be easy to find a job within 6-10 months of moving to Poland? [41]


No work in Poland? That's why Poznan has an absurdly low employment rate compared to most of Poland, and it's actually difficult to find talented workers here?

Maybe if you want a very specific job in a very specific area, it can help to grease a palm - but that goes on everywhere. I don't think anyone would be particularly shocked at the idea of corruption in hiring, especially in smaller privately owned companies.

A Polish education is hardly seen as definitive - I think every single Polish person knows that the vast majority of education in this country has been obtained with cheating in some way or another.

There are jobs- but knowing people does indeed help.

News / The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign theft from Oswiecim, Poland [240]


Unfortunately, UK prisons are full to bursting. People don't want new prisons built near them (NIMBYism) and don't want to pay for them either - yet they want people sent to jail.

History / What British unit liberated Poland in 1945?? [445]


I'm not certain how you can be so sure - the last presidential election was almost entirely on a West/East split, and it's no secret that the heavily Russian areas in the East would happily break away from Ukraine proper. It might not be on the same level as Belgium yet, but there is plenty of potential for Ukraine to break up in the future.


Ukranians might not have the choice - economic collapse (does anyone believe that Ukraine has paid their gas bills this year?) combined with unrest from the Russian population could easily tear the Eastern part of the country away.


I think East Germans might have something to say about this!

History / What British unit liberated Poland in 1945?? [445]


I think there would probably be an implicit agreement between Russia and the EU - Western Ukraine (Ukranian, obviously) would go well, West and the Eastern Ukraine (Russian) part would be allowed to join the Russian Federation. Win win situation for everyone, and far more governable.


Without a doubt - I would expect very strong links with Poland, especially as Lviv would probably end up the capital of a Western Ukraine state. It wouldn't surprise me to see a repeat of what happened in Poland with Germans post communism.


I can't see it happening at all - EU and Schengen membership would be as close as it would get. Many Poles seem to believe that Ukranians would happily give up their country - I really can't figure out where this belief comes from, especially as no Ukranian is likely to forgive Operation Wisla in a hurry!


You can see a lot of Polish companies already in Lviv - even crossing the border at Medyka, many car insurance companies there are Polish brands, such as PZU.

One interesting thing to observe on the road between Przemysl and Lviv is the amount of shiny new petrol stations. I was utterly shocked to see that they sell 80 Octane fuel!

History / What British unit liberated Poland in 1945?? [445]


But they have no intention of ever giving up Western Ukraine. Even if Ukraine has a bloody split, a Western Ukranian state will be viable - plenty of agricultural land and a massive pro-West majority will ensure swift NATO and EU membership.


Really? So how come Germany is still feeling the financial effects of pouring so much money into East Germany - if the mighty FRG couldn't afford it without pain, what hope does poor Poland have?


Different economic system. You might notice there are no hungry children in Germany or the UK.

News / Freezing weather in Poland, 42 people dead in winter freeze... and no-one cares? [140]


Stay at home? You must be kidding, it's positively warm outside compared to the last few days :)

News / IPN apologises to Adam Michnik [15]

Many thanks for that article.

If it doesn't prove that the IPN are nothing but a bunch of goons hired by PiS to discredit their political enemies, then what does? The fact that the 'book' about Walesa was written by a Masters student with close links to PiS should have been enough of a dead giveaway that it was merely done by someone trying to make their career at someone else's expense.

PO's continued funding of the IPN is an utter disgrace to the country. It's a shame that Poland can't look into her past fairly and honestly, but still.

Language / Usage rules of ł in the Polish language [30]


I think he means the English w is the same as ł, not that the Polish ł and w are the same...

I think?

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]

And this is why America is loathe to give visa-free access - if people are guaranteed to vanish, what's the point in giving them the access?

(having said all this, I'm not surprised at the amount of Polish anger over the issue - Poland should *never* have helped America out in wars until her citizens were given access!)

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]

The sad thing is that the European Union (despite threats) still won't impose visas on Americans in retailiation for requiring some Schengen members to have visas in return. I suspect if Americans suddenly needed Schengen visas, the game would drastically change.

But I suspect that many Poles would indeed vanish in America if they were allowed in on the visa waiver - let's face it, if you've got rich cousins there who are happy to take you in for a few years so you can make a decent amount of cash, you're going to consider it, aren't you?

History / What British unit liberated Poland in 1945?? [445]


If tiny countries such as Malta and such impoverished countries such as Moldova can survive, I'm sure Ukraine will do just fine.


And what pays for the vast investment that Poland needs to bring her into the 21st century? What about the pensions of old people, many of which have never earnt 'hard' currency? What about the massive improvements needed to make the railway system up to scratch? Who pays?


Poland can't afford to, that much is clearly obvious. If they could, why does Caritas and likewise have to feed children?

Then again, I'm sure Ukranians living in Ukraine are quite happy to feed their own ;)

History / What British unit liberated Poland in 1945?? [445]


The tax system isn't too bad in Poland, it's quite simple compared to many other European countries, especially compared to the UK and Germany. Poland does have a fragile tax base, but there's nothing anyone can do about that.


So what is 'right'?


Sure, if paying taxes and contributing to the economy is a 'problem', then I dread to think what you think is a 'benefit'.

Poland can barely afford to feed her own, let alone a huge amount of angry Ukranians!