Life / 'Migawka na okaziciela' card which entitles to travel by public transport in Poland [3]

"Na okaziciela" is a more expensive version of the public transport pass, which is not connected with a specific person.

If only you will be using it, a monthly ticket for the whole public transport network, for a normal price, costs 80 PLN.

If you want to use the MPK (public transport company in Łódź) network also outside of Łódź, it's 96 PLN. It doesn't cover buses in Zgierz and Pabianice.

You can buy also a 90-day ticket, which is cheaper. 192 PLN - Łódź only, 230 PLN - Łódź and MPK outside of the city area.

For 82 PLN you can buy a monthly ticket which covers not only buses and trams, but also all the regional trains within Łódź (so called WBA - Wspólny Bilet Aglomeracyjny). Unfortunately it's not available in the 90-day version.

If you are a student (there are also other entitled persons), you pay 50% of that, but you need a student ID of a Polish school/university or the ISIC card (only if you are a student of a university-level school somewhere abroad).

You fill in this application form: migawka.lodz.pl/application - put:
Imię - first name
Nazwisko - family name
mark "Jestem obcokrajowcem" - "I am a foreigner"
Data urodzenia - birth date in YYYY-MM-DD format
Ulica - street where you live
Numer domu - house number
Numer mieszkania - apartment number (if applicable)
Miejscowość - town (probably Łódź)
Kod pocztowy - postal code
Adres email - no need to explain
Numer telefonu - phone number, you don't have to give it
Zdjęcie - upload a pass photo in JPG format, max 500 kB
Punkt odbioru karty - select the point where you want to receive your card
Rewrite the captcha code, mark the first of the two points to mark. The second one is that you agree to receive commercials, you don't have to mark it. The first one is that you agree that they process your data, you must agree, otherwise they are not allowed to use your personal data to issue a ticket, so they cannot issue the ticket.

Click Zapisz - Save. After a few days, your public transport card will be waiting for you in the selected point. While receiving it, you have to buy any long-term ticket, for example a monthly one.

If you have your photo in a paper version, you can go to any of these points, fill in the application form on paper (looks like that: migawka.lodz.pl/files/MIGAWKA_wniosek.pdf) and give your photo together with it, but then you have to wait a few days anyway.

When you already have your card, your ticket expires and you want a new one, you don't have to go to any of the few points where you could receive your card, you have much bigger choice: migawka.lodz.pl/sales-points - which are mainly different kiosks. Some of them are ticket machines, they might be easiest for someone who doesn't speak Polish. Or on the website - here: migawka.lodz.pl/login (it's impossible to buy the ticket that is valid also on trains).

Even if you need the ticket only once, you have to do it with this card, there is no other way. If you don't want to wait, you can get this version "na okaziciela", then you don't wait, and you can get it in all the points where you buy new ticket when you have the card already (except for ticket machines), but it's much more expensive, for example a 30-day ticket for Łódź only costs in this version 124 PLN instead of the normal price 80 PLN.

For a slightly lower price (for example 70 PLN instead of 80 PLN) you can buy a ticket that is valid in two selected intersecting bus or tram lines only instead of the whole network.

Law / File complaint against Poland's police [97]

Well, this is how the beaurocracy works - not only in Poland. I feel sorry for all of that, but it is just so, that the services like police are ineffective if you don't control whether they do their job or not.

It's reprehensible what this company has done, but to win the case at the court it will definitely take much time, especially taking into account that everything is about a really big amount of money.

Life / Poverty in Poland - is it the "legacy" of communism? [4]

Yes and no. It's impossible to answer to this question in a simple way.

See that poverty is also in the countries which have never been communistic. I don't know how much truth is that, but according to my grandfather, there was much more poverty in Poland before the WW2 than in the communist times. This might be, however, an effect of PRL propaganda. Like some people think now that there is much more crime now than in PRL times, which is not truth. The difference is that after the fall of communism independent media have appeared, and media like to publish sensational news (to which the news about crime also belong), as they bring more money.

