Life / My experience in Poland 15 years ago as an American trying to live and work there. [167]

Very nice writing, I'm sure this book will be a success!

Just like somebody mentioned before it won't do Poland any good, 'cause many people will overlook the fact it's about how it was 15 years ago. But then again, had it changed so much since middle '90ties, people like me would be home, in Poland. I run away 3 months after getting my master's degree, and it's rather late, most people leave much sooner... it's not as depressing and crazy as it was 15 years ago, but it still feels like living two blocks away from the end of the world sometimes. I hope your book will be sold online?

Life / The Polish Dream - move out from Poland as fast as possible [73]

If I may add a dew words as a freshly emigrated female who's graduated more or less recently, greed really isn't the biggest issue. Fear of unemployment is.

Polish universities are not only completely unrelated to working reality, they are detached from reality as it is. That being said, a part-time job during university years, something most likely natural to most of you, to Polish students is hard to get at the very least, and if you have any ambition to do well at the uni - pretty much impossible. The hours are just too random. Most of Polish graduates come out of the uni holding a master's degree and no working experience AT ALL, save for whatever they've managed to do during summer breaks, or the last year. I've been browsing job offers in Poland for some time before leaving, and I'll tell you one thing: at least 2 years of experience in the field is a basic requirement for every and any job. There's an old Polish joke about an ideal secretary - 18 years old with 20 years experience. Sadly, it's very real.

Right now, In Japan, I'm working two part-time jobs AND going to school, and by some magic force still manage to go out with friends from time to time. I buy my groceries in cheap supermarkets, live with two flatmates and hardly manage to keep much from one month to another, but I get to pay for my school by myself, cover rent, living expenses, and from time to time go to the cinema or eat out, without taking a broken zloty from my mother. And this is pretty much the only thing that counts. I don't expect to get rich, I wouldn't study philosophy if I did, but the sole idea of being 25 y.o. and a parasite living on my mother's single salary... it's bad enough to drive me to the other side of the globe.

As a foreigner in a country of xenophobia pretty much acknowledged by law, and openly preferring male workers, I still have a better chance of getting a decent job here next year than I would in Poland.

Now please, tell me one good reason to go back to Poland, other than failing to extend my visa.

Love / Polish men are complete doormats (especially after they get married) [125]

honestly?..

A lot of Polish men hate and fear responsibility, in any shape. Nowadays, some admit openly in front of people they would give up a lot if only they could go back to kindergarten, and spend the rest of their lives playing.

In turn, Polish women feel the pressure to prove that they are strong, independent, responsible, reliable, and whatnot, because it's really hard to find a job in Poland if you're a young woman (sometimes you will even get told things like 'I won't hire you, you will be pregnant in two years' flat out during the interview).

I'm not saying it's 100% like that, there are childish girls and responsible guys in Poland too, but the tendency is as above. And guys with Peter Pan complex tend to turn out the doormats after marriage, because they start to treat their wives as second mums, shoving all 'adult' responsibilities they can onto them.