News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]


Many people I've spoken to believe that a lot of it was being kept secret from him - a certain guy in Krakow may very well have acted in his name. Given his conduct surrounding the burial of Lech Kaczynski, it really wouldn't surprise me. Given JPII's reputation for pushing through difficult things - they may simply have kept the truth from him.

For what it's worth, JPII also had great relations with the Anglican community - and while I find the whole issue of miracles to be slightly odd, it's the Catholic church's choice to believe in such things.

USA, Canada / To move back to Poland from the USA or not to move back....that is the question [124]


In all honesty, unless you reside within a major city (that being Warsaw, Trojmiasto, Wroclaw, Poznan, Katowice and Krakow - maybe Szczecin too) - you're going to have trouble with finding something suitable for your mother - by suitable, I mean comparable to America.

News / Raising Poland's legal drinking age to 21 [95]

Look at the behavior of Scandinavians between the age of 16-21 with alcohol, then compare to Poles.

Then look at the price and availability of alcohol in each area.

News / Donald Tusk's Government of Poland Continues to Oppress Poles [161]


So...where did the oil come from that fuelled many of Poland's heavy industries during that time?

Subsidies, my friend.

News / Donald Tusk's Government of Poland Continues to Oppress Poles [161]


And this is what people often forget - Solidarity didn't necessarily want democracy, but they did want to control the means of production. Unfortunately, while it's a nice idea - SFR Yugoslavia proved that worker-ownership didn't work in the long run.

Hilariously socialist too, that vision.

Of course, Poland pretty much didn't have a choice. It was economically ruined, with the subsidies being cut off from the Soviet Union and the economy in desperate need of action. What could the workers have done, especially as we now know that the workers drove many Solidarity-controlled State owned businesses into ruin?

USA, Canada / Are there any Polish people in Florida? [311]


So you're American, then?

I wasn't aware that Chicago is in Poland.

Work / English teaching books in Poland: villains and heroes [30]


I like those books at the beginning, but I really hate the later ones - they go far too much into heavy grammar territory at a point when most students can't be bothered with the grammar anymore.

I've been using the In Company books lately, though they're starting to annoy me - most of the material seems to be copied from other MacMillian books :/

Love / Simon Mol - would he have been so "successful" in other countries than Poland? [121]

Without a doubt. The women he went for are the same throughout the world - and are prone to falling for such lines. The usual type - left wing, rich parents, fighting for a "cause" - they'd be seduced by the same argument throughout the world. Usually for them, this kind of guy is "mad, bad and dangerous to know" - and that's what the appeal is. And don't forget - no doubt he used the same old crap with all of them.

Great argument for introducing proper sex education into schools, though.

Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]


Not systematically (no-one does in Europe) - but they have mobile and permament checkpoints where trucks can be weighed.

All trucks are also weighed on the Ukrainian and Belarusian borders as a matter of routine.

However, unlike the US - an overweight truck is a far more serious matter, with the punishment being very severe - so there's not the same problems.

Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]


See also : UK IT projects?

Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]

I think you might want to start by looking at EU tendering law.

Study / University degrees and schools in Poland. Not interested in the proof of my degree? [10]

Private language schools asking for criminal record checks is almost unknown here - probably because the opportunities for child molesting are dreadfully thin AND this is a country where the police are likely to batter you senseless for such a thing.

Law / Polish EU Drivers Licence - can I get one the easy way (by paying for it)? [185]


The test can be conducted at any time by a resident of Poland in possession of a PESEL number.

However, the licence will not be issued until 185 days after the first day of legal residency, as defined by the date of issue of the residence permit. Time spent as a tourist will not count.


Go to the WORD nearest to you.

You'll need to complete 30 hours of driving practice, 30 hours of theory training, an internal (to the driving school) exam for both theory and practical and a first aid course. Oh, and a medical check must be done by a doctor.

There's a theory test, completed on computer. It's also available in English or German - if taken in a foreign language, then a sworn translator must be present for both theory and practical parts. The sworn translator is at your own expense.

Life / Do you think women have the place they deserve in modern Polish society ? [66]


But how many of those places actually exist?

I can only speak for Poznan - and public creche places are incredibly limited here. It would be far more expensive to pay all the mothers to stay at home rather than work.

Don't forget that the benefit to the woman's career - if she stays at home, she's going to be attempting to re-enter the workplace and having to compete against younger, hungier people. We saw recently in the UK the problems with middle aged women who have never worked - they tried to get jobs due to the financial crisis, only to find that many of them simply couldn't cope.

