Life / How to carry your groceries if you travel by tram in Poland? [12]

I think you could ask your fav store do deliver your starter kit right to your home....they might do it for free if you buy quantity. Taxi would cost less then 5eur and you may load it up the roof....Wroclaw has also cheap bikes to rent! Now, you can write your options down,too as summer 2016 is almost 400 days and nights away and you could forget.

News / US slaps Poland in the face (Comey Poland) [92]


Yet, child rearing had much to do with that average German following that nationalistic rubbish - not hunger, poverty ( which was/is present elsewhere ) Agree, it is off topic.

News / US slaps Poland in the face (Comey Poland) [92]

They swallowed that rubbish for they, as children were raised in violence and beaten into obedience in accordance with infamous, poisonous pedagogy - so we already KNOW why.

naturalchild.org/alice_miller/adolf_hitler.html

Love / Wedding in Szczecin recommendations. How long before must the documents be provided to the registry office? [18]

Hi KevinUK,

I am from Szczecin so am inclined to answer yet have not attended any wedding as of recently so kind of am also not familiar with the whole wedding issues. I did check with google "where wedding Szczecin" (in polish :) and the very fist entry would provide the following information:

price per guest is 180 to 300 pln , free red carpet............here you go, it is in English (some 40 km from Szczecin)

dworekhetmanski.pl/en/wesela/oferta.html

and more offers at:
gdziewesele.pl/Szczecin

Law / Marrriage with my best friend (a girl from Poland) for papers. What are the chances of getting caught? [10]

I think your chances of getting caught are minimal providing you are going to share a flat/apartment with her. If you are middle class and white Canadian it would help. Interview would often include so called personal questions so this is where you could possibly fail - example: your wife and you would answer if you you are wearing boxers or briefs when in bed.

Your neighbors would also be asked to answer few questions but only to verify that you are being seen under the address.
So over all , with some preparations and reading you could pull it off.

Travel / Do trains in Poland arrive on time? [38]

You can check on current train delays on the website below (type in your destination) . When it snows delays are more likely, still Pendolinos are PKP new stars, so would rather be on time.

infopasazer.intercity.pl

News / Turkey abolished visas for Poles. [80]


I'm ready. It's Istanbul. Been in Turkey before in summer. Great people, food. This time flying from Berlin and happy to avoid tourist hostile and arrogant UK as transfer point.

News / Turkey abolished visas for Poles. [80]


agree, and they'd rather go Sochi then Crimea which depends so much on summer tourism. Russian rubel may be cheap yet decrease in travels to Russia since Ukraine crisis is significant -not to mention hassle one has to go through obtaining Russian visa....and I'm in Turkey in end of December :) (not much of Oligarch myself though.)

News / Turkey abolished visas for Poles. [80]

We are compensating for Russian tourists who wouldn't come to Turkey for their currency meltdown. Off topic: Russian tourist from Kaliningrad (visa free to Poland) don't come here anymore for same reason. Anyway it is a good news. Turkish visa was quickly issued at the airport, now we'd save time and $

Life / Swimming in Kalisz [5]

Most Kaliszians I'd say would swim in the pools...crowded in summer

Life / Swimming in Kalisz [5]

Prosna isn't deep enough for swimming, kayaking is popular, can catch a pike,t, too..... and also ...running ......

Life / New home gift - Is there a Polish tradition for this situation? [4]

Buy something practical if you feel you are close to them, think wedding .....ironing desk, expresso maker or similar. If you are not that close flowers would be fine. ...I'm thinking flowers in a vase would make it something in between. Good luck.

News / What are notable differences between Poland's National Security Strategy 2007 and 2014? [9]

One notable difference would be we are not going for free anywhere far like Iraq, Syria etc, priority in spendings is for whatever is needed to upgrade ourselves. Also as priority more focusing on energy security - within EU. Military budget has been increased to 2% GDP, they'd probably use it all up unlike in previous years.

Law / Laws in Poland regarding ownership of found valuables/treasure using a metal detector? [3]

For now any treasure you would dig out belongs to the state, even something on your own property. Basicly what is under belongs to the state. Low remains unenforced most of the time but sometimes authorities would claim something offered for sale on ebay, allegro etc.

Some work is done to regulate it differently though - treasure hunters would get half of the value while the other half would be owned by the land owner.

In recent years there has been lots of people hunting and finding all kinds of things and media would sometimes inform on what was found and where if worthy their attention.

Law / Banks in Poland are rip off - western union charges [4]

Strange. I used WU outlets few times, also in PKO bank and never had any extra fees. Perhaps you were using regular bank (no WU outlet) with request to transfer to WU. Rip off.

Travel / Has anyone ever stayed at the Guest House Wytchnienie in Lublin? [6]


Place has positive reviews with some complains on some small size rooms( too small) ; most compliment the hosts as friendly and helpful; good parking, easy access to the city center, fine kitchen .

