Travel / Things to do in KROSCIENKO [7]

Lots of outdoor activities, hiking, mountain climbing, and the raft ride she linked to is spectacular. A must do. I was there eight years ago, and though things may have improved since then, I would describe the tourist infrastructure at that time as underdeveloped, which was fine by me. Fortunately, I was with friends who had a car, which helped a lot. You might consider renting one as well.

If you're not a nature lover and enthusiast of outdoor activities, you're screwed. Almost. The nearest "city" is Zakopane (30 miles away, about an hour or two by bus, about half that by car), and depending how much time you have, it's worth the visit. It a MAJOR tourist destination in Poland (and crowded) and there are lots of activities there of the type you describe. Tacky as all hell, but fun if you accept it for what it is. With a car, you could make a day trip to Kraków, which is about two hours away.

Life / Famous Polish people (that we have actually heard of) [231]


Neustettin, which is now in Poland and called Szczecinek. His family immigrated before it became Polish, so it would be deceptive to say that he has any connection with Poland.

Life / What gifts to take? Presents customs in Poland. [173]

The cost of the gift isn't that significant for children. Uniqueness is. Had a wonderful time with my teen students roasting marshmallows that my mom sent me from the States. A new and strange experience for Poles. Strike-anywhere kitchen matches also made a huge impression; they don't exist in Europe. They've seen them used in films, though, and they are curious about them. I gave maple syrup to a teen that I was mentoring for Christmas, and he was super thrilled. We made AMERICAN pancakes together (also totally unknown in Poland) and had a great time. For the little boy, try a propeller beanie. Totally unknown in Poland. Root beer is something that's totally unavailable here, and a new experience for Poles. Beef jerky is also something novel, as is black licorice (but this gets a very mixed response). Macadamia nuts and nigger toes are totally unknown here, too. Hershey's kisses are great for the kids.

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]

As Monitor says, the construction industry is in poor shape in Poland at the moment, and things aren't going to improve any time soon. You're best bets are to get a job with an American company working in Poland at American pay rates, or do something else entirely different.

By entirely different, I mean getting a job as a civil engineer working in Suadi Arabia, Dubai, Abi Dabi or similar location. The pay is fantastic, and even though you won't be able to take your family, after a five year contract, you will be able to retire quite comfortably in Poland, and earn enough to send your kids to the best schools. You have to think of their future, and Polish universities are a poor educational option for them.

Yes, it's like going to jail for five years, and being away from the family will be difficult. But financially, it's a smart move. One that I deeply regret not having made myself.

Life / What gifts to take? Presents customs in Poland. [173]


The ones you can get in Poland are far inferior to the American ones. Bought a pack once out of curiosity and the ended up in the trash. I don't think they would be suitable for roasting.


Baloney.

Life / What gifts to take? Presents customs in Poland. [173]


Yes, really. There's no comparison. Like a Rolex and a fake "Rolex". The ones I had in Poland were just plain awful. The taste and texture were completely off, and it's obvious that whoever designed them had never seen, held or tasted a real marshmallow in their life, and was working solely off of a written description. They weren't even good enough to put in cocoa. If you have a friend in the States or Canada, ask them to send you some, and you'll see the difference for yourself.

Life / What gifts to take? Presents customs in Poland. [173]


Yes, they do taste of something else. Something that I don't expect or want when I bite into a marshmallow. And the texture was all wrong, too. I rarely throw food away, but those ended up in the can pdq. They tasted like my LEAST favorite candy in the whole world, circus peanuts (I get sick just looking at them): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_peanuts

Sorry, but you're never going to figure out what a real American marshmallow tastes and feels like without actually trying one. You'll just have to take my word for it that the difference is enormous.

Life / What gifts to take? Presents customs in Poland. [173]

Also, I read the talk page to the Wikipedia article on circus peanuts. Someone commented: "should the article include a mention of how universaly hated these things are?" Never a truer word has been spoken. I suspect that the main buyers are elderly women who want to not-so-subtily show their grandchildren, nieces and nephews how much they really despise them.

