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Posts by Stu  

Joined: 31 Mar 2010 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 21 Jan 2012
Threads: Total: 12 / In This Archive: 11
Posts: Total: 515 / In This Archive: 416 		From: Wroclaw
Speaks Polish?: no

Displayed posts: 427 / page 7 of 15
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Stu   
13 Feb 2011
Study / The worst of Polish education. No wonder Polish universities are bottom of the list. [142]

Just 2? And national media talks about it? Wow. I was always a fan of Dutch ethics... it seems like perfect society!

Well ... there were two cases that came to light in the last week. And people got fed up with it. Hence the change in the law. But I don't think it is enough to change national law, since we can study anywhere in the world. A substantial amount of Dutch (often the more mediocre) students already go to Belgium to study to avoid the numerus clausus which exists here for several studies.
Stu   
13 Feb 2011
Study / The worst of Polish education. No wonder Polish universities are bottom of the list. [142]

In the last couple of weeks, they caught a couple of students cheating on two high schools here in the Netherlands. Consequently the laws will be changed so that students who are caught cheating, will be expelled and won't be admitted to any university or high school, so in effect one would have thrown away one's own future.

I think this should be a European rule. I wouldn't want to have a "bogus" specialist operating on me, or some bogus lawyer, or accountant, or whatever.
Stu   
11 Feb 2011
USA, Canada / Not everyone that lives or comes from America is RICH! [300]

Just look how we help Egypcians,without our help they could come up with some stupid ideas about who should run Egypt,but thanks to US help they have democracy and an awesome president.

Come on, mate. You accuse IS of living under a rock, but it is obviously you who is been living on the dark side of the moon. Since when was Mubarak a democrat?! He's never been a democrat, not for any of his 30 years in power. An "awesome president"?! Hmm hmm ... that's why the protesters on Tahrir Square wanted to get rid of him.
Stu   
9 Feb 2011
Life / Using heating oil in your car in Poland, what are the risks? [11]

The difference between heating oil and diesel is mainly the sulfur content. In regular diesel it's 5 ppm, in heating oil it can be as much as 3.000 ppm. Another difference is that some additives are put in diesel, which prevents paraffin flakes from forming in low temperature conditions.

So your car can in fact run on heating oil.

But ............!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember they put a dye in heating oil, which is very difficult to get rid off from your fuel tank. Even after filling your car up several times with regular diesel, this dye will still be present. And with high fuel prices, checks will surely increase.

If you want to save yourself some money, then replace 10 to 20% (in a Golf III Turbo diesel even up to 50%) of your diesel with salat oil (like sunflower seed oil), cheaply available from Lidl or Aldi. Don't fill your car up with salat oil only, because the viscosity and flashpoint of salat oil is higher than that of diesel.

Advantages of salat oil: no dye to worry about and a nice smell of french fries from the exhaust.
Stu   
8 Feb 2011
Love / Appropriate Wedding Gift for a Polish girlfriend of several months? [37]

the couples getting married received fairly large sums of money and gift certificates from their friends and families

I have to agree ... when I got married, we did get large sums of money as well. The only thing we did differently, was to ask people not to buy us flowers, but to donate the amount they would have spend on flowers to a foundation for wounded Polish veterans, which also raised a nice sum.
Stu   
29 Jan 2011
Love / Polish traditions and parents (I was dating this Polish guy..) [72]

but still are lot of parents who don't like to learn English in their mid 50s

True ... but there are ways around it.

My mother-in-law only speaks Polish. I don't understand everything, but usually I am (beginning to) get(ting) the meaning of it. If there are things I really don't understand I ask my wife. Most of the rest of the family and friends speak English or German, so no probs there and otherwise my wife has "translation-duty".

One of her friends speaks Spanish and I answer back in French.

My mother speaks German to my wife and she answers back in English, so no problems there either. If there is a little confusion, I help them out. My father, who lives in NZ, speaks English.
Stu   
29 Jan 2011
Love / Polish traditions and parents (I was dating this Polish guy..) [72]

The guy is either a complete loser or (the opposite) he is playing with you and fools around behind your back, but doesn't have the guts to own up to it. I cannot believe that there are still normal, modern parents who tell their children whom to marry. But if they did, stay away from them as far away as possible.

Don't forget that when you marry, you also kind of marry into the other family and you don't want to have a constant battle with your in-laws. It's extremely tiring and frustrating, believe me.

Just dump the geezer. Tell him in the face to go and fvck himself. That you deserve someone better than him. That you don't need him to determine whether you are happy or not. You're your own girl, not his playmate.

I'm married into a 100% Polish family and I have no problems whatsoever. So unless I am very, very lucky indeed, I would say it is not normal for Polish (or any) parent to determine whom their kid is allowed to marry.

Good luck, girl!
Stu   
25 Jan 2011
Real Estate / Where to live, where to avoid in Krakow [28]

Don't talk BS, jarnowa. You and I know full well that there are hardly any foreigners (accept for some tourists) in Wrocław. And ... I've never seen you on Rynek warning passers-by for "the things to come".

You should try it once. I'm curious as to the reactions of the crowd.

Big mouth, ehhh ... ?
Stu   
25 Jan 2011
Language / Changing Polish punctuation? [23]

Italian (from Corriere dello Sera):
* interpellate 2.200 mamme dei Paesi
* Record del freddo in Italia: -48,3 gradi
* Registrato lo scorso 27 dicembre 2010 alle ore 4,30
* Aggiornato alle 10:53

So in Italian they also use the comma to separate time.