One of the main ideas of communism was to make all the people equal. Of course, it's in fact impossible, it's always so that there are the equal and "the more equal". There was no official unemployment, everyone was legally obliged to have a job, so everyone had to earn some money (which was detrimental for the economy since you couldn't fire an employee who doesn't want to work). This is, at least, the theory and the propaganda version, but it must be at least partially true. How it was in reality, noone can say, I am afraid. Maybe analyzing some statistical data could help, but I don't think the statistical data from the communist times are reliable. Asking people that have lived in these times will not help since it will tell the truth only about the environment the specific person lived in and not about the country as a whole.

And after the fall of the comunism many people fell into poverty because of losing their jobs in the bankrupting enterprises.

On the other hand, "equalizing" everyone meant also making those who were rich much poorer (for example, a lot of possession has been confiscated by the government after the WW2, just in order to get rid of the rich people), which leads to making the country as a whole poorer than before.

But in the communist times, the economy of Poland was basically weak - due to the forced cooperation and "bortherhood" with the Soviet Union and bans on cooperation with the western Europe. Not only because of the Soviet Union, but also because of the western countries, which didn't want us to have access to their technology (COCOM). So if Poland wasn't communistic for such a long time (although not just the communism seems to be a problem here, but rather the dependence on the Soviet Union and treating us as an enemy by the West), it could probably be much richer now.

Study / Medical exemption from a Polish doctor to justify my absence - Hospital Warsaw. [12]


No, it doesn't work so.

EHIC works so that you can get any treatment that is needed for you from the medical point of view (so permanent medicines too) at the given time, which cannot be delayed safely. On the conditions equal with the citizens of the country you are in. EHIC exist just in order for you not to have to buy any extra travel insurance while travelling within the EU.

It works not only in emergency situations. For example - I am for student exchange in Germany (I am from Poland). I got once sick, with high fever, and the main symptoms vanished quite quickly, I was virtually "healthy" on the next day, but what stayed was a very strong cough. When it hadn't disappear for over a week, I went to a doctor to have myself examined if it's nothing more severe. And with EHIC it didn't cost me anything, neither had I any problems at the clinic (although it was a small private one, of the "two doctors and a registration lady" type, since such clinics are typical for Germany).

Travel / The best and inexpensive way to travel from Prague to Warsaw? [15]

That's true.

With the buses from Kraków to Cieszyn it is so that they have all their timetables on the Internet.

lajkonikbus.pl/Nowy-rozk%C5%82ad-jazdy%3A-Krak%C3%B3w-Tychy--Bielsko-Bia%C5%82a---Cieszyn.php

In the blue-red line you have information on the days of the week, for example 5-7 means from Friday to Sunday.
In the table for the direction from Kraków to Cieszyn, you have also the information about the corresponding gates at the bus terminal in Cracow.

You can use also the website: e-podroznik.pl

This is the price table: lajkonikbus.pl/Cennik-bilet%C3%B3w%3A-Krak%C3%B3w---Tychy---Bielsko-Bia%C5%82a---Cieszyn.php

First table - normal tickets. Second table - for students (they don't give any information on what documents confirming being a student they accept - and for this case, unlike in case of the railway tickets, it isn't also definied by the law).

Life / Polish ID number - Numer Dowodu Osobistego required in Poland [7]

Well, they are private companies and they can always refuse to sign up a contract without any reason.

But I know that often when a client have some problems (especially strange problems) with them, and when he starts to talk about that on social media, especially on the profiles of the specific mobile network (but also just on Internet forums, although I don't think they ever look at PolishForums.com), it often helps.

Why don't just use a pre-paid? It is usually more affordable anyway. With a contract you theoretically get a cheap phone, but then all the calls are much more expensive than with pre-paid. It's better to buy a phone for a full price and use a pre-paid.

Po polsku / Czy Polskie liceum by przyjelo mnie do 1 klasy liceum jak wroce z Ameryki po szescioletnim pobycie w Ameryce? [7]

"Dziedzinowe" słownictwo to nie jest akurat żaden problem. Często jest ono w różnych językach podobne, bo wywodzi się z greki lub łaciny, albo polskie słowo jest po prostu tłumaczeniem słowa angielskiego na polski zgodnie z językiem ogólnym (np. w matematyce variable - zmienna). Problemem mogą być braki z języka polskiego, bo tego przedmiotu w amerykańskim odpowiedniku gimnazjum cię raczej nie uczyli. No i ogólne różnice programowe. Z drugiej strony - przecież nie będą raczej kazali powtarzać ci całego gimnazjum, a wrzucenie cię np. do trzeciej gimnazjum byłoby bez sensu, bo sprowadzi się do tego, że przerobisz pewnie jakąś małą część braków, a z drugiej strony, niepotrzebnie drugi raz będziesz przerabiać część materiału, jaki miałeś już w USA. Co do procedur określonych przepisami - nie kojarzę takich, ale najprościej właśnie po prostu się zapytać.

