Work / Poland - Expat Careers [26]


Imo.... IT is your best bet for non-speaking Poles.. or teaching English but IT will pay more..

You can also try your luck at perhaps a corporate job with an international company that requires a native English speaker.

Study / I'm thinking to study in the Wrocław University of Science and Technology [55]


That statement I would agree with 100%. The money isn't as good in Poland but the quality of life is excellent. Although IT is generally one of the hottest, highest paying careers for young people in PL... and US too. IMO I'd still do my education in the US, save up some money, then move to PL but it's up to you whocares

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]

@johnny reb

For early childhood education majors, yes you're right. The people that wish to teach K-8 generally chose early childhood education/education as a major. However, teachers who wish to teach match, history, or whatever subject they're in at say a high school level will generally declare that as a major and then later do their teacher certificate.

Study / I'm thinking to study in the Wrocław University of Science and Technology [55]


Yes it does but a degree doesn't hurt. IT is one of the fields where experience often trumps a piece of paper. Nonetheless, its good to have both especially since it'll help you negotiate salary - which can be very high for even a mildly experienced programmer. One of my friends is a programmer in his late 20's and makes around 120k a year. If you're planning on going to school I would definitely chose the US over Poland, and this is coming from a person who has citizenship in both. The majority of the people who are coming to Poland to study are coming from countries far poorer than Turkey and do it just to get a foot into the EU. Most will move to the UK/Germany/France/etc where wages are higher and where they'll fit into the more diverse societies.


Yes you can. In fact, there's a good chance you'll end up going to a school for free courtesy of US citizens like myself - especially if you're planning on studying a hard science like CS which is in great demand in the US. Or even write Chemistry as your intended major and switch once you get there. Hard science degrees are in huge demand and the US is willing to fund people who will study these. Milk your 'people of color' status for all you can. Why not? I would if I were Turkish. Get high scores on tests or if you're the athletic type focus on that (I know a dude who was an average student but got into Dartmouth because he was an excellent skier). If you want some more info I can explain the process. Get some more info on H-1B visas (I believe that's what they're called). I can probably help get you a paid internship or job at a tech company once you've started too as I've worked in this field for sometime now.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

@Lyzko

I clarified that I meant they are educated... the English speaking Poles (mostly young and educated) tend to be pretty proficient but nonetheless still speak with a heavy accent

Last few posters, please stick to the topic of the thread

Study / I'm thinking to study in the Wrocław University of Science and Technology [55]

@Whocares386

I'm from Wroclaw but live primarily in the US. It's a decent school from what I've heard. I don't know if they teach CS in English though or not. I only went to grade school the first few years as a really young child in Poland all my later education was in US. If you move to Poland it may be difficult for you to find work as you're completing your education especially as a non-Polish speaking Turk, unless you're okay with doing work like washing dishes or cleaning or something that doesn't really involve speaking Polish like other student type jobs (waiting tables, delivery, etc.)


The degree itself will be worthless in US. However, if you have certain certifications and know how to program, code, etc you'll still be able to get a decent job. A lot of tech companies at least in my experience are more concerned with ability and experience than degrees with their IT staff. My last job as well as my current one is in tech and the programmers and coders that are hired oftentimes don't have degrees. In fact, at both places the managers would tell me they'll get some dude from India, Pakistan, etc. who just recently obtained a CS degree but knows nothing in practice while on the other hand they'll get people who only have a high school education yet are excellent programmers, admins, etc.

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]

@rozumiemnic

Its kind of similar here. I mean I don't fault them or anything for wanting to move to the US/UK/etc and go to a local uni. What makes me wonder though is how they were able to get in. Mathematics is pretty universal but nonetheless half of the entrance exam, both for tests like the ACT/SAT and GRE/GMAT for MBA, is English - grammar, reading comprehension, vocab, etc.. A lot of the ones I've met barely speak English. I'm a native speaker and I still had to do a lot of studying on the English portion to get a high score on the grammar - especially on the vocab section as a lot of the words I've never used and haven't since. I just don't quite understand how they managed to get in when so many of them barely speak English. Its a big divide too - either they're very proficient or barely at all. What's funny too is like you'll have a conversation with them and they nod their head or say words like 'right' 'yes' 'absolutely' etc but as soon as you ask them a question they really stumble with English. I noticed a lot of the girls too put their hands over their mouth when they speak. I thinks a cultural thing though where woman don't like showing their teeth.

