Life / I'm English, but I really like some Polish names. Can I use them for my baby girl? [25]


How many native English speakers can even hear the difference between Kasia and Kasza?

Life / I'm English, but I really like some Polish names. Can I use them for my baby girl? [25]

You have two choices. Name them something mundane and have them hate you for it, or name them something exotic and have them hate you for it.

Life / I'm English, but I really like some Polish names. Can I use them for my baby girl? [25]

Move to California and you'll have no problems.

Language / Speaking with wrong Polish case endings? [94]


Maybe it meant "A Pear Is 39 pence a lb."???

Life / Eating out in Poland, is it expensive? [28]

Hi Chris,
As an American who retired and moved to Poland I might be able to help you. I live in a small (very small) village, so some of what I know might not apply to you, but here goes:

If you like "Home Style" Polish food you can eat very well on $5-$6 per meal. Less if you can find a Bar Mleczny, but they don't seem to have any in the area where we live. If you want anything exotic (read non-Polish) start at about $10 and up (way up in many cases).

Housing is cheap (My mortgage is about 1/3 of what I was paying for rent in So Cal) gasoline is expensive (about $6.50 - $7 per gallon) and exchange rate makes a fixed income fluctuate so you never know from day to day how much money you'll get each month.

$1000/month seems an OK income (again, I'm sure this is different in the big cities) so most US retirements are adequate.
My mother-in-law cooks most of our meals, so my wife and I are probably saving round about $900/month in restaurant bills, so make it $2000/month if you plan on eating out 3 meals per day.

Hope this helps, and let me know if there is anything else I can tell you about my experiences in Poland.

Love / I'm getting married to a Polish guy and need advice before visit his family; gifts, topics, customs [82]

I think two things will stand out in the minds of the family members:

1. You made their daughter/sister very happy.
2. You made their daughter/sister very sad.

Your most recent act was to make her very sad, and so that will be in the forefront of their minds.

Chocolate and flowers, vodka and beer might help a little bit, but your most important task is to convince them that you will not hurt her again.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law love me because I care for their daughter. They happen to be Polish, and I happen to be an American, but I think the same could be said for any mix of nationalities.

Good luck to you both.

Language / When to use biernik? When to use dopełniacz... Narzędnik? [4]

Thanks for the link.

Travel / Best way to get to Krakow Business Park? [27]

Martonka
Have you thought about finding a place near work during the week and going to Katowice for weekends?
I spent 40 years in Southern California, the birthplace of the horrible commute, and the schedule you're proposing seems bad even to me!

Life / Polish natural remedies and homeopathey better than English [84]

My teściowa seems to base her self-medication not on tried and true folk remedies, but on TV commercials. And since they don't claim to be "real medicines" they don't require any kind of diagnoses by a medical professional. I'm just afraid she's going to die from a preventable disease because she relied on the advice of an actor in a lab coat working for a "new age" snake oil salesman with no more conscience and less accountability than the worst of the drug companies.

Real Estate / Car Living in Krakow (instead of renting a flat?) [12]


Where did it get to minus 30? Zakopane?
According to this: weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Krakow,Poland

Kraków doesn't often get below minus 10 C. Granted that's cold if you're from the Bahamas....

Love / Best way to find a Polish husband...ideas? [120]

Best way to find a husband
Where did you lose him?

Travel / From Katowice airport to the Train station [9]

Have you looked at taking a commuter flight from Katowice to Warsaw?

News / What really happened at the Krakow restaurant? [53]


Yeah, seems like a lot of Poles have pictures of Jesus or Mary in their homes......

Love / How would you describe Polish girl in one word only? [37]

Polka

Life / Polish lifestyle, month by month, year by year, illustrated [11]

The summer of 2032 might be a good time to visit my old friends in California.

Travel / Massive thanks to Poland for the Euro time! [19]


I thought of it!
Then I decided that speaking English and teaching English are two different skills.

Life / What does an american citizen need to do to live in Poland with his Polish citizen wife? [35]

Some of the posters here would not grant us Yanks the title of Native English Speaker. Thanks for your tolerance!

Life / What does an american citizen need to do to live in Poland with his Polish citizen wife? [35]


Actually, I was a bit confused. He's from the US and I would guess from your name that you are either from UK or Polska.

Mostly, I was splitting hairs. :->

Life / What does an american citizen need to do to live in Poland with his Polish citizen wife? [35]


Native of where? We're all natives of somewhere....