Nie raz są sytuacje, że ktoś zmienia w Polsce szkołę, bądź klasę, i pojawiają się różnice w takiej postaci, że w starej szkole na dany przedmiot przewidziane były, przez całe nauczanie, po dwie godziny tygodniowo tylko w drugiej klasie, a w nowej - po dwie godziny tygodniowo tylko w pierwszej klasie. W praktyce wygląda to tak, że taki uczeń musi się zgłosić do nauczyciela który prowadzi ten przedmiot i po prostu go u niego zaliczyć w formie czegoś w rodzaju egzaminu z całego materiału nauczania (czyli musi się tego wszystkiego nauczyć sam). W odwrotnej sytuacji, gdy drugi raz miałby w takim przypadku przerabiać ten sam materiał z tego samego przedmiotu - musi przychodzić na zajęcia (bo z racji że jest niepełnoletni, szkoła nie może go zostawić bez opieki - jeśli jest pełnoletni, teoretycznie nie powinno to być problemem, ale w praktyce spotykałem się w tym zakresie z różnymi dziwnymi procedurami, typu np. zbieranie kartek od rodziców, że zapewnią uczniom trzeciej klasy liceum bezpieczny powrót ze studniówki, mimo że wszyscy uczniowie byli pełnoletni), ale nie ma obowiązku nic zaliczać, może przychodzić na zajęcia i nic nie robić. Chyba że chce poprawić ocenę.


Zdaje, albo podchodzi się do nich.

Travel / The best and inexpensive way to travel from Prague to Warsaw? [15]

This is a guide about travelling from Poland to Czech Republic by train: kolej.one.pl/~halski/cestovani_vlakem.html

It is in Polish and it hasn't been updated for quite a long time (so the train connections listed there can be no more up to date), but it has some tips about how to get to Prague from Poland by train for a low price, and it may be still useful, also travelling in the reverse direction.

Going by a normal long-distance train from Czech Republic to Poland, it might be more affordable to buy a Czech ticket to a border point (not to a station, to a border). From what it's written on this website, in Czech Republic it's normal to sell a train ticket to a state border and there shouldn't be any problem with that (it's problematic in Poland), although you can't do it online. Then you have two options:

- if you happen to be in Poland in the meantime - you may go to a ticket counter at the station, show the Czech ticket valid to the border, and they should issue the ticket from the border to any station in Poland (in practice they may make problems, as far as I know, in such a situation they should issue a separate ticket and a separate seat reservation since they are unable to reserve a seat from a point not being a station, but it might have chagned); remember that for most of the long-distance train connections in Poland (operated by the PKP-Intercity company) it's cheaper to buy a train ticket possibly early, at least more than 2 weeks in advance

- if you don't happen to be in Poland - buy a ticket from the first station after crossing the border to the target station online on intercity.pl - when you are on the train, after crossing the border, you must find the Polish train conductor and tell him you need a ticket from the border point to the first station (only in case of D/TLK trains, in case of EC/EIC you don't have to look for him, you just stay in your seat and wait); if you go from Poland to Czech Republic it usually works so that the price to the border point is the same as to the last station before (the ticket prices are defined for km ranges, for example the price is the same for the journeys at distances from 51 to 55 km) and when you tell the conductor, he will just extend your ticket to the border, I am not sure if it's possible to extend the ticket at the departure, but if not, then he will probably let you go anyway since it's complicated to issue a ticket from a border point, or in the worst case, he will issue a ticket from the border point to the first station and you will have to pay for it (and here the price is terrible - 48 PLN + maybe a 10 PLN service fee, although in my opinion the conductor shouldn't charge the service fee in such a case)

The problem with buying tickets online on intercity.pl is that it's impossible to buy there a single ticket if you want to change between trains somewhere in Poland. But it might still be cheaper to buy two separate tickets online in advance, if you cannot go to a ticket counter in Poland, than to buy a single ticket on the departure day.

