UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Rozu: maybe I read too much between the lines ;) but your said something re the cost of the bus fare but nevertheless if you look at official statistics you'll see that MOST Poles moving to UK are among the poorest/least educated.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Rozu: why are you surprised that Poles can afford bus fares? I have never checked but probably a bus ticket to UK from Poland may be below 100 euros. Not a fortune in Poland and if the guy who wants to travel doesn't have this kind of money, a relative or a friend helps. They also travel by car with 2 or 3 buddies and they share the expenses. So no need to be rich to travel to UK ;)

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Rozu: a bus fare costs hardly anything and if necessary, family chips in to buy ticket. I see that you don't live in Poland so you don't know re Polish life.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Rozu: I am NOT talking about what you see in your neighborhood. Even if you know a few cases (so do I and not only to UK), the majority of Poles moving West are from the poorest classes. Common sense and it's the same in all poor countries (those with comfortable lives don't move as often and when they do, they have other criterias such as ... climate ..... ;).

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Rozu: sure but the no1. criterion of Poles moving West is ... money. I have met some Poles who had great jobs in Poland but they decided to move to UK (or elsewhere in Western Europe) for .... money. If they make good money here (I live in Poland ;); they often can expect at least double in Western Europe although cost of living is often very similar.

As to UK, all statistics shall show that most Polish migrants are from the poorest, uneducated, small towns/rural areas. Their main concern is money, to send as much as they can to their families back home.... Most are economic migrants.

Food / What Polish foods and brands do you miss when you go to other countries? [216]

All these Polish brands have been sold to foreign companies.

As to mleczny ptasek, they used to be a big deal in Poland since the "perfect gift" to secretaries and to lower level bureaucrats when favor needed in times of PLR. It is really gross, no taste but sugar and artificial crap.

Poland obviously has no chocolate tradition and therefore nothing special.

Since I live in Poland, I rather buy Swiss (unfortunately in Poland only Lindt brand - I like Lindt but it is not the only Swiss brand, that's what I mean) or Belgian chocolate but I prefer Swiss as less greasy. No doubt in Poland I buy Lindt (even if more expensive) over any Polish brand.

PS: I have also tasted "chocolate" from ..... Ukraine, Russia and Moldavia ;). Believe me, most probably hardly any cacao;)

Food / What Polish foods and brands do you miss when you go to other countries? [216]

What's the big deal re those mleczny ptasek thing or whatever it is called? No taste and simply sugar and artifical sh]]]. Poles eat too much sugar (often when I say I don't want sugar in my tea or coffee, people give me strange looks ;)) and artificial foods.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Totti: just check any statistics.

Do you think that Poles who make good incomes who can have a good life at home bother to move to UK and the like to clean toilets or work at Tesco and bear xenophobia? No, certainly not.

As said, the big majority of Poles in UK are economic migrants. I am not saying 100% but the big majority thereof so yes they are among the poorest and least educated in Poland.

PS: I bet you don't live in Poland ;)

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]

@Johnnny: your message at 15.02 yesterday ;)

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]

@Pol: the Hollywood life style concerns only a few hundred people and not the majority.

Yes, there are some mothers who share this life style but they don't even represent 1% of single mothers. Mothers are single for various reasons and most of them have it very difficult, not only financially but also to raise the kids.

No, contrary to what Johnny wrotes, the huge majority are neither wh... nor lesbians ;).

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]

@Polonius: I have known a lot of single mothers who are not happy about their status and would love to have men at home. Unfortunately life is not a piece of cake and we have to try to make it.

I know for instance a girl in Wroclaw who was dropped by her husband when she was 3 month pregnant. The guy lives also in Wroclaw and has never seen his son (now about 12). The girl is a highly educated professional from a well-off family, not an idiot from a small village and the guy is of similar socio-economic background. At least, the girl has money, can have a full time nanny, has her family around but what about all those who live in hardship and try to raise their kids the best way they can?

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]

@Polonius: even is let's say 98% of Poles claim to be Catholics, catholicism is NOT compulsory in Poland.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Ryouga: the problem is that Poles going abroad happen to be "economic migrants" and thereofore they are not "la crème de la crème". They are unfortunately among the poorest in Poland, they are uneducated, they come from primtive Eastern rural areas so hard to expect "sophisticated" people.

In Poland like in any other country, there are all kinds of people so it is not relevant to judge a whole population based upon a small sample thereof.

Several times I was told by Poles in Poland that they were ashamed of the Poles going abroad for bread.

Law / Working in EU countries and in UK with Poland's Residence Card (Karta Pobytu)? [51]

Yes, you do need a work permit (I assume you are not from the EU). A residence card only allows you to stay in Poland. The work permit is to be applied for by your employer and work permit shall be issued only if employer can prove they cannot hire anyone locally.

So you need to find an employer willing to apply for work permit.

What is your nationality and what are your skills and experience?

