Travel / Best/Cheap Transportation from Gdansk to Vilnius? [9]

Not the easiest of routes; perhaps PKS to Suwałki pkssuwalki.pl/0,1,848.html?locale=pl_PL

, spend the night there, and and there should be daily connections from Suwałki to Wilno - can't find it at the moment. Other than that I suggest going via Warsaw.

Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]


And I'd say you're guilty of stereotyping and pigeon-holing. Believe me, boondocks in the western parts (post-German & former PGR lands) are today probably worse that those in Lubelskie, Rzeszowskie, Podlaskie... I'd say the most underprivileged/conservative areas today are in the south, in the mountains...

Travel / Driving in Poland, are there any rules at all? [149]

Those are quite good - hopefully it isn't long before the equivalents are aired in PL.

Intoxication, alcohol or other (let's not forget other substances both legal and illicit), is obviously a big problem. Still, drink driving accounts for "only" 8% of all road fatalities - thus the remainder of road murderers must be sober. Quite shocking if you pause here for a few seconds, isn't it? Speeding drivers have been the single worst killer for years and account for ~30% of the fatalities. I think this important statistic is somehow missed in the media coverage, as all of the attention is given exclusively to drunk killers, whereas the fact of the matter is that drunk drivers are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Travel / Driving in Poland, are there any rules at all? [149]

And a massive problem it remains, no one sane will deny that and I only wish there was more done to both make drivers/general public aware of the magnitude of this national tragedy and to eradicate idiot road behaviour. On a positive note, there has been a promising decrease in 2011-12, let's wait for the 2013 stats to come out - I'd expect that trend to continue over the coming years.

Travel / Driving in Poland, are there any rules at all? [149]


It is certainly up there, but not not the highest any longer - do your homework and look up latest stats before posting: now 3rd worst for 2012 (with a 15% decrease year to year)

https://polishforums.com/news/poland-dangerous-roads-europe-69248/

Work / Teaching at a Polish University - PHD required? or being a foreigner enough ;) [45]

And that's the biggest gripe in PL - no tax free allowance, therefore even minimum pay is taxed.

News / Polish Pope, John Paul II has been canonized today [with John 23rd] [85]

smurf, thanks for sharing these facts... btw my critical (not abusive) post was also removed.

Work / Job offer from IT Giant in Katowice, Poland (UNIX specialist). Information on tax and rental costs needed. [65]

I don't want to dwell on this topic longer that necessary, but is it just me or is Dom's view overly pessimistic? Here's why I think so:

- First of all, it's not as if the OP has got any of those offers from 'richer' WEU countries, so until he has that problem, saying that he could make 'x' more elsewhere remains strictly a hypothetical exercise. The salary on offer here seems well above both the national average and the industry in PL, no questions about that. He can move on to greener pastures form there whenever he wishes.

- Despite all the shortcomings, technical education in PL, and especially in IT, still does carry positive connotation in EU, so Polish IT alumni do tend have a good reputation among those 'in the know' wherever. I've recently spoken to an Indian IT and economics alumni who studied in both India and PL and it was his strong conviction that the quality/level was definitely higher in PL. I can also speak for alumni of the medical programmes (taught both in English and Polish) who are now successfully practising medicine in the US, Canada, UK.

- Let's take a hypothetical situation: you are a potential WEU employer in the IT sector who has two candidates with nearly identical qualifications, except one is living and working in India, and the other one is in the EU. Which one would they rather make an offer? And which one would you say has more leverage when it came down to negotiating a higher salary?

Just some points to consider. Obviously PL has a long way ahead in order to catch up to the salary levels of WEU (the average is currently at about... 2/3 of EU?), and there exist greener pastures elsewhere, but to automatically discard such offer in the absence of any others would be a bit harsh to say the least.

Work / Job offer from IT Giant in Katowice, Poland (UNIX specialist). Information on tax and rental costs needed. [65]


OK, but you are still comparing apples to oranges... for such comparison to make sense, you need to factor in your expenses...

Life / Social Progress Index - Poland scores better than USA in few points. [4]

Another encouraging fact: in a recent freedom of the press ranking, Poland [19] has been ranked ahead of both the UK [33] and US [46], and just below Canada [18], and Ireland [16]:

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

There remain valid reasons why, despite


you do not find hordes of Germans, French, Danes, Finns, Swedes etc. immigrating to the US....

Language / Polish regional accents? [141]

not quite; hint: it's in the word "WYPORZYCZALNIA"

USA, Canada / Employment prospects in Poland and USA with a Computer Science Degree from a Polish university? [18]

Agreed. As for job prospects in IT, I think it would be very tough to beat the US.


Not necessarily so, at least not in my field with experience in both countries, where there are many foreign graduates from all over the world.


Agreed. In the US especially, it is more along the lines of what you have to offer rather than where you've graduated from...


How long since you graduated? Believe me, times have changed...

There's a Polish IT alumnus with a series of videos on youtube who currently studies/work at a US university, and although he answers a lot of the questions about Poles wanting to study in the US, I think that you may still find it useful (it's in Polish):

Language / Polish regional accents? [141]

You are correct - that is the Wielkopolski variation

Language / Polish regional accents? [141]


I quite like that feature, actually... sounds more polite than the norm (Co Panu podaaać?)


