Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


Another poll shows this - This shows the trend of PiS continuing to lose votes to the SLD, that we've seen in the last three elections.


The IV RP is dead, thankfully. Polish electoral math means that any combination of PO/PSL/SLD will ensure that PiS stay in opposition for years to come. We've already seen such alliances being used against PiS in the provincial parliaments, and the general consensus is that those three parties all dislike PiS enough to keep them in eternal opposition.

Anyway Polonius, just when were you last in Poland and for how long?

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


I would say 1930's Poland did a great job of thoroughly pissing off all its neighbours.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


There are plenty of Polish owned breweries. Perhaps you're talking about the mainstream crap.


Solidarity presided over that, not anyone else. Their inability to reform when given a debt-free slate was incredible.


Every host city will be connected by motorway. The A1 isn't far off completion, the A2 likewise, the A4 is finished.

What more do you need?


Tick...tock...

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


You said, and I quote -


The fact that "most Polish Americans couldn't care less about the Kaczynskis" as said by you proves my point - that most of them couldn't give a damn about Poland except when it suits them.


Well done, you've just made it clear that they are American, not Polish. Perhaps they'll stop associating with this country and most of all, stop voting.

We bash people for supporting the Kaczynskis regardless of what nationality they are. It goes with the territory of not being an imbecile.


They're all as bad as each other, except the Jews. Last time I checked, Jews weren't a nationality.


Most Poles that I've met usually make fun of Poles abroad. I know quite a few Poles who are completely ashamed by the way that many of them act abroad. Bit like the Brits, really.


Yes, I'm so evil, I pay income tax and social taxes, I donate some money to charities here and I also pretty much exclusively buy from Polish suppliers. Tell me, MediaWatch - how much do you contribute to the Polish economy?


Some Polish businesses are doing really well for themselves in Eastern Europe - PZU is well on its way to becoming a regional power, Orlen is expansionist, in fact - the real problem is that the government retains a decent share of many big Polish companies, which is stopping them from expanding due to the Governments of the day putting "their men" into the companies. Polkomtel is probably a great example of this.

I wouldn't be hugely surprised to see a Polish company make a huge breakthrough in biotechnology as well.

Work / Starting out as an English teacher in Poland - any pearls of wisdom for me? [11]

Funnily enough, I've found that the smaller schools quite like to see them - especially if they're from companies.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


It is certainly a huge shame that the II RP was such a backwards state compared to the first one.


No. Creating martyrs is the last thing that anyone wanted.


Cheers, MediaWatch. You've just proven that Polish Americans couldn't care less about Poland - after all, Lech Kaczynski *was* the President of Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski *was* the Prime Minister and he's still the leader of the Opposition. If they couldn't care less about them, then you've just proved my point - that they're not Polish.

I actually have my doubts that most Polish Americans could name the President, Prime Minister and Marshal of the Sejm.


Have you actually read any of the books by Gross? Naaah. Didn't think so.

Incidentally, I've never known any "haters" of a country to pay taxes there and to stay there. I can understand why it might happen in America, but in the EU? We don't like one country, we can freely move to another 32 or so. Certainly, if we didn't like Poland, we could easily move elsewhere.

MediaWatch, tell me, do you like weed?

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]

So - when was the last time you actually visited Poland?

Don't avoid the question now.

I do find it hilarious that someone who rants so much about modern Poland is someone who -

A) Hasn't been here in years
B) Lives in America
C) uses a gazeta.pl e-mail address

If there ever was someone less qualified to comment on Poland, Polonius would be it.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


I'm actually convinced that the Poland that the Polish-Americans and Kaczynskites see isn't the real Poland at all. All this talk of doom and gloom - where? Young people here seem remarkably upbeat and positive.

I've noticed that even in small towns, there's a degree of civic pride starting to happen.

Work / Starting out as an English teacher in Poland - any pearls of wisdom for me? [11]

Jonni's already given you a great answer, but here's my two pence...


Generally speaking, expect two hours in the morning and four in the afternoon Monday-Thursday. It can vary a lot, but that's a good idea to begin with. Once you've been here for a while, you can start to change things - for instance, I refuse to work after 7pm because I simply can't be bothered - and instead work 8 to around midday.

Average starting salary - it's impossible to say. I won't work for less than 50zl an hour, but I don't use any school facilities. I'd say to try and get 40zl an hour in the beginning, unless you know for certain that the school can afford much more.


It's really up to you. If you want to find a good lot of hours with one school, then I'd try and wangle your way into meeting the directors of schools. But I know nothing about this - I'm freelance and don't work for more than 4 hours a week with any one school.


