The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by DominicB  

Joined: 28 Sep 2012 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - O
Last Post: 23 Sep 2020
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Posts: Total: 2706 / Live: 547 / Archived: 2159
From: Chicago
Speaks Polish?: Yes

Displayed posts: 547 / page 3 of 19
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DominicB   
29 Jan 2018
Work / Can I find a job in Poland that requires speaking in English? [82]

What are the prospects of a student earning their living in Warsaw, considering they can only communicate in English?

Practically zero. If you need to earn money to support yourself, then Poland is not the country for you.

As for studying international business, that is a bad idea, especially if you are going to study it in an English-language course in Poland. English-language courses in Poland are generally of inferior quality and are not respected by employers anywhere, in Poland or elsewhere. This is particularly true with a vague subject like international business, which is worthless unless it is studied at one of the top schools in the world, like London School of Economics, Harvard or Stanford.

As for finding work in Poland after your studies, the chances, again, are practically zero. You might have a small chance if you studied something like computer engineering or financial mathematics, but the wages would be far lower than in richer countries.

If you want to do business, then about the worst thing to study is business. Study a field that requires a lot of advanced applied mathematics, like petroleum, geological or biomedical engineering, or econometrics (not economics), financial mathematics (not finance), financial engineering or actuarial sciences. The world needs more people who can do advanced applied mathematics. It doesn't need more graduates in "international business".
DominicB   
25 Jan 2018
Classifieds / Someone help me with the Polish visa appointment! [203]

No. Any "agency" that promises to help you with this is a fraud. They will take your money and run.

All you can do is wait and keep trying as you are now. There is no magic solution.
DominicB   
16 Jan 2018
News / WOSP in Poland [161]

it's a poor state of affairs when this charity is doing the work of the government.

I'm not disagreeing with that, but Poland does not have anywhere near the funding, or the political will, to do it without significant help. The Polish government is having a hard time funding healthcare because the country's taxpaying population has been depleted by mass migration of its best and brightest, leaving the country relatively enriched in the old and hopeless, especially in those areas known as "Poland B". You may not appreciate how far Poland still has to go until you see the inside of a provincial hospital. It was a real eye-opener for me.
DominicB   
16 Jan 2018
News / WOSP in Poland [161]

Frankly, I'd sooner trust Owsiak to spend the money wisely than the current government. Don't hospitals in Britain rely partly on charities and charity drives to fund major purchases like medical equipment. Here in the States, a lot of the rooms, buildings and pieces of equipment have a tag saying "Donated by...." or "In memory of..." on them. Even the bench in the smokers hut at my hospital has one, as does, weirdly, the microwave in our break room. Hell, the whole hospital is named after the man who donated the land and money to found it.

There is even a Masonic organization, the Shriners, that specializes in building and operating hospitals for burn victims, never mind that a good percentage of the hospitals here were founded by different religious groups. Every NFP hospital has a foundation that is essentially a large charitable organization.
DominicB   
8 Jan 2018
Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [402]

I'm going to have to agree with Stankiewicz. It's more plausible than my derivation.
DominicB   
8 Jan 2018
Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [402]

CHOROSZUCHA: Probably originated as a nick for a sickly person (chory=ill, unwell)

Probably not. Probably from Russian or Ukrainian Choroszo, which means "excellent". Quite the opposite of what you suggested.
DominicB   
4 Jan 2018
Law / Polish Visa Refused, Going To Make Appeal, What should I do ? [81]

Basically, there is nothing you can do besides making more realistic plans for studying in your home country. An appeal would be a waste of time. The consul came to the conclusion that you were dishonest about wanting to study in Poland, and there is nothing you can do to convince him or anyone else otherwise.
DominicB   
2 Jan 2018
Language / Spelling "aunt" in Polish [142]

Hutsuls are a subgroup of Ruthenians. Not all Ruthenians are Hutsuls, though. Lemkos and Boikos are two other larger subgroups of Ruthenians.
DominicB   
2 Jan 2018
Language / Spelling "aunt" in Polish [142]

I'm from up the line a bit, Dupont, and Babci and Cioci were the normal forms among third generation kids grandmother and aunt there, including in my family. All of my grandparents spoke proper standard Polish, so it probably has nothing to do with the variety of Polish the grandparents spoke, but is more likely a matter of regional expression originating in the States.
DominicB   
2 Jan 2018
Love / About Marriage agencies In Poland [20]

For mail-order brides? You won't find many Polish women going in for that sort of thing anymore. and those that do are far from the cream of the crop. Economic conditions have improved too much for that, and the draw of living in the US has gone down a bit since Poland joined the EU. Your chances are MUCH higher with Russian or Ukrainian women.
DominicB   
29 Dec 2017
Work / Are there any jobs for Americans in Poland? [46]

Money isnt everything.

It is when you don't have it.

