Love / Civil Cermony Details in Poland - music, vows? [10]

Merged: Civil Cermony Details in Poland - music, vows?

As far as I've heard from friends, a civil ceremony in the Polish equivalent to a registry office has no music and the vows are pretty much what's set down in law. Most Polish people will do both, a legal one first to make it legally official and then, once the money has been saved a full church wedding with a big party.

I don't think you will have much of a choice of adding your own music or your own vows in a civil wedding in Poland. Maybe in Warsaw it's different, but, where I got married, there was very little choice and it was down to church/legal tradition...I liked that though :)

Food / What Polish foods and brands do you miss when you go to other countries? [216]

Exactly, if I wanted something similar to Polish bread that you buy in Poland then I would be more likely to go to a decent baker and get a nice sourdough rye. No point spending more money going to a Polish shop and buying mass produced Polish bread that's been stuffed in the back of a van for the better part of a couple of days.

Life / Whats with going to sauna naked in Poland? [41]


In Saunas it doesn't make a huge difference, being very dry and very hot makes it not a nice place for fungus and bacteria. Steam rooms on the other hand, they are basically petri dishes!

Work / About taxes ("Umowa o dzielo") and minimum wage in Poland [30]

Hey All, just thought this would be more relevant to discusse the below quote:


Since when was 8PLN per hour minimum wage. A few years ago I was on 7PLN per hour in a bar and waitresses were between 4 and 5PLN. I heard up to last year waitresses were still on 5-6PLN per hour in a famour Kraków place.

Is 8PLN per hour a new development? If so it's a great thing! Maybe now people in hospitality will be able to make ends meet.

Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]


Just like saying Nig*er is fine if you know some black people. I have black friends here in Kraków and I can tell you Murzyn is never used positively. It's fine whn moderates are saying it, but the racists ruin it for everyone.

For UK people, think of your grandparents saying "negro"

Law / In Poland on residence card (married to Polish girl) want travel to UK for 2 weeks! [16]


Boom, Visa marriage...

Law / Any good business ideas - what Poland needs? [114]


I am curious, what is the percentage of home owners in Poland? And is it going down?

I would have thought in the past lots of people built/bought houses for the whole family to live in (my Wife's family still do this to a certain extent but they are not in a big city). So when kids grow up, they almost get a floor to themselves and never leave home, except for studies.

Looking at young people nowadays it seems more common for them not to stay at home with the family and are looking for more freedom, but I doubt many of them will be in a buyers market somewhere like Kraków where the property prices are ridiculous compared to income.

Life / How do the Polish feel about air pollution in their cities? [35]

It's not really remote villiages that are the problem. 10-20 families burning some rubbish in the middle of nowhere isn't ideal, but it's not a major issue. The issue, and the thread title, is people doing the same in cities. When you have tens or hundreds of thousands of people burning rubbish in a concentrated area you have a pretty major problem. There is no excuse for this in the city where there is plenty of rubbish collections.

I find breathing here in Kraków is a struggle in winter with all the pollution, it's quite terrible, but until the fines for burning things in the city cost more than modernising then no-one will bother with it.

Just as an aside, there is seriously no rubbish collection? Or just no-one wants to pay for it?

Travel / Mobile internet for tourists in Poland? [35]

If you go with play you can put in a code and get unlimited internet for 10zl for 30 days. I don't have the leaflet any more but you should be able to get it done in any Play shop. I do that for my iPhone each month, this is for 3G though, might cost a bit more for 4G but there's certainly a way of getting what you need, in major cities the staff in any of the mall outlets will speak English and you can ask there. Provided you can get from the airport into town without internet you should have no problem comparing offers between suppliers in any mall.

Depending where you are landing, the train from KRK airport goes straight to a shopping mall and there's a big one next to Warszawa Centralna train station.

Life / Pepper Spray in Poland? [36]

Keep in mind, you need to learn how to use it first or else you might end up blinding yourself. It does work, but it's unreliable because it's at the whim of the wind, unlike CS. I think it's fine to carry, as long as you know how to use it, but keep in mind, if the person you use it on does not have bad intentions...JAIL!

Work / 100,000 PLN (per year) in Krakow - Is it enough for a couple to survive on? [18]

Looking at is as 5500PLN per month after tax, I can relate, my wife and I are taking in about that much together. We stay outside the city. Eat in all through the week then go out at the weekend. When we go out for dinner we don't eat in super fancy places (do you have to eat in a fancy restaurant every week?). We manage to save, on average, 250PLN per month. If the OP seriously thinks he can save here better than the US, he's in for a shock!

Life / Move to Poland or UK? (Advice needed) [51]

If the OP is worried about multi-culturalism, maybe Saudi would be a good move...it's very mono-cultured.
[edit:and wages are good]

Life / Code to top up Poland's Play sim card? [11]

For future reference you can top it up online on logowanie.play.pl I also have the option on my internet banking to top up my phone straight from there and a number of ATMS allow you to top up a phone too. No need for a silly coupon.

Life / Polish post, are they still stealing stuff? [20]


Just for info, he can send it via MoneyGram or Western Union. While it's probably easier doing it online, you can do MoneyGram through the post office and it takes 10 minutes to get to you. Then in Poland you can pick it up at any Post Office, Bank BGZ and some Kantors. Costs about £13 I believe.

