Australia / I would love to meet Poles living in Sydney [56]

Merged: Poles who work or study in Australia, let's meet in Sydney

Have just returned from the UK where i spent six years living with Poles. Would be great to hook up with any of you living in Sydney for work or study, m/f included.

Not sure how prevalent Polish migration is in Australia, but i've managed to meet a few here already. It would be great to meet up for a Tyskie, or we can just ***** about Australia if you like ;).

Come on, i know you're shy.

It's ok, i did find the correct discussion board. Only lost for a minute ;).

Australia / I would love to meet Poles living in Sydney [56]

I would love to meet Poles. Managed to strike up a conversation with a few that I met down in Sydney. A couple of them were young and seemed really unhappy to be here, but i won't let that deter me. Sometimes I feel (and I know this from being in the UK too) that poles aren't really happy wherever they are. lol.

let's hope the polish club in the city and disco in Ashfield will be rekindled.... Come on Poles, it's up to you!

Travelling, working and studying. Yes i'm Aussie but have a German passport/ mother. :)

I have also been to Poland. It's very nice, but you know this.

edit: sorry I did not answer your second question. I liked the Uk. I spent a good deal of my life there and had some unique and wonderful experiences with some great people.

Unfortunately though, i graduated in 2009 and felt the effects of the economic landslide that's happening there and really just had to leave if I had any hopes of pursuing my ambition. But I think this is a better place for me in the long run comparatively.

Australia has a good and prosperous future and will fill up with others i'm sure. I'm looking forward to meeting more people from Europe as they move over in the coming years.

You see, what Europeans don't like to understand about this place is that it's constantly changing, and is very forward thinking. And can be said to belong to everyone and noone. Europeans can't handle that lack of rigid sense of identity. It took me a while to work that out too. Only by losing the mold can you truly adapt to the new world. The old world can be very addictive in that sense.

Anyway - there is money to be made here and a good life if you want it. Isn't that what we all want...? That and a fresh chance...? can you make something old, fresh?

I got stuck on the notion that I had to live in Europe if i wanted an interesting life... not so. The fact that I come from Australia with dual nationality has given me, like many other Aussies, the chance to live abroad. It really is the land of opportunity, but it's not Europe!

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]


Thanks for this.

Here is the world's biggest cemetery...

post.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=176465

unsuprisingly, it's rapidly increasing in size...

washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_08/004514.php

It's funny how we don't mind the long dead, but fresh graves make us balk.

UK, Ireland / The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland [310]

I don't know what the problem is.... not one person goes to England for the food. You can't compare it with that of other cuisines either - only on quality and value.

Poles don't move to England for fish and chips, they move there for minimum wages over 3 zl/hr and for a sense of economic liberation.

And really they can't complain - they have everything at their finger tips in any one of numerous polish skleps, and if they want home cooking - well they are only 3 hours flight away.

I wish Poles would bring less of their negativity and more of their art and culture to the countries they choose to relocate to.

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]

Ironically i think many Brits will end up in Poland.

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]

You can track the demise of Britain by its music...

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]

yeah, British music peaked during the British invasion...

not saying British music hasn't stayed innovative, but the mood's changed.

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]

THE British invasion. circa The Beatles/ Rolling Stones. Have there been subsequent ones?

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]


Not quite but f*ckin funny...

UK, Ireland / The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland [310]

I guess cause being negative about their new surroundings is A. A way of adapting, B. A way of building solidarity with other Poles in a similar situation, and C. A way of feeling better about the home that cannot provide them with the kind of life they want.

I guess as long as they feel unsettled, they will externalise what is wrong with their situation... It's a coping mechanism, but is oretty destructive so it doesn't do you much good.

How many of us call 2 places home...? I know I do. It can be very easy to either shower negative or positive feelings towards the place where you don't happen to be living at the time. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

In matters of the heart - we are highly subjective anyway. And home is a VERY emotional concept.

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]


Perhaps you post some photos that you took, so we can see what it looks like at this time of year. Every season has its magic...

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

Good... cause the "iron curtain" didn't breed "iron" lungs!

News / Poland could emerge as new European and world power. If? [116]


Geez please. Can't you see that economics is just breaking down political borders which don't mean much anyway...

And how do you account for the Arabs...?

Btw, China/ India will own your arse before the next decade is up. Accept it, Europe's had its hey day....

And as for Poland... Poles do more good abroad. Especially considering the lack of diplomacy exhibited in your post.

News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

Unfortunately communism has had long reaching generational effects... much more so than WWII. It is experiencing many complete shifts.

News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]

Do Poles have severe inferiority complexes?

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


how is a non smoking bar a "concept"?

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]

^^^ yawn ^^^

You are obsessed with the workings of his/ her meteorological mind. Do you work for the MET?

a real fiery conversationalist aren't you?

News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]

So you had to get rid of her? ;)

Law / Investors/Entrepreneurs.. Steer Clear of Poland. [77]

From my experience with Poles... they're all bureaucrats, but none are diplomats.

I guess that's where the environment influences them. No can do attitude...

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

Hmmm, less people in pubs or less people dying off heart and lung disease...?

Are smokers without their wits!?

