English girl moving to Poland with my Polish boyfriend for the first time

I don't know where you are but I'm in Gdańsk and 1zl/min is standard if you're willing to ask for it.

Living in Poland isn't a problem. Emigrating on the back of an insecure relationship is. Tell him you're 100% in favour of the idea as long as you have a ring on your finger.

I brought my Polish wife to England after we got married - and we weathered every storm thrown at us by my bigoted family and life in a hostile country (i.e. England). Now we live in Poland - and handle worse problems!

May i ask how long youve been living in Poland?

Have a heart to heart, isnt he happy to have you try ?? sorry but eemmmm!! ???? i lived in poland for six months with my gf and found it to be possibly the happiest time of my life, but i didnt need to work and her family were the most welcoming people i have ever met . plus i had transport, most important in a rural area in any country..a touch of independence. my gf and have now lived in london for five years!!!!!! life is for living.

p.s. i would like to be in contact with other couples. polish and english speaking. is there a web address or something. pa pa

I'm not in an insecure relationship and I don't need to be married to move to a foreign country.

His family want me to move and my family think I would be crazy to not at least try. The way the UK is going, what exactly would I be leaving behind?


I hear this all the time where I'm from in the UK! I, however, do not use the phrase!

That depends on what you have going for you at the moment - would you leave a good job with fantastic career prospects to go to a country which cant offer the same? Poles have more opportunties here than a Brit would have in Poland.

The way UK is going? Dont write it off just yet, its still attractive for a lot of other people and the out-flow is significantly lower than the in-flow.

Write down the pros and cons and make sure that your b/f is going to be supportive if you do make the move.

Just don't swim in the Vistula river because the Lech Nesski sea serpent will get you.

Mine too.


So am I, and I don't "ask" for it. That's what I charge, and get, although one student insisted on paying 70zl an hour three times a week. I didn't say no. My private students are all referrals and they know my rates before they contact me, but it takes a while to build this sort of thing up.

I love living here. I didn't come for the women or because my money goes farther here. I wanted the experience of living in Poland, and I enjoy every day here. Zycie jest dobre. Life is good.

I moved 8 months ago for my girlfriend, and the 1st 5 months were really rought!
I'm compleating my studies, studying polish at Uni and giving some private lesson of french to polish students and life is a little bit better, but still hard!

Try to find something ( language school, english speaking compagnies, or even some studies at Uni) because when you will stay there without doing anything of your day when you BF will be working or studying, and then when you will be running out of money, life will seem really unpleasant there ( from my own experience)

My advice is that you should try it, but don't go without any plan ( studies or work)

Really does depend where you are going. Best bet is getting a job in the UK where you are willing to relocate but perhaps your boyfriend just doesn't want to be back under the yoke of his family etc.

I loved it here, though I had the homesickness kick in (not helped by having to go back to the UK several times) and immersion into the language isn't that easy. Equally said, some people never learn a word of Polish and they get by (I think that's an insult to your host country regardless of where you go but each to their own).

Before you move anywhere, make sure your relationship is solid. One thing breaking up with someone on home turf, doing so in the back end of nowhere would be far worse than in one of the larger places with expat communities but even that will be unpleasant. On the other hand, get used to resisting pressure from Polish families. Imagine how much WORSE it will be when they are right on your case (or right up your arse and pushing if in a supermarket).

EDIT: sorry the above was a joke. Maybe they haven't GOT a supermarket in a place with 400 people.

A Brit moving to a tiny village in Poland is so clearly a mistake that I would say up front that if you do it you are an idiot. You will hate your life after about 3 days.

oh dear...i am a Brit that moved to a small village...been here five years now....!

Amen to that. Poles say it because "co" translates roughly to "what". Czy masz wyszytko co potrzebujesz? comes out of their mouths in English as "do you have everything what you need?". It should be "that" or "which", depending on context.

I get this almost every day from my students, even in FCE or CAE classes. I certainly don't expect it from a native speaker and I don't think I'd heard it from one until I read it here. Let's hope that it was just an aberration.

