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Posts by ryanb  

Joined: 27 Apr 2011 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 23 May 2013
Threads: Total: 24 / In This Archive: 19
Posts: Total: 23 / In This Archive: 15
Speaks Polish?: No

Displayed posts: 34 / page 1 of 2
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ryanb   
27 Apr 2011
Study / Moving to Warsaw for graduate school- need advice on relocation [10]

I've been awarded a Fulbright fellowship to obtain a MA degree in International Relations at the University of Warsaw. I will be moving there probably some time in September. At this point I don't speak a word of Polish but I do plan on learning it. My wife and three-year-old son will be accompanying me. Where would be a good neighborhood for the three of us to live? Finances will be fairly tight for us, so I need something fairly inexpensive but still a safe neighborhood with access to public transit so I can get to school with a reasonable commute. I am wanting to avoid buying a car if possible and I've heard that Warsaw has a decent metro system.

I am sure I will have more questions once the dust settles. I just found out this week that my grant got approved.
ryanb   
28 Apr 2011
Study / Moving to Warsaw for graduate school- need advice on relocation [10]

I would like to try to fit in as well as I can; I don't want to be instantly recognized as a foreigner walking in the street. How should I dress for this purpose? Also, would wearing a beard make me look more or less foreign?

Also, can anyone recommend any children's television programs that I could find online to help my three-year-old son pick up a bit of Polish? He loves watching Dora the Explorer and has learned a lot of Spanish from that.
ryanb   
28 Apr 2011
Study / Moving to Warsaw for graduate school- need advice on relocation [10]

I am from the United States. I grew a beard for a while here and I was just wondering what the fashion was as far as that goes in Poland.

A few more questions:

How does the cost of landline phones compare to mobile phones in Poland?

Can I get prescriptions filled in Poland with a prescription written by an US doctor?
ryanb   
29 Apr 2011
Study / Moving to Warsaw for graduate school- need advice on relocation [10]

Also, I've heard that electronics are more expensive in Poland than the US. Are they expensive enough that it makes sense for us to ship a desktop computer from here or is the difference in cost less expensive that the shipping? Are there any customs complications with doing that?
ryanb   
30 Apr 2011
Life / Realistic grocery budget for a family of three in Warsaw? [20]

I am moving from the US to Warsaw to pursue a master's degree and I will be there for two years. I have a Fulbright grant and I am trying to make a budget. What is a realistic grocery budget for a family of three in Warsaw?
ryanb   
30 Apr 2011
Life / Realistic grocery budget for a family of three in Warsaw? [20]

I am unfamiliar with either of those terms. Google tells me that Biedronka is a discount grocery that sells mostly local products under store brands and is targeted toward low-income consumers. That sounds a lot like Aldi in the United States where we do most of our grocery shopping (we've always been frugal people). What is Kaczynski style?

I assume that Biedronka is probably the way we would go. I assumed that we would be trying to buy as local as possible to keep costs down.
ryanb   
4 May 2011
Life / Cost of cell service in Poland (Who has the best service for the money?) [3]

I am moving to Warsaw in September and I will be there for two years for graduate school. My assumption is I will be foregoing a land line and just getting cell service for my wife and I. We will be using Skype for talking to family so I don't need to worry about international rates. Who has the best service for the money? I'd want our phones to work outside of Warsaw when we go out to see various places, and also when we leave Poland on vacation to nearby countries. How do contract phones compare to prepaid in terms of cost? I know in the US prepaid is much much less but I don't know if that is true in other places. We would be purchasing phones after we arrive in Warsaw, so any advice on an inexpensive place to get the phones from would be welcome as well.
ryanb   
5 May 2011
Life / Best place to buy winter clothing in Warsaw [11]

My family and I are moving to Warsaw in September from a relatively warm area of the United States. We don't have much in the way of winter clothing so I figured we would just buy it when we get there so we don't have to worry about transporting it. What is a good place to go to get affordable winter clothing that will last? I don't care about brands.
ryanb   
6 May 2011
Life / Best place to buy winter clothing in Warsaw [11]

The stores where I live don't carry any real heavy winter clothing anyway; it doesn't get cold enough here even in the wintertime, and even if they did they won't have it during the summer when I would need to buy it; I'd have to mail order, pay shipping on that to here and then ship it to Warsaw. Is the price differential sufficient to justify that?