- the third option is that you can buy a ticket for the whole route from the border to the target station (any in Poland) from the conductor after crossing the border, but buying the ticket on the departure day is usually more expensive than doing it in advance.

I don't think it will be cheaper to go to Wrocław by regional trains and then from Wrocław to Warsaw by long-distance ones since for a regional and a long-distance train in Poland you need to buy separate tickets, and the price for 1 km is in Poland always much lower if you buy a single ticket at a long distance. In other words - the difference in ticket prices between 1 km and 21 km is much bigger than between 201 km and 221 km. The same might be with a bus to Wrocław and train to Warsaw, although you just need to check it.

If you want to cross the border on foot (although it will rather not be cheaper than just buying separate tickets to and from the border), go from Prague to Cesky Tesin, walk to the Polish part of this town (Cieszyn) and get a train to Warsaw from there. The problem is that there is no direct trains from Cieszyn to Warsaw, you will have to catch a regional train (of the Koleje Śląskie company) and change from it to a long-distance train to Warsaw, so you will need two separate tickets for them, which is usually more expensive.

Looking at the prices if you buy tickets from/to the border:
- Praha-border
I cannot check the price to the border, but the price for Praha to Ostrava (the last station before the border) for tomorrow is 295 CZK (=11 EUR) and for some trains there is a special offer available with the price 190 CZK (=7 EUR). I don't know if the special offer ticket can be bought also to the border, if not, you should buy a ticket to Ostrava in the special offer and from Ostrava to the border as a normal ticket and it will be definitely cheaper - the ticket prices in Czech Republic are based on a constant fare for 1 km, not on km ranges like in Poland. Checked at: cd.cz/eshop/

For tickets bought in advance (checked for the beginning of April) the standard price is 279 CZK (=10 EUR).
One of the trains (the night one) crosses the border in a different place and the last station in the Czech Republic is Bohumin. There are some incosistencies between the Polish and Czech timetable, probably caused by the recent fire at the station in Bohumin which destroyed all the station equipement (normally they were switching some carriages between trains there, now they had to move this operation to Ostrava), but the price for tomorrow is 309 CZK (=11.5 EUR).

-border-Warsaw
The ticket from the first station after the border (Chałupki, except for the night train, where it's Zebrzydowice) costs 118 PLN (=27 EUR) for tomorrow; for the beginning of April it's only 83 PLN (=19 EUR). Anyway it's quite expensive, mainly because it's a train of the EIC (Express Intercity) class. In TLK or IC it would be cheaper. For the night train, from Zebrzydowice, it's only 58.5 PLN (=13.5 EUR) since it's TLK.

You may go by EIC to the first station where you can change to TLK.

You have again two options:
1. Go by the EIC to Katowice. A ticket from Chałupki to Katowice is 59 PLN (=13.5 EUR) for tomorrow, bought in advance it will be of course cheaper. Then change in Katowice to a TLK or IC train to Warsaw - the price for tomorrow is about 60 PLN (=14 EUR), but in one of the EIP trains (so theoretically in the most comfortable train class) it's only 50 PLN (=11.5 EUR) - you must always check if there is no such cases.

2. Leave the train from Praha in Chałupki, change to a regional train (Koleje Śląskie company), go by this train to Katowice and change there. It costs 16.20 PLN (=4 EUR). The problem is that for the section from the border to Chałupki you may have to buy a ticket for almost 50 PLN... Unless noone will be checking the tickets between the border and Chałupki.

So the last option. Cheap, safe and without extra walking, although with some train changes.

1. Go by train from Praha to Bohumin. You buy a single ticket for 309 CZK (=11.5 EUR). For some trains (which need reservation) it's 344 CZK (=13 EUR). You will have to change between trains once - in Ostrava.

2. From there you catch a Polish regional train to Katowice. Company Koleje Śląskie. There are four such connections in a day, one of them needs a train change in Chałupki. You buy a special cross-border ticket from Bohumin to Chałupki for 16 CZK (=60 eurocent) at a ticket counter in Czech Republic or probalby 2 PLN (=45 eurocent) from the conductor on the train.

