Study / English/Bilingual Speaking School options in Krakow and fees [13]

It depends very much on the school. It would be better if you give us a budget, and we can advise you accordingly.

However, be warned that the majority of international schools are rather weak compared to Polish schools.

News / Poles say a big YES to our European Union [957]


Where's the money coming from? They need taxes and regulations (which, don't forget, they've recently imposed a huge amount of new regulations on businesses) just to bring in enough money to pay the interest on debts.

More to the point, such a move would mean the end of the FTA with the EU and beyond. What use are minimal regulations if no-one can do business with you as a result?

News / Why Poland has no problem with terrorism [64]


Likewise. However, parents would then have to deal with video evidence of their children's behaviour. Students would also never agree to being watched the entire time, as they wouldn't get the benefit of the doubt.

It certainly would make my life easier if I could simply attach a video clip to a message showing how said child behaved. I had one case where two kids had a fight in the classroom - video evidence would have conclusively proved who started it, which would form the basis of further action.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1400]


I have to admit, you are definitely a true macho for being willing to try some of this ;)

But it's fascinating that you're trying stuff from books - are you sure you're not really some pre-war intellectual from Lwów who has been reincarnated, Pawian?

Life / How's life in Mielec? [8]


Why does that name ring a bell Jon?

News / Hołownia - a rising star in Polish politics? [88]


It's a long, long time until the next election. Hołownia needs to desperately build up strong local structures, as all of these one-man parties have suffered badly through excessive centralisation and weak local presence.

The problem is that he needs to find a way through in Eastern Poland. It's not enough to be supported in Western Poland - he needs to go straight to the heart of the PiS electorate in Tarnów/etc and start presenting himself as a viable alternative. As it stands, he's trying to build a movement from Warsaw, which will never work in the long run.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1400]


Pawian, you are too much. ;)


Oh yes, absolutely. They go wonderfully with chicken and garlic.

News / Unfulfilled promises by PiS [558]


They absolutely don't. There's really not much difference between them and the PZPR, even down to the characteristic arrogance and constant boasting while criticising the West at every opportunity.

You only have to look at the inability to distribute vaccines to see that they haven't got a clue.

Work / Opening a Preschool in Poland (Krakow) [6]


No, they are entirely dependent on local and occasionally provincial governments. The funding situation depends very much on whether they've got the finances, as there were plenty of documented cases this year where privately run kindergartens no longer received the educational subsidies.

Have you spoken to the person responsible for education in the Gmina to ensure that you'll get the funding? This is Poland - it may well be that you'll be expected to give the director's job to a certain person in exchange for the funding, especially if you're already aware of problems with corruption there. It won't be official, but you can expect strong hints that they would prefer to see a certain person in charge.

I'd also verify that the funding is already in place for other private kindergartens - if you will be the first one, then they may simply refuse to subsidise it in any way.

If you want, I'm happy to have a chat with you about this in detail.

To give you an idea - DGP (one of the most reliable newspapers in Poland) published this article last year - serwisy.gazetaprawna.pl/samorzad/artykuly/1451502,przedszkola-walcza-o-dotacje-w-sadach.html - there's a total of 17 *billion* PLN in claims against local governments from the operators of private kindergartens.

Work / Opening a Preschool in Poland (Krakow) [6]

The best thing is to get an experienced headteacher to handle all of this for you. You can represent the kindergarten as the owners, while the headteacher can be there for paperwork purposes. It's really not a good idea to try and open one without such a person if you don't have experience in PL, as the subsidies can be withdrawn for the slightest mistake.

They are, incidentally, funded by local/provincial governments, not by national governments.

What you can do is hire someone on a 20/20 basis - 20 hours a week handling headteacher duties (i.e. admin), 20 hours a week teaching. There's really not many opportunities for ambitious preschool teachers, so you should have no problems recruiting someone capable.

Travel / Travel to Poland from the UK? (COVID time) [50]

Ireland is in lockdown, so you can't cross county borders without reason. If you're caught, you'll be fined heavily by the Irish Gardai.

You also can't work in Poland without a work permit and a visa/residence permit.

Work / Is it difficult to make a living playing Soccer (football) in Poland? [54]

Simply put: you're not going to get a job paying anything beyond a token amount without the UEFA Pro licence. You *might* be lucky and find something with the UEFA A licence, but because of the way that the system works in Poland (way too many coaches trying to get a place on the UEFA Pro courses, they artificially limit the numbers), you're essentially competing against a lot of Polish coaches who also have connections within the PZPN.

If you want a career in Polish football, stay in the UK and get the UEFA Pro licence, then move to Poland.

Law / What car modifications can be performed on a car registered in Poland? [6]

As far as I know - no, it isn't. The weight is based on the homologation of the vehicle, so if it was 4050kg when originally sold, it sticks at 4050kg.

You would need to get a new Type Approval to change the weight of the vehicle on the registration.

Life / What do Poles do when they need Cash urgently (small sums)? [15]


Don't tempt me into finding out, Maf ;)

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [281]

I can safely say that my Librus inbox is now getting ignored until the 17th. Maybe the 16th, but I doubt it.

