Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]


By taking the State exams in Polish?


Nope, for a start, your competition will all have a Masters degree.


I completely object to this patronising post.

A degree from an American university may not open doors if it's from a third rate American university versus a top Polish one, particularly in Europe. Trying to tell other people that their kids should "eat, breath and dream math and sciences" is absolutely absurd - there are plenty of people making a very good living without doing those things. They should be encouraged to be great at what they enjoy, not at what might give them a good job in the future. I know some engineers, and I don't envy their lifestyle - either they're locked in an office or they spend the entire time in a filthy environment. No thank you.

And suggesting child abuse to make them achieve in school will do nothing but create neurotic children that achieve nothing anyway.

Life / Showing respect and appreciation by Polish people, forms of greetings in Poland. [31]

It is absolutely classless to ask a guest to remove their shoes - it's village behaviour, comes from the idea that people working in the fields should remove their shoes. If hosts tell you to keep them on, then keep them on!

Life / Showing respect and appreciation by Polish people, forms of greetings in Poland. [31]


A no-no nowadays. Most women don't like their age being the focus of any attention, and it is frankly rude to do so.


Nope, not always. Particularly in a business environment, this is seen as a huge faux pas. Trying to claim that they are "two-fisted feminists" shows that you very much think that women should be staying at home.


Kissing hands is a no-no in today's Poland among anyone under the age of 65. It's simply not done unless you know the person actually appreciates it, and most don't. It is particularly disgusting/offensive when someone unknown tries it.


Tipping a hat is again unheard of among anyone under the age of 65. Removing it is of course normal. Saying hello on the street is natural.


No Polonius, most of these practices are seen as out of date and harking back to a time when women were expected to stay at home and be a slave rather than a person.

Genealogy / Why are some Polish people dark complected, and others very light [511]


Some of us like being able to eat food and buy things from all over the world. We don't feel the need to sit in Spain reading the Daily Mail complaining about foreigners while stuffing our faces with full English breakfasts.

I find it more ironic that you don't see the irony in complaining about diversity in a country like Poland.

Food / Best hypermarket to shop for foods in Poland? [50]


Look at who is behind them and you've got your answer.

Now would certainly be a wise time to buy shares.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]


Been there more times than I care to count. And you?

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]


Some stuff is public knowledge - for instance, the amount of political appointees. It's no different to the UK, except in Poland, there seems to be much more politics involved with appointing (for instance) theatre directors and even kindergarten directors whereas the UK tends to appoint them to quangos. I'd say that virtually every city and town has a story to tell in this respect.

Life / Moving from India to Wroclaw [53]


It certainly is not. I've heard many stories about that place, and the fact that it advertises itself as "American" while actually being Indian-run is another question mark.

There are certainly better places to send children in Wroclaw.

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]


Actually - European law more or less has established the consensus that if something is accessible within the country, then it can be liable. There's a very good reason why London has become the libel capital of the world. Monia is certainly not a lawyer, for she would understand this and not post such things if she was.

The only defence that exists in this sense is that the site owner cannot be punished in the US.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]

So if those parties agreed that the Sudeten territories would leave Czechoslovakia, where does Poland's invasion come in?

Trying to deflect the issue (that Poland annexed parts of Czechoslovakia) won't change the facts, will it?

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]

Too bad that Poland was willing to argue over areas that were neither here nor there rather than forming a military alliance that might have helped both countries. As I said, the II RP's diplomacy was absolutely dreadful - was 250,000 people really worth the consequences?

As for the British leadership, perhaps Poland should have taken the lead and never allowed Munich to happen in the first place?


Absolutely. I'd have fancied the Ukrainians against anyone in guerilla warfare.


And then they wonder why the Ukrainians were just ever so slightly ****** off.


Second part in a multi-volume Polish history collection?

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]


Certainly - who wouldn't want to have the UPA on their side? Bandera showed what they were willing to do for a Ukrainian state - they certainly would have been a useful ally. Still, I guess those roubles came in useful.

I think we can only call it "the curse of the faux-Polish patriot".

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]


Poland was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but her own diplomatic failings undoubtably didn't help things. I've said it before and I'll say it again - a Polish-Czechoslovak alliance backed by many countries that were neutral (such as Romania, Yugoslavia and the Baltic countries) would have presented a formidable foe against any aggressor. The almost total failure of Polish diplomacy lies at the door of Polish defeat, nothing else.