As for the rest, it's romantic idealizing. Grass is greener syndrome. If those are the reasons you are relocating to Poland, you're in for a bit of a shock. If you are really interested in relocating, best do so with a firm grasp of reality rather than silly romantic notions.
DominicB   
27 Dec 2017
Law / Visa for Work in Poland [29]

non-stop enquiries on PF all throughout 2017

The number of posts from Indian IT workers started hitting the skids about a year ago and has essentially dried up. There are a lot fewer posts on here than at the peak two years ago, and very few of them are for better paying jobs. Ukrainians are now filling those positions.
DominicB   
27 Dec 2017
Law / Visa for Work in Poland [29]

There are no jobs for unskilled foreigners in Poland. Any need is more than sufficiently filled by locals and Ukrainians. Don't waste your time and money on trying to get a visa. It is impossible.
DominicB   
27 Dec 2017
Work / Are there any jobs for Americans in Poland? [46]

huge pay cut.

The pay cut is bad enough. What is going to hurt a lot more is the massive decrease in savings potential.

The only way this is going to work is if you get hired by a US company that does business in Poland, and request a transfer to Poland at US wages. Works best if you have a good track record in B2B sales with management experience.

You really do need to polish up your Polish if you intend to do this. It's very clear that you do very little reading in Polish. Start reading fiction literature now. Intensively.
DominicB   
25 Dec 2017
Work / Masters in Poland, Work, Residence permit.. [3]

Get a degree and several years of experience in an IT-related engineering field and find a job BEFORE you come to Poland. Or get a job with a Turkish company that does business in Poland, and request a transfer to Poland. Aside from that, there's little chance of you finding gainful employment in Poland.

what are the possibilities of getting a scholarship for doing masters or funding masters in exchange of work for the university ?

Zero chance. That just ain't going to happen.

Can i apply for a temporary residence permit via my girlfriend ?

Nope. Not a chance. As far as the consulate is concerned, she is a total stranger to you. And no, she cannot sponsor you for temporary residence.

If you cannot afford to pay 100% of your studies and stay in Poland without working in Poland, then Poland is not the country for you. It's time to sit down with some experienced and competent adults and make realistic plans that do not include Poland.

If you want to be with your girlfriend, then it will be infinitely easier for her to join you in Turkey than for you to join her in Poland. If she doesn't want to join you in Turkey, it is probably time to let her go and move on with your life.
DominicB   
24 Dec 2017
Food / 'Wigilia', the traditional Christmas Eve supper in Poland [77]

There is no catholic tradition for no meat Ironside

Yes, there is. The traditional advent fast lasted from Nov. 12 to Jan. 5, all days except Saturday and Sunday, giving a total of forty fast days. Christmas was not exempt, and was a day of fast and abstinence (unless it landed on Saturday or Sunday).

Advent was later shortened and now ends at 4:00 PM (the time of first vespers) on the 24th of December, when Christmas Day officially starts. The rules on fasting and abstinence during advent were gradually relaxed and eventually abandoned, but vestiges persist in some countries like Poland and parts of Italy.
DominicB   
21 Dec 2017
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

As an organist, I am enthralled by the Polish-born Jewish composer Louis Lewandowski. Just incredible.
DominicB   
21 Dec 2017
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

@kaprys

It's a matter of degree. Compare their number and audience with that of their counterparts in countries where folk music is very much alive, vital and ubiquitous, like the Ukraine, Russia or Ireland.
DominicB   
21 Dec 2017
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

I think it's probably a combination of communism and over-fascination with western music

I think it started before that, between the wars, when disdain toward anything connected with "the village" versus the city started to grow. A large part of folk and traditional culture, including music, seem to have been jettisoned at that time.

I'm guessing that church choirs fell out of use at about the same time. I play organ, and can easily find lots of Polish church music composed before 1918. After that, much less original music was composed and published, and what was was not usually published in choir format. The break is quite sharp.
DominicB   
21 Dec 2017
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

You really have to have lived some time in Poland to see it, but believe me, Poland has lost it's musical touch, a few exceptions notwithstanding.

The examples you have noted are all from long ago. Brailovsky was not Polish or from Poland. He was a Jew from Kiev. Szeryng was also a Jew, from Warsaw, but left the country when he was still a child. In the same vein, Rubenstein and Lewandowski belong on your list.
DominicB   
21 Dec 2017
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

I don't know. Choral church singing is an artform in the Ukraine and Belarus, and used to be an artform in Poland, too, and still survives among Polish Americans. Somewhere in the past 100 years, something major went wrong and Poland became a musical desert.
DominicB   
20 Dec 2017
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

were you referring to their choice of repertoire?

I was referring to the quality of singing by church choirs in Poland, which is awful. Nothing like good Polish-American church choirs.
DominicB   
20 Dec 2017
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

Polish carols are lovely.

On paper, they are amazing. Downright incredible, in fact. In practice, it's torture. Church choirs in Poland are usually pretty ghastly.