Alas, it's the Krakow way. There's a lot of work out there in small cities/towns - but because Krakow is a nice place, everyone wants to be there. Same thing happened with Prague and Berlin - and you can see the prices rapidly fall. Heck, a friend of mine has a private native tutor in Berlin for 5 euro an hour - 20zl!


The problem with Polish owned ones is that for beginners, you have the problem of not being able to judge how they're thinking. Some behaviour from Poles (such as the often-heard "someone has complained about you" bollocks) takes a while to get used to - though once you're used to it, it's easy enough to deal with.

Brits also tend to be much less hung up on things - Poles still have huge problems with being honest and admitting that it's all about money and client satisfaction. Brits on the other hand seem to be much more straightforward.

But I wouldn't worry too much as a beginner - just be prepared for all sorts of petty dramas.

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]

MediaWatch....go on, just admit it - you hate Jews and that's that.

It would certainly be much easier to discuss things with you, knowing that you're a bedroom brownshirt and all that. It would also explain your apparent deep knowledge of Russian affairs, because the worst neo-Nazis are to be found in Russia, after all.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


Yep, I voted in the elections last time round. I even spoiled my vote in the 2nd round of the mayoral election in the traditional British way rather than simply not go!


But we actually live in Poland, unlike you. Therefore, we're far more able to comment on Poland than someone who lives in some Polish-American ghetto where their idea of "Polishness' is to say pierogies, kielbasas and to pronounce their name entirely wrongly.

Then again, you'd quite like to censor everyone, wouldn't you? I mean, the Communists were evil for censoring things, but when it comes to your idea of democracy, censorship is perfectly fine and well. I call it Kaczynski-cracy - you can say what you want, as long as I approve of it. Thankfully, the vast majority of Polish people I know are the exact opposite.


I think it must appeal to the victim complex - even Poles are totally aware of this, yet they like to indulge in it. I guess it's their version of asylum seekers!


It's part of life here, it's amusing ;)

Poland just hasn't had time to get to the "oh bollocks, look what we did in the past" phase yet.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


No, definitely no dubious annexations of territory in the past.

And Poland most definitely did not invade Lithuania or Czechoslovakia.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]

That sounds exactly like the Poles I know - very self depreciating about Poland, but if anyone else criticises Poland, they instantly become patriots. It's somewhat of a national trait - but then again, you wouldn't know this because YOU DON'T LIVE HERE.


Unlike you, we actually moved to Poland and stayed. On the other hand, you ran away to America with your equally traitorous parents just because life was a bit tough here. Cowards.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


Remind us, how did Poland treat the minorities in the annexed territories during the inter-war period?

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]

The sadly vast amount of racism on this forum and elsewhere from Polish-Americans :(

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


Okay, they're big racist Polack scumbags.

Better? The amount of racism on here from Polish-Americans is staggering - certainly, much more than can be seen from real Poles.


Poland annexed quite a few territories and denied self-determination to quite a few people in the period 1918-1939. Sounds like colonialism to me.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


And then they started killing them and betraying them later.


That was the Soviet Union that decided that, not Poland. I don't think Poland would have survived any invasion from the SU, somehow - not when there were plenty of Czechs, East Germans and Lithuanians willing to do the nasty.


Ahem - do you need reminded about the annexation of Vilnius and other territories?


Shame they're such racist scumbags. Then again, the fact that they were fighting for America rather than Poland during the World Wars....says it all.


Brave? Would that include the cowardly act of killing defenceless Jews and Ukrainians and generally taking advantage of weakened countries to annex part of their territories?

Genealogy / Looking for any and all information on Dabrowski/Dombrowski from Poland [88]

Of course.

It might have been something like "Waldemar" - which ended up getting changed to Walter.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]


What rebelliousness? About the only thing that Poland is rebelling against right now are the proposed cuts to the EU budget - and that's only because Poland has a vested interest in the budget being as high as possible.


Sadly, Smolensk proved that to be utter nonsense. Journalists on all "sides" have been guilty of following the party line - there has been precious little thinking going on and too much following blind propoganda. Sadly, in Poland, the concept of "independent media" really doesn't exist here. Polish journalists are sadly of such low quality - even ones who have a real talent, like Monika Olejnik, have resorted to downright partisan behaviour at times.


Certainly isn't true in modern day Poland. People will happily stab others in the back - in fact, backstabbing is seen as something that must be done if you want to rise to the top of your profession. Incidentally, what's disgraceful about reporting illegal behaviour? Don't you think that people should be honour bound to do what's best for the country?


