Work / Lang Company fired me [17]

I've heard of over employing natives only to wait and see if they even need them or not. There's simply nothing you can do, but avoid such schools!

But I know of a school looking for someone if you're interested :)

Travel / Where is the best place to snowboard in Poland? [8]

As a local to Szczyrk, I feel your pain!

To be totally honest one of the best places would be Chopok in Slovakia: jasna.sk

They make a lot of snow, much more so than Zakopane. Plus they have many options for snowboarders with fantastic lifts and slopes. We spend most of our time there at the moment!

In Poland, your best bet is Białka Tatrzańska as they have many snow cannons and make a lot of snow quickly. Plus you can go to the thermal pools in the evenings!

Good luck :)

Travel / What to do in Zakopane for New Year? ( staying in a ski resort but unfortunately no snow ) [12]

Head down to Białka - I was snowboarding there last week and the conditions were good! If not to ski then only to go to the thermal swimming pools.

However if you only want to ski and you have a car, there are a few options! Have a look at this link and it shows you where are open:

skionline.pl/pogoda/polska-tatry-i-podhale,region,16.html

Harenda and Małe Ciche are places we like to go.

Good luck!

UK, Ireland / Recommend a courier/transport - Poland to UK [7]

We've used these guys to move a lot of stuff..... worth a go as they head out every week and have room for people (I think)

tomex-transport.prv.pl/o_firmie.html

Travel / Białka Tatrzanska lodging? [17]


Where are you travelling from?

Travel / Szczyrk- Snowboarding [6]

I live just round the corner and do a lot of mid-week boarding in Szczyrk throughout the season.

To be totally honest I wouldn't say it's a good place for beginner, Skrzyczne has an old and somewhat inadequate lift system and for most of the season only the upper routes are open unless there is a lot of snow. The blue from the top contains a lot of flat sections and even a section most snowboarders have to walk up!

The second area - SON has only T bar style lifts but more options and is better for beginners.... if you don't mind T bar lifts.

If your set on Szczyrk I'd focus on the second area: szczyrkowski.pl

If I were you, I'd look at Wisła - more beginner friendly routes and new lift systems:

nowaosada.pl
soszow.pl/index.html

I know an epic instructor in Szczyrk, nice guy and great English - Jacek - go4ride.pl

He taught my wife :)

Anything about the local area you want or need to know, let me know :)

Work / Teaching Post in Zory (2600 zl per month after tax good?) [10]

Everything mafketis said in the above post are all things your should seriously bare in mind.

I've driven through Zory on many occasions and from the outset it looks rather nice, however... living in a small "city" isn't as ideal as it first sounds! First of all with in a short period of time people will know who you are, where you work and you'll have to be careful what you do! Of course, if you don't plan on getting heavily drunk every weekend then you should be ok!

Also it may be worth baring in mind if you are the only native in the school. If so it can lead so a lonely existence in such a small place!

On the flip side - your (quite) close to the mountains and other big cities plus cost of living should be quite low!

Have you not tried in bigger cities close by like - Bielsko-Biała/Tychy/Rybnik?

All i can say is good luck and maybe see you in the mountains?! :)

Law / Turkish citizen. Civil marriage in Poland - Urgent [25]

yusufkocer

We got married last week, I can tell you that:
IF you have all the documents ready that your town's registrar requires then they will issue the documents required for the wedding instantly. When we went and signed all the documents the registrar gave us the documents allowing us to get married straight away!

But please note that not all are willing to help...... Ours found a mistake in the SWORN translation but still accepted it as long as we corrected it and gave him it the week after (nice guy!)

We had endless problems with sorted the documents for church.... however that's not a problem for you :)

If I were to offer and advice... I'd leave plenty of time and be ready to have some kind of problem with some document(s)

Good luck :)

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]

LUCKY! your priest was epic.... so jealous!

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]

I guess so! Next week we're going to have this appointment with the priest so i don't know yet :D

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]


For sure.... every priest we spoke to wanted some kind of different document... Once we went to the "head" priest for the area he clarified how simple the whole process is! But give yourself lots of time in case of any problems!


I heard three months...

The classes are about how to bring up a family..... the churches ideas on marriage..... natural contraception and other joyful topics..

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]

You can book the wedding with no documents, but all documents have to be submitted before the wedding, you partner should speak to the priest in the church where you want to get married as they all say different things :)

Have you considered that you need to have pre marriage classes which includes (for me) 6 hours of pre-marriage counselling?

Real Estate / Moving to the Katowice area soon! Safe neighborhood for an Irish man? [38]

It's all about Silesia :) All i can say is welcome! I can't advise you on Katowice as i don't live there!