Bad education!

If I move it will be to Krakow which I believe is the second largest city in Poland? If it all goes terribly wrong, England is what, two hours away on a plane? Perhaps I'm too positive but I feel like if I don't try this I'll regret it. I'm not completely cutting all ties from the UK. My family is still here and they support me moving.

Surely if I go with a postive attitude, I'm more likely to get on well there?

He probably knows you well enough, not to lie to you. It would be a big cultural shock to you. Although everything appears to be as it is in the west, the bureaucracy and behind the scenes shenanigans will grind you down.

It,s not easy. It,s an uphill ride.


It,s good to be optimistic, but living day in day out is a different kettle of fish to getting on well.


And if you try it you may also regret it. I think it,s more a case of " if I don,t try it, I won,t know." So by all means, give it a go, but as you said keep your options open and hold on to your return ticket.

Oops - I'm an idiot too. Knew this village thing was a mistake - before you know it you know loads of people and they're saying hello to you in the street.

Mind you, it's not a farming village any more - everyone here built their own house and has decent jobs.

But in my wife's home - farming - village, loads of people say hello and treat me really well.

I suppose it's early days - I've only been here 10 years.

I concur with this fully. Even if it doesn't go well, at least you had the chance to live in another country, learn a new language, meet new people, etc. It's important to keep your options wide open, though, so that you don't feel trapped, and so that you can leave if things aren't ideal.

Go for it...if it does not work out you can go back home again....I have had a tough five years in Poland , but despite this...i am staying , so must be something good about the place , or am i just stubborn....?

I would move there only if nominated king of the village.

bizzilizzi12


Well, you should try. Krakow is a good choice for English person. There are the places where you can hear mainly English language. People are quite familiar with foreigners. You would have a moderate cultural shock. But it would not be easy. Red carpet, rudeness, lower standards, lower earnings, etc. The first month would be great, the first year - horrible (as I know Poland). Only after this time you would know if your decision was right.

Remember that your man has some doubts. Perhaps he is right. Next problem is that Poles are dependent of their families definitely too much.
OK, enough threats. We are waiting for your impressions here!

Do you love him?
Is your relationship stable?
Are you ready for a challenge?

If the answer is yes to all 3 then GO FOR IT!

It's very true.. Poland is not like England... at all. I've been going to Poland my whole life so I knew what to expect when living there but it was still hard, especially at first. What will probably get you the most is the loneliness. Even though I was with my Polish b/f I still felt a bit isolated, and this was Kolobrzeg, a beautiful seaside tourist town. But when I got more confident with the language and made a few friends, life got a bit easier.

If you are going soon it will be a good time because it will be summer in a few months. Polish summers are generally long and hot so I hope it's a good one for you!

And start PRACTISING YOUR POLISH NOW! Knowing the language makes life so much better, and will certainly impress his family and friends.
We're back in the UK now and I'm doing a degree in English and hope to be a teacher. In a couple years we plan to go back again permanently.

I've been to Krakow... it's beautiful and you will proabably find people there who speak English! It's a tourist city and alot of English go there for weekend breaks and stag do's, things like that. Perhaps you could find a place in the tourist industry??

Good luck! Some days you will be confused, some days you will be pissed off and some days you might think you're going crazy!! Some days you will just want baked beans on toast, or a good roast or a nice fried breakfast, or to walk into a spozywczy or chemist and not have to ask for what you want from behind the counter!! Aagh! :)

But if you like a challenge and keep an open mind i'm sure that most days you will love it!
:D Have fun!!

Not very long, really, and certainly not hot, although my British friends complain that it is. But I'm from California where 30-40C is common in summer. 30 is great for me while 40 just gets a little warm.

I've been living in Gdansk for 2 1/2 years and I love it here. Poland is VERY different than the US or the UK in so many ways, but if you take the "it is what it is" approach, learn some Polish, and make Polish friends, it's a great place to be.