Uh - I'd say that in Poland, people are as much in a psychological cage as anywhere else. How many times do we see people blaming history for their own inability to cope?


I wondered when your racist little head would pop up.

Do you really need it explained again about how ethnic "Poles" are more than likely a mix of nationalities and races?

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]

Americans of dubious origin, more like.

It's highly unlikely, given Polish history over the last 1000 years that anyone can claim to be 100% Polish. Heck, Poland has only really been overwhelmingly Polish in the last 65 years. Before that? Forgettaboutit.

Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]

Somehow, I doubt any of them (if actually Polish, which most of them aren't) would actually meet their obligations under Article 85, paragraph 1 of the Polish Constitution.

Let's be honest - 99% of the people visiting such kitsch events are American, not Polish. Perhaps they're Polacks, though.

Could be amusing to attend such a festival and find out just how many of them know how to pronounce their last name properly. Anyone "proud" of being Polish should be able to pronounce their name properly!

Life / Getting pretty tired of the postal service here in Poland [58]

Heck, given the ineptitude of DHL at times, I'd rather use Poczta Polska!

Life / Getting pretty tired of the postal service here in Poland [58]

The more experience I get, the more it seems to be that mail routed through Warsaw (outgoing) is problematic. Incoming mail seems to be fine, but even ordinary letters with nothing more than a letter has been held up in Warsaw without rhyme or reason. Even mail to Warsaw has been mysteriously delayed - I had a registered letter sit in Warsaw for about two weeks before being delivered, yet no problems to anywhere else in Poland. But - it goes without saying that I don't send anything (even invoices) without it going by registered mail.

Sending something internationally without being registered in some way is just asking for trouble, in my opinion.


The metal plate thing has been abolished I think - I've been getting some mail via InPost recently with no plate attached.

Life / Getting pretty tired of the postal service here in Poland [58]


Have you considered that your buyers are the ones stealing from you? If you're not paying for any sort of tracking service internationally - then it's hardly uncommon for people to claim "oh, it never arrived" - because they know that you've got no way of proving it.

Very common with internet sales.


How do you know it's the Polish postal service? It could easily be the Swedish system stealing - or worse, it could be Polish or Swedish Customs causing problems. You really won't know until you start sending things that are tracked.

Or of course, you could use an alternative postal system.

Law / Old Polish money banknotes - what's their value today? [415]


The currency didn't decrease - you should regard it as being two separate currencies, pegged at 10000:1 by the National Bank of Poland. You had until the end of 2010 to exchange it at the guaranteed rate - now that the deadline has passed, you might still be able to exchange it, but there's no guarantee anymore.

Law / Old Polish money banknotes - what's their value today? [415]


1 new zloty = 10,000 old zloty.

Law / Zloty lifts Poland's Economy [58]


It was fixed at a set rate until September 1989 - I'm not sure what it was, though. After that, it was devalued repeatedly.

nytimes.com/1990/01/01/business/devaluation-in-poland.html
gives us a figure of 9,500zl to the dollar in January 1990.

As I recall, what they did was devalue the currency repeatedly until the official rate became parallel to the black market rate - but the Zloty didn't become fully convertible outside Poland until the mid 90's at the earliest. I'm pretty certain there would have been no exchange rates for Zloty-Pound between 1985-1991 - everything would have been based on the dollar exchange rate.


Interestingly, there appears to have been Zloty bonds traded during that time.


No. I was wrong.

The zloty was repeatedly devalued, even during Communist times - I'm finding evidence of frequent devaluations throughout the 1980's. As alex says, the USD was the currency used for any real trade.

Perhaps the best bet would be to contact the National Bank of Poland and ask them? They should be able to provide such data.

Genealogy / Looking for any and all information on Dabrowski/Dombrowski from Poland [88]


That's simply because there is no such name as Dombrowski - the name is Dąbrowski, a quite popular Polish name. You also should be aware that females with that name are called Dąbrowska in accordance with Polish conventions.

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


Wrong. It's a straight swap due to Ukraine and Poland both signing the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. And yes, you can obtain a Ukrainian licence without any effort whatsoever - money can certainly buy you a valid and real Ukrainian licence.

However, of course, you must comply with the Polish law on issuing of licences. The interpretation of this law varies though.

Now, the tricky part comes with different EU countries. For instance, the UK won't exchange a licence that has previously been exchanged for an EU licence (for instance - a Ukrainian licence exchanged for a Polish licence).

Work / What do English Teachers do during the summer for work in Poland? Jobs for teenagers? [6]


Realistically, you have the choice of either working summer camps or working a manual job in the UK. In theory, the reason we're paid such a high hourly rate is to compensate for the summer months.