3. You buy from the conductor on the train a ticket from Chałupki to Katowice. For 16.20 PLN (=4 EUR). This is still the same train.
4. You buy, at best - as early as it's possible (basically, it's possible a month in advance), on intercity.pl - a ticket for a train from Katowice to Warsaw, so that you can safely catch it using the connection mentioned in the points before. The prices begin from 42 PLN (=10 EUR), but you must choose one that is cheap (usually TLK or IC, but there are also some cheap EIP's).

The time is about 8 hours, the price about 25 euro. You won't do it cheaper by train, unless you don't use any long-distance trains in Poland, only regional ones, but it will be much longer and with many train changes (about 14 hours and 6 changes). Is it worth that? If you can buy in advance the ticket for 27 euro for the direct train, then not. You can do it online on the Czech Railways webpage.

Sorry for such a long post.


Except for cases when:
- you travel in a group, even of a few people; then it's cheap to have a separate ticket for the Czech section, since Czech Railways have an extensive system of discounts for groups

- you are a student and either you have ISIC (and study outside of Poland), or you have a student ID of a Polish school (and you study in Poland), then you are entitled to a 51% discounts on Polish trains and it's good to have a separate ticket for the Polish section

Both discounts do not apply with an international ticket.

Po polsku / Czy Polskie liceum by przyjelo mnie do 1 klasy liceum jak wroce z Ameryki po szescioletnim pobycie w Ameryce? [7]

Nie wiem, myślę że oni rozpatrują to indywidualnie.

Zadzwoń do kuratorium albo do dowolnego liceum w Polsce i się dowiedz.

Niby opinie są takie że w większości krajów zachodnich jest niższy poziom w szkołach niż u nas, ale nie mam pojęcia, jak oni na to w praktyce patrzą, a najlepiej zawsze dowiedzieć się u źródła.

Ewentualnie porównaj po prostu program nauczania (podstawę programową) poszczególnych przedmiotów w gimnazjum z tym, co miałeś dotychczas w USA.

Travel / The best and inexpensive way to travel from Prague to Warsaw? [15]

Quite cheap is also PolskiBus or Lux Express bus.

Most comfortable - probably train.

Bus 50-100 zł, train - from 24 euro to even 70 euro.

Life / Medical / Healthcare Questions in smaller towns in Poland [10]

There are different dentists in Poland. Some of them are excellent, some are poor and using their service my result in losing your teeth in the future. Usually the private ones are better than those having contract with NFZ (so that some range of basic services is free of charge for Polish and EU citizens, for example filling of the front teeth; in case of the back teeth free is only old-fashioned mercury-based filling), but this is not a strict rule. There are some really bad private and very good NFZ ones.

Study / Medical exemption from a Polish doctor to justify my absence - Hospital Warsaw. [12]


Well, if you are sick so that you cannot come to the classes at the university, the doctor should write a sick leave. The only exception is any planned treatment, like when you need an operation, but it's not urgent. This is not covered by the EHIC. But everything that is needed at the specific moment (so also a sick leave if the doctor decides that you should stay at home) - EHIC entitles you for that. Another thing is when you aren't sick in fact and you need a fake sick leave, no doctor will do it for free (and it's much more likely to work if you go private), but it's illegal and it's a kind of bribery in fact...


Isn't a real formal sick note, commonly known as "L-4" (this was in the past the symbol of the official form for that, now it's "ZUS some letters"), issued only to the employed people? Such a sick leave must be reported by the doctor to proper institutions so that they are able to verify whether you really stay at home and not work illegally anywhere else than at your employer.

Sometimes the doctors claim that they are not obliged to issue any sick note if you are not employed (even when the school/university accepts only sick leaves issued by doctors, necessarily with two stamps: of the doctor and of the clinic), and that's true, no law obliges them to do that (but what should you do then?), however, they finally do it when you ask them for that. It's from my experience.


Hm... Basically even in case of the Polish citizens, if the computer system shows that the you not insured, but you know you are, you have a right to sign a statement where you confirm that you are insured. But then you have to explain it with your employer, who is responsible for paying for your health insurance (in case of people who don't work yet, it's the employer of any of the employed family members). Not a long time ago it was so that everyone had a special booklet ("legitymacja ubezpieczeniowa", commonly known also as "książeczka zdrowia") when the employer stamped that the employee is insured, then they were going to introduce the computer system, but they didn't manage to do it on time, so you could use either your old "książeczka zdrowia" (but they weren't issued any more), or you had to show a document from your employer confirming that they transferred the money for your health insurance to the ZUS (ZUS RMUA form), but now everything is finally computerized and you basically don't need any document other than your identity card or passport.

