I'm from Canada, and the latest victim of a Polish woman - one bites the dust

Hello Wrocław,

I'm the latest victim of a Polish woman; the newest flamebait for the jaded expat tigers to pounce on. I have moved to Wroclaw from Canada to join my girlfriend who is studying here for the next 4 years (she's from Vancouver). In the past I worked for about 10 years in computers and web development as a project manager, and then retired from the desk job, to take up carpentry and woodwork, and to take a couple of years of university, and spend half the year working in the Canadian arctic and Mexican desert in the mining exploration industry.... soil sampling, staking claims, mapping, slashing bush, riding in helicopters, etc.

Now I am in Poland, with some cash saved up while I figure this place out. I will be enrolling shortly in some Polish lessons.... a cinch of a language for a monoglot to learn, I'm told! But....I am committed to taking a serious crack at it. I have a 1 year 'working holiday' visa for Poland, and I am also working on getting my Dutch citizenship based on ancestry which should only take a couple more months.

I do not really want to teach English, or do computer work, if I can help it. I would prefer to work with my hands.

I am interested in taking any courses in English that I can get my hands on locally here, even if they are useless toward any degree. My interests are in fine arts and architecture. Ideally, if I could find some master craftsman to work for / learn from (woodworker, carpenter, mason, builder, etc), who would accept a willing foreigner who is cool with working for peanuts, I would be extremely happy. Obviously this may be nearly impossible - but I'm pretty comfortable with self-delusion for the time being. Really, I'm willing to do anything for not much money... might be best to force a sink-or-swim learn-the-language kind of situation, if I can get my foot in the door. I can always go work in the bush in Canada for a month or two and make enough money to last the rest of the year out here.

Other than that, I'm in the market for a shared studio space to work on my own projects.

At this point, having just arrived, I am looking for whatever tips or advice you may have to give. (Let 'er rip) ;)

Many thanks,
chudclaw

I have a carpenter in Warsaw who is itching for somebody like you- you are in Wroclaw??

Damn, is there a demand for such people? I'd love to do such a job.
Anyway, good luck in your endeavours.

@chudclaw
hi and welcome to Poland :)

I really like your attitude - and I'll see if I can help you - I don't have many acquintances in Wrocław but I will try to learn if they know anybody who is a master craftsman and is willing to take a foreign apprentice ;) - anyway you will probably have to settle for about 1000 (maybe 1200) PLN a month for a start

I would leave you my details in a PM and I will try but I am not sure you can already receive PM's - new members can't for example send PM's (until a certain number of posts they make here) but I don't know if it works the same way for receiving PM - we'll see - just keep on coming back to this thread so we can stay in touch

So she's Polish from Vancouver?

if this includes photography there are various courses. some of the participants will probably speak english and some of the assignments will help u become familiar with the city and its people.

Hi! I finally came back to check this thread... thanks for all the tips!

pip: yes I am in Wrocław as we speak... I will try to send you a PM right now! (edit: I see now that you said Warsaw not Wroclaw! Tooo bad... might be a bit of a commute!)

Bartolome: if you can get yourself a Canadian work visa (try Youth Mobility program if you are under 35??) I can tell you how to find a job in mining exploration. It doesn't take much... just some common sense, and maybe it helps if you aren't terrified of bears. It's fun stuff.

gumishu: yes, cool, thank you. I will contact you

Angeleyes: yep, she has Polish parents, but grew up in Van

Wroclaw: where do I find these photography courses? It looks like there are some amazing courses offered at this school studyinenglish.pl/en/index.html ... but even though it is called 'study in english' it seems the courses are in Polish. Maybe my Polish will be good enough for some art school by next fall ;)

Hehe, I'm still 'young', then, I'll try. Thanks in advance for any help. But first I've got to finish what I've started here.

I don't see the victim part of things, sorry

Neither do I, Seanus - it doesn't exactly sound like he was "people-trafficked" to Poland by this woman, does it?

In the UK they almost buy anything that is vintage/retro, it would need some research to establish what could be acquired in Poland at good prices and sold to the uk. As long as it is recycled, ethical, communist era stuff it would go down well in the UK. Have a look at these two companies for ideas

vintageretro.co.uk
trainspotters.co.uk/lighting

Haha, yeah well, when I wrote the initial post I had just been reading through the piles of advice in this forum telling the fellows not to come to Poland for a woman! (like poor old jcarrett) Don't worry, it was all in the name of attempted humour.

Wedle: Thanks for those links. That's what I need to find - a factory full of light fixtures to salvage!! ;) Any advice on tracking down chic industrial hardware?

I would establish contact with a local who will find it for you, maybe at one of the second hand goods markets. A simple word of caution when you buy, buy the job lot otherwise the Pole will deal creep on you.