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]

@rozumiemnic

I believe it. Even some 10 20 years ago most of the students that would go off to college after high school tended to be middle class. It was mostly white anglos with a few blacks and latinos mixed in. You could tell by the kind of car they drove who came from a wealthy family and who didn't but generally everyone was middle to upper middle class with a few poorer students who were often the 1st in their families to go to college. Now though it seems like everyone on campus has a nice new car When I went for my bachelors there was very few Asians. When I returned for a masters the situation was the opposite - especially at the more prestigious uni's. The Asians (especially Chinese, Korean, and Indian) and whites are the dominant groups now - at some places the Asians outnumber the anglos. A lot of the Asians aren't even citizens yet but simply have rich families that wanted to move out of their native land. Many of them you can tell are ridiculously wealthy and very few of them work. A lot do take internships though. It's very common now to see a student pull up in a $50k $60k car now while when I went it wasn't really like that. There were those who maybe had a newer entry model BMW or something but generally you didn't see any cars over the $50k mark like you do now. It's gotten to the point esp at many top schools where an education is only for the wealthy Asians/whites or ambitious latinos/blacks. In the cheaper state schools you still get a good mix but still generally the people who go to college now can only go if their parents are wealthy or really poor. For a middle class family it's very hard to send their kids to college - unless they're the right minority and below a certain income, with Asians no longer really counting as a minority like in the past.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Most of the people working for the international corps tend to be educated - that's what I mean by high skill. You have to have a bachelor's just to get a job as a freakin bank teller in Poland. A lot of people esp the younger generations in Poland are college educated but nonetheless they still have low paying jobs. That's why a lot of companies are taking advantage of this situation. Fortunately, salaries are rising. I've even seen a few mid level manager corporate jobs paying 200k zloty plus. That's a very high sum for Poland but in the US that'd be an insult as it comes out to maybe $55k or so and typically mid level managers make closer to the $80-$120k mark depending on job, city, company, etc.

As far as their English skills, well most take English in school now as opposed to German and back in the day Russian. They have the basics down but of course their English isn't going to be as good as a native. Plus the students who study English and are pretty proficient still speak with a heavy accent.

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]


Absolutely. I really doubt I would've had the same opportunities elsewhere. My cousin is currently looking at a school in the UK and he told me it was something like 10k or 15k pounds a year which is very affordable compared to schools here. Nonetheless, most people let alone young people have a very hard time paying 10k 15k or whatever the figure is for a uni. Still a lot easier than paying $20-$50k (depending if it's public or private) though - and that's tuition. You have to add at least another $10-$15k for books, fees, living accomodations, etc.

Debt is a big issue because uni's are treated as businesses. Also, the cut-off for government financial aid (at least when I went to school) was a household income of $80k which really isn't that much. According to a recent survey, the average household in the US has an income of around $76k - so just below that mark. Well, take away say even a mere 25% for just income taxes for a family bringing in $80k and you're at $60k. Considering even state schools cost $20k and private schools generally cost $40-$50k+ a year, it's rather difficult for most families to afford education. Now families do all sorts of crazy things like get divorced, quit their jobs and work for cash, etc just to send their kids to school and be eligible for government assistance.

Also, no degree is useless IMO

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]

@rozumiemnic

In high school not really. I was on a scholarship/grant there as my parents were poor and had moved to the US rather recently so I was on a special tuition program. We were responsible only for a very small portion and things like books.

In college I received a grant for my freshman year and paid the rest by working typical student jobs - waiting tables, delivery driver, building stages for the drama/acting club and students, etc. I also took a year and a half off in my junior year to become a commodity broker and pay off what I owed and save a little for the remainder. I managed to graduate without any student debt that way. Anyone can do it its just that the youth prefer to spend their nights and weekends drinking and dicking around instead of working. It's easier to ***** and moan about tuition and student loans than managing your time wisely and working instead of socializing. I didn't have the privilege of being one of those kids who's parents paid for everything and quite frankly I'm glad I didn't.