Life / What gifts to take? Presents customs in Poland. [173]

If you like circus peanuts, you're one of a select few. Read this:

straightdope.com/columns/read/1159/does-anybody-actually-like-circus-peanuts

Kids don't seem to mind Hershey's kisses. My mom always sends a bunch and I have no problem getting rid of them with my teenage students. Never heard any complaints.

I'd be very wary of getting a kid an expensive gift unless I knew darn well sure that it will be appreciated. I've been burnt too many times on this. I, too, considered a coonskin hat or cowboy hat for the teenage boy, but had second thoughts about it. An American football seems more likely to be appreciated, though I would go with a cheap nerf one unless I was very sure that a real one would be appreciated. The mood ring is likely to be appreciated, too.

Sometimes, the best gifts don't cost anything at all, or very little. A great gift for a teen boy is an old US licence plate. I used my old Indiana plate to bind some papers together for shipping, and later gave it to a teen student. He was thrilled, and it's still hanging front and center over his bed. Another student was thrilled with a stupid four-color ink pen.

Punk sticks are a great idea, too. The practice is totally unknown in Poland, and kids are fascinated by it.

I've learned that a good experience is appreciated more by kids than an expensive gift. Marshmallow roasting is a good example. Making typical American foods like pancakes (extremely different from the Polish version), sweet yellow cornbread, baked beans, chili, REAL hamburgers (Poles don't have the slightest clue what these are, and are always pleasantly surprised when they actually see and eat one), chocolate chip cookies, carrot cake, brownies, AMERICAN cheesecake (very different from the Polish version), American pies, even rivel soup; I've cooked all of these together with my friends and students here in Poland, and we all had a great time. Ingredients for all of these are readily available in Poland except for maple syrup, which is prohibitively expensive here. Oh, and mollases, which is completely unavailable. So you don't really have to bring anything much; just buy the ingredients here. Make sure to leave detailed instructions so that they can make them again whenever they want.

Bringing the boy a simple deck of cards (with bikini models or cars or dinosaurs or something like that) and teaching him how to play poker is a great gift, too. I've had a lot of fun teaching this to my young students.

Teaching them some stupid trick like the dairy farmer's handshake can be a fun experience. (First person interlocks fingers and turns palms outward, thumbs pointing to the floor. Second person tugs on the thumbs as if milking a cow). There's lot of stupid little things like that that kids are amused by and get a lot of milage from.

Had tons of fun with my friends' young kids pitching pennies. Bring some American and Canadian pennies along for "authenticity".

Be careful with hot sauces and jalepenos and such. They MAY be a big hit, but more likely they will be way to spicy for Polish tastes, which tend strongly toward the VERY, VERY bland. Besides, they are readily available in Poland, although I often wonder who buys them.

Same with clothing. There's nothing that you can get in America that you can't easily get here. Period. That includes Mickie Mouse shirts and such. Kids are notoriously difficult to predict when it comes to clothes, and even more difficult to impress.

This is especially true for toys. There is a wide selection of just about everything here, including such iconic American toys like slinkies, hula hoops and board games. Lincoln logs are a rare exception, although they may not be right for the ages of the kids mentioned. The green army men will be appreciated, too.

Life / What gifts to take? Presents customs in Poland. [173]

Running for Mr. Obnoxious of the year? Well, you've got my vote.

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]


Pretty much doesn't matter where their father wants them to live. All that matters is where they will want to live, and a degree from Poland closes a lot of doors, whereas an American degree opens a lot more. The only problem they will have if if they want to work in a few closed fields in Poland, like civil engineering and law. Otherwise, they are far better off with a degree from a good American university, even if they want to live and work in Poland.


That would make Saudi Arabia or Dubai a lot more attractive. Pay for academics is frustrating low in Poland. I was really ****** off when I was offered an academic position at the university here in Wrocław. The interview went splendidly, and everything was looking like peaches and cream, until we got to the issue of pay. Their initial offer was soooooooo low that there was no point in even negotiating, and that was the end of the interview. I now make three times that working on contract for the university. Most of the academics I know have to have second careers as consultants and the like. Especially if they have kids to support.

