Real Estate / Renting in Krakow, Poland - the safest district? fairly close to the city centre... [25]

Ced
Hi,

Yep, Prądnik Bialy is not so bad. But bear in mind that you'll have to commute longer from there than from some less remote districts. I'd recommend rather Kazimierz district or Krowodrza, both are walking distance from the Main Market Sq. and much more prestigeous too.

regards

Genealogy / Toczynski name? [18]

Yep, way over 300 Toczyńskis in Poland. So not so rare as you can see.

Language / Problems remembering Polish vocabulary [20]

Reading stuff in foreign language helps a lot, so try some Polish books, but choose simple ones or ones specially designed for such occasion, like there used to be Penguin books with easier vocab etc. Ask in a good language bookstore.

Also watch TV in Polish, not only with English subtitles! This is on Polonia TV but any other channel is good; news programmes especially. TV helps because you see and hear at the same time.

Law / Polish Cop Took My Car Registration :S [143]

Why in the name of all gods, did you have your windows tinted? You don't want to see too much outside while driving? The procedure is rediculous, no argument to that, but your car windows are too.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Apart from Esperanto, there are other artificial languages: ido, interlingua and volapük. There exist/ed couple of dozens more, but less popular. Anyway they do not have native speakers, so they would have to be imposed somehow. I think English serves the role of international language now as it is fairly eaasy, not as rich as e.g. Russian and has much more simple grammar than e.g. Latin, or Finnish or.. Polish. Before that French was common. Also colonization helped in spreading "countles" places English, French, but also Spanish, Dutch (Aafrikans in RSA is based on it), Portugeese. I guess English is still official language in many places outside the UK (India?, Singapore).

As many of you said it is a natural process to influence one language by another. Almost any language borrowed some things from others. BUT it's not like we should all instantly accept it without thought some foreign words and expressions as Polish.

There are Polish words for almost everything.

Real Estate / Renting in Krakow, Poland - the safest district? fairly close to the city centre... [25]

Ok, true. I meant rather old districts incorporated into Krowodrza around 1950', such as Kleparz (or Nowy Kleparz, quite close too), £obzów is not so far either. I'm not much of a walker myself and yet I walk almost every day from work to Nowy Kleparz. It takes me 15 minutes.

Language / Problems remembering Polish vocabulary [20]

Hi! It is possible, but I'm guessing it depends what network you're connected to - if it's cable tv o sthg else. Definitely it's broadcast so that you can watch from sattelite tv.

Study / Studying Swedish in Krakow [11]

Hi,

first step would be to check university courses, there is some faculty with Swedish.

bpz.ae.krakow.pl/kurs_jezyka_szwedzkiego_2.html

Also private language schools or private lessons:

e-korepetycje.net/malopolskie/krakow/jezyk-szwedzki

here's a price list for a course in one of language schools:

lingualand.pl/szwedzki-cennik.html

Ol.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]


Klingon is not artificial, is it? :) A lot of Klingons speak it:))

You were right about Esperanto and native speakers - there are some. I can only add that there is still a dispute over Esperanto being an artificial language or not.

Life / BMW Poznan cutomer service is surprisingly good! [8]

I have quite an opposite experience. Organizations in Poland - and everywhere else I've been are not so unfriendly. Maybe it is the way you act and what and how you say something to other people. In my opinion most often it's how you act causes your interlocutor to re-act in a particular way. Simple as that.

As far as quality of service - that's what has to be improved a lot in some places. But there are also very positive exceptions, like Dnz gave. Only when service providers or clerks are rude then it's time to "unleash the hell" and retort properly. There's no other way than to bring such a person to the ground (and I don't mean ad personam).

Law / residence visa stamp (Asian girl with a Polish husband) [9]

Hi there,

I don't see a problem here. PESEL does not have much to do with residency here. If they require proof of your residency in Poland then you prove it, PESEL is something different (it's personal number). For proving your residency you should provide your residency card and/or 'zameldowanie' - registration of address of stay, which you do separately.

If you need any details you can write to me.

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


What about this whole lot of places that you cannot easily say if it's a bar/pub or a restaurant. Pubs serve meals too. Should this count?

