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Posts by jwojcie  

Joined: 3 Jan 2009 / Male ♂
Last Post: 8 Jun 2015
Threads: 2
Posts: Total: 762 / Live: 603 / Archived: 159

Speaks Polish?: yes

Displayed posts: 605 / page 3 of 21
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jwojcie   
4 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

^^
media is an alternative world, parallel universe of events with totally distorted image of reality... Or to put it more straightforward, most people don't give a damn about leading media topics, so sorry, but no, nobody can pretend to know some country just by following it's mass media... It's kind of theory vs practice question, where theory is not even a science but bunch of opinions from which a person abroad creates some image accoriding to own ideas, prejudices, personality.
jwojcie   
29 Aug 2012
History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [72]

The rumour is that Wroclaw was founded by Bohemian prince Vratislav I somewhere in the begining of 900, but it is unconfirmed...
jwojcie   
28 Aug 2012
Travel / Warsaw city bikes [14]

Where can find bike to rent

nextbike.pl/locations10.html

I don't see English manual...
jwojcie   
27 Aug 2012
Travel / Warsaw city bikes [14]

Why do so few Polish cylcists have bells on their bikes to warn hapless pedestrians, playing children and other cyclists they plan to overtake?

I guess because many shops sell "naked" bikes without all this useful trinkets, just to make an offer price for a bike to look cheap... So, people just forget about this....

Anyway, excluding the fact, that cyclists shouldn't ride on the sidewalks (except some special cases - like when the street has speed limit greater than 50km/h),

there is just no protocol about using those bells on sidewalks. One pedestrian will shout that you rang at him, the other that you didn't. What is more, behaviour of "ranged" pedestrians varies greatly, one would turn left, the other right, if they are in the group, then sometimes they behave like a bunch of balls droped on the sidewalk...

The best way is just ride on the street...
jwojcie   
23 Aug 2012
News / Gangland-style shooting in Wrocław? [12]

does Poland have street gangs similar to the types we have in the U.S.?

If judged by Hollywood movies, where every minor scum has a gun then no. But there is an organized crime in Poland.
As for dangerous groups of stupid young males waiting to mug someone, you can find that to.
jwojcie   
22 Aug 2012
News / Gangland-style shooting in Wrocław? [12]

Article states, that a few years ago police had a success, and jailed a lot of Wroclaw underground - after this success they supposedly didn't monitor properly new generation of criminals and were taken by suprice with recent accidents, which in short is a row between two competing gangs. It is quite rare to see such open gang fights in Poland, so the article says that police honour is at stake here to put a fast end to this.
jwojcie   
19 Aug 2012
Work / What is a typical salary for a software developer in Poland? 3 years experience in Java or Android [7]

So you need professional headhunter, because IT people rather don't look for work at state job agencies.
I think that firm like SMT could build you a team. They did that for example for Microsoft Bing project.
You could also try to post your offer on sites like praca.pl or praca.money.pl, etc.

Anyway, I know a guy who have worked in that Bing project but some time ago went into Android thing. There is also another guy who for many years was working in Symbian, but since a year moved into Android. But I doubt any of them would work for salary posted by boletus. You can PM me with details of your offer, and some credentials, then maybe I can move it forward...
jwojcie   
17 Aug 2012
Law / SKOK Stefczyka? [5]

savings & loan

Actually I would say it is close to the savings & loan thing. The two main differences between SKOK and Bank are (or maybe were):

1. It is not supervised and regulated by KNF like Banks. KNF small equivalent is KSKOK - kind of a central SKOK.
2. Funds are not quaranted by BFG. SKOKs has their own guarantee fund.

But, I wrote "were" because if I'm not mistaken in autumn SKOKs are going under KNF supervision and will become just small banks probably.
jwojcie   
13 Aug 2012
Work / Teaching English in Wrocław - TEFL, fair pay? [40]

Can you share any more information on what you said above?

Is not straightforward but should be possible:

General conditions for admission of foreigners for studies in Poland

Studies at state institutions at full-time programmes are free of charge for Polish citizens. From 2013 tuition fees for pursuing a second, additional degree at another faculty will be introduced. Evening system and other part-time programme studies at public universities are paid. The amount of fees due is set by the institution.
Full time studies, as well as evening and other part-time programme studies at private institutions are payable.