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]

@rozumiemnic

I don't see it as a privilege. Anyone can get in if they do well enough on the entrance exams and have good grades. Actually the high school I went to (Saint Ignatius College Prep) is one of the most diverse private schools in Chicago. We had everyone from poor black kids to rich wasps and rich jews What united everyone is they were good students.

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]


Except I went to wonderful schools my whole life including for high school ( one of the hardest schools to get into in my city, considered a 'top 60' prep school and a 'top 150' for AP scores - not bad considering the tens of thousands of high schools around the us) and was enrolled in many AP and honors classes. Like I said, assumptions lead to ignorance. The bad high schools tend to be inner city ghetto ones where the students don't care about education. You can't teach someone that doesn't want to learn.


O Chem, IO Chem, Biophysics, Physiology, etc. are not considered 'basic'


Never claimed I was. Nonetheless, it doesn't take a scientist with a PhD to understand what the scientific method is. It's as you say, 'basic.' That is why I questioned his credentials because a scientist with even just a bachelors in a scientific discipline let alone advanced degree (which he never acknowledged either which he has if any, which is fine it's not a big deal, I stated what the extent of my knowledge and experience) would know his analogies and interpretation of the scientific method are way off. Especially a statement like '


' Any person who choses a major like bio, chem, physics, geology, whatever will spend significant time in a lab even if doing just a bachelor's. Every class whether it's bio, chem, etc is divided between lecture and lab in pretty much any renowned university around the world. When you conduct experiments in a lab you record your observations based on the steps of the scientific method. A person who claims to be a scientist hence wouldn't fumble with clumsy analogies and know that an observation that cannot be tested repeatedly in an experiment with the same results is not considered a valid confirmation. Probability and 'weight of evidence' never constitutes a valid confirmation based on the scientific method which is the universally accepted way in which scientists test their hypothesis.


Not really. Organic chemistry, biology, etc can be applied to basically all living things and scientific disciplines intersect. Even physiological processes are pretty similar across mammals. If he is a scientist and has studied forestry I'm sure he has more knowledge than I do. That's why I asked him if he studied forestry so he can further explain. He hasn't said that he has only that he works for some forestry institute which doesn't clarify what his role is nor his level of knowledge. I work for a tech company yet I have nothing to do with coding, programming, etc. nor do I know much about it as I am hired as an independent consultant.

Also there's no such science as 'forest management' nor 'conservation.' By forest management you may mean 'forestry' and conservation 'ecology' or 'environmental science.' Typically forestry is its own discipline although lately its been grouped with agriculture, ecology, and environmental science.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

The reason why corporations keep flocking to Poland is mainly because of the plentiful cheap high skill English speaking labor but also things like good infrastructure, good schools, stable economy, stable government, etc. In W and C Europe there's also high skill labor but the high salaries, unions, stringent labor laws make it unattractive. On the other hand, in places like Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, etc. there's lower wages than Poland and not as stringent labor laws but not as many skilled people, high corruption, some issues with infrastructure, etc. When corporations go to a new country they typically first conduct a SWOT analysis, make a business/marketing/operation plan specific to that country depending on what they're doing, and send a few people to feel out the situation. It also depends whether they're planning to open a plant/office to service other countries' markets or if they're opening branches, retail outlets, etc. to penetrate the local country's market. Most of the large international corporations' plants/offices that have opened or are about to open like with VW, Mercedes, JP Morgan aren't primarily there to service the Polish market. They moved to Poland to take advantage of the plentiful cheap high skilled bilingual labor. They wouldn't build plants worth hundreds of millions if they didn't see a long term benefit. As far as the local Polish market, the international corporations aren't too keen on investing a lot of money to penetrate the local market because of the high competition, low wages of the average consumer compared to the west, etc. (depending on the product of course). For example, iPhone sales revenue would be much higher in richer countries like Germany, Austria, France, etc. or even a poorer country that has a large population and hence more wealthy people. There is a rise in luxury goods due to increased incomes of Poles and a growing upper middle/upper class. Not all do well though - for example the Armani store in Wroclaw closed down which I was kind of surprised since Polish people tend to spend a lot on clothes and Armani is a well known luxury Italian brand and it's far cheaper than Versace, D&G, etc. On the other hand it's understandable since there's so many different clothing stores in Poland that offer high quality goods at a far lower price than say an Armani outlet.