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]


I earned more than that as a graduate student teaching assistant 28 years ago in the States, and I make more than that now working with a very light load for the university here in Poland, without all the hassles that a full professor has to put up with. It's less than a fifth of what an American professor makes. Fortunately, I don't have any kids to take care of, and my retirement is already saved up for.

The low cost of living doesn't help much when what you have available for savings is peanuts.

Also, the OP is very far from landing a job as a full professor. He has to finish a doctorate, then habilitation, and THEN he might stand a chance at getting a lower professorial position. That will take about 10 to 15 years at least. The stages along the way pay very poorly.

If the OP wants to work in Poland, by far the best option, and indeed the only viable option, is to get a job for a foreign company that does work in Poland and pays at western rates. Otherwise, he's screwed when it comes time to send the kids off to college, never mind when he wants to retire.

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]


Read the thread. I think the OP would be extremely unwise to pursue a career in academics in Poland, or to pursue any career in Poland at all, except at American rates. This has to do with the OP's question. He's a qualified civil engineer considering moving to Poland and making a career here. I was just pointing out that he's going to take a HUGE cut in pay (and his wife even more so), and that a career elsewhere would be a far better option with his qualifications. I was also pointing out that he is responsible for his children's upbringing and education, something that will be very hard to do on Polish wages.

Bottom line, unless he gets a job in Poland for a western company at western pay rates, the OP is going to have a very difficult time justifying his move to Poland to himself and his family. The opportunities elsewhere are numerous and far more attractive.

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]


I know quite a few engineers here in Wrocław, and the only ones that make more than 5000 PLN a month are managers. Even then, I'm not sure the best paid of them earns 10,000 PLN. Actually, the civil engineers I know, from Skanska and the municipal engineering office, seem to be a sadder lot than the IT and telecommunications engineers I know. I hear a lot more griping from them. So I'm going to say that earning 10,000 PLN as a non-managerial engineer is unrealistic, especially working onnly 40 hours a week.

You say your wife is in healthcare. Wages in that field are abysmally low here. So low, that she would probably be better off teaching English. That would consume her afternoon and evening hours, though, which would probably not fit in with the lifestyle you had in mind.

Your English is pretty good. You might consider becoming a translator. If your wife's English is just as good and she has a good command of medicine, she might as well. Together, you could earn more than 10,000 PLN a month with a very flexible lifestyle. That would be about 25 hours a week for each of you, plus the time spent on maintaining old customers and finding new ones. It will take you some time to buid up a customer base, but with specialties in engineering and medicine and near-native proficiency, that won't be difficult to do. You will have basically no competition. I don't here in Wrocław (native clinical biologist).

Of course, that all depends on what you mean by "healthcare". If you mean your wife is a BSN or MT, she will be familiar enough with medicine as a whole to make a go of it. If she's in imaging or direct patient care, she might not have a wide enough medical background.

As for the gulf, never a day goes by that I don't kick myself for not doing it when I was younger. Like I said, it's like going to jail for five years, but you come out with a very comfortable nest egg, plus some extremely useful and salable experience. You won't have to worry about your kids' college costs. If I were you, I would look more deeply into that option.

Another option you have is to stay in the States and get an MEM or MBA or similar degree (from serious schools). That will open up the higher paying engineering jobs to you, including those for western companies working in Poland. And/or have your wife beef up her qualifications. If she's an RN, for example, she can work on becoming a BSN, nurse practictioner or nurse anesthetist. Also have her learn or beef up on her German. Living in Poznań, she will have the option of working in Germany at much higher wages than she can earn in Poland. I have a few friends in the medical field here in Wrocław that work in Germany during the weekends, and make a lot more than they do in Poland during the whole week.

If you both beef up your qualifications, moving to Poznan and earning western wages can be a realistic option in a few years time for both of you. Remember, reschooling gets harder and harder as the years go by, so don't put it off.

