Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]


A couple of days ago on BBC radio 4 a former government minister and Chelsea fan, David Mellor, claimed that his season ticket cost him 5,000 GBP. He added that it wasn't the most expensive one either. I didn't believe a word he said when he was in government but I can't see a reason for him to lie about this. Nevertheless, I find this figure astonishing.

News / Polish baby boom, but not in Poland [40]


Oh no. In a few years they'll be on PF telling me they're 100% pure Polish and how dare I have an opinion about their motherland!

Food / Your favourite Polish foods! [180]

Błędowska! Failing that, Sernik, or warm Szarlotka with ice cream.

Law / Polish Visa, Work Permit, Residency for Spouse of Polish Citizen [69]

If she loves you, she'll find out what the process is.

Food / Your favourite Polish foods! [180]


My mother-in-law makes hers from the best meat, a little fat, and spices. Then she smokes them over alder (sometimes with a little juniper added) in her garden. They are fabulous.

UK, Ireland / Polish immigrants in the UK - the next generation [87]


I've been following this with some amusement. gdyniaguy, you are making yourself look silly. Insults don't make you look any better.

Food / Your favourite Polish foods! [180]


Not like the fabulously varied stuff offered in Polish restaurants eh? Just love that breaded pork with cold cabbage. Seriously though, I have several bookshelves full of cookbooks, and the traditional recipies from the UK include some great dishes. People have forgotten how to cook, unfortunately. Next time you're in London treat yourself to a meal at Rules, Covent Garden, a very traditional old English restaurant, and then tell me about bland English food.


Can't say I've ever seen these in Poland.
For me, good flaczki is/are sublime.

Real Estate / What do you pay in rent/mortgage in Poland? [144]


You couldn't have chosen a better place (that's why I came), but bear in mind that many things in Poland are not as easy as in, e.g. the UK.


You must have been very good in a previous life. Good luck to you both.


Go easy with your hard-earned. And choose your builders carefully. Explore the threads here; you'll find some good advice.

News / British senior politician compares Poland to South Africa during apartheid [129]

I don't understand what you have written. Ah, now I understand. Why? Because there are far too many ad hominem attacks on this forum and too much abuse already. Lots of heat and very little light. OK, I accept that you have every right to believe that "there is no such thing as racism in Polish football".

News / British senior politician compares Poland to South Africa during apartheid [129]


No, no, that's not necessary. I'd just like to be sure that you really believe what you say, i.e. There is no such thing as racism in Polish football. I've heard all kinds of things from people in denial, but it is hard for me to believe that any intelligent person who lives in Poland could actually say and believe this.

News / British senior politician compares Poland to South Africa during apartheid [129]


Why would the BBC concoct racism in Polish football? To show off their skills at faking TV footage?


What have the riots got to do with football?

News / British senior politician compares Poland to South Africa during apartheid [129]


Yes, really. I refer you to your own links.

News / British senior politician compares Poland to South Africa during apartheid [129]


By ilk do you mean North Americans? By the way,Bieganski, where are you from? Your English is superb. I'm surprised you bothered to learn the language of colonial oppressors like me!

News / British senior politician compares Poland to South Africa during apartheid [129]


This is a little hysterical and completely untrue. Even when I was in primary school (40 years ago) we were taught about the iniquities of the slave trade.

Schoolkids in the UK are routinely taught about Britain's unsavoury acts in the past. Past mistakes are open to discussion far more in Britain than in other countries I could mention.

Work / Going to be teaching English in Krakow Poland (Tefl certification); service advertizing, taxes [9]


That's an idea. Perhaps KriKri should apply for a summer job in the UK. The money's pretty good. I did it for nine or ten summers before I got old and cranky.

News / British senior politician compares Poland to South Africa during apartheid [129]


Why on earth don't you leave London and come back to your home country if you're so disgusted with things in the UK? There is great need for well-trained social workers here.

Work / Going to be teaching English in Krakow Poland (Tefl certification); service advertizing, taxes [9]

Don't come in Summer. Wait for September. As other posters have said, try a small city; Kraków is probably the worst place in Poland to look for your first EFL work.