Poland and Germany are trading partners because of their proximity and large markets. However, trade parterships are made and lost daily between people, corporations, governments, etc. Governments sign treaties offering tax breaks, subsidies, incentives, etc. for certain industries trading with certain corporations in certain countries. Poland and Germany can both find new trading partners if need be. Trade primarily occurs between people and corporations - not so much governments unless we're talking about like military hardware or other sensitive goods. If people and corporations find better deals elsewhere that's where they will go. At the moment, and probably for the foreseeable future Germany will remain PL's largest trade partner. Nonetheless, new opportunities are opening up - especially between China and Poland.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

@G (undercover)

Its because they fail to understand how corporate capitalism works. Companies don't care about assaults on media, refusal to take in migrants or anything else. The bottom line and stock prices for publicly traded corps are what matters.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]


It's very true... the athletes at D1 schools tend to chose majors such as parks and recreation, forestry, sports management, etc. so they have more time for practice and games. If you attended a D1 school you'd also know that's true.


Well most scientists have either a PhD or at least a masters so there's nothing wrong with questioning what his qualification are. He can work at the some Polish science academy or even CERN - that's fine - but is he a scientist or website admin or a security guard there? As someone who studied medicine, if a person doesn't know what the scientific method (which based on his strange analogies and fumbling with the criteria of CO2 as it pertains to the scientific method - one of the most elementary things that a scientist learns) I can only make the conclusion that either he doesn't have an advanced degree in science or is a tech or something. That's fine it's not a big deal. I'm not a scientist by trade either. My degrees are in business but as a person who did both undergrad and grad at liberal arts universities I think it's important for an individual to be well rounded. Also, I spend a lot of time in forests and nature in general - especially hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, kayaking, rock climbing etc.

Not desperate. Remember, I'm the one who's supporting the current logging - you're the ones fighting against it to no avail as there was logging yesterday, today, and will be tomorrow. EU threatened a several mil eu fine and 300k eu a day. They can make all the threats they want - the question is can they back it up and enforce it? It appears no, just like their empty threats several months ago of fining Poland 2 bil EU for not taking in migrants. We've resisted since 2015 and will continue to defy courts located outside of Polish borders.


Time will tell. For now logging is continuing. Too bad, so sad.
If it doesn't go away we'll negotiate and possibly give something up IF it means loss of money, support, or something else that's important and strategic. That's how it works.


Except I NEVER said I support PiS and only PiS. In fact, I specifically stated that I was against certain policies of theirs.

It's not about PiS - it's about interlopers sticking their nose into our affairs. EU was meant to be an economic unity that promotes free movement of people and goods. Not an organization that thinks they can exercise political and judicial control from thousands of kilometers away. We Poles won't stand for it and our democratically elected government for once has our backs in this regard.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]


That's how they measure the amount of wood logged. Its measured in cubes because it has 3 dimensions (adding height) as opposed to just 2 dimensional area...

The annex calls for a quota of 188k m3 to be logged within an area of roughly 78km2 which yes would be 12% of the Polish part and only 2.6% of all BF.

As you say it is a small amount whether its 50 some k or 180k... it will grow back as it is being replanted and if it wasn't its still only a tiny fraction of the forest both in Poland and overall.

Good thing reasonable people are in charge of such decisions.

Work / HCL BUSINNES PARK KRAKOW - 4800zl Gross enough? [7]

@jpalcan

Rent/real estate, food, transport is generally cheaper than Western EU capitals. Things that are expensive are electronics, cars, and fuel. Purchasing a home is considered expensive by Polish standards and most average Poles rent or live in the old commie blocks erected in PRL times.

