Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why.

Yeah, I was raised in a Polish household also. I had to move and make an effort to Americanize, which I did. Now I can laugh...at myself.

Congratulations!
That's an acheivement in and of itself.
It took me many years of marriage to my Filipina to lunlearn my old ways and to learn how to laugh at myself and generally to lighten up!

Up until then I would take everything, including myself, so seriously.
It's such a relief.

there is nothing to read on PF these days, just saying:(.

Polo took over most of the topics and with his rabid hate for everything removed from real life, he made this forum dead.
Or, most people are busy x-mas shopping, so Polo has been left to guard the post.

Ya I see more and more people moving back to Poland with the way the economy is going. Also for me it was so much easier and cheaper to start a business here than it would have been back in the states..

Oh, Afro, you're free to start a topic at any time.


Polish economy is really booming right about now, ain't it?


I'm sure that's humorous news to everybody reading this. Could you compare tax rates for those of us not in business? Thanks.

Compared to the rest of Central Europe it is.

Compared to most places in Europe it is doing well.

So, your wife doesn't care that you're broke, unemployed, and in debt, just as long you're not as bad off as the Smiths next door. She even says you're doing great. lol

Hate to tell you, but 1.4% growth and on the verge of recession is not considered a boom, in economic terms.

Judging others by your standards again i see.


1.4%? Care to back that up?


Never mind, i already seen it decreased significantly:

Horizontal axis?

time stands still in Poland... yet pretty up to date at the same time.. one shouldn't be optimistic about this whole situation tho, 'coz if this continues Poland will be living in the past pretty soon.. I just thought that was obvious

I really would like to know what each tick on x axis represents - months? years?

Angry Catholic. There are plenty of those about.

It really depends on the business.


I have been on this forum for a long time and I am retired at the moment. Just check, what is written and most of the time it is written for the sake of writing, very much removed from reality.


true, but other places in Europe have not been doing well at all, so the comparison does not have a leg to stand on.


True, dynamic is not something one should use to describe Poland at the moment. I have noticed it at least a year ago, but it has started sooner then that.


Radical stance is a sign of poor economy. Although Polo does not live in Poland, somehow he adopted such a stance.

If a truck was about to mow you over, you no doubt would be most concerned whether it was red or blue.


Most of the foreigners who post here, especially the "experts" on all things Polish are far removed from reality in Poland. They give a very distorted view of what goes on here. This should not be surprising as they have limited access to our culture, language, and little understanding of historical events that shape our present situation. They would scoff at, perhaps even ridicule, a Pole who in a few years living in his expat enclave would try to "explain" England to you, for example. Dolpho comes to mind as a perfect example. Last month, he claimed Ruch Palikota is the second largest party in Poland, where in fact RP has not one senator, 4% popularity, and if there were elections at present, they would not even get into Parliament. People here actually take him seriously though.

Anyway, reality is frightening and it is natural to avoid it. If you want reality, start with how the communists prepared in the mid-80's for the "fall" of communism. Understanding this would help understanding the present. Temat rzeka.

why do you get so patronizing? I was in Poland during those times.

I would be interested to know how you think they prepared for it!

they socked their money away in banks and when the walls came down they were the first to open businesses- big businesses. If you notice, those in the communist gov't came out shining while the regular workers didn't fair as well.

so, those that had money, opened businesses. It appears that they were either opportunists or businessmen, either way, knew how to adapt..

To be honest those in power in Poland or across Eastern Europe for that matter have never been Communist or even Socialist.
Whats true is that they were the ones who had the cash, the insider knowledge of profitable companies and quickly took them over after the curtain came down across Eastern Europe.

hehe I figured that by communists we didn't mean those that thought the wealth should be shared ;)

Well, the thing is- these people, and a huge majority involved in politics in communist Poland, were preaching to the masses about the ideals of communism but were not following it themselves.

It has nothing to do with adapting. They were liars and thieves and they actually still are- even though they now call it capitalism here.

well there is that but there is a fair amount of those, who think that 'whoever is successful must be a crook', as if...

well, the thing is that those who didn't succeed in new capitalism think that most of the people who did are crooks. The reality is not so b&w, because my sis was not a crook and she succeeded. Simple hard work and the ability to adapt:D

but wait, those "crooks", assuming they were, would you consider their political ideology communist or capitalist?

During communism many of these people I am talking about, didn't actually follow any ideology but what was best for themselves, yet basically lied that they were pro communism, made money through lies but made sure the masses were following the methodology. They were neither communist nor capitalist- just liars. And they are still liars.

One thing that would NEVER happen in Poland imo:

If anyone ever wants to point at cultural differences, this is one thing that a) isn't surprising to any Canadian b) is positive, so enjoy it: )

I hope not. It is a totally stupid idea. Paying forward like that brings neither joy nor consolation to anyone. No people in need were involved either.