Life / Is it me or do people "seem" to live longer in Poland? Life expectancy among Poles. [52]

Actually, I am from Canada. It is a true observation made by me and my husband, who is Polish and his cousin who has also been to Canada.

How would I survey such a thing? Knock on peoples doors and ask them how old they are? I have lived here for nine years- I visit Canada every year and can see the difference. All of our friends are Polish. They look older than I do. We have travelled in the U.S with Polish friends and they said the same thing- people look younger in North America.

I don't care if you agree with me, however it is true. Have you ever been to the U.S. or Canada for longer than a holiday?

Judging by your photo Monia you look older than me-even with the work you have had done, however, I am willing to bet that I am older, no botox on my face and not one wrinkle.

Life / Is it me or do people "seem" to live longer in Poland? Life expectancy among Poles. [52]

let me clarify. as I posted earlier, Europeans in general look older than those from North America. Absolutely there are people that die at 50. My dad died at 46- he was a smoker.

I don't think it is a problem with health care. It is a problem with suntanning and smoking and general daily health.
and getting botox just makes you look older.

Life / Is it me or do people "seem" to live longer in Poland? Life expectancy among Poles. [52]

you can't argue that Poles do look older than their age.

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]

Canadian houses are among the best built in the world. they have gov't regulations and inspections that they have to pass. of course there is always they exception.

I can tell you the benefits of wood frame construction and masonry homes. I have lived in both.
In Canada, they have wood frame construction because it is cheaper, faster to build- but most importantly they withstand the huge fluctuation in temperature.
In my home town it is not unusual to have 35 C weather in the summer, with a humidex of 45 C. In the winter it gets down to -35 with a chill factor of -50. Our homes need to be able to withstand such drastic changes. With masonry homes it is not possible while maintaining budget.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

so these minor changes- where is the bubble?

Work / Got a job offer (involving Hungarian and Romanian languages) in Krakow. Potential salary? [28]

The job requires him to speak both languages. I would say he is a specialist in his field.

Maybe it is just Warsaw, but, there is no way a foreigner could live on 2200. What about rent? That would soak up 80%.
I think the company is low balling him.

Real Estate / Question about a POLISH HOUSE PRICE (total cost?) [11]

that is a totally cute house. The interior is definitely a mess- but more than that I would be worried about the plumbing.

Work / Got a job offer (involving Hungarian and Romanian languages) in Krakow. Potential salary? [28]

so then he is left with 2200! I don't think 5000 to 6000 is outrageous. Perhaps this is just Warsaw, but I don't think so. He needs to speak Hungarian and Romanian.

Law / LICENCES REQUIRED TO OPEN A RESTAURANT/TAKE AWAY IN POLAND? [7]

there is a successful french restaurant in Warsaw. The name escapes me at the moment. nouveau riche like French stuff. depends where you locate it- you will be successful.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

how about we start with your definition of a "bubble"--not from wikipedia please. And then decide where you think Poland is in this bubble.

Work / Got a job offer (involving Hungarian and Romanian languages) in Krakow. Potential salary? [28]

Honestly- this is peanuts.

Minimum should be 5000 or 6000 pln.

They are low balling you.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

ok- so it isn't just me that found his post didn't make sense.

Work / Got a job offer (involving Hungarian and Romanian languages) in Krakow. Potential salary? [28]

no way. that is peanuts.

what sort of job is it- what kind of work and responsibility would you do?

Life / Is it me or do people "seem" to live longer in Poland? Life expectancy among Poles. [52]

they look older than they are. Polish people and Europeans in general, don't age as well as North America. North America is fatter but younger looking.

Life / Racism and for what? (story of Egyptian guy's living in Poland) [149]

no, I don't think so. But you will be dead soon enough.

Life / Cost of delivering a child in Poland [30]

I have an American friend and a Canadian friend who had their children in Sw. Zofia. They both raved about it. The building was old but the quality of care was super.

I had my youngest at Centrum Damian. I want to say it cost about 4000 pln. The service was amazing. Clean, small clinic. We were happy.

We used to have Medicover. I despise it. It is a business. About a year and a half ago my youngest broke her thumb. We had medicover so I drove her to the new "hospital" in Wilanow. I was turned back at the door. The old communist hag dr. said I had to go to the childrens hospital in Praga (I had just sat in traffic for about 45 minutes) I asked her if she wanted to even look at my daughters thumb and she told me "no, go to the childrens hospital."

