Work / I'm from Canada, and the latest victim of a Polish woman - one bites the dust [13]

Hello Wrocław,

I'm the latest victim of a Polish woman; the newest flamebait for the jaded expat tigers to pounce on. I have moved to Wroclaw from Canada to join my girlfriend who is studying here for the next 4 years (she's from Vancouver). In the past I worked for about 10 years in computers and web development as a project manager, and then retired from the desk job, to take up carpentry and woodwork, and to take a couple of years of university, and spend half the year working in the Canadian arctic and Mexican desert in the mining exploration industry.... soil sampling, staking claims, mapping, slashing bush, riding in helicopters, etc.

Now I am in Poland, with some cash saved up while I figure this place out. I will be enrolling shortly in some Polish lessons.... a cinch of a language for a monoglot to learn, I'm told! But....I am committed to taking a serious crack at it. I have a 1 year 'working holiday' visa for Poland, and I am also working on getting my Dutch citizenship based on ancestry which should only take a couple more months.

I do not really want to teach English, or do computer work, if I can help it. I would prefer to work with my hands.

I am interested in taking any courses in English that I can get my hands on locally here, even if they are useless toward any degree. My interests are in fine arts and architecture. Ideally, if I could find some master craftsman to work for / learn from (woodworker, carpenter, mason, builder, etc), who would accept a willing foreigner who is cool with working for peanuts, I would be extremely happy. Obviously this may be nearly impossible - but I'm pretty comfortable with self-delusion for the time being. Really, I'm willing to do anything for not much money... might be best to force a sink-or-swim learn-the-language kind of situation, if I can get my foot in the door. I can always go work in the bush in Canada for a month or two and make enough money to last the rest of the year out here.

Other than that, I'm in the market for a shared studio space to work on my own projects.

At this point, having just arrived, I am looking for whatever tips or advice you may have to give. (Let 'er rip) ;)

Many thanks,
chudclaw

Life / Flea markets in Wrocław [14]

Hi, I am looking for used, second hand stuff in Wrocław. I have been to the Sunday morning market by the Real, Castorama shopping centre in the NE part of town, which is awesome. I picked up a bike and some tools and odds and ends.

But I have heard of another antique or flea market to the west of Rynek. Also I see a few references on the web, but I can't seem to locate them on Google Maps. Does anyone know when or where to find these markets? Any other tips on finding good junk? i.e. old falling apart antiques, miscellaneous garage sale type stuff, tools, clothing, etc. Is there an antique market at the end of each month?

I am interested in finding out ALL the best ways of scrounging and salvaging up junk here in Poland. I am working on getting a car so I can go further afield to the surrounding towns.

Any tips are appreciated! I will compile the locations onto a Google Map and post it here.

Thanks

ps- sorry for posting this in the wrong category... I can't figure out how to delete it or change the category

Life / What is the penalty for driving a car without the annual technical inspection? [17]

I was wondering what the penalty is for driving a car without the certificate of technical inspection. Someone told me it was only a 50 PLN fine.

Anyone have experience with this?

What kind of inspection is it? Is it mainly for safety? Or for pollution?

For now I have bought a car with 10 months left before technical inspection, but I am wondering about all those nice old beaters that are for sale but need the inspection.