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

Smokers are in denial.... Just like gambling addicts. It's NOT socially acceptable to expect ANYONE to breathe in your cigarette smoke. Point f*cking blank.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


we are talking about air... the last vestige of common wealth.

Law / Investors/Entrepreneurs.. Steer Clear of Poland. [77]

Either the government is running the joint or business is running it. Poland is stuck with the former i fear.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

no, no, no, no. At the root of this issue is a very personal and human right, and that is what we BREATHE into our lungs. These other issues are superfluous or are less closely connected with one's health.

Smoking pub? Smokers made pubs "smoking pubs". The fact the most clientele smoked was inseperable from the fact that most people smoked. Thankfully, most people have wisened up.

Unfortunately for Poland you are still very much behind in terms of general public health messages. It's worked a charm here in Australia TEN YEARS ago, and i think everyone is enjoying the benefits.

Anything like this is difficult and ghastly to implement in Poland because of the layers of bureaucracy (evident here) which the poles are so famed for.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

lol, you don't care about smokers... you just care about having customers. Bars weren't open as private dens for smokers. And alcohol is NOT inseparable from cigarettes.

If imposing a ban on smoking proved to be good for business, we wouldn't be having this discussion. You are just worried because there is a strong association between drinking and smoking - and frankly it needs to change. If you are so entrepreneurial perhaps you will see new opportunitites where this is concerned...?

Unfortunately "smoking bars" as you call them are in the majority strictly because it is not cometitive to have it any other way.

In these cases government intervention is required so that traders who are trying to do something responsible voluntarily, are not penalised. You need a level platform just so that entrepreneurial activitiy can remain intact and healthy.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


banned from pubs...? We are talking bout the rationale behind banning a substance which once lit has known effects on the cardiovascular and respiratory system of ALL who come into contact with it. And these are DIRECT EFFECTS. They do not discriminate between people, and are not based on emotional manifestations in the user, which, I assume, you are alluding to when you highlight alcohol as having a similarly detrimental effect.

You are comparing the effects of alcohol and cigarettes on society, and I am maintaining my argumant that pubs are public places and as such should offer an environment that is as free of direct health risks as possible. Including the unavoidable health risk of passive smoke inhalation with known carcinogens.

The causality between second hand cigarette smoke inhalation and health, and second hand alcohol consumption and health, cannot be compared my friend.

You can be as responsible a cigarette user as you like, but your smoke will still effect me if we are sharing the same public place. Pubs are still public places aren't they...? Let's put the PUBLIC back in PUB.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

I guess what the government are saying is "your cigaratte smoke costs the tax payer too much in hospital bills and we need to ut a stop to it."

Just because there is an established cultural "norm", doesn't mean that norm shouldn't change. If, as you say, the majority of pub users DO frequent smoking pubs, well how much do we know about how many of these patrons actually smoke? or how much the "norm" of going to regularly frequented smoking pubs with smoking buddies plays a part in "non-smoking" pubs not getting a competitive edge?

Old city pubs (esecially in Poland) will always tend to be more popular then new establishments, especially when they offer the convenience of a predicatable social experience. How does this general cycle exacerbate this societal "norm" that links non smokers and the young to a life of smoking...? This can't be a good thing.

With the right reforms, this could work. And it needs to happen sooner or later.

Cigarettes need to be phased out, and this needs to start in places where smokers and potential smokers mingle. To break the cycle. Can't you see that? I'm sorry if you will struggle to pay your rent, perhaps providing slot machines or dancing girls will ease the burden...;)

And you just never know, you might find that non-smokers end up drinking more... i know i don't smoke, and that gives me more money for my Tyskies.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

As a non-smoker who has lived in countries where i have seen these reforms work, it has helped me realise that there is life after "smoking pubs".

I'm neither an American liberalist nor a British cynic, but I am an optimistic Aussie who makes their argument on the basis that non smokers have a right to enjoy a beer without breathing in toxic smoke. And unfortunately this requires uniform reforms across the whole sector for it to work.

It would be nice if pubs weren't private dens for smokers. (Admittedly it works a little better here because we have a climate that you don't mind exposing yourself to most of the year to have a cigarette.)

Publicans run their business hopefully in line with responsible health reforms like these finally proposed by PL gov. Why should they be the cowboys of the service trade?

Unfortunately it's a sign of how entrenched smoking has become in our drinking culture. It's one habit that is filthy, unhealthy, expensive, and highly addictive, and you will never get consensus while there are smokers who need to smoke. I'm glad I gave up. I didn't understand until i did...

Cigarettes are more dangerous than guns and marlboro man is so yesterday...

Love / Why are Polish women so sexy ? [390]

So that's what you guys like... lack of transparancy...?

I guess as long as SHE'S clear about what's going on upstairs...

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


Not really mate... you make out as if cigarette revenue is holding up the public purse!

There are other things to tax, like the rich, use of water, carbon tax, transport etc etc.

You could ban smoking - it wouldn't mean that people still wouldn't smoke... there'd always be the hardcore.

Besides, then they could just legalise and tax other drugs... like marijuana.

You make out as if a healthy population somehow costs the public money. What about fit healthy people with active minds breeding healthy babies... surely this is good for any economy. Besides the money spent on cigarettes could always be spent on other goods, thereby contributing to public revenue.