History / Do Polish people in general dislike Russia or Germany more? [369]

To finish: the Polish joke I like about Germans is "if cows look nicer than women, you have arrived in Germany" ;););

History / Do Polish people in general dislike Russia or Germany more? [369]

@Mirten: don't worry! Nobody can stand Germans! If you knew all the jokes Poles say about Germans ..... ;)

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Lyszko! Absolutely! A good way to reduce crime is to improve social conditions and to reduce inequalities.

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]

Hi! the guy claims to be a healer, it is extremely dangerous as a lot of idots may stop their medical treatments to follow what the charlatan says. I bet that he has drawn all the old "farts" whose no.1 priority is their health.

Very dangerous and on top of that, the guy gets rich out of people's stupididy.

How can Poland (the guy needs a visa) and the city of Warsaw accept this?

PS: Also, how much money from taxpayers' pockets (police....)?

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Johnny: As I said, Europe is not the USA and vice versa. Europeans don't need and don't want guns ( only criminal may) and that's all. Comparing the USA and Europe does not make any sense.

PS: I know quite a few Americans (of Polish origin) who have chosen to settle in Poland in order to raise their kids in a peaceful environment.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Atch: No, I don't have anything on my windows and nobody in neighborhood does (it's in Ochota). When I say I keep my windows opened, I only opened the top part so nobody could enter. Neighborhood is very quiet and safe (sort of a small village).

Classifieds / Random Classifieds Ads Poland [261]

There is fabric at stores like Ikea and Leroy Merlin (wide range and much better than Ikea). As they have portals, you may order but personally I think it would be better to see, to touch the fabric before buying it...

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]

@Polonius; thanks but was not the top news in Warsaw (;)).
Very strange that Warsaw was not disorganized. Was it today?

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]

If in the paper, probably not on the first page ;). Even if 40,000 (which I doubt), out of 38/39 million Poles, it means very little.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Jonny: So you have never lived in Poland and as to your "Polish penpals", I suppose they are of your kind ;).

I have lived both in Europe and in the USA. Here, in Warsaw, I live alone and my flat is on the ground floor and I am not scarred. I even sleep with bedroom window opened. How many people in the States have bars on their windows? I happen to walk at night. In the USA there is not way we can do that. I have seen a lot of people in the US leaving lights on downstairs when sleeping upstairs. I've seen people in the USA advising women not to put their whole first names on their mail boxes and in the phone book and of course after dark, nobody walks in the US. I spent 8 years in the USA and I have personally known 2 persons who were killed (1 of them was found dead in a forest). This goes on and on and on ... IWhen taking the metro at night in NY, Philadelphia or Atlanta, I was scarred. In Europe, of course things happen but not as often and people are not obsessed by security because they know they are safe.

In the US there are a lot of nutcases and giving them guns only make things worse. How many times each year there are shooting in schools and in public places in the US? At very least 1 per week in the US and no more than 5 in all Europe per year

No matter what you want to believe! The USA are the most violent society in the world.

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]

@Polonius: "funny" because I took public transportation today in Warsaw and everything as usual. 40,000? Are you sure there were not 400 (or 40)?

PS: nothing in the news! Can you give a link please?

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Polsyr: Yes, gun ownership + alcoholism = for sure population decline in Poland ;).

More seriously, Europe cannot be compared to the US. I'm sure that 99% of Europeans don't want guns allowed like it is the case in the US where every day in the news, we have crazy situations, a 3-year-old killing his sister because the father had left his gun on the coffee table or a teen-ager shooting everybody Inside a cinema because his girl friend had left him or kids receiving guns for their birthdays or at Xmas;). Examples go galore. The US were built by violence. In Europe, people are different and let's say more civilized. We expect the police to protect us and the police do. I personally want to walk safe in the stree, in shops and wherever I go without being scarred of getting killed or wounded by a nut carrying guns around.

The US are a violent country (I heard on tv 2 days ago when Obama visited a prison that inspite having 5% of the world's population, the US have 25% of the world's prison population, with a mich higher rate than Russia and China).

We don't want this in Europe and in Poland.

@Johnny: get informed! In Switzerland, they have to keep their guns locked in and the use is strictly controlled. This is so because Swiss men are to spend some time (I am not sure how much time) in the army each year. I have been numerous times to Switzerland, in particular Geneva and Lausanne and I have never seen people carrying guns there.

You live in the US and obviously don't know anything about Europe so don't impose us your American views! :)

Law / Weed laws in Poland [25]

@Relent: Hi! If in very liberal England, some things are not permitted, why should you think that in most conservative Poland it could be otherwise??? ;)

I personally believe that best to allow drugs, abortion, ... so things are under control. In places where drugs are legal, problems are fewer.

Forbiding things does not make them disappear but simply creates more problems.

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]

We don't need do be catholic to live in Poland. Poland is not a theocracy.

Food / Why Poles not like rice? [87]

Of course, some Poles eat rice but basically like in most of Europe, potatoes are the thing. I've met 2 or 3 Poles who don't like potatoes ;).

(For instance, tiny rice production in Camargue region, in South-East of France, is more than enough to cover the rice consumption in all France - this is to say that rice is not the thing in Europe). In Spain, Italy, Greece, they eat more rice though but it is not the no.1 priority in their diet.