The woman are ****** self serving know-it-all's and the men are drinkers....it is interesting and exciting at first but the novelty goes away real quick. I have lived in many Eastern Euro countries for business and Poland is not the best by far. I agree there is a sence of an overall downtrotten vibe. Stay in the UK and convince your boyfriend he is better off there too. If I had to guess he already know this.

As I read this thread more and more I got to like this Bizzilizzi she has balls and I don,t think she will put up with any old rubbish they throw at her. Go for it girl I think you sound like you can handle it and you will come out of it even stronger no matter what. Me? English guy probably an old geezer by your standards, married a Polish woman 5 years ago bought a farm in a small village so far away from Kracow you would think I,m not in Poland at all. I knew Germans very well and I thought Poles might be like Germans...Nope nothing like!!! but I get on fine here. I did at first worry that your predicament may be like someone I knew who came to live with a g/f in a big town, but!!! her family lived in a pokey flat with only 3 rooms!!! and also living there were 2 other sisters and their husbands and children and they thought nothing of bedding down everyone in the living room at night!! (make your beds up on the couches) If his family are wealthy it may be different.......you see in England they would have said "look sorry we just don,t have room for you to stay" in Poland they will do as I said and cram you in......if you are not used to it then it comes as a culture shock indeed. Like people said, keep your ears open for English voices say hello and you can make friends that way.......jobs? unlikely, about the same chance as a good lottery win, but not impossible, just find things to occupy the mind...I have a farm and live the 'good life'. Additional...in Polish families there is often a 'pecking order' among the women, if you do not establish straight away that you will not be 'treated like dirt' you may find yourself at the bottom of the heap and be put upon.....they do not understand English politeness and will see it as weakness to be exploited.....Be nice but firm.

Why does anyone have to be religious to be liked? what a stupid comment. I'm an atheist and I have hundreds of friends here in Poland. Leave religion where it belongs...back in the Medieval times.......

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043004/Lifestyle-better-Poland-UK-Less-crime-violence--cheaper-too.html

Hey I moved here from Birmingham To Warsaw, I live with my Polish Girlfriend and its great here its better than in UK i think. Its not over crowded Its cheap to live people are friendly and if u can find work and get good contacts its amazing u will find a lot of English people here!!!

Hey!

I moved to Poland about 2 weeks ago for the exact same reason. My boyfriend's parents were not satified with the college he had been attending in the US for over a year so they "forced" him to return to Poland until he could enroll into a London college. I had never been to another country until this move so I was incredibly nervous. To add, not only am I a non-Polish speaking American but I am a black girl with an afro! haha So needless to say, I definately stick out.

Fortunately, I lived with my boyfriend and a friend of his, whom is also Polish, for a few months back in the states so I was already used to hearing Polish spoken frequently.

Now we reside at his home in a small city just outside of Warsaw and I can honestly say I am enjoying it. That may be mostly due to the fact that I understand my moving here guarantees a lasting relationship with my boyfriend, but I really do feel like Poland could be my second home! There does not seem to be as much entertainment as in Hollywood where we moved from but the somber, serene vibe of Poland isn't all that bad. I like it a lot actually for it suits my personality pretty well.

I have only been to a few places, including the Golden Terraces center, two other malls, two Shisha lounges, a few French Cafe's and "Old Town" but already I am convinced my transition will continue to carry on smoothly.

Hope this helps ease your worries at least a slight bit!

Hey, nice to hear you're enjoying it ;)
Do you already speak some Polish?
Working in Warsaw?

£azienki Park should be quite cute when spring finally comes ;) Last time I went there (and only time actually), I had a walk on an early morning of July, and met a nice squirrel (wow).

Anyway, when you have time, you should also visit Cracow, in the south, and Gdańsk, on the seaside, worth it, I like these places.

Oh, and I'm French, currently living in Poland.

Witam w Polsce ;)

Hi. Forgive the slightly obvious question, but have you started the process of getting a residency permit? You only have 45 days between arriving in Poland and needing to have you application in, and there can easily be complications with the paperwork.