Sometimes you may have to quarrel with the ladies at the registration counter, you may have to call the NFZ (the phone numbers are here:

nfz.gov.pl/kontakt/infolinie-nfz/ - the middle column in the row dependent on the province, but don't expect them to speak English; you may also have to wait some time to get the connection with a consultant), but I anyway believe that the people in the "przychodnia" will know what EHIC is.

Sometimes it may happen that they will have no more time that day to arrange a visit at the doctor, then you may try to call other "przychodnia" and ask there. But anyway someone speaking Polish should do it.

There is also a guide in English on the NFZ website:
ekuz.nfz.gov.pl/en/info_dla_uprawnionych_z_innych/general-information-concerning-access-health-care-during-temporary-st

Here:
ekuz.nfz.gov.pl/hidden_main_page/kontakt
if you select your province, you will get phone numbers to the inernational department of NFZ, the proper phone number will be described as "Informacje dla uprawnionych z innych państw członkowskich UE/EFTA" ("Information for the entitled from the other EU/EFTA member states") - if this is a phone number for the foreigners, it's more likely that they will speak English there.


For clearity, it's about Polish citizens, of course - they don't have foreigners in their database and you need EHIC if you come from abroad.

Study / Medical exemption from a Polish doctor to justify my absence - Hospital Warsaw. [12]

Why hospital? A hospital is a good place if you break a leg, you need an operation, or if you have some kind of a severe disease. If you have just a migrene (or things like flu etc.) and you need a sick leave, you go to a doctor in a local clinic (in Polish: przychodnia), not to a hospital.

If you are from one of the EU countries and you have the EHIC card (in Poland known as EKUZ) with you, you go to any public "przychodnia" with a GP doctor ("lekarz rodzinny" or "internista"). I have no experience with that since Polish is my mother tongue, but I belive that medical doctors are educated people and they should know English, although you may have some problems with the language at the registration counter where you have to go first after coming to "przychodnia". It would be a good idea to take someone who speaks Polish with you.

If you are from the EU and you don't have the EHIC, as far as I know, you can pay and get the money back later in your country, although I don't know the details, you have to check it.

If you are from outside of the EU and you study in Poland, you probably have some kind of medical insurance bought by yourself, then you should contact your insurance company, they should tell you where to go.

To find a public clinic you can go to this website: zip.nfz.gov.pl/GSL/GSL/POZ - unfortunately in Polish only.
You select your province in the "Województwo" field, then in the "Miejscowość" field you type in the name of your city/town (Polish diacritic characters needed), in case of some cities it may be possible to select the city name together with the district - although it may not find all of them. It's also possible to enter the street in the "Ulica" field.

All of them are also marked by an NFZ sign next to the entrance: NFZ Poland

Some of them are in fact private, but they have agreements with the institution responsible for the public health care (NFZ) so that for those who are entitled to free health care in the public clinics it's also free to have a treatment there. They are also listed on this website and they also have the NFZ sign next to the entrance.

Have a look at the websites of your university for the international students, or of the ESN section at your university - they may also have some information on where to get medical help close to the university, and where they know English.

Real Estate / Why are toilets and sinks in Poland always separated by a door? [33]

By law? I think it's just because these are small rooms and with doors opening "to inside" it would be much less comfortable.

To prevent the water droplets with germs from spreading around the bathroom while flushing the toilet, you can just close the seat with its cover. There is no need to have a door for that.