It's simple - noone would deny right to smoke. You want to smoke - you go outside (or to smoker's room etc.) without affecting the whole place. The majority of society does not smoke. Now it is upside down - non-smokers have not much option and what's important I think - the staff has no option but to inhale the smoke either. It is not a problem now in some other countries which imposed this ban. People just go outside for a smoke. Is it so hard?

Law / Car Insurance for a foreigner living in Poland on a temporary permit [6]

Hi Ambrose,
Well, it seems that the previous car owner had discounts and you have less. So when the car was changing it's owners there was a difference created and they calculated it on the basis of: your age, any previous discounts, how long you posess driving licence, age of the car etc. (hence they were asking you many questions). That is not a huge difference though, depending on the make of the car and other details.

You can try to find a cheaper insurance company for the future insurance period. Write me a pm if you need details.

cheers

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


Dunno. There isn't many smoke-free places, but the number is growing I think.
It's a matter of awareness and culture I guess however, this particularly should be regulated by some law as there is no bad side of imposing such ban. Would it be very problematic to go out for a smoke? I haven't seen anyone whining about it outside Poland and I also did go outside if felt such a need. The only problem is that now really good bars that many would want to visit stink and don't have good ventilation and smoke-absorbing system. And after such a visit all clothes, everything smell bad. Real bad! :)

I think that this ban would make smokers smell less also :))

I found these two websites:

LokalBezPapierosa.pl
PolskaBezDymu.pl

Law / Car Insurance for a foreigner living in Poland on a temporary permit [6]


Yes, exactly. And here's a nice tip: also YOU can claim a re-count during your period of insurance as your car looses value.
You can experience this always when your (insured) car got some dent or other damage and you claim your insurance. At first they never pay you the percentage of amount for which you insured stating that the car has lost it's value since then and you are not entitled to get it. Since insurance companies make use of this argument then their clients can too, but not many people think of it.

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


Your friends are either smokers or they are not assertive. Have you thought about what they like?? Maybe blowing the smoke in their faces in not exactly the type of fun they'd like. Or maybe not.


Yeah, everyone can just pick a job they like and get it. Especially when you're a bartender or a waitress you have a whole bunch of non-smoking bars to work at and they all wait with open arms. You always have an option not to work, you're right! It's like saying to a welder that he can work safely when he buys his goggles and other safety equipment or work without it with no protection and go blind. Simple choice you say...

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


Hahaha, I love this comparison (kudos to you for that)!


It is impossible to ban the things you mention, and it is possible to regulate smoking in public places, which would then give the choice not to inhale someone's "exhaust fumes". It is about that choice. Don't say that people who don't want to smell like smokes can always stay home - that is not much of a choice, is it :). And I bet it wouldn not hurt you to go every now and then to go out to smoke, seriously.

Life / Do you really have to pay for your dogs to live in Poland [15]


You should've thought before you let your doggie be pregnant. Killing at birth? Why not get the vasectomy/sterilization (if that's a correct terminology)? It's cheaper than those fines and not to mention - more sane.

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


Touche!


Ok, but this is what, like a 0.1% of the traffic or even less? It's such a small number that it falls into "interesting but insufficient" category;)


Do you have any idea of how many people die and/or get terminally ill of smoking or involountary inhaling tobacco? Fat is not as great enemy and noone forces anyone to eat excessive amounts of fat (McDonald's is also your choice I myself am not tempted that much). I am quite thin, with average cholesterol, but I'm getting poisoned everytime I enter any bar because of the smoke.

Are you so lazy that you are not willing to go out for a smoke? I think this is actually a good law to impose (one of few I agree, but "letting the nature to decide" is not applicable here) but it'll serve EVERYONE, even you who don't agree with it. I didn't want to sound like that but I need to point out also that the costs of treatment of each person with lung cancers and other smoking-caused diseases is on the whole society. That is very expensive and not many of those people have ever paid for their treatment. How do you argue that? I don't want to be paying for your cancer treatment. Or mine because of you. Smoker:))))

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


Yes, I had to buy some green sticker for 15 euro (or sthg like that) to place on the windshield if I wnated to drive inside Berlin. But I have an ordinary car, not so environmentally friendly. Most cases this is a one time fee, depending on the type of car etc. (diesel)

Or maybe you are talking about sthg different?