You do not really find it a lot in the cities - not nearly as much as in smallish towns and proper villages for sure. And I think that would be more of a Belarusian influence there rather than Russian, and in the NE corner (Suwalszczyzna) there's more of a Lithuanian influence. In the SE (Lubelskie, Podkarpackie) it is more of a Ukrainian influence, and this 'Russian sounding' slant is also very common in Warmia & Mazury (see Mazurzenie)...

I don't really mind the regional accents, but I find the use of 'Russian sounding' sentence structure awkward in Polish (Dokąd jedzie? v Dokąd jedziesz/pan jedzie? Daj dla Radka v Daj Radkowi.)


Unfortunately, the level of Polish in Greenpoint (but also other parts of NYC and probably the whole of the country) is abysmal in general. Many people sound as if they are either utterly lacking basic learning or taken straight out of deep villages circa 1964... I think one would actually struggle to find many speaking such poor Polish in Poland today. I recently took a picture of a 'Polish agency' in Queens with a blatant misspelling on the overhead sign banner in the store front (also a good challenge to those learning Polish, see if you can spot it):

• 
  Polska Agencja, Queens, NYC
  

Language / Polish regional accents? [141]

In the Wielkopolski variation, the most striking features are the singing-like tone increase, typically at the end of the sentence, combined with elongated last syllable (Dokąd pójdziemyyy?), substituting 'cz' for 'trz' as in 3 (czy), 30 (czydzieści), 300 (czysta), and of of course using 'tej' for ty, 'pyra' for potato, and many more...

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


Please don't quote out of context... try to read AND understand at the same time sometimes before posting a reply, ok?

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]

From my personal experience I would argue that south of the English channel British food is generally perceived as tasteless/deep fried, and most Continentals who have sampled Polish cuisine do actually enjoy it... and yes, the commercial pastries are overly sugary and horrilble, certainly nowhere near the stuff you find in F, E, I, D...

Study / Bachelors in Civil / Mechanical Engineering Degree in Poland [39]


Love this one ;-)

Study / Bachelors in Civil / Mechanical Engineering Degree in Poland [39]


That's not true. GM/Opel, Fiat, VW among others all have large scale production plants there (currently ~30,000 pass. cars/month) + trucks by Volvo, Scania (~10,000 units) + bus production by Solaris, Solbus, (PESA makes rail vehicles) + a few others with plants specialising in component manufacturing, as is some manufacturing for the aviation industry (Boeing, GE) in the south of the country. Obviously the scale is much smaller than say Germany, but to say that there isn't any is plain inaccurate.

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


Agreed - although that one exception makes a HUGE difference, does is not?
One thing which I really do enjoy in PL are proper forests (and lakes) scattered all over the country hence easily accessible from any major city, which is not the case in the UK. Also looking just at forests as % of land area, PL, I, ES, G, and F have all got around 30% v UK's 10%.

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


I beg to differ. If you only took Catalonia - you've got snowy mountains, beautiful beaches, sun and Mediterranean warmth... very tough to beat indeed.

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


I fully agree that there is a lot of variety in the UK which many probably do not appreciate (with Cornwall/Devon and the Scottish Isles being my favourite), but to say that there's more than say in Spain, Italy, or France would be a a bit optimistic for most. Although, if you happen to be British, then it's perfectly understandable... ;-)

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


Really??? I would think that Spain, Italy, and France would be ahead of the UK for most...

History / How come Poles like Russians but not Germans? [216]

And what 'fact' would that be? Are you sure you are not mixing politics with ordinary people now? But I am ready to believe that most Poles also 'don't like' their fellow countrymen either simply because they hold a opposing view on politics...

Food / Where can I buy Swedka Swedish vodka in Warsaw? [12]


Sure, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but this thread is about vodka, not politics (are we now to say that not only Russian vodka, but also ballet, literature, space & scientific contributions etc. are all of a sudden inferior due to recent developments in Crimea?)

Mixing politics and vodka - or nearly anything else for that matter - is never a nice combo ;-)

History / How come Poles like Russians but not Germans? [216]

And I think it's beyond doubt that you have issues I certainly cannot help you with.

History / How come Poles like Russians but not Germans? [216]


I think there's little doubt which side was more horrific on the Polish population in terms of WWII casualties, so if stating obvious facts is 'pretty stupid' to you, then then why get involved in the discussion in the first place?


Why are you confusing common Slavic ancestry with politics and the struggle to secure and dominate? Both Germany and Russia as much great powers in recent centuries did what they did to conquer and take control of the lands between them. However, Poles and Russians share similar customs, etc., which is simply not the case with the Germans. So politics and past cruelties aside, I think most Poles who have made friends with Russians will tell agree how much in common the two nationalities have.

History / How come Poles like Russians but not Germans? [216]


I very much doubt that. Simply take the number of Poles slaughtered by the Nazis during WWII and compare that with the Soviets: the ratio is probably in the range of 90% to 10%. Russians, like it or not, are our fellow Slavic cousins sharing common language roots and customs, and along with the Czechs, are the three legendary brother nations: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech,_%C4%8Cech,_and_Rus. Such close historic ties simply do not exist with the Germans.

Food / Where can I buy Swedka Swedish vodka in Warsaw? [12]

Why the cheap shot at the Russians? Good vodka is good vodka, full stop, and can be found be it Russia (I personally prefer it to Polish vodka: Putinka, Moskovskaya, Stolichnaya, Russkiy Standard), Kazahstan, Mongolia, France...