You're not at all in a hopeless situation, and you have lots of options to make life better for yourself and your family. Your problem is that you have a very specific dream that you would like to come true RIGHT NOW now, and you know that it won't. With patience and lots of hard work for the next few years on both your parts, you can make that dream, and many others, come true. Compared to most people, you and your wife are in a very enviable position, so there is nothing to be negative about. You have the options of reschooling in the States or of earning a big nest egg in the Gulf or the orient. Explore these options, get down to work, and you can well be living out your dream in Poznan in five years, having the best of both worlds.

Life / Moving from India to Wroclaw [53]


With a wife and kid that needs to be placed in a private school, you are looking at expenses of at least 6000 to 7000 a month.

The appartment, together with utilities and internet, will cost you between 2500 and 3500 PLN, depending on quality and location.

Food is going to cost you about 50 PLN for three people per day. Slightly less if you are eating simple vegetarian, and more if you are going to want to cook and eat Indian meals. That's 1500 PLN for the three of you. That's just basic, no-frills eating at home.

The school is going to cost about 500 PLN a month.

That's from 4500 to 5500 PLN just for housing and basic food. Add another 1000 or more for sundry expenses like entertainment, public transport, clothes and toys.

So if your NET income is going to be less than 7000 PLN a month, it will be hardly worth you while to move here, unless you want to live at a very low standard (one bedroom apartment far from the city center, cheaper preschool for child, watching every penny).

Things can get a little cheaper once you settle in and learn to live in Poland. But not all that much in your case.

The area around ul. Wyścigowa is a residential area, generally good and expensive, although there are some cheaper, poor quality places nearby, like along the railroad tracks on ul. Warsztowa. Frankly, though, with a wife and kid who don't blend in and are likely to be perceived as Gypsies, I would stick to the better parts of the neighborhood.

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]


That would be high for a non-managing engineer.


Not in Poland. Physicians are poorly paid unless they own their own practice. That requires substantial capital to invest, and might not pay off for several years. She could, as I mentioned before, work in Germany, where she would receive higher pay. But without a good knowledge of the language and a specialty, her options and pay would be limited.

Forget about the agencies and find your own work. There's plenty out there for both you and your wife, and you can charge 60 PLN or more per page. Low startup costs and ease of finding work make this the most realistic option for both of you in Poland, especially since you both have specialist degrees. You won't have much competition. (I'm assuming, of course, that both you and your wife have near-native proficiency in English). You're going to hear the words "spadł z nieba" A LOT. Both of you can earn a lot more than as an engineer or physician in Poland. You just have to be persistent with your marketing, and carpet bomb every potential client by email and by knocking on doors until you build up a clientele, which shouldn't take long for either of you. However, you're going to have to be a rather disciplined self-starter and go-getter with plenty of business wits to make a go of it.


That's going to be tough to do on Polish wages. Perhaps with the translating and/or working in Germany option.


The States is a huge and diverse country. If you're not satisfied with the lifestyle where you currently are, check out other parts of the country. I'm guessing, though, that either you or your wife wants to be near family in Poland. That's a tough order to fill, especially in the short term.


For medical professionals, yes. Don't really know about engineering. Warrants further research on your part.


There were a lot of physicians and engineers among them. You're going to have to think outside the box to make a go of it in Poland, especially with debts to pay off in the States.

Like I said, your situation isn't completely hopeless. It's just that you have defined your dream so narrowly that it's affecting your perception of your options, which are manifold in the long run, and not bad for the time being. Also, like I said before, neither of you is getting any younger, and self-improvement is going to be harder, and pay off less, the longer you delay it. A bit of creative thinking together with draconian self-sacrifice and financial management now can put you both in a truly enviable position five years from now. At your age, self-improvement should be your HIGHEST priority. To the point of selling the house and buying a smaller one, if necessary.