Even though a decent townhome in a new development can cost like 400k 500k zloty (which is around 120-150k USD) that's a large sum to most Poles, especially if they've lived their lives in Poland and haven't had the chance to work and save abroad in the West. Of course compared to a 400k pound small flat in London (even in the Londonistan section aka Tower Hamlets), Krakow is very cheap. I stayed at a friends condo that was only like 80 m2, 2 bed 2 bath and he told me he bought it for 1.2 mln pounds (I think it was in Wandsworth or something?? definitely didn't have the same londonistan vibe as tower hamlets and still a decent bit of diversity).

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Exactly. Almost every other day I get some other positive news on my feed regarding either some company opening a huge office/plant in Poland, Moody's rating increasing, more investments, etc. Here was today's - thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/327948,Investment-on-the-rise-in-Poland-finance-minister


According to CBOS, PiS support is over 43% with PO being around 20%. Add Kukiz's 8% to the mix and we're already over the 50% mark for PiS/Kukiz. Even though I do sincerely believe both PiS/PO produce both good and bad policies, it's Polish sentiment that really matters. CBOS also states that 74% of Poles are against migration from Middle East and Africa with 90% of PiS/Kukiz supporters being against, and 50% of PO/Nowoczesna supporters against. So we clearly see that the vast majority of Poles are against migration from these lands. At least PiS had the courage to stand up the EU's forced quotas (which we were never consulted on nor does the ECJ have the authority to enforce migration according to numerous legal experts) unlike PO which kow towed to Brussels.


That's what Poles generally desire. They want Poland to remain in EU for the sake of free movement of people and goods but are against Brussels interfering in our home affairs, our sovereignty, and attempts by EU commissars to erode our traditions and culture since they don't agree with their ideologies.

Language / Are Anglophones able to detect different Polish accents? [17]

@Chemikiem

Gorale have totally different phrases and greetings. There's not much difference in dialect between people from Warsaw vs Krakow vs Gdansk etc. There is a minor difference among those in the NE like in Bialystok and the Poles in Lwow speak a bit differently. Otherwise it's all pretty homogenous.

Kaszubski sounds kind of similar to Polish but yet a bit different. It almost sounds like Czech to me in a way. Kaszuby tend to have very similar names as Poles though but a lot of aspects of their culture - clothes, cuisine, language, are different.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

Of course. When under PO 57k m3 was logged within a 3 year period (average of 19k m3 a year) from 2012-2015 , 90% of the 10 year quota which was set in 2012, no one said anything, there were no Greenpeace employees in the forest, etc.

From mos.gov.pl/en/news/details/news/we-want-to-protect-the-bialowieza-forest/

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

@mafketis

Exactly. Only problem is that disunity within these types of organizations is common. Apparently at least one of the leaders has already departed from AfD since the election.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@mafketis

I said I'm not an expert on forestry, however it doesn't take an expert nor phd to realize that the logging is only taking place in a tiny fraction of the forest hence the entire forest is not in jeapordy as some people claim.

Also yes, I have a home in Poland, US, and travel quite a bit for work. I'm a citizen of both nations.

By 'our borders' I am referring to the sovereign borders of Poland.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

Idk if you're Polish or not, but to many Poles we believe that our home affairs should be left to our own courts. While we support an economic unity and movement of people and good within the EU, we do not appreciate political and legal intervention within our sovereign borders.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]


Governments, corps, etc. do this every single day... this is nothing new...

The point is they're resisting forces of the ECJ which is constantly overstepping their jurisdictions and powers. I'm going to listen to a bunch of supposed judges with specific ideologies enacting politicized interpretations of the law who have chauffeured limos paid for by Europeans.

"the ECJ deliberately and systematically ignores fundamental principles of the Western interpretation of law, that its decisions are based on sloppy argumentation, that it ignores the will of the legislator, or even turns it into its opposite, and invents legal principles serving as grounds for later judgments".