How do you know? If you go to hospital in a week or so... Anyway I don't wish you that of course. But someone may be paying for you in the future, you increase this chance greatly.

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

If they want to stick to religion in Polish suposedly secular country there should also be other symbols, but let the crucifix be e.g. 5 cm bigger than other emblems, as Christianity has been imposed in Poland for 1044 years now (so that's 0.05 mm for every year). I propose Flying Spaghetti Monster and Cthulhu along with it. Bocononism also goes a long way!

Travel / Live Music in Krakow or Warsaw [15]

When in In Kraków check Harris Piano Jazz Bar, they have live music everyday, pick a day and check on their website who's playing and what.

Also Coltrane Restaurant have very nice atmosphere, little soul or rather jazz music there.

cheers

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

@Arien:

That is bold to write. But it is also very true and accurate.

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


Hell? I am not paying for that! Hell no! :)))

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

Last time I checked, hell was free of charge. It came as an added value for one's deeds if one subscribed to any hell theory supporting religion:)))

Travel / Mosques in Krakow? [131]


That could fit in Krakow architecture like nothing:)
______________

And maybe: no churches, no mosques, no houses of worship - NO PROBLEMS

So much hatred and damage to other people because of creeds and it is still 90 % bigotry.

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]

Well, don't know Bialystok, but you should be able to buy it in ANY "spozywczy" shop. Thats FMCG and nothing rare. Sour cream is usually packed like yoghurts, sweet cream like milk, in small carton boxes.

Food / Prices of decent Polish Vodka in Poland? [15]


I see Harry knows what's best. I was testing vodka actually.
There are other great brands, but this one is really good.

Here I found some random wholesale prices:

Wyborowa, 0.5 litre - around 17 zł, but why not buy bigger bottles.

Also safe choice: Luksusowa, Żołądkowa Gorzka.

And do not buy some bad brand, the quests (and you) may have a nasty hangover or at least bad memories from the reception after not genuine brands like Absolwent [suprisingly popular, but suspiciously similar looks to Smirnoff, wonder why? ;))], Lodowa, Sieradzka...

cheers

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

Where's the smoke there's fire, they say (slighlty twisted Polish saying Nie ma dymu bez ognia), hehe.

But more seriously:
The reason why there should be a law banning smoking in cafes and restaurants etc. is that laws are (ideally) to protect people and to impose order. We all find some laws we don't like (for some it's: speed limits on highways, legalization of some narcotics but not other, bureaucracy etc.), but so far we haven't figured out a better way to introduce order. And sadly I have to say it is very common for smokers not to respect the non-smokers rights, while rambling on their right to smoke. Smokers can smoke. Is their weak will and proneness to addiction so bad that they need this right to smoke everywhere? That's simply not respecting any rights but their own, let alone the health argument. I'd call that narrow-minded and very biased.

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]


What about the suposed 10% then? It is much less than 90% of real believers as the oficial doctrine of the Church allows no exceptions or open-mindness and not many people manage to act according to it; fake followers as said above, but not many people do something with that as the procedure of "signing-out from the club" is deliberately complicated and priests most often refuse to give the confirmation documents after aposthasia. Hence the big error in statistics. The other reason is the pressure of Polish almost-homogeneous society.

You would see better how many real believers roman catholic church has in Poland if tax was imposed on them. You declare your creed - you pay "subscription fee" in tax. So far EVERYONE has to pay for the roman catholic church even if they are e.g. muslim or atheist in Poland.

Cannot it be separated? Let's use some commercial terms: You pay for the service you use, and you should choose which one you want from the providers on the market. Or not choose any. In this case it is the service of connecting you with your god. Other christian creeds for example do not require brokers [meaning the Church or priests]for connecting. It is like forcing somebody to go only to Biedronka stores even though you had indigestion and diarhea after eating crapy food you had to buy there. And you can't stop leaving your money there. What if you want to shop at Tesco or Bomi? Or even... make your own food, huh?

(I hope some of you will grab at least a thread of humor in this if not, sorry)

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