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 [43]


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.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]

Bear in mind something - the birth rate is very low in Poland among the people who are likely to be able to afford a private kindergarten. Those who actually are rich enough to afford it are also able to slip a bribe or two to get a place for their children - or be well connected enough to make a bribe pointless.

On the other hand, the birth rate among those who cannot afford private kindergartens is higher.

Out of interest, how much do you want to invest in this? My feeling is that you'll be looking at around 15,000 pounds minimum - and that's assuming that you can use an existing location that's already suitable for children.

UK, Ireland / Polish and Irish people are related? [137]


I don't know - you're the one that seems to link "swine" with "mother" on a constant basis.

Perhaps you might need therapy for this? I mean, I know it's tough when you spend your days fighting imaginary enemies of Poland on the internet...

UK, Ireland / Polish and Irish people are related? [137]


Interestingly, if you look at the previous years - Poland was hovering about 30th place in the world, except during the PiS years when it went down to around 60th. You can clearly see that during SLD and PO years, the press has been much more "free" to report on things.

Life / Walking on other people's property in Poland - cultural difference? [51]


Yep. Not to mention that if someone is paranoid enough to put a big fence round the front of their property, then there must really be something worth stealing inside.

I'm not convinced as to the sense of having a postbox well away from the house as well - surely that just makes it easy for people to steal your mail?

Life / Walking on other people's property in Poland - cultural difference? [51]


Because it's exceptionally ugly - anyone British in Poland will normally comment about how horrifically ugly all these fences are. It's especially bad in villages that have had a development built - all steel fences in the countryside.

As for why they're not allowed - it simply detracts from the visual appeal of the area. The typical Polish fence is exceptionally ugly and brings down the area - why would anyone want to allow this?

Trevek's picture illustrates this perfectly - though I'm not sure fences would have made much difference in that particular street ;)

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Realistically, with this sort of project, you want to approach it from the point of view of not getting any funding (except the specific kindergarten funding that's available to all - as Olaf outlined) at all. EU funds are in very short supply in any sort of prosperous Polish area (especially cities, with the possible exception of Rzeszow, Lublin(?) and Bialystok) - and Poland isn't too good at administering the EU funds either.

City/Provincial/National funds are a possibility, but again - there's intense competition for this kind of thing in cities, especially given the vast amounts of unemployed graduates being churned out. However, if you can bring something "new" to an area that doesn't have it, there's a chance - think (for example) Montessori in a small rural city.


Yes, sensible idea. I'd investigate renting rooms from already existing educational establishments - it would be the easiest "path".


Before you pay anything to him, give me a shout as to what he's charging. Lawyers in Poland have a nasty habit of charging a small fortune for foreign clients ;)


Any idea where you plan to move to?

If you have the funds to do so, then a private nursery run according to UK standards rather than Polish standards could do very very well - people here very much perceive "foreign is best".

Food / Bologna & onions in Poland? [44]


No. It's an American dish.

News / WOSP in Poland [161]


Funny that those most in need of funds like WOSP (uneducated village alcoholic peasants) are the ones who attack WOSP the most. Surprise, surprise.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Well, which fund did you use and who administered it within Poznan City Council? That's not such a difficult question, surely?

I'm going to check with them on Monday about this - 85% is still rather unheard of.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


No, me neither. If there was 90% funding available, almost everyone would be at it - which makes me wonder what fund he got this 90% from.

I'm tempted to call this Michał guy directly and ask him about it.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]


He hasn't said anything noteworthy really - apart from making it clear that Poland isn't too impressed with the Russian handling of things, which isn't news - because Kilch already said something more-or-less to that effect a while ago. But really, most of us are fed up of speculating and just want to read the final report.

About the only interesting thing that Tusk said was that some of the conclusions made by MAK were "without foundation" - it would be interesting to know just what these conclusions were. It could very well be that Russia has pointed a big finger at the Polish Air Force, who have (instead of sorting themselves out) decided to cry to Tusk instead.

I just cannot figure out what the hell the relevant authorities were doing in allowing this flight to Smolensk in the first place.

In a sense, you're right MediaWatch - the pilot isn't to blame, but rather the mentality within the Polish Air Force.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]

You know better than me, but the fact that no specific department of the council has been mentioned, along with a rather strange claim to 90% funding - couldn't possibly be commercial spam, could it? ;)

I'd certainly love to know if there's 90% funding being handed out here - quite a few people will be beating the doors down for funding if it's the case!

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]


Surely the only sensible prediction of Poland's future is of a not-quite-at-the-top-table EU power, where she regionally dominates and plays a role similar to Spain or Italy today, combined with supporting German policy within the EU?

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]


The problem is that the same system produces some absolutely bizzare judgements in Poland - everyone here knows that the court system is unreliable for actually delivering justice.


Not in anyone's memories, though.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]

Which department of the city council? I'd like to have a chat with them.

Usual amount is 2/3rds EU, 1/3rd private, so I'm wondering why they were funding 90%.

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]

Sadly, Poland can't talk about this as if she's a saint either.

The rule of law in Poland is incredibly twisted at times, and innocence before guilt? In a country which doesn't try people by a jury of their peers? Let's not forget the abuse of institutions by political parties too.

Russia is more extreme, sure - but we saw very similar, creepy parallels between United Russia and PiS.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Who was the organisation that administered the grant?

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Something I know about this (in addition to what Olaf says) -

Parents expect ridiculously high standards from truly private nurseries. If there's public funding involved, not so much so - but those that are 100% private and unfunded have to be a truly high standard for Polish mothers. They're actually even worse than British mothers when it comes to being overprotective and paranoid - you can fully expect that unless the place is at least private British standard, you'll struggle with clients.

Incidentally, is your girlfriend a graduate of the specific kindergarten teaching programme?


It would seem to me that the beset bet would be to start small - when you see what some of the private kindergartens have (and the costs...) - it's really suicidal to try and compete with them. But there is a very real lack of capacity in the quasi-public sector - wasn't there some news story recently about people queuing up in Wroclaw to get their kids into nursery for next year?

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Wouldn't this mean meeting all the requirements, such as disabled access, etc?

The examples I know where the local authority has funded nurseries have all been spare classrooms in schools - there's quite a few examples in Poznan of these.

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]


And that same sideshow taught Poland a lesson in how to win wars.