I was cursing Poland daily, then returned home, but now thinking of going back..

I wish I had spent some months or years in Poland.What a country.A true marvel if you don't belong to the beautiful sex.

I am aware of this , Seanus , but this will get things worse in my opinion . She should have closed that subject of her past that day she returned home .

You'll find that's what a large number of us who've posted here have done. I've had 16 years' contact on and off with PL and am rooted there now.

It is fair to say that the particularly distressing issues you have documented are rarely, if ever, encountered in the large (and prosperous) cities. Warsaw, Wrocław, Poznań and so forth don't generally suffer the kind of ills you have encountered. People are struggling financially, yes, especially those on a wage - the self-employed can live much more efficiently than anyone on Pay-As-You-Earn - assuming the business is viable of course. Healthcare provision is a lottery, especially where birth is concerned - I've heard more than a few stories about antiquated procedures like removing the baby for 8 hours, stirrups, no epidural (or any anaesthetic if an anaesthesiologist cannot be found). Reforms have been in place since April but cultural change in these institutions will take years. Local Government offices and the courts, likewise.

Which leads me to the question: where was all this happening? Not doubting your story, just wanted to get some perspective. I do have one hidden premise though, that I suspect the conflation of all these problems in one place suggests a pretty run-down area of the country. Yes, these places exist - but you'll find them everywhere.

Sometimes it's not so easy, Monia. I mean, have Poles forgotten WWII? I don't think so ;)

The reality of life here is harder for some than for others.

having been in hospital this week i can tell u they have my respect. they do a fine job. running around to ZUS afterwards wasn't a problem either.

delphiandomine - you're completely wrong about what I was doing there. Running 2 companies actually, lucklily I did not lock myself into an impossible contract, and got out as soon as the novelty wore off.

magdalena - grizzly details huh? How about parents being told their 2-year olds eyelids were going to be sewn shut because staff had no time to apply artificial tears at night and hospital policy was not to allow parents to stay with their children at night. Or the parents of a child facing years of rehabilitation following an accident (and ventilated for several hours each day to relieve the lungs) being told that they should consider making themselves another child and forgetting about this one - the problem wasn't excessive as power shortages often happened at the hospital and generators don't always kick in on time... Another set of parents unable to keep watch over their premmie at night (again not allowed) returned in the morning to find that a cardiac arrest wasn't noticed by the staff for 20 minutes and their child is now a vegetable. Away from health and into a Warsaw customs office: an small importer who used several years savings to bring in a container of stock to turn his life around brings his carefully compiled and faultless documents and is told that unless he pays 25,000PLN to share amongst 5 officers he will not have his stock released. He does not have the money but struggles to beg and borrow it, which takes him 2 weeks. When he returns with it it has become 40,000. He cannot pay and customs send the container to the Czech Republic for 'utilization' (to be destroyed, Poland does not have a plant for destruction of the stock in question). He is sent a bill for 96,000PLN and hangs himself a week later. Shall I go on?

Don't get me wrong - I met my share of great people in Poland, including great doctors, dentists. My kids used the public school system which was much better than a private school we first tried there (though the program is light years behind what they now enjoy in Australia, not so much in terms of content but in method), and they certainly benefited from experiencing another culture first hand. I certainly have good examples of life there also. The problem is that the bad examples are so bad that they shouldn't have any place in 21st century society. And that is what I said NO to by moving out. Unfortunatelly it won't be a completely closed chapter until I can sell my property there - another 2 year wait for taxation purposes.

again, my experience is different. however, it was 13yrs ago and my wife was allowed to stay overnight

I think a lot of Polish life is about avoiding pitfalls. Fall into traps and you may come a cropper but you need to be able to duck and dodge. Keep your nose clean and the administration won't bother you. Also double check before making a transfer or reading paragraphs. They will hold you to it later. It works both ways. I don't like the pedantic means of enforcement but they do maintain order at the same time.

I was just in Warsaw and felt the same way.