Also, are trenchcoats common in Warsaw? I'd rather get a coat that would look good over a suit as well for church as well as more casual clothes, but not if it carries a negative connotation- a friend of mine said that at least in Bulgaria they were associated with the mafia.
ryanb   
30 May 2011
Law / Adventages - visa vs Poland residence permit [2]

I am moving to Poland in September to obtain a master's degree through a Fulbright fellowship. I have heard conflicting things about visas. Some people are saying to apply for a national visa beforehand, some people are saying just to go there under the 90 day entry for US citizens rule and apply for a residency permit once I am in the country. Is there any advantage to doing one over the other?
ryanb   
1 Jun 2011
Life / bicycle feasibility in Warsaw [11]

How feasible is it to use a bicycle in Warsaw compared to depending exclusively on public transit? I was thinking of getting a folding bike that would be easier to use in conjunction with public transit depending on where I am going. I guess my main question is how bicycle friendly is Warsaw?
ryanb   
16 Jun 2011
Classifieds / Warsaw (PL) Tabletop Role Playing Game Group for Expats Only. D&D Fortnightly [87]

I'd love to join you in September. I'm moving to Warsaw for grad school in September and haven't been able to play a good pen and paper D&D game in a long time. I've DMed several groups and am very familiar with 3.5, at least. I think its silly the way they feel a need to release a new edition so quickly. I hope you guys will have room for me.

I love playing unconventional characters. Two of my most memorable characters were a halfling barbarian with a major napoleon complex and an insane monk who thought he was actually a mage. At the worst possible moment the "mage" would stop fighting unarmed and start trying to "cast" something. He also had an imaginary dragon familar he spoke to on a regular basis and everything he said was always in rhymes. He was a lot of fun to play.
ryanb   
23 Jun 2011
Life / Cost of delivering a child in Poland [30]

How much does a normal delivery without complications without insurance in Poland? I am trying to decide what level of coverage to get for my wife, and the maternity riders are really expensive unless you have a waiting period that would make the insurance useless.
ryanb   
24 Jun 2011
Life / Cost of delivering a child in Poland [30]

So your wife/fiance/girlfriend will be having the baby in Warsaw?

My wife will be having our second child in Warsaw around February.

She (or he) will be a Polish citizen and you would have to get her a US citizenship if you plan on it.

Since neither I nor my wife are Polish, my understanding is that our child will be born an American citizen by blood and we will just have to register his or her birth with the US Embassy. In our situation our child would only be born Polish if he or she would otherwise be stateless, which doesn't apply here. We will need to get a passport.

If anybody wants a copy of that, let me know: I can certainly scan and email it (I can probably supply a text-only version if needed).

I would love to see that article. I'll PM you my email address.

As far as insurance, at this point medicover looks like our best bet. I'm not dead set against using state hospitals but I can't get a visa for my family without proof of health insurance, and medicover would cost less than half what insurance from one of the foreign companies that caters to expatriates would charge. Medicover has English-speaking staff which helps too since my Polish isn't very good yet. I don't think there is a way for non-EU citizens to use the state system (If I'm wrong please let me know, I'd like to know all my options- the main concern is the visa thing).
ryanb   
13 Jul 2011
Language / plural forms (cztery kubki / czternascie kubkow) [23]

I am trying to learn some Polish before I move to Warsaw. I've been using Rosetta Stone. One thing that really leaves me confused is the plural forms.

cztery kubki- 4 cups
czternaście kubków - 14 cups

What makes the form of cup different when there are four versus fourteen? I don't get it.
ryanb   
13 Jul 2011
Language / plural forms (cztery kubki / czternascie kubkow) [23]

Quite confusing. I'm glad I will be able to take a class once I get there. Polish will be my fourth language but the grammar is so different from English or the romance languages I have already learned. I think I'm gonna put away Rosetta stone for a while and concentrate on my grammar book. Rosetta is great for helping me with listening and pronunciation I think but it hasn't helped much with grammar at all.
ryanb   
24 Jul 2011
Study / Quality of Polish classes for foreigners [7]

Does anyone here know how the quality of the polish classes for foreigners taught at the University of Warsaw compare to the private language schools?
ryanb   
9 Aug 2011
Life / Cable TV connectors / Digital TV plug in Poland [9]

I am planning on buying a video capture card/tuner for my computer, and I'd like to be able to use it in both the US and Poland. I assume I will need to get some kind of adapter. I assume that cable tv in Poland gets run over coax cable terminated with the Belling-Lee connector AKA IEC 169-2 connector, more simply known as TV aerial plug or PAL connector. Am I correct?