We should have a Silesia meet up :)

Law / Online Polish banking (in English) [27]

Try ING and WBK as they both have their portals in English.

Work / Is finding an engineering job in Poland difficult? Do I have to be fluent in Polish? [17]

Hi, i have a good friend who is employed in a polish company, he is a native who started with intermediate Polish. So for sure it is possible!

As far as i know Krakow is an IT area, however 90km east is a city called Bielsko-Biała, which has Fiat and many other companies connected to it.

I shall PM you with some ideas :)

Law / Receiving a speeding fine (via camera) in Poland with a British licence [27]


Brilliant! I will get him to sort it out! Thanks guys :)

Law / Receiving a speeding fine (via camera) in Poland with a British licence [27]


Yep i sure am!


Ahahaha i was thinking that but i doubt he has a massive beard :)


Yes it was one of them thin grey "poles" not far from £eba dammit

Work / I am currently 75% through an on line TEFL course & moving to Krakow [35]


Well you wouldn't want to do that for very long at all, it may not look far on the map but it would be quite time consuming and not ideal at all!

Dude, i started at the bottom and lived in a small town with only one native speaker, me! It is a good way to get a years experience but is frustrating and can leave you unsure why you even bothered! You said your determined so you will manage to find something or other!

Work / I am currently 75% through an on line TEFL course & moving to Krakow [35]

I would also agree with most of the above, although I know of people working in private language schools who don't have a university degree but have TEFL. Most of these work in Callan schools which but also "teach" traditional text book based courses.

If you have sent in stone the idea of coming to Poland to teach I would have to agree with the others when they say, stay away from Krakow and maybe head to a smaller city or town! Should you want more information I would look up the thread "Some cold, hard facts about teaching in Poland for newbies"

Never the less I wish you all the best!

Law / What banks are people using in Poland? [50]

I use WBK as a personal account for which i pay 1zl a month.
For my company i use ING with no fees.

I have never had a problem with either so i would recommend them both!

Work / Any advice about moving to Katowice area (Zory) to work? [13]

Katowice - Don't expect to much from the city as its dirty, gray and full of concrete! I've been there many times and have friends who live in the city. I have also observed that the student population is quite high so jobs in bars and restaurants and normally given to students.

In and around Katowice there are quite a few company headquarters and engineering plants where maybe they need English speakers, but again this is very often given to recent graduates.

My advice is to do your CELTA and get teaching, as this will be the best option for you in the short term to get some money going.

If you decide to head on over and need any help or more information PM me as i only live about 50km from Katowice.

Good luck

Work / English teaching books in Poland: villains and heroes [30]


That's a great idea...... it would save me hours of prep :)

Work / English teaching books in Poland: villains and heroes [30]

My teaching resources heroes this year would be:

FCE Masterclass - great all round teaching resource although the grammar sections are massive as you may expect!
New English file - even though the Upper Int contains a few mistakes!

I am still hunting for a really good teen book which isn't already being used in public school...... any ideas??

One range to avoid..... New Plus from MM publications!
Our school director chose it, thinking that a book focused on speaking, listening and writing with no structured grammar would be a good idea..... WRONG The worst teaching resource I've ever had to use....... and i once taught a couple of hours of Callan :)

Study / When will Polish schools start to recruit for September 2011? [23]


Most schools have started to think about next year.... the best way it to be proactive and give the schools a call and speak to the director/DOS now....

UK, Ireland / Moving back from Poland to UK. Cheap companies to help in the move? [8]

This dude charges about 1 pound per KG........ just to move some stuff about on a one off it's ok!

UK, Ireland / Moving back from Poland to UK. Cheap companies to help in the move? [8]

Perfect, we used Tomex (please see link) they go every week and delivered everything perfectly in great condidtion, well we met them in Katowice. Give them a call and see if they can help you out!

tomex-transport.pl

UK, Ireland / Moving back from Poland to UK. Cheap companies to help in the move? [8]

Yes, but it depends where in the UK you are moveing and where in PL you are heading?

Off-Topic / So...which of you are actually IN Poland? [41]


I can confirm Delph's love of finding the most shocking bars in Poznan.... the one with pûrn mags was my favorite!

In regards to the theme of the thread, I'm currently finishing my second year in Poland, Bielsko-Biała to be precise :)

Getting married in here next year so it would seem I'm in for the long run :)

Life / Polish dentistry cost - 230 zl for one tooth cavity filling [99]

It's hard to say but i can give you my dentist experiences!

I had 1 tooth out and one filling in a nice clinic, but in a small town, no one spoke English so i had to take my partner to translate (hardly ideal!)

It all came to somewhere around 175zl including OPTIONAL anesthetic!

If you are 100% pleased with the work they've done then i wouldn't worry... It's not like you can return them now :)