News / Polish prosecutor 'shoots self after news conference' [93]


PiS have no interest in fair and objective. For them, just as it was in the PRL, prosecution services are there for the benefit of the Party.

Life / What do Poles do when they need Cash urgently (small sums)? [15]

Likewise. I actually think this is where Poland is fantastic, because you can just make a transfer via Blik to someone if you don't have cash. And then there's the way that almost every shop these days will take cards, so there's really no reason at all to carry cash. Usually, the only time I have cash on me is when going abroad!

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [281]


I'd like to think that you're joking, Pawian, but knowing your thirst for knowledge, you're most probably not!

Life / What do Poles do when they need Cash urgently (small sums)? [15]


Żabka does it - zabka.pl/wygodne-uslugi/wyplacaj-gotowke

You have to buy something (but it can be the cheapest thing in the shop), and with Visa, you can take up to 300zł. Mastercard - 500zł.

It's very useful when you need small amounts for something, like 10zł for a ticket machine. What's also nice is that it's charged as a purchase, not as a cash withdrawal.

Off-Topic / Stock Market and Trading Talk [1011]


CDR on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

It's 309PLN right now, but just before they released the game, it was up to 464. They've fallen a long, long way in 2 weeks - it's because they released a buggy game that simply doesn't play well on consoles, so people are furious. The problem is that this stock went from almost 0 to 400+ in 4 years - of course, a total bubble.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [940]


Do you know what the Olimpiada are? You basically have to be flawless - it's a competition in which the winners get free entry to high school or the university of their choice, so the competition is insane. You need to basically be perfect in terms of grammar, as they'll pick on you for the slightest of mistakes.

Pawian - is it true that the requirements have gone insane in the last couple of years? An old PF poster told me a couple of days ago that the primary school exam was bordering on impossible, even for his bilingual son.

(I stay away from these competitions and I never want to prepare anyone for them)

Life / Covid vaccination for foreigners in Poland? [26]

I wouldn't be surprised if the vaccines start appearing through back channels. If the reports are true that only 20% of medics signed up for it, then there's going to be a considerable amount of vaccines available.

Off-Topic / Stock Market and Trading Talk [1011]


It's basically a good stock "for the long term", but it's definitely not for the short term. The amount of interference in the company is ridiculous, but their plans (to create a de facto monopoly in the CEE region where the Hungarian MOL isn't present) isn't entirely a bad thing.


I just forgot, that's all! Nah, I saw that it was falling, and the last time I paid attention, it was down to around 43. I thought that I would jump on it at 40, but as a complete amateur, I didn't set up any sort of instruction for it. I won't make that mistake again :D

Johnny, you might find this interesting: gamespot.com/articles/cyberpunk-2077-developers-stock-is-taking-a-beating-in-poland/1100-6485512/ - it's a perfect example of why the Polish stock market is so immature.

Off-Topic / Stock Market and Trading Talk [1011]


I'd rather rue a missed opportunity with Orlen. I was going to buy another 20k PLN worth of shares when it dropped to 38PLN about 6 weeks ago. I forgot about it, but almost everyone was pointing at the stock being hugely undervalued, and the analysts were suggesting a target price of around 75PLN.

Now? 61.80PLN.

Ugh.

News / The Witcher 3 game - Poland's great success [37]


First reports are that it's below expectations and that the massively overvalued shares are now tanking as a result. They're suggesting that the game has the same problems as typical Bethesda games (full of bugs), while a lot of things are unpolished, such as the poor driving mechanics compared to GTAV.

I'm going to give it a miss for now, as the reviews suggest that it needs polished more than anything else. It took Skyrim years before it could be considered a masterpiece, and the same will happen here I think.

Genealogy / Looking Into The Surname Bednarczuk: Ukrainian, Polish, Ruthenian, Belarusian, etc? [27]


That's not true. It's an ending found among those in the Ukrainian/Belarusian communities, and -uk was normally a patronymic. It wouldn't have been from any particular area.

History / Should David Irving, Holocaust denier, be allowed to run tours to Poland? [246]

Hey now Lzyko, he deserves a prize for best fiction post on PF.

Life / Polish Ice Hockey [17]


Common story in other sports too. Those people aren't interested in developing a good product, they only care about getting their money from the Ministry.

It's a shame, because hockey would be a great product for Polish cities. There's plenty of places like Lublin and Szczecin where a well presented product could attract crowds, but... Why put effort into attracting new franchises if you can do nothing instead?

I wouldn't expect Poland to be on the level of the Czech Extraliga or DEL, but surely it should be possible to get the PHL to reach a standard comparable to the UK EIHL.

Life / Polish Ice Hockey [17]


I do wonder if there's not a future for the PHL to be recruiting players from North America with free university tuition thrown in. The cost would be minimal for teams, and there must be plenty of reasonable hockey players out there who aren't good enough to get drafted/get a NCAA scholarship, yet they could easily be solid 2nd/3rd line players.

Life / Polish Ice Hockey [17]


They were a solid top 20 team that always just missed out on promotion to the top division in the World Championships, but they've lost their way recently. The national team was always much stronger than domestic teams, though.


Not really. Czerkawski was the only Polish player of note, and only four Polish players have ever played in the NHL.