Anyway, we went to the childrens' and they were professional, nice and quick. My husband is Polish so language is not an issue.
So that evening my husband calls Medicover to talk to the dr. that turned us away. He gave her the biggest blast of sh*t ever. Not screaming or yelling but called her out on her unprofessional behaviour and how medicover is supposed to be quality care.

He promptly cancelled our coverage and from that point we use Centrum Damian- which has been great.

Life / Racism and for what? (story of Egyptian guy's living in Poland) [149]

Foreigners don't come to this forum to badmouth Poles-Poles do this all by themselves. Enough with the defense. You cannot deny that racism doesn't exist in this country. It exists everywhere in the world but we are on a Polish forum- so this is what we discuss.

I am assuming that you are white. You have no idea what racism feels like- so unless you are a person of colour, you can't verify his story. I for one happen to believe it.

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]


this is so wrong. we are better economically because our system is not set up like the U.S. Canada is partially socialist- meaning you have a safety net to fall back on, much like the U.K. As for the cold- depends where you live. Vancouver is amazing and they don't get too cold. Halifax is beautiful too- not too cold either, both comparable to winters in England.

But again, if you don't like the weather- Australia has a mass immigration campaign- probably less red tape to go through.

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]

here is the thing. U.S economy is in the toilet. You can make good money in your profession, however, in the states you need to pay for health care insurance- so unless you are super rich or super poor- you will not benefit.

If you go to Canada- you will find that the system is much like England. Health care is covered through taxes. The banking system in Canada is much different that in the states. Our banks are not private businesses- they are regulated by the gov't- which means we didn't have the huge crash like the states did.

Some great cities are Vancouver (property is more expensive in the city centre) but the weather, ocean, mountains are gorgeous. Calgary is gorgeous and is experiencing a boom. My hometown of Ottawa is a great city, really beautiful and clean and no factories around. They also are a bilingual city- which is great.

If the weather is too harsh for you- I would recommend Australia. not the states. sorry, but you will be working poor if you immigrate there.

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]

You would probably have better luck with Canada.

Food / Is Polish food still more natural than in the West? [142]


I am from Canada and now live in Poland. People are shocked when I tell them my age- I easily look 10 years younger than I am, of course I eat healthy and haven't sun tanned since I was 22 and I don't have one wrinkle.

I think Europeans look older than their age. They smoke, sun tan and live in more polluted environments. Canadians look younger but they are fatter.

As for the meat production. You get what you pay for. If you buy your meat at Biedronka and Lidl- they are going to be crap quality. If you go to a proper butcher you will get good quality. You can buy sausages here with 97% meat or 43% meat. The choice is yours.

Read labels and do yourself a favour.

Since Poland joined the EU the people have gotten fat and fast. It is quite shocking.

Study / Is the University of Warsaw good? [26]

I don't know about the uni- I have only heard about it.
As for finding a job- you might want to find a Brazilian group or forum in Warsaw. There are a few here. My neighbour is from Brasil and a teacher at my childrens' school is also from Brasil. It is possible, but I think you must be lucky.

Life / Visiting my Polish family for the first time. Gifts and a translator should be with me? [8]

yes, bring gifts.
Where are you coming from?
Translator?? I would suggest finding somebody.

Work / English teaching job offer in a medium Polish town. Is the salary sufficient? [30]

I don't think you should expect a lot in the way of accommodation- you will be living in a communist block. But it is bearable. The experience will be worth it.

I don't think 2000 is a lot. You should definitely ask for more.

Work / English teaching job offer in a medium Polish town. Is the salary sufficient? [30]

no. It is pennies. Don't take it.

Work / Jobs for non Polish speakers? [24]

I answered the question but it would appear as though somebody has deleted my post.

Study / Quality of Polish classes for foreigners [7]

I have had both. Private lessons from a Prof. in Polish language and group classes. I learned a lot from both.

Law / Three cities battle for IBM service center - In Poland [3]

not rzeszow- the logistic and transportation factor is too important. my bet would be Lodz.

USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

no, different person.

my point is the majority of america thinks that if you immigrate to u.s. then you must assimilate. I am not American- proud to be from a country where multiculturalism is accepted.

Study / Quality of Polish classes for foreigners [7]

I did an intensive course at a private school in Warsaw. It was pretty good. The only problem was that it was me with three Korean guys- who were very clever, however, I had a hard time understanding what they were saying- there written test were perfect but when we had to do conversation- I had a hard time with it.