Another priority is getting your kids the best education they can get, and, frankly, in spite of your experience, a degree from an American university opens up a lot more doors than one from a Polish university. Make sure they are working their asses off in school right now so they can get into the best universities possible, and get scholarships. They should eat, breath and dream math and sciences. If your kids are slackers, probably the worst place for them is a Polish university, where nobody is going to care at all about them. Also, if you kids are slackers, get out the belt and unslack their sweet little behinds before the sun goes down. They will be eternally grateful.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Pretty much impossible unless you have an EXACT location where they came from, and names and approximate dates of birth. Without that, there's very little you can do. Surname searches are just about worthless unless the surname is unique to a single family, which yours probably isn't.

Study / Review of the Poznan University of Economics? [18]

I'm going to have to agree with delphiadomine and Harry. The vast majority of programs taught in English at Polish universities are a joke. Like Harry said, the universites run these programs to make cold cash from gullible rich foreigners. In a field like economics and international business, where the reputation of the program is a major factor determining the worth of your degree when looking for work, it's best to apply to the best programs you possibly can. I wouldn't waste time on these programs.

Work / Medical tests before working in Poland [23]


Nobody here can answer that. Ask your future employer.

Work / What are the average salaries in Poland for teachers, doctors, engineers? [16]


Average wages are useless figures and don't really provide any real information. Overall, wages are MUCH lower in the States for the same job. VERY MUCH lower. Especially for professionals.

There are only five groups of people who earn high wages (more than 6000 PLN, net) in Poland: 1) entrepreneurs who entered the market at the right time when there was little competition and made themselves into market leaders; 2) very experienced, highly qualified professionals working in high level administrative positions; 3) very experienced, highly qualified professionals and consultants that possess skills and knowledge that are in very short supply on the Polish market; 4) very experienced, highly qualified specialist doctors and lawyers who have their own practice, for which connections, especially family connections, are extremely important; and 5) very experienced, highly qualified professionals in high level management and admistration positions for foreign companies who get paid at foreign rates.

Aside from these positions, you're looking at a ceiling of about 4000-5000 PLN a month, net, and that only after many years of experience and in mid and upper level management and administrative jobs. Entry level jobs pay half that at best, or less, if at all. Many recent grads work in unpaid internships to get experience, and consider themselves lucky that they are working at all, even if for nothing.

As for cost of living, it's not all that much cheaper than the States. Some things, like computers and electronic consumer goods, are even more expensive. Rent ranges from about 700 PLN for a no-frills room in a student apartment in a city, utilities except internet included, to double that for a studio apartment in a city, to triple or more that for a one-bedroom apartment in a city. Many recent grads live with mom and dad if they can. Rents outside of cities are lower, but job opportunities are scarcer and wages are lower, too.

Food for a young male will cost 500-600 PLN for spartan eat-at home potato-and-macaroni-based dining, to double that for a better meat-based diet. Public transport will cost anywhere between 60 to 100 PLN a month. Few recent grads can afford a car.

For a single person, 1000 PLN net would be poverty existence. 2000 PLN would be spartan and no frills in the countryside, and poverty existence in the cities. 3000 PLN would be good in the countryside, but spartan and no-frills in the cities. Very few recent grads earn more than that.

The index you should be looking at is how many DOLLARS you can put away as savings at the end of the month. Few Poles can put away 300 dollars or more, and most can only put a little on the side for a rainy day fund, if that.

If you want to compare Poland to the States, compare it with small-town Walmart-is-the-only-business-in-town Alabama and Mississippi. Opportunities are scarce, and wages are low enough that most Poles have seriously considered working abroad, and many do. It's an extremely hostile and competitive job market that has little to offer American job seekers, unless they are very experienced and highly qualified. And lucky.

Study / Rumor about racism - will I be fine in Poland as a black International student from Africa? [245]

Studying is certainly possible. Working, on the other hand, is extremely unlikely. Don't count on it. As a matter of fact, it's safest to assume that you will definitely not find work.