By the way, it's in fact difficult not to transport germs to different places after using the toilet. Touching the door handle is here not such a problem as touching the water tap while washing hands. You have used the toilet. And now you have to touch the tap to open the water. With your hand with germs. The germs are transferred to the tap. You have washed your hands - and now you need to close the water. You have to touch the tap with germs to do it. In hospital for surgeons they have special taps that can be opened and closed using the arm instead of the palm - but in case of the taps met in private hauses it's either difficult (in case of modern taps, these which you push up to open the water and down to close it) or impossible (in case of the old-type ones, where you have to turn a valve). And it's exaggerating anyway. Imagine that you come back home from outside. You have touched money, you have touched a handrail in a bus, maybe also a handrail in the stairs while walking upstairs to your apartment. Everything full of germs, maybe even more full than the toilet. And what do you do? First you touch the handle to the main door of your apartment. Then you touch handles of different doors in your apartment. For sure the handle of the main bathroom part (with the washing basin), because you had to do it just to be able to wash your hands. You have germs even on the main bathroom door handle anyway.

I think it's enough to avoid touching things like door handles or bathroom taps before eating, after you wash your hands (although it's difficult since the handle of the bathroom door also has germs, you may wash your hands in the kitchen sink, but you don't have soap there, and washing hands using washing-up liquid is not good for your skin). Everything beyond that is just exaggerating.

By the way, I haven't really met what you are describing (separate room with the toilet within the bathroom) in private houses and apartments in Poland. If so, then there is a totally separate room for the bathroom, and a totally separate room for the toilet. Usually also having a sink, and the separate bathroom also having a toilet "throne". And the purpose of that is as has been already explained. One person is having a bath, which can sometimes even 2 hours or longer, if someone likes to relax having a bath, in this time another person can use the toilet or wash the hands. In some apartment blocks from the 1970's I have met also a cheaper version of that, in case of which there is only a toilet bowl in the toilet room, there is no sink. And there is no toilet in the bathroom. To wash your hands you have to go out and enter the bathroom. This makes less sense, but still, when the bathroom is busy, and you use the toilet in a separate room, you can always wash your hands in the kitchen.

In older apartment blocks, from shortly after the World War 2, I have met an even more primitive solution. There is a bathroom with a toilet and a bath (equipped with a coal water heater - yes, you have to make a fire in it to have a bath) only, without any sink - a sink is only in the kitchen. And this sink doesn't have hot water at all.

Life / What don't you like about Poland or Polish People? [117]


Not really for European standards. Maybe you tried to compare them with the prices in the US... In Poland it's still cheaper than in most western European countries, in some central European countries it's also more expensive.


Prices comparable with the whole Europe. Maybe again you are trying to compare them with the US.

Although when you take into account that people in Poland earn less than in Germany, France or in the UK, then these things will be indeed more expensive.

Drivers are crazy, but not so crazy as in the south-east of Europe. Some of the roads are in a bad condition, but they are improving. People wearing socks for sandals... Because it's just more comfortable? Only for some time it's considered bad and totally against the fashion.

People who are really religious Catholics are quite a big group, but I think that there is more of those, who declare to be Catholics, but in fact they haven't been to church for a Holy Mass for many years.


Hearing such a comparison (also "ruski czołg" is a popular one) I have rather a feeling that the described object is old and noisy, but also robust. In this case - just noisy.

This comparizon "Russian = of bad quality" comes from that before all the cheap and poor-quality stuff started to come from China, you could buy such things on local markets, where they were brought by east-European guys. Now you also often call such products "Chinese", even if they come from other east-Asian countries like Vietnam, and even though also many good-quality products are produced in China.

USA, Canada / Watching Polish Football in the US? [3]

At telewizjada.net you have some Polish sports channels. If I am not mistaken, Ekstraklasa games are shown by the Canal+ channels: Canal+, Canal+ Sport, Canal+ Sport 2 and nSport, as well as in Eurosport 2, depending on the specific game.

Law / A general question about inheritence and will - (no debts) - properties in Poland and England [19]

The inheritance law is very complex.

Here you can find all this in a nutshell, but in Polish: forumprawne.org/prawo-spadkowe/335124-poradnik-spadkobiercy-spadkodawcy-przeczytaj.html

As far as I understand that, all what he has had, when he dies, is divided into equal pieces and shared between HIS children (so not the child that his wife has with someone else) and his wife equally - but his wife has to get at least 1/4 of that.

But I have no idea, whether Polish, or British law is applied here, if they are living in the UK.

This is when he leaves no will. When there is a will, the situation is even more complex, because when one of the child is neglected there, he/she still has right to get some part of the possesion of the father.