Spanish (from Expansion):
* Así, en 2011 espera que la economía se acelere un 0,6%
* El Dow cierra al borde del 12.000 en su mejor sesión del año
* 11:23 Renfe obtiene por primera vez beneficios en alta velocidad

Portuguese (from Diario de Noticias):
* 25 de Janeiro de 2011 10:29
* 4,01 euros de preço corrigido
* 1.250 Hotéis em Portugal

Anyway ... I guess all this is ample proof that Polonius' claim that his examples of the use of punctuation is "western", is wrong.
Stu   
25 Jan 2011
Language / Changing Polish punctuation? [23]

Western comma is creeping in

It's not Western, Polonius. It's English.

In German, French and Dutch we still use the comma for decimals, the dot for setting off the thousands (or sometimes a space - eg. 80 000).

Time can either be written with a dot or a colon.

Anyway ... it's not "western", as you seem to think.
Stu   
25 Jan 2011
Life / Support wanted to stop the sale of live carp in Poland [74]

Still wondering about this law that prohibits the sale of live carp, though.

Probably some EU-rule.

On a side note: I'd like to find an EU-rule about the "transportation of humans on trains". When you transport animals, they need to have water, food and some space. Looking at how humans were transported on trains a couple of weeks ago in Poland (even how they had to board the trains sometimes), one wonders if there are ANY laws applicable.

But maybe that's something for another thread.
Stu   
24 Jan 2011
Love / Dutch farmer chooses Polish woman in reality TV show [10]

Farmer Wants A Wife: Marcel is already living together with Polish Ksenia.

The farmer from Limburg (Stu: Dutch province, Maastricht) Marcel, who is searching for the love of his life in the TV-hit "Farmer Wants A Wife", it seems has already found her. The Polish Ksenia already lives on Marcel's farm in Kessel-Eik. Villagers didn't only spot her on the farmyard, but she also seems to have taken control of the farm. On the sign with a dangerously growling dog, she has already translated the sign into "Be aware, I'm guarding here" in Polish. But Marcel better take care, because he has had a Polish love already twice. And twice it failed, but Marcel thinks this is third time lucky and that Ksenia is his true love.

Marcel keeps quiet about the fact that Ksenia already moved in. He has had to sign a contract in which it is stipulated that ...

(I don't have an account and I don't intend to pay for the rest of the article, if you don't mind - I guess you get the idea).

I'm sorry about the stupid article ... it's a worthless website ... but since you wanted to have a translation.
Stu   
19 Jan 2011
Travel / Best way to get from Lodz to Warsaw? [48]

How do I do the search?

Okay ... you look for a journey between Warsaw (Warszawa) and Lodz (£ódź Fabryczna).

Then you will get an overview. You can show the details for the selection you have chosen. And when you click on "Fares", you'll see what it will cost you. Mind you ... Warsaw central station is NOT near the airport.

In a TLK you have a first and a second class (prices PLN 47,50 or PLN 33,30 respectively), in a IR you only have 2nd class (price PLN 26,00). Travel times don't differ that much. If I were you, I'd go for a TLK and first class.

For info about £ódź, you'll have to ask someone else. I know Wrocław ... not £ódź.
Stu   
19 Jan 2011
Life / $3,000-$4,000 a month - would we have enough money to live in Poland? [273]

My question

Just send him to a Polish school. Will work out just fine. My father sent me to local schools in France, Belgium, and Germany and I've never regretted it. As long as you keep talking English to your son and your wife Polish, he'll have the best of both worlds and he'll be/stay bilingual.
Stu   
19 Jan 2011
Travel / Best way to get from Lodz to Warsaw? [48]

Is there a site for the train system?

Try here ... rozklad-pkp.pl/?q=en/node/143

Spend a night in Warsaw in a hotel close or on the airport area.

Take a taxi outside the airport (don't be conned by the guys inside offering you a taxi), or take the 175 bus downtown. Should set you back around PLN 40 for the taxi or PLN 2,80 for the bus. Look for a hotel before you leave. Most of the staff speak English, so no worries about that.

I'm sure others will help you with your questions regarding £ódz.
Stu   
13 Jan 2011
USA, Canada / Think you're Polish (and live in the USA)? [161]

Youre going to feed 16 Million from greenhouses? get outta here.

And a whole lot of Germans too ... you should hear them complain (and rightly so) about our tomatoes and cucumbers, which pretty much taste the same :(
Stu   
13 Jan 2011
History / Polish flag over the Reichstag first? [399]

You know my opinion, every German of the WW2 era whether man, woman or a child deserved death

Jesus ... you are a simple mind! As if every German during that time was a Nazi. Only someone with no braincells at all can make statements like that. And don't try to comment, Mr. Dickwad. You've lost all credibility or the faintest notion of respect with a remark like that. I won't bother talking to a cvnt rag like you.
Stu   
10 Jan 2011
Language / cookery, word usage question [19]

Paul Rankin & Richard Corrigan are Irish by the way

Yes, you are right ... they are. But they cook like angels. So I thought it would be a shame not to mention them.
Stu   
10 Jan 2011
Language / cookery, word usage question [19]

and the British

You should watch English cookery programs more often. I can think of a couple of outstanding British chefs (apart from the obvious like Nigella Lawson - but who cares what she is cooking, since people just watch her, not her cooking - , Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay).

There are the likes of James Martin, Rick Stein (if you like fish), Galton Blackiston, Gino D'Acampo (for Italian), Levi Roots (for Jamaican), Marcus Wareing, Michael Caines, Paul Rankin, Richard Corrigan, Stephen Terry, Tom Kitchin, Alain Ducasse, etc ... etc ... etc ...