USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]


That's the point, it should have been tied to missile defense. You have a bargaining chip, you use it. That's how international negotiations work. Poland decided not to use it for whatever reason.


There is no country in the world that allows their citizens to enter on a foreign passport. If you're talking about visitor visas, Poland no longer has control over the terms of short term visas.

Life / Can foreigners really understand Poles? [136]


I think that Poland does quite a few things really well, IT isn't one of them. I completely blame the schools on that one.

USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]


As you and I have stated time and time again, show us the f'kin numbers. I think it is based on their estimates of overstays...but, I'm too lazy to write them and ask them for the stats..

USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]


At least someone is buying US products. I think they'll take what they can get right now.

USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]


No chance of that happening right now, it will be a threat once China completes diversification. Right now it's a financial kill switch for both economies, in 10 years time it will be a viable weapon.

Law / Requirements for Motorbike Instructor in Poland [8]

Just on a side note, I'm guessing that teaching people how to ride motorcycles here is a bit akin to survival training.

USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]


apparently

Genealogy / Looking for my father's family, Roman Rydel or possibly Rydelski [30]


Upload it to tinypic.com and post the link

USA, Canada / My wife wants to return to Poland...but I want to stay in the US [155]


No, that's not fair. That's the kind of thing that should be decided beforehand, and not on an emotional whim, don't you think? She sounds a bit unstable, not sure of what she wants. Who knows how she'll swing once in Poland? It'd be a shame for this guy to move over, lose his daughter, and then move back with nothing except the experience.

Life / Do Polish People steal a lot? [330]


Indeed, the better question to ask is why is it more prevalent here than in neighboring countries.

Life / Can foreigners really understand Poles? [136]


Maybe this explains it
spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,527134,00.htm

So apparently graves are recycled. The body should at that point already have gone through hundreds of generations of worms. Looks like they have a problem with corpses not decomposing... I'm guessing they just dump 'em out wherever they can to make room for new customers.

Law / Bureaucracy in Poland [53]

Ha, far too many are already priced out (going to show restraint and leave it that, i'm part of the bubble crowd)!

Housing prices have dropped in Slovakia since the introduction of the euro by the way... along with the rest of the economy because Slovakia no longer has control over it's monetary policy. Going to the Euro is going to kill the reason that so much FDI comes to Poland, cheap labor.

But that's another thread. It was another part of PO's platform (platforms platform?) that isn't going to be realized.

USA, Canada / My wife wants to return to Poland...but I want to stay in the US [155]


just realism vs. romanticism.

Law / Bureaucracy in Poland [53]

Doesn't look like there are any plans on joining ERM any time soon either. Euro in 2020?

Life / Can foreigners really understand Poles? [136]


Haha, I remember about 15 years ago in Germany my dad took me to a lake that had dried up over the summer. I started prodding at the big cracks in the ground and we found some bones. First thoughts were the same, maybe some animals ended up drowning, dig a bit more, a human skull staring at you will quickly set you straight. Anyway, called the police, they came out, bagged up some of the bones, and that was that. Later we got news that it was the dumping site for local graveyards... unbeknownst to the land owner... It freaked me out even more when it was explained to me that after a certain amount of time they just dig you up and that's normal...


That's entertainment that I wouldn't mind shelling a couple of beers out for.

*Edit
No landmines in the lake

Law / Bureaucracy in Poland [53]

She's already passed out, has to wake up tomorrow morning for a class (muahaha).

I think I might start a specialty store of items geared towards people that work behind glass windows all day.

Life / Can foreigners really understand Poles? [136]


I thought I really good stories about the 'stans, but gun to the captain, that's just not right.

News / Polish Priest checks fingerprints for mass attendance [26]


well...packed might be a bit optimistic.. maybe for christmas or easter...


Now, why can't the government figure this out.

Law / Bureaucracy in Poland [53]

She'll be done next year which is about the same time that I expect to have the first official paying flight :)

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Which is why my first choice for restaurants are non smoking and I boycott bars that don't allow me to light up. Vote with your money.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


could you imagine being buried with clean lungs? a functioning liver?

Travel / Which cities in Poland are nice to visit [80]


Unless you're flying to Frankfurt, Munich, or Warsaw, the connections out of Wroclaw are with the budget airlines that fly once or twice a week at the most inconvenient of times...

Life / Can foreigners really understand Poles? [136]


Those teenagers during the fall of communism will be running the country soon. Donald was only 32 when communism ended, quite a few members of the sejm (and mayors) were teens in 89.... and then you had

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafa%C5%82_Wiechecki


And I'm at home with a cold a case of beer, expect edits to come.

Law / Bureaucracy in Poland [53]


I'm working with these folks at the moment.
ulc.gov.pl

What would otherwise take 6 months in any other EASA country is going on two years here. And it is down to stamps and signatures. To a more common example, my girlfriend has to take time off from work to get her paperwork stamped and signed in order to get her scholarship for university. Things like having to come in and verify your name and billing address for the new semester in person instead of carrying it over from the previous verification.


Indeed, but it's a question of when the document in question is presented for you to sign...and that the signed and stamped piece of paper needs to be processed before being able to get to the next level of signing and stamping. Things moving in a serial fashion instead of parallel. That's my biggest complaint.

Life / Can foreigners really understand Poles? [136]


That's a good grouping there. You can see how different one is from the other even though they all went through more or the less the same under communism.

Law / Bureaucracy in Poland [53]


Some of us like pausing for a breath and smelling the roses on our own time. We like to take vacations, plan things out, not wait in offices... that kind of thing.

The main problem is the mindset that you are expected to **** away hours waiting in line or driving around the city to get signatures and stamps when you could be out in the park smelling the roses.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

So do fatty foods and alcohol...oh, and stress.

Life / Can foreigners really understand Poles? [136]


That's true for a portion of the population, but definately not all (or most based on the share of the votes that the old communist parties have been pulling). Granted there is a certain nostalgia for the "old times", but people's ability to get past that seem to depend quite a bit on the country in question. For instance, you have the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Estonia who seem to have managed to adopt to their new situation quite well. A full generation was left behind during the switch, but the young in those countries don't seem to accept the bureaucracy and general control oriented mindset as those in other countries.

Anyway, after thinking about it a bit, maybe the partition plays a role in reluctance to change?

USA, Canada / My wife wants to return to Poland...but I want to stay in the US [155]


Yes, uproot your life and go to Poland. Dump a bunch of money into your adventure, have your daughter taken away from you here in Poland once she realizes that she was actually unhappy in the marriage. On the upside, you'll be able to find plenty of strong willed Polish women here who aren't confused about life, and will make sure that you know how they foresee your future together before you tie the knot.

Hopefully I'm wrong, and everything will work out. But...for some reason...a bit doubtful.

News / GDP of Poland.. 338 billion pop-38.5mil Cali GDP 1.7 Trillion pop-37.7mil [70]

California was always kind of like the guy that used to live next door that always used to buy new stuff to show off. The one that talked crap about his poor neighbors. You know, the guy that now lives in his parents basement eating noodles and listening to NPR.