Love / Do I need to be Confirmed in order to get married in the Catholic church in Poland? [41]

I got married in a polish Catholic Church, certainly not religious, about 6 months before went to see the church official, rather nice fella and more lenient than some of the other churches in town, he got the appropriate book out for the wife to be checked she had done all her duties as a catholic, wasn't married and had no children etc.... Then handed me a piece of paper which had about 7 promises I had to sign, I was not married, I loved no other, I would not take my wife to be away from the church, I wanted children, could have children and that on having them would allow them to be brought up as Catholics , once I had signed that and he had used god knows how many stamps from his desk I got another piece of paper.

This was for me to give my priest... Fail... So minister was explained sufficient for the bands to be read out in my local town for 3 weeks, signed then stamped and returned. A very old tradition when couples never ventured far... Anyway was married in Poland in a church , in polish and the vows in polish are ... Extreme.... I'm from UK

Oops just read properly, apologies to person asked question...

Real Estate / Building a house in Poland need advice from anyone that has built [100]

i was in the housing trade for 10years in scotland and found the way the house was built in poland was very different.

'nierozumiem'
i converted my attic it has the normal wooden flooring same as we do in UK i cant see any reason why a builder/joiner would not offer to do the same for you.

'bolek'
my workers were kept in check by the contractors father, no drinking on my site, that and the wife frequenting the building

i was also helped cost wise at the time my builders were being paid 5zl and hour (explains why most are in uk etc)

'sueswalkies'
check prices in kolobrzeg, it is unbelievable the cost of buying land or houses there, in a place like Olsztyn a 200% mark up in the last 2 years is probably still not in par. not that id believe an agent at this moment of time,

the one thing i could have done which would have helped was to build a large garage with apartment on top, then i would have met all the contractors and been able to live on site , lessons learned if you like, then built my humble abode, the builder i used was a crook but the outside contractors (apart from electricians) were top notch, i still use the joiner/carpenter for other tasks.

as i said earlier 'good luck' :)

Real Estate / Building a house in Poland need advice from anyone that has built [100]

there is a saying in poland

"the first house you build is for your enemy"

what i experienced was 50% up front for foundations then 50% completion with 50% for next stage etc etc,
Poland are quite strict on regulations you have to have a 'clerk of works' to follow progress and sign your book. somebody totally seperate from your builder,

id say i paid almost 30-40% more than i should have done, lesson learnt painful but learnt.

think about getting a builder to build to wind and water tight for organising concrete etc

1 warning i never realised at the time, regarding the roof i have 9m trusses which arrived on site in a large pile and were fabricated there, roofs are expensive if you want to save on costs go for something simple it could save you a lot

i like the concrete floor upstairs the company that did mine it was almost polished,

getting housing plans in poland is easy there are magazines with loads of them, i paid 2500zl for 4 sets of plans.
but the price went up they tried to charge me 15000zl for the garage plans i wanted (my design)

oops last thing regarding the clerk of works make sure he has the qualifications to build a house to the size you want, i got caught out 1st guy didnt used a mate to 2nd stamp, then 'misplaced a set of drawings' when i got rid of him.

there are a lot of rogue builders out there pay your 50% upfront, next you see the town drunks leaning on shovels a week later never to be seen again, i heard of 1 local couple that this happened 3 times, so paying for what you want other than taking short cuts is advised.

Olsztyn i think thats where my father in law is from, it should be a lot cheaper over there.

good luck!

Love / Scottish & Polish relationships [229]

regarding kilts no offence taken,,, or owt else for that matter,

son has uk 1st name and polish middle name, due to very strict rules in poland regarding kids names otherwise he'd be called Highlander Big Ba's Heather ma Loon,,,, :)

id hire a kilt for the wee fella but to buy at this age no point grow to fast although his granny did buy him rather fetching tartan trousers and waistcoat which on anybody over the age of 12 i would have laughed at,,

kilts come at all prices but for quaility your looking at GBP400 just for the kilt for a complete rig out with decent accessories GBP1500 wouldnt be wrong. i have to think about a new kilt as it seems to have shrunk in the wardrobe,, :(

almost forgot 'i won' no need to tell me the wife reminds frequently how lucky i am ;)

Love / Scottish & Polish relationships [229]

we will be celebrating 7 years marriage (me scots she polish) our son is red haired and milk bottled skin , the classic scots look :)

met in scotland, 6 months later i moved to Poland permanently 5 months later married. had to be quick before she seen all my faults!! married because she is polish no, because of who she is and what she is, different mind set to any scottish girls i ever met, although where i was looking probably explains that more,

i wear a kilt at every opportunity (because in a suit i look like a bouncer) proud hell yeah, given strange looks and comments when in town sometimes although now not such an oddity,

both her parents dont speak english, the mother used to watch me like a hawk to try and read every move i made but i must admit they are probably the nicest and most caring parents i have ever had the pleasure to meet, when i came 1st time i was left alone with the father and brother for short time as the father wanted to check me out, thank god for the dog who i stroked to hell and smiled like an idiot,,,,

lastly a kilt is a kilt if the wearer is scottish if not it is a skirt , if your great great grandfather was scottish this does not make you scottish, actually some communities like east canada and new zealand where they hold onto their scottish roots more feverishly and in some cases are more scots than the scots then fair enough.

lastly ,lastly

doesnt matter where in the world a kilt is worn it draws attention and is generally regarded as the perfect attire that any man can look good (thank god!)

Polonia / Poles in Hong Kong?? [10]

there are a few polish people in Shenzhen (across from HK) or there was this time last year.

News / Polish-American soldier and his wife murdered by four marines [163]

WseaJim,,, you sir are an idiot

nuff said