Work / What is life like in Poland for a student? [26]


Smart kid. The reason so many people leave Poland is that it is easier to find a job abroad than in Poland. Also, Polish universities are generally not as good as their American or Western European counterparts. Poland is still a poor country compared to American and Western Europe, and life is more difficult. It would not be a good idea to study in Poland.

Having said that, I am an American with Polish roots who has been living in Poland for eleven years. Because I am a highly trained scientist, I've been able to make a decent living as a scientific translator here. Nothing like the money I earned working in the hospital in the States, but enough to get by, and without the stress. Fortunately, I don't have a family to support. If I did, I would not be living in Poland. I live in Wrocław, which is the nicest city in Poland.

Keep studying Polish, study at a good university in your country. And then when you are financially secure and self-sufficient, and have qualifications and experience that you can sell, move to Poland for a while and try it out.

Work / What is life like in Poland for a student? [26]


There's no accounting for taste.

Work / Working in Poland without speaking Polish [75]


Those with "pretty good salaries" are either working for foreign forms at foreign rates, or are project managers or above. In either case, "pretty good salaries" demand solid qualifications and ample experience.

Work / What is life like in Poland for a student? [26]

If he's Ukranian, with English is as good as it is, he should consider studying in other countries besides Poland.

Life / Help me find this Polish band and song.... [117]


Probably "lustro ekstazyjne". Sorry, but a Google search turned up nothing.

Law / Which is the best city in Poland to open a kebab shop? [56]

Nowhere, really. That market is over-saturated just about everywhere in the country. In fact, a lot of the kebab shops in Wrocław have closed down recently because they couldn't survive in such a highly competitive market, and I'm sure it's the same everywhere else in the country, espceially in any mid-sixed or large city. The same for a sit-down Turkish restaurant that we used to have in Wrocław, even though the food was really good. It shut down two years ago.

Gastronomy is generally a very bad area for foreigners to invest in, unless the have 1) plenty of startup capital and enough savings to last the three, four or five years before the establishment finally turns a profit; 2) extensive formal education and street smarts in gastronomic business; 3) extensive practical experience in the field, especially with management; 4) fluency in the local language and intimate knowledge of the local market; 5) a very realistic, even somewhat pessimistic, approach to the prospects of the business; and 6) a willingness, even eagerness, to spend every waking hour working your butt off day after day after day for years on end. A local partner who fulfills the same requirements helps enormously, or multiple family members who can work, essentially, for free.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is little chance that you will be able to make any money by opening a kebab stand anywhere in Poland. You might have had a chance ten, fifteen years ago, but not anymore.

Law / Which is the best city in Poland to open a kebab shop? [56]


Well, gastronomy is pretty much out, as it is definitely NOT eay, requires a YERY LARGE investment that will not pay off for years, and is VERY high risk. Retail and the hotel business are pretty much out of the picture for the same reasons. Furthermore, 50,000 PLN is far too little capital for a kebab stand, or a hotel or retail outlet.

Your best bet is to invest in your own hotel, or to partner with someone who already has a sucessful business in Turkey.

Sorry, and no offense intended, but from what you've said here, I doubt that you would be able to run a successful business in the EU. A lot of your ideas are too divorced from reality.

Actually, the best investment you can make is to get some solid training in accounting, finance, management and administration, get hired by or partner with someone who already has a sucessful business, and branch out when you have accumulated a significant amount of capital and on-the-job experience. If you're hell bent on doing business in Poland, learn the local language to a very high level of proficiency. We're talking in about ten years or so.

Love / English Men vs Polish Men [207]


That's true. I've been living in Poland for eleven years now, and four or five times a year, I get hit on hard by a Polish woman, usually ten or twenty years younger than me, and sometimes even younger. And by hard, I mean REAL hard. Wet-panties-humping-my-leg hard. Not bad for a 53-year-old. I could chalk it up to my God-given good looks, my efferverscent, charming personality, or to my long, flowing white beard. But the cynical side of me has to concede it has more to do with cash.

Love / English Men vs Polish Men [207]

Actually, they were almost all academics. From professors down to grad students.