Why is it that so many people have problems understanding that you can criticise Polish history and yet still like Poland?

This nonsense view that criticising Polish history somehow makes you "Polonophobic" is nothing but the rantings of a deluded minority.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]

Sounds like quite a good book!

I suspect Communism has much to do with the glorification of the 2nd Republic these days.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]

There can be no other words - Poland invaded Czechoslovakia and kicked her hard in the face when the country was on its knees. Worth pointing out that most of those people didn't see themselves as Czech or Polish, but rather they identified with the local area. Still common, even today there.

The link is sadly biased - I quote -

Cieszyn was not the important rail junction - Bohumin is. It's also worth pointing out that there wasn't a clear Polish majority at all - these people identified with the local area, not the national cause (whatever it was).


Oh dear. The article completely glosses over the reality - that Czechoslovakia sent the troops in because Poland was breaking the interim agreement not to establish any national structures there.

That's only a small aspect of what is a terribly biased, nationalistic piece of work.


Better to let it be taken by the 3rd Reich and to have the moral upper hand than do anything to be associated with them.

For all the preaching about being the Christ of Nations, interbellum Poland was anything but.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]

Sadly, no amount of links can change the reality - that Poland invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]


A poor show, given that Poland had already fought one war in recent times over that part of Czechoslovakia and willingly marched in as soon as Czechoslovakia was in no position to defend herself.

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]


Which is why working privately should be banned for those on full time contracts in the public health system.

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]

Butt buddies? My, greggy, isn't it too early in the day to be thinking about gay sex?

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]


The best example I can give is with public schools. I don't want to give specifics, but it is often very difficult for an outsider to rent classrooms for language classes from public schools. You'll often find advertising for language schools (that have their own building somewhere else) inside such schools, too. I had a plan for a while to give free language classes to poor kids - using existing classrooms and convincing native speakers to give up some of their time to do the job. Everything was in place, but we found that schools were very unwilling to cooperate - even though it would directly benefit the children.

Real Estate / Landlord in Poland - tenant laws, statue of limitation [26]

I urge some caution in this respect, then. You don't know about the guy and his history - while he might just be a chancer, people do tend to stick together in these places.

Real Estate / Landlord in Poland - tenant laws, statue of limitation [26]

Do you live in a small town or village?

Real Estate / Landlord in Poland - tenant laws, statue of limitation [26]

Forgive my cynicism, but in Poland, a strong hand is respected more than the law. He won't mess with you if he knows you'll get the taxman involved - but tge law? Nothing to be frightened of.

Real Estate / Landlord in Poland - tenant laws, statue of limitation [26]

Instead of writing this all online, why don't you simply invite him to a meeting where you outline exactly how much of a hold you have over him, and give him a week to sort it out?

Much easier and far more effective. Having said this, putting money into a property you don't own is...an interesting idea.

Real Estate / Landlord in Poland - tenant laws, statue of limitation [26]

What you need to understand is that knowing the law isn't going to help you - the Polish legal system is long winded and more or less broken.

What works is knowing that if you report him to the tax office, they will make him cry and wish that he had never met you.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]


Germany had declared war on the USA - do you think Nazi Germany really would have been happy to stop at Europe?

They wouldn't have rescued the Soviets, but they would have put a stop to Germany before she was able to seriously threaten them.


Hitler wanted to do what Napoleon nearly did - conquer the entire continent. If you look at him as a person, he had delusions of the Thousand Year Reich - the only way to get that was to control the entire continent. But as I say, by the time he managed that, the Americans would have bombed Germany into submission.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]


Unlikely. Nazi Germany would still have lost to the atomic bomb no matter what else happened - there's no way that they would have been able to counter that, even if they occupied the whole of Europe at the time. Russia would have meant a massive effort on their part, too.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]


Wouldn't have made much difference - Poland was just too far behind in the arms race at that point.

USA, Canada / Question about health care in the US for American permanent residents [19]


Likewise.

I've found that private clinics are astonishingly bad at timekeeping and being disorganised - far worse than public ones.

Work / What are career opportunities for a foreigner in Poland? [16]

You can hand out flyers.