Love / Are Polish mothers-in-law monsters? [91]


To be honest, it is a rather Polish trend for the mothers in law to be overbearing - I think it's at least partially related to the whole concept of calling them "mum" after marriage.

An Englishman's home is his castle, after all.


That could very well be it - from what he's saying, it sounds like there's some pretty nasty history there between the mother and her children.

I wouldn't want my mother in law coming round uninvited either, and nor would I dream of visiting her place without asking to do so either.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish Americans mocked in the American media? [226]


Really?

Why don't they mock Jaroslaw Kaczynski senseless then?


Actually, a lot of the bad feeling comes from other incidents, such as what Poland did in L'wow.

Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]


Really? That's why the doctors take bribes, why people steal from their neighbours and why vandalising public property is seen as acceptable?

Love / Is rape so common in Poland? [95]

Nah, you didn't just say that.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish Americans mocked in the American media? [226]


I do - it's called being of peasant origins and having a major problem with it.

I mean, look at Europe. We mock the French and Germans constantly, we've started to mock Poles and Russians are forever portrayed as the bad guys. Normal British perspective of the world - along with the image of Italians, Spanish and Greeks being terribly lazy.

I dare say we get mocked just as much in return.

Everyone's happy, and no-one screams about it.

Funnily enough, it only seems to be insecure Americans that actually get offended - despite all the nonsense about "Free speech".

From a purely practical point of view, I'd expect a Polish American to have some insecurities about his unclear origins, problems with religion vs work, plus a strong sense of loyalty to his family (sometimes to his detriment).

USA, Canada / Why are Polish Americans mocked in the American media? [226]


What on earth?

What's wrong with having some negativity? Wouldn't it be wholly appropriate for a Polish American to have problems combining religion with work, for instance?

Ah, that's right - Polish Americans are trying desperately to avoid the fact that they're mostly descended from nothing but peasants.

Tell me one thing. Why is Poland full of American volunteers, but no Polish-American volunteers?

That's right - dumb Polacks don't actually care about Poland, they only care about waving their kielbasas (ugh) and using their peasant origins to bash other Americans with.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish Americans mocked in the American media? [226]


Because Polish Americans don't want to help Poles, they only use "Poland" as a way to gain political points over others. As soon as it comes to actually helping them, they don't give a ****.

Life / Why should the Polish all over the world wear red on St. Joseph's day? [32]


I suspect he doesn't realise that Solidarity were/are a trade union.

I also suspect that he doesn't understand who provides PiS's power base in Poland.

USA, Canada / How long will a package take to mail from Poland to USA by sea? [21]


Haha, she probably didn't send it at all.

USA, Canada / To move back to Poland from the USA or not to move back....that is the question [124]

70 metres here, and the bill was about the same. That's with running all sorts of electricity-draining devices and not particularly caring about heaters being left on and suchlike.


Not necessarily so. The 1970's/1980's communist blocks tend to be pretty warm, for instance.

USA, Canada / To move back to Poland from the USA or not to move back....that is the question [124]

600zl a month? Where? Perhaps if you're using electric heaters, yes - but certainly not if you're using gas.

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


Was that the place linked to the suspicious death of a Brit?

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


Not one of them.

For a start, any bar that takes money (cash only, no receipt) for a St Patrick's night is quite clearly taking the ****.

News / Donald Tusk's Government of Poland Continues to Oppress Poles [161]


PiS have apparently commissioned their own opinion polls that show them winning the election. I doubt anyone sane would believe them, though.

But the independent polls are all consistently showing PO matching their 41% result of 2007.


The problem in Poland is that the facts depend on who is publishing them. In fact - about the only thing we can rely upon is election results - and PO have won every election since what, 2006?

Either way, we can be thankful that PiS won't win the next election. Even if they did - the "cordon sanitaire" will form around them and the Government will be made up of PO/PSL/SLD. Thankfully.


As I said- we can only really rely on election results. If people keep voting PO, they're happy with Tusk's reign and that's that.

News / Donald Tusk's Government of Poland Continues to Oppress Poles [161]


You dragged up links from Polskie Radio - which, until recently, was controlled by PiS and is now in the hands of the SLD, I believe.

It's certainly not an unbiased news source.

The fact that they've more or less neglected to mention how PO are riding high in the opinion polls tells you all need to know about the impartiality of this source.

News / Donald Tusk's Government of Poland Continues to Oppress Poles [161]


Right.

Doesn't stop people trying to blame Tusk for it - but the reality is that this was already agreed and negotiated in the past.

Poland doesn't have much room to negotiate in this respect - as a net receiver of EU funds (significantly so!) - they don't have much power to negotiate. They're already in the dog house for not making moves towards Euro membership.