Life / Are there Russian speakers living in Poland? [10]


Not all of them. Ukrainians who identified themselves as ethnic Russians constituted less then 20 % of the population
The simple truth is that the majority of Ukrainians speak both Russian and Ukrainian. Most of them speak Russian at work, and use Ukrainian at home. Citizens living in urban areas primarily speak Russian and those in the rural areas speak primarily Ukrainian or mixed Russian-Ukrainian

History / Ordinary Polish people who collaborated with the Communist authorities? [28]


It was not necessary but would definitely enhance your chances by large. Say, as a regular party member you'd wait 3-7 years for your flat being on the list among single mothers and without PZPR card your waiting time was 15-20 years. The same goes for holiday package, getting a phone line and advancing at your job - surely you could get things done yet things were much easier to get through party channels.

History / Ordinary Polish people who collaborated with the Communist authorities? [28]

All PZPR party members - about 3 000 0000 members at its peak - to some degree were collaborating with SB. You may argue they were not ordinary people but I think they were. Almost all polish families had some relative in PZPR as the membership would be required to get and hold ANY supervisor type job position, sometimes to get a flat or a coupon for a car or other benefits, would help get passport or holiday package in Bulgaria.

They had contact with SB officer on monthly basis, on party members meetings and depending on their position, milieu, relatives would inform or answer questions or be left alone. Some to avoid PZPR membership would join PZPR coalition partners like United People Party or Democratic Party and this was considered less shameful. Many would go to party meetings hiding and would never tell anyone they were the members.

It would be fair to say that many PZPR members would try to say as little as possible when in contact with SB, often claiming they knew absolutely nothing and PZPR membership actually would protect them - any member of PZPR was treated by SB with degree of respect and given a benefit of doubt.

Law / Can a student go in any other Schengen country with a Polish National Visa (D) [46]

Your passport and visa would be checked only once your plane is entering or leaving Schengen zone. Domestic, inside EU flights are hassle free in terms of passport checks.

News / Is this the first clear and open signal that Poland makes preparations for war with Russia? [163]


and first of all it's a slap in the face of US and UK. Imagine now Iran or any state with similar problems would rather think twice on signing any deal with the West - providing West guarantees are questionable.

UK, Ireland / Romanian manual labour workers in the UK making Poles look bad. [12]

meanwhile in London
we expect your respect
youtube.com/watch?v=xe2c5wQcuuo

ipetitions.com/petition/zero-tolerance-to-racism-fascism-and?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend

Travel / How can I get a license to be a tour guide in Poland, in a specific language? [6]

The license requirement has been dropped in July 2013 and the tour guide is now on the list of "deregulated" professions; all you need now: 18 years or older, at least high school education and clean police record (niekaralność) -according to Tourism Ministry

PTTK is a reputable, established long time ago, huge NGO running also many inexpensive hostels and organizing lots of tours (mainly for domestic tourists):

pttk.pl

Language / Polish online slang phrases? [12]

pa pa - for bye bye
witam - very cold hello
kc - I love you

Work / I'm moving in to Poland in a week.. and I am panicking! English Teacher [11]

check out ekorepetycje.net you could also place your add inthere also on tablica.pl
e-korepetycje.net/praca,600

Travel / How can I get a license to be a tour guide in Poland, in a specific language? [6]

Some tour guides courses are done and certified by PTTK which has branches in many locations countrywide. You don't need a license to be a tour guide now, that is if you can and want to open your own business and do the tours, no license is required.

I'd suggest you call perhaps some tour guides and get some first hand information.
przewodnicy.pl/przewodnicy_pokaz.php

This is assuming you don't want to take tourists into the mountains or care for school trips...

Travel / Whats the cheapest way to get around Poland... train or bus? [25]

Good deal on TLK trains, with a flat rate ticket you could travel between Friday 7pm to 6am Monday

A Traveller's Ticket costs for TLK trains:
- PLN 74.00, 2nd class,
- PLN 104.00 1st cla

or A Weekend Ticket for all TLK and all Intercity trains

- in second class costs PLN 154, and in first class PLN 247

weekend offer for all REGIO trains - valid 6 pm Friday to 6 am Monday 45 pln
and for all REGIO and all other PR trains 79 pln

:) so take your trains on weekend if you want to spend your time in trains or want to take any long return trip within Friday evening Monday morning frame.

Food / Food to give as a gift that is only representative of Poznan? [4]

there is this cake called BRZDĄC which is kind of unique for Poznan area and quite tasty

Life / LCD monitor in Czestochowa? [4]

you'd probably need someone speaking polish but tablica.pl is a way to go for second hand LCD monitors, some would deliver also under "firmowe' you'd see companies not individuals offers - they couold deliver (I think). Ohter then that allegro.pl

tablica.pl/elektronika/czestochowa/?search[dist]=5&q= LCD

Work / Any international companies in Poznan? (Non-polish speaker is looking for a job) [17]

mtp.pl/all/pl/kariera/praca_dla_studentow/