I think you're the one who keeps harping on getting a job and setting up a business, not the OP


Almost right. Karta Pobytu will last up to two years depending on what the clerk puts down. I have not found any rhyme or reason as to how they select the expiration date. Maybe how much they like you? Anyway, you will need to renew the Karta Pobytu until you qualify for the 10 year permit. Then when you have been married long enough and resided in Poland long enough you can apply for citizenship. And make sure you apply for the new Karta Pobytu 45 days before expiration of the current one.

45 seems to be a magic number in Polish bureaucracy.

Work / Salary of architects or building engineers in Poland cities [12]


Our trolls are 100% free of bias. They hate everybody especially each other and sometimes themselves!

Life / What does an american citizen need to do to live in Poland with his Polish citizen wife? [35]

As an American citizen who came here with my wife two years ago I can tell you some of what we went through.
You might want to bring original birth certificate and marriage certificate, but you will want to get apostiles of them.
In California that means getting the documents authenticated by the California Secretary of State:

sos.ca.gov/business/notary/authentication.htm

not sure who would handle it in other states.
You need to register the translated marriage certificate apostile at the Urząd Stanu Cywilnego in the area where you will live.
As soon as you get settled go to the Urząd Województwo and apply for residence (Karta Pobytu). You will need proof of income and I think proof of health coverage but my wife says no about the health coverage.

You will need lots of new passport style photos, passports, IDs, copies of everything including stamps in the passports (4 to be safe).
Copy everything many times, never let the originals stray to far and get everything in English translated by a certified translator. (Tłumacz Przysięgły)

Get everything done in the US that you can (apostiles, etc) but probably best to get translatins done in Poland.

Anyway, that's a partial list. Respond or PM if I can help in any way.


My wife just reminded me to tell you not to waste your money on an attorney.
350 zł for karta pobytu
We can't agree on what we paid for translations. sorry
Wife says figure on 600 - 800 zł for the whole process up to the point you get your first "Green Card". We were married 10 years when we came here so don't remember if you have to be married 3 years or 5 years before you can apply for permanent status.

Also, don't waste much time at the Polish consulate.

Language / Meanings of 'stkę' [14]


If you went as far as the border and came back, you have been to Poland. If you crossed the border, you have been in Poland. and if you just like really dig it, you have been into Poland. lol

Language / What should I end my last name with? [16]

I worked with two Polish-American brothers who stood about 6'4" and were built like line-backers and their last name was Hyska. When I had learned enough about Polish names to think that was odd I asked one of them about it. He told me that when the family emigrated from Poland to Belgium the matriarch (his grandmother) had filled out all the paperwork. The Belgians took her last name to be the family name and put it down as such. Later when the family moved to the US Hyska was already a fait accompli.

For once it wasn't the fault of Ellis Island!

Law / After marriage do I have to file for Poland residency? [6]


The way it was explained to me was that as spouse of a Polish citizen I could not be deported, but that Polish law requires that I get a temporary long term residence permit.

Not sure what the penalty would be for non-compliance. I would guess a fine of some type??? Or a severe evil-eye stare from a government official??

Real Estate / What do you pay in rent/mortgage in Poland? [144]


Pay less by borrowing less. What a novel concept! :->
Before moving to Poland we were living in a house bought in the 60s for $20,000 and paying $1800/month rent. The landlady said she was going to raise the rent to $2500 when we moved out.

Language / Instruction how to install Polish diacritic letters on your computer [30]


Before I figured out how to get Polish keyboard on my computer I used to copy and paste diacriticals.
Cumbersome, but it works.

Real Estate / What do you pay in rent/mortgage in Poland? [144]


More important is when you bought it. Houses in Southern California that were going for $20,000 in the 60s were $200,000 in the 80s and half a million before the bubble burst.

Life / What do Polish people do for fun? [18]

Picking mushrooms or berries in the woods, depending on the season.

western companies???

Language / Standard Polish taught in schools? [18]



Lubin (near Wrocław) is Dolny Śląsk but many of the residents are descendants of eastern Poles relocated here at the end of the war.

It seems odd to me that in Dolny Śląsk, no one seems to speak Śląsk!

Law / Permanent residency for my Chinese wife (I'm Polish) [3]

You can't get permanent residence immediately after marriage. You need to go to the urząd województwo to get temporary residence, maintain that for two years, then you can apply for permanent. See if you can get a two year temp. They gave me a year and a half, so I get to reapply (and pay fees again) so I can finish up the two years and apply for permanent. As far as I know the exact duration of the temporary is up to the issuing clerk.

Oh, yeah. This is after you get to Poland on a short term visa from the Polish consulate/embassy.