Over half of the ECJ judges don't even have any appellate experience.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

@mafketis

AfD is going to be a thorn in the side for Merkel. I don't think anyone expected them to gain as many seats as they did - same with FDP.

Language / Are Anglophones able to detect different Polish accents? [17]

Not really... Poles who speak English with a Polish accent tend to sound more or less the same.. with maybe gorale a tad different..

I've met some Poles who lived in the UK for a while and speak English with a sort of weird mix of British/Polish accent.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]


Except its an 11 page long thread which I didn't even start commenting on till the last few pages.

Anyway, go for it... c ya!!

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

Still can't deny that 78km2 out of over 3,000km2 is 2.6% of the entire forest - a tiny fraction. It doesn't take a PhD to realize that. Hence, no need to worry about imminent destruction of all of Bialowieza as no such thing is occurring nor will it occur. A tiny ratio of the overall forest that's going to be logged - that's it. Like I said, if there was an imminent danger of the entire forest being wiped out I'd be in total agreement - but that isn't what's happening. The fact remains a tiny fraction of all of Bialowieza is being logged - not even mined, turned into farmland, etc. which would have far more devastating effects than logging and replanting.

Poland vows to continue logging in Białowieża forest despite court ban - Good for them for not allowing a court outside of Poland's border to dictate decisions within.

theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/31/poland-continue-logging-biaowieza-forest-despite-eu-court-ban

birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/news/trial-error-battle-bia%C5%82owie%C5%BCa
'The bark beetle is menacing Białowieża - this much is true.'

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]


If you replant a tree, it will grow back far sooner - 50 to 100 years. Left to natural processes it will take 500+ years.


First off, I studied medicine well before I got into business and I've taken all the classes necessary to get into med school - bio, o chem, io chem, biophysics, etc. I switched because I realized there was far more money to be made and far more quickly working in finance and sales. I wasn't interested in making $40k a year with a bachelors in biology and then putting myself in debt to go to medical school. Furthermore, the scientific process is learned in grade school/high school. It doesn't take a PhD to understand what the scientific method is. The fact that CO would use strange analogies like death and hair growth and seem to not quite understand what constitutes the scientific method makes me question whether he is in fact a scientist with a phd/masters or merely a technician of sorts.

Second, forestry, parks/recreation, etc. were the majors that the top athletes at unis all over the US choose because they're ridiculously easy and require next to no study. These aren't difficult topics... we're talking about forests, trees, and plants not rockets, brains, engines, insect physiology etc. Plants are among the most simple living multicell organisms - its just that there's tons of different species.


You realize that Szyszko is also a scientist and carries the title of professor. Scientists disagree with each other all the time - including this case and especially as it pertains to global warming, c02, etc. Most scientists didn't think that lead in gasoline was a big deal back in the day. Oftentimes they're paid to say certain things (even if they believe otherwise) by more powerful lobbies, politicians, corporations, etc. who treat scientists as nerdy pawns.

The fact is that Bialowieza has been taken care of for hundreds of years, generation after generation who live near the forest and rely on it for their livelihood. This same sort of community has existed since the time of the Czars. Obviously they know that there's a line between using the forest and logging to the point of destruction and hunting the animals to the point of extinction. Speaking of which, the bison in bialowieza isn't even Polish as that species was wiped out. It's a species that was brought in from the Caucasus. The people in this area are against this sudden intrusion and while they certainly will listen to the advice of various


I never denied that the Holocaust didn't occur. What I did say is the numbers of dead have been revised numerous times and pointed to various examples such as the fact that in 1989 suddenly the amount of dead at Auschwitz was lowered by 1 million.

@Ziemowit
You really shouldn't' t make assumptions about people - that's what causes ignorance. Like I said, I don't care about parties, politicians, etc. I can more about policies and actions. If PO PiS NOP KOD whoever keeps Poland growing and keeps the country from turning into a place with years of state of emergency like France and prevents Islamic terror - I'm all for them. When PiS made that ridiculous assault on abortion I was the one of the first to condemn that action.

@CasualObserver
Yes several times. My friends from high school lives in Bialystok and whenever I visit him we often go in a group and go camping in Bialowieza.