There is a picture of this connector at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_aerial_plug

Thanks in advance.
ryanb   
23 Aug 2011
USA, Canada / Bringing a smartphone from the US. Would it work in Poland? [4]

I am thinking of purchasing a smartphone in the US to bring with me to Poland because I think it might cost less, but I've heard that the data frequencies are different between Europe and the US. Anybody know what would work? I know I would need a GSM phone but it is important that the data functions work too. I was thinking of getting an HTC phone but I want to know it will work in Europe too.
ryanb   
26 Aug 2011
USA, Canada / Gift idea for something uniquely American that is difficult to find in Poland? [67]

I'm not sure what section to post this in so here it is.

We have a friend in Poland that has really gone the extra mile to help us with our move to Warsaw from the United States, and we would like to try to get him an inexpensive gift as a way of saying thank you. Does anyone here know of something uniquely American that is difficult to find in Poland that wouldn't break a student budget? I have no idea what is available there so I'm kind of at a loss.
ryanb   
13 Sep 2011
Law / how much should a babysitter in warsaw cost? [6]

We have someone coming over to babysit our son tomorrow. She's not expecting to get paid, she's just planning on helping us out with it, but we would like to pay her. What is a reasonable rate for babysitting in Warsaw for about 8 hours? We're new to Poland and not familiar with such things yet.
ryanb   
27 Sep 2011
Law / Foreigner needs recommendation for a bank in Warsaw, Poland [3]

I need to open a local PLN account to facilitate paying bills while I am here in Warsaw. I'm here for two years and I don't want to have to do everything at the post office. I speak very little Polish. What bank would you recommend? I am hoping for a basic free checking account, if they have those here, and I need English-speaking staff. I had planned to use HSBC but when I went into the branch here they said they are leaving Poland by the end of October.
ryanb   
9 Oct 2011
Travel / Area's of Warsaw worth a visit? (including outdoor camping) [9]

Merged: Boy scout camping/hiking in Warsaw area question

I am a youth leader at my church in Warsaw. We are starting a varsity scout team through the Boy Scouts of America so that our American boys can continue in the Scouting program. Does anyone have any recommendations of great places to hike or camp fairly close to Warsaw? Any other outdoors activities you'd recommend for this area?
ryanb   
26 Oct 2011
Life / The best English newspapers about Poland? [22]

I need to follow Polish news as part of one of my classes, but I am not ready to try to do that in Polish. What are the best news sources about Polish politics written in English? When answering, please give me an idea of what their ideological position is (is it a left-wing or right-wing newspaper, for example).
ryanb   
11 Jan 2012
Study / Learning Polish in Warsaw - good school recommendation? [47]

I am taking classes at Polonicum at the University of Warsaw. My instructor has been very good but the class is too big (fifteen or so). My wife and I also took private lessons from polish4you.waw.pl/start.php?lang=en

I was extremely pleased with Anna Wojtasiak as a teacher. She tailored our course to our needs, came to us and taught in our apartment, and it was not as expensive as I had expected.
ryanb   
8 Mar 2012
Travel / Cheap flights from Warsaw to other European countries? [11]

I'd like to take my family out to see some more of Europe during the Easter holidays. We're on a fairly tight budget, and we'd like to find a way to search for flights by price instead of destination (we're very flexible on that). Any suggestions? any destination or airline that is consistently cheaper from Warsaw?

I know LOT has a page that does that but I can't seem to narrow the search down from all of 2012 and a great deal in November isn't very useful to me...
ryanb   
10 Mar 2012
Study / Polish preschools in Warsaw? [4]

What Polish preschool options are available for the children of foreigners in Warsaw? I'm not interested in preschools for foreigners- I'm considering putting my child into a polish preschool to help him learn Polish and make more local friends. Are there public preschools? How much would this cost?