I am not saying stealing is right but I wouldn't think anyone should be sending cash in the post these days, there are just too many hands for it to go through. Think about it this way, from one post office to your door, it's probably being handled by 10+ people...what are the chances of someone in that chain being dishonest? Better for your Dad to go the post office, give them the cash and have it coded through the system and in your hands 10 mins later...no chance of it being stolen then...unless you get mugged on the way to the bank.

Food / Where to buy British mature Cheddar Cheese and salted butter in Poland? [289]

I hate to be braggy, but a guest at my recent birthday party brought me 2 packs of Mature Cheddar and a Stilton over from the UK, along with Bisto and Oxo cubes :D

Food / Where to buy British mature Cheddar Cheese and salted butter in Poland? [289]

For the Heinz Ketchup lovers, I noticed that Tesco Online now have it, haven't been in store but if you get the home deliveries then you can get it there :)

News / Local elections - anyone care to comment? [52]


I would say for local elections it's pretty average, for major elections you would expect a bigger turn out but this isn't such a big deal in most peoples minds (even though, in the small scheme, local elections actually affect your life more than national ones).

Life / Poczta Polska Is Killing ME! Transit time. [28]


Oh tell me about it, I was off work on day and thought to myself "great, I will go and pick up my parcel while everyone else is at work" and off I wandered to the Post Office at 11am. God what a mistake that was, the whole place was full of old people in a queue/mob that had no order. Also people were spending aaages at the counter having non-post related conversations and then, when it finally came down to paying for something, of course it was all paid in Groszy.

I waited for about 25 minutes and, after so much chaos and queue jumping I gave up and went for a pint.

Work / How much is the average living cost in Poland for foreign student? [44]

Yes, but you are forgetting socialising, which is expensive!

Life / Any English language channels on Poland cable TV? [8]


Comedy Central is all lector, no option on most networks to change the lanuage. But you still have a huge amount of channels that are available!

USA, Canada / 15 hr. motion on a minimum wage. (USA) [16]


Ummmm, does qualifying for food stamps not mean living under the poverty line??

UK, Ireland / Polish Mineral Water In the UK [7]


As mentioned in my initial post, it's the lekko/delikatny gazowany that I'm looking for. Even in supermarkets in the UK it's still or sparkling. I want something more interesting than still, but not fully sparkling because the bubbles stick in my throat if I drink it quickly (yes, i'm strange).

I suppose I could get a soda stream and just half fizz up some water.


True, however when you look at the most popular mineral waters in the UK and you will see a lot of Evian, Volvic, Perrier and San Pellegrino. If they are already being imported, ay as well drink it.

Life / The cheapest phone operators in Poland - Play is not worth it [7]

I have not had a single problem with play since moving to them a year ago.

I don't think we can really argue about customer service, it't not unique to Play, or even Poland. I have had sims in various countries throughout the world and never had good customer service from any one of them. I think it's something inherent in the industry and needs to be fixed.

I used to be on Orange in Poland and I still cannot believe how ridiculously expensive they are for not a great service. I often had my internet shut down with them and credit would dissapear seemingly without reason. I checked everything and it was just their rates were ridiculous! Strange considering I moved from o2 in the UK to Orange on account of them being better value.

UK, Ireland / ABOUT THE BRITISH NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER [22]


I have always had an NI number since I started work, but I was under the impression that this would lead to a really high rate of PAYE being taken off your wages which can't be claimed back until the end of the tax year?

UK, Ireland / Are there too many East Europeans, Poles in West Europe now? [47]

I know Alex Salmond was encouraging immigration from Europe during the Referendum in Scotland. We need to create more jobs, we cannot create more jobs without people to take them.

Life / Did you send your children to regular Polish preschool or English one? How did your children find it? [7]

Exactly, I think a standard preschool is best because it will instill communication skills vital to your child making friends in Poland (provided this is where you want to stay). Also a lot of pre-schools now are doing English classes which will help with basic reading and writing skills which you can continue in the house.

I really do think that, at that age, a childs social development is more important than an intellectual one so I think pick the one which you think will most positively affect your child's social life in the area.

Law / Large Bank Deposits - Poland Banks report them to government due to anti-terrorism laws? [5]

I am pretty sure this is standard in all countries as part of KYC/AML processes. Even when I was just recruiting for a financial institution I had to do training and, if I suspected anyone I was dealing with to be funding terrorism, laundering money, etc, I had a report it to senior management who would report it to the appropriate authorities.

Travel / Budget for a week in Poland- fast foods, some brand clothing buy, three star hotel - shared room, and clubbing [8]


Not criticising, but you have insinuated you only want to eat in fast food chains...is there a particular reason for this? Yes, it's cheap, but why go to a different country and eat the same as you can at home?

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


When I first came, I was amazed at how pleasant the climate was. My, wrong, perception was that Poland was a cold country (like Siberia). I think my far east upbringing led me to think that anything north of the South of France on the continent was cold all year round.

When it comes to general holidays, British people are still sun-seekers and so generally will hit south Europe before they would go to the Tri-State. Just because a good number of British tourists come to Poland doesn't make it a major destination. People in the UK, sadly, will still flock to places that have sun, sand and British pubs with all day breakfasts and Only Fools And Horses on the TV.