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]


You will need several green documents 13.5 X 7cm bearing the likeness of Władisław II Jagiełło.

Life / Is it common in Poland to reduce the km numbers of the cars? [11]

I once put an old Passat in for a routine repair and the mechanic turned the clock back 120,000 km without being asked to. I wonder if anyone knows how easy this is to do with digital systems.

News / Anty-Polish v column is located in White House [88]

The U.S. President showed that he was ignorant on this matter, as well as badly briefed; his advisers should get a kicking. However, this does not show that the president is anti-Polish. Only someone with their head up thier arse would think so, e.g anti-semitic conspiracy theorists.

News / Marion Barry insults Polish people calling them "Polacks" [33]

youtube.com/watch?v=SOnkv76rNL4

would be far more courteous if you posted a few lines about the link instead of just posting a web address

Life / Short films about traditional skills in eastern Poland. [8]

youtube.com/user/parkosmedia
Check out their other stuff. There's a really interesting one on Jewish architecture.

Life / Short films about traditional skills in eastern Poland. [8]


Some of the older people in the films use local dialect. Watch the others and you'll hear standard Polish.
boletus. ...standard Belarusian. But that is what it is over there. Did not you notice an orthodox church complex on the background - with typical onion shaped turrets?

In towns it's about 50-50 Orthodox-RC, but there are lots of 'Catholic' and mixed villages. The people who speak in local dialects use Polish when they need to, and everybody knows Polish.

Life / Warsaw Philharmonia - keeping the smelly plebs out! [8]

I used to have a couple of students who were pro' musicians with the Białystok Philharmonia (don't laugh, you Warsaw snobs; it's a seriously good professional orchestra). The guy, a trumpet player said he had played once or twice with bleeding lips, because of so much practise. The lady, a viola player, said the stress of the Friday night performance regularly sent musicians to the pub afterwards to wind down in a heroic manner. Both told me that they did not appreciate concert-goers arriving in jeans, as they (the musicians) had put in a long working week of study and practise to prepare for the performance. They worked a normal 9-5 day. They really loved to see a respectful audience who had at least dressed well. They saw it as a compliment. btw these people earned about 2000 PLN per month.

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


Stanley Kubrick shot A Clockwork Orange there. And that was when it was new. I grew up near Thamesmead and it was acknowledged to be a ghastly mistake before it was even completed. Now it's crack central and a place to avoid like the plague.

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


Correct.

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


I know what you're saying, but the couple I'm talking about are, in many respects, very typical of their type: university-educated, hardworking, the husband taking a second degree at weekends.

These guys are the ones who didn't fcuk off to England or Germany. They could have (they did for a while, to Belgium, to get the deposit) but they want to build a life in Poland, and I salute them for that.

Their parents' generation didn't have to feel that they were slaves to a bank, as they do. There's no alternative, I know. I just feel lucky that although I work no less hard than they do, I've been able to put a roof over my head without feeling like the bank is the Big Bad God in my life. And that, for me, is what's shifted in Poland. Church to Bank. (I''ve got one night off between 21 days' straight work and another fifteen, so forgive me if I seem a little emotional in my assessment of 'Polish Reality'.)

btw I celebrated the last payment by taking out another loan to buy a new old car (if you know what I mean). I've borrowed 20K over two years. The repayment will cost more, pro rata, than the 50K loan. The bankers no doubt call this progress. Also, I have to pay 1800PLN insurance on the loan (didn't happen with the old loan). If I drop dead, the bank gets its money. So I'm paying for the bank's insurance. Win Win for the bank.

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


A little piece of advice: don't comment on something you know nothing about. The people I mentioned are a hardworking couple who don't have holidays.

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


Good move if you can afford it. I know a schoolteacher who borrowed 50K over 25 years. She'll have paid 2.5 times that back by then. I borrowed that amount three years ago and paid the last installment last week. We're lucky Delph. From what I've read you work hard, and so do I. But some, e.g. state school teachers, nurses, etc, earn so little that their only option is to borrow at usurous rates from banks, or worse. For me, a shipload of bank CEOs going down is a good day. (OK, I'm a naive old socialist!)