Law / Internet provider in Poland - signing a contract with my foreign passport [9]

NIP is now only for companies (and single-person businesses), private people have PESEL only.

Orange states on their website that foreigners to sign up the contract with them need:
- for EU citizens (and from countries having agreements with the EU): document allowing to cross the border (passport, ID) and one of the documents: residence card ("karta pobytu") or document of stay, which is valid at least a month longer than the contract with Orange that you are going to sign

- for non-EU citizens, you need additionally an extra identity document, for example an original ID from your home country

orange.pl/portal/map/map/how_to?stamp=1285337958943&articleId=4319956

Law / Internet provider in Poland - signing a contract with my foreign passport [9]

Contact the provider and ask.

Theoretically they shouldn't make problems, but I have heard about different strange procedures. I think they may want from you some documents that confirm that you have constant income, so that they can be sure that you are able to pay the monthly fee.

Language / Google Translate - want know if the Polish pronunciations given are on an accurate level? [17]

From English to Polish it's quite poor.

In this case it is not really bad, but it has an error.

Chcę byś wiedział (if you = a man)/byś wiedziała (if you = a woman), że często myślę o Twoim ojcu i o Twojej drogiej matce mimo tego, że od mojego pobytu w Polsce minęło już wiele lat.

I have omitted "wonderful and fulfilling" since I have no idea how to translate it so that it looks sensibly. I could write "wspaniałego", "cudownego", but it's not something that you really say in such a sentence.

Language / When would I use either -ę or -m in Polish? [12]

"Zapoznać" would be rather "acquainte somebody with somebody", if I can say so in English.

Language / When would I use either -ę or -m in Polish? [12]

Zapoznać means to tell each of two people that are your friends, but they don't know each other, and they meet by chance, the name of the other one - however it's called in English.

Zapoznać się (z) - get to know (with). With a definition, with a task, with a text, with a new job, with new equipement... Rather not with a person. With a person it's poznać się.

Language / When would I use either -ę or -m in Polish? [12]

I have no idea if it's the case and if this rule would work always, but look at the infinitives:

rozumieć
czytać
jeść

but:

lubić
iść

If there is a vowel before the cosonant(s) in the infinitive suffix, then you use "-em". Otherwise "-ę".

Life / If UK votes to leave the EU - what repercussions for British people living in Poland? [32]

Why is Britain supposed to throw the Poles living there out after leaving the EU? It would be completely stupid from the economical point of view to get rid of the cheap workforce.

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

Nobody will throw you out from the lecture hall.

Life / What is meant by 'dochody' (monthly earnings per child) in Poland - are they GROSS or NET? [8]

Przychód (eng. revenue) is gross, dochód (ang. income) is net.

Law / Buying a car from Poland - any site where you can check history of a car? [15]

There is such a service: historiapojazdu.gov.pl/strona-glowna


In Poland it is also very common. Driving from Berlin towards Poznań (and Warsaw), shortly after crossing the border, you can even see bilboards advertising such services... And the majority of cars in Poland came from Germany as second-hand.

Before buying a car imported from Poland, examine it really in detail.


But not to a garage recommended by the person who is selling that car.

Have the paint on the car checked to verify if the car didn't have any accident (so that it had to be repainted).

Study / Second Bachelor's in Poland? [6]

In Poland it's not a problem.

For some time it was so that the student had to pay for the studies for the second BA, now it's no longer so because the constitution tribunal said it was against the constitution, but it doesn't concern you since when you are from the US, you have to pay anyway.

Life / How can I look up a phone number in Warszawa, from Canada? [2]

Try to call the number: +48 118 913, or if it doesn't work, then +48 22 118 913. This is the help line giving information on people's phone numbers.

I am not sure if they also give information in English. There used to be a separate number for the information in English: +48 118 811 / +48 22 118 811, but the information about it that I find are over 10 years old, so its operation might have been discontinued.

There is no online-available phone directory in Poland.

And I am afraid that it might be not enough to give the name of the specific person, I think you will also need the town where they live. Due to the personal data protection law.

Another problem might be that they no longer have a landline phone in the era of cell phones.

Po polsku / Jaka sieć telefonii komórkowej w Polsce - w większości mobilny internet LTE na kartę. [6]

Jeśli masz światłowód to nic, tylko się cieszyć :)