USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]

Everything depends on the point of view...
If we compare that to Szczecin which has the most oceanic climate in Poland with average of coldest month at -0,7 C (so whole winter average is probably above 0 C) -6,5 C is very, very cold. The coldest January ever recorded in Szczecin had average -4,1 C.

The absolute minima are similar (-32 C in Szczecin in January 1987) but the general weather in winter in Szczecin is rain with short periods of frost and snow which melts next week when it gets warmer again. Permanent snow cover and frost are rare. Canada has much more continental climate.

On the other hand summers are much longer and hotter in S Ontario which is because of the latitude (43 N compared to 53 N in Szczecin where average of the warmest month is 18 C and the number of days with above 30 C is sth like 3 per year...).

So I prefer winters in Szczecin and summers in Ontario...

Regards

Lukasz

Travel / HELP: how to travel from Warsaw to Rzeczenica Polska [4]

If that is Rzeczenica in Pomorskie it will be a long trip... But possible becouse the village lies on the main road connecting seaside with the central Poland.

There is a bus from Warsaw to nearby town of Człuchów from Warszawa Zachodnia bus station at 9.50 arriving in Człuchów 17.18

But unfortunately there will be no bus to Rzeczenica on the same day

There is a long-run bus from £ódź Bus Station at 7.30 towards Koszalin that stops in Rzeczenica at 14.37

so I think the better idea will be to get from Warsaw to £ódź (train from Central station - nearly one per hour) an than take this bus.

Regards

Lukasz

Genealogy / Looking for info on Zalecki [21]

My great-grandmother maiden name was Załęcka. She came from a village near Maków Mazowiecki (northern Mazowsze).
Most of her family left to US between 1905-1910 she was one of the few who stayed in their homeland.
So maybe we are related ;-)

Regards

Lukasz

Genealogy / Looking for info on Zalecki [21]

You have to understand what "nobility" meant in Poland - it was nothing connected with wealth. Nobles were those who had political rights during "First Republic" times. They could be very poor, especially after the partitions when after various uprisings government was taking back the land from families whose members had fought against them. So my great-grandmother could feel "nobel" because of rights of her ancestors even thought she was taking care of cows, not having shoes until she was twelve...

Regards

Lukasz

Real Estate / Is there a property tax in Poland? [3]

The situation may be more complicated.

If hour father passed away prior to 2006 (or 2005 I don't remember exactly) to legally own a property you have to pay special tax (sth. about 3% of property value) to own it.

Later they changed this stupid law and now the members of the closest family do not pay this tax but the law does not work backwards so an important information is the date of death.

If there was no last will in local court you have to make "sprawa spadkowa" which would be announced (in case any other successors appeared) and then you would get a sentence that you inherited goods and properties.

The next step is tax office. Still you have to declare in the tax office that you inherited a property (show then the sentence and they will say if you have to pay sth. or not) and they would give you paper which would allow you to make changes in register (in another court) and officially own a property.

Then you will receive a letter from local authorities with calculated amount of land tax (for farmland it is very low - a few grosze per square meter per year).

Regards

Lukasz

USA, Canada / Things that Polish-American should know about Poland. [168]

Nice pics:

polandeyes.com/index2.html

Looks a not very well hidden "success propaganda" but it feels nice to look at it...

Regards

Lukasz

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

Name and nationality don't have much in common. You are still using your name Bednarczuk but you are not Ukrainian nor Polish.

They nationality can be guessed if you know what language they were speaking, what alphabet they were writing, what church they belonged to.

Names ending with -uk are refereed to be of Ruthenian origin but because eastern Poland was settled by Ruthenians (Podlasie) or was Ruthenian (south-east) since middle ages and then were Polonised now such names are also found in Poland very often and people that use them are 100% Polish...

It is not the name that decides your nationality so I find those attempts to guess nationality by name not sensible. Especially in CE where borders were shifting, people migrating etc. you would find many Polish with German names many German with Polish names, many Polish with Russian and Ruthenian names, many Russian with Polish names and of course Jews who could have German (Yiddish), Polish or Russian names...

Of course name can give you a hint about the "origins" of your family but the family could already change their nationality twice beafore they emigrated...

Regards

£ukasz

Law / Child support in Poland:is the income of the father's spouse taken into account? [34]

You all miss the point.
The child support in Poland is not based on the costs of living but on the income of the parent so collecting info about the rent etc. is worthless.

If a father earns 1000 PLN then he would pay let's say 400 and if he earns 10000 then he would pay 4000. The assumption is that the material status of the child can not diminish after divorce so if the child was used to live at high standard it can not suffer just becouse parents got divorced...

I think it is far from the child's point of viev.
You qall present more "egalitarian" way of thinking - "lets assume that 2000 PLN is enought to live decent and give him that regardless his parent is a plumber or member of the board of the international corporation" which is not followed by

Polish courts.

Regards

Lukasz

Travel / Train from Warsaw to Siedlce [27]

I thought that Siedlce train starts at Dw. Zachodni (Western Station) and goes through the city (Sródmiescie and Wschodni). I is similar with the trains going to the west - they start at Warszawa Wschodnia and continue to the west...

There are some changes due to the Stadion station being rebuild and some commuter trains (as that towards Siedlce) can go through Warszawa Centralna instead of Śródmieście...

Regards

£ukasz

Work / Teaching Architecture in Poland [23]

The main salary is quite decent if you are a professor (I think around 6000 PLN). Otherwise it is quite low (around 3000 PLN before taxes for a fresh PhD graduate)... But of course you must get grants to do your research (if you work at the university you can not just teach - you have to do some research, publish etc. and the direct funding of research by the university is usually very low) and it is a custom that participants of the grant get some money from in form of additional salary (but of course getting a grant is no so simple...)...

Regards

Lukasz

Work / Teaching Architecture in Poland [23]

I am talking about a public university. Private ones are rather called "schools" (I think non of the private institutions can use the name "university" because to do it you need to have enough professors, PhD students etc. and private schools are much smaller and more oriented on bachelor and master studies than public ones ) which does not mean that you can not earn there more if your field attracts many students...

Regards

Lukasz

Travel / Wroclaw-Bratislava (the quickest way to get by car)? [10]

I would say trough Budapest (there are direct trains Warsaw-Budapest and Budapest-Belgrad)...
I know some people who went used that route but I don't know any more details.

Regards

£ukasz

Law / Car insurance cost for old used car in Poland (OC) [17]

I do not know how you calculate those numbers.

The OP asked about OC so it has nothing to do with the value of the car as nobody would pay him when something happens (to him or his car) it is just to cover losses he would make to somebody else.

The only thing that matters in that situation is his age (the younger the higher rate), time hes has been registered (insured) as a driver (could be a co-driver of for example his parents car) with no damages (that is important as he would get a discount for every year), place where he resides (citizens of some regions have higher risk of having an accident than the other) and the engine capacity of the car.

When I was at his age (10 years ago) I also drove and old Skoda and I paid for OC sth. like 600 PLN/year. Nowadays I am older, and have paid insurance with no damages for some time so I pay similar price even though the prices of insurance have generally gone up. However I doubt he would pay more than 1000 PLN/year.

Tho really check it there are insurance calculators online anybody could use that include the variables that are important for the overall cost of the insurance.

Regards

Lukasz