On principle, all aliens are entitled to take up studies at the Polish tertiary education institutions. The rules of their admission, however, and conditions of studies at public higher education schools vary depending on the foreigner's legal status in Poland. Some foreign citizens who study in Poland are eligible to receive the same benefits as Polish citizens (including free tertiary education). This principle applies to aliens in the following categories:

Individuals who received a permit to settle on the territory of Poland - what is a permit to settle? ->
Foreigners in possession of a valid the Card of the Pole - what is the Card of the Pole? ->
Foreigners with refugee status obtained in Poland;
Foreigners who were granted temporary protection on the territory of Poland
Migrant workers that are citizens of European Union (EU) member states, of Switzerland or EFTA member states - parties to the European Economic Area agreement - as well as their family members if residing in Poland;
Individuals with a long-term EU residents residence permit issued in Poland - what is a long-term EU resident residence permit? ->
Individuals granted supplementary protection on the territory of Poland
EU and EFTA citizens as well as their family members - parties to the European Economic Area agreement - as well as Swiss citizens in possession of a permanent residence permit.

Foreigners who do not belong to these categories can study in Poland on the paid basis, unless they are recipients of scholarships on which basis the relevant fees are waived (more information on the subject is available below).

Upon receipt of a justified application from a foreigner, the school rector may reduce the amount of tuition fees or waive them altogether.

You should check it on some more reliable source than some site though. I'm not sure how all that above reffers to the english program you've mentioned.

I mean they state that for EU citizens it is 2000 Euro per year:

If you interested maybe you should just email to the coordinator of this European Studies program:

Program Coordinator
PhD Maciej Cesarz
maciej.cesarz@uni.wroc.pl

Anyway, if this is daily program, then it wan't be probably easy to mix it with some job. On the other hand if you manage to get it for free, then you can just drop it...
jwojcie   
13 Aug 2012
Work / Teaching English in Wrocław - TEFL, fair pay? [40]

Jono88, if your goal is to master Polish, get some new friends, and you are only 24, then maybe good way to go is just enlist to some uni?

You will have it all except money...
If I'm not mistaken EU citizen can study in Poland just like a Pole, this year is the last year of free of charge second studies and there is a lot of choice still because of demographic low...

well, just saying...
jwojcie   
18 Jul 2012
Work / Is 7000 PLN net per month....a reasonable salary in Katowice [40]

But due to the fact that I can say 90% of the Poles make less than 5,000 gross, with 7,000 clear, you'll be with the upper crust :)

So maybe he is not an ordinary person, but has some special skills...? I don't know what is some people problem here... Yes, 10000 PLN gross is not typical salary in Poland, yet it is not uncommon for senior specialist position in some fields like IT, banking, insurance, etc. in any of the main agglomerations. Is it a lot? It is 3 or 4 times more than median wage, yet by no means it makes prince of persia from anyone. It is enough though to rent or even buy some flat, buy some car or cool bicycle or both, and save change for the bad times. In short it is enough to live normal life... but still not enough to stop working after 10 years...
jwojcie   
17 Jul 2012
Work / Software Jobs in Poland [31]

^^
sometimes small are more innovative...

Been looking for software engineers for some time and no response at all.

How much are you willing to pay ? If it's not some **** rate, just post it in the advert.

That would be nice to see at least wage differential in job adverts. To often even headhunters are wasting people time.
jwojcie   
16 Jul 2012
Law / How long takes a bank transfer in Poland? [12]

Besides three elixir sessions per day, some banks offers instant transfer (about 15 minutes) for detail clients, up to 5000 zł.
Anyway Elixir (and EuroElixir) is only one of the couple of settlement routes. For big transfers between banks there is Sorbnet, and soon Sorbnet2.
Besides that many banks are SWIFT and TARGET participants. Obviously there are also transfers through SEPA.

PS. this instant transfer settlement route is in fact private service by Blue Media (?) which technically uses their own accounts in banks in order to take advantage of instant internal transfers.

Do larger monetary amounts sometimes postpone transferring of funds?

As far as I know it largerly depends on your personal agreement with a bank (limits of transfer are part of this).
jwojcie   
28 May 2012
News / A Second Look at Poland's Future. [21]

Better yet, go to Poland and ask a bus driver with a master's degree in history about government

Well... over production of historians (and lawyers = young historians who were more lucky(?)) is an old and known sin of Polish higher education system...
That is why some of them must drive a bus or even worse! go into politics... ;-)
jwojcie   
26 Apr 2012
Law / "Good" Polish Bank ? [19]

^^
Thx, I'll check this out. Is it charged additionally?
jwojcie   
26 Apr 2012
Law / "Good" Polish Bank ? [19]

^^
is there any other way than pin code or electronic signature?
jwojcie   
26 Apr 2012
Law / "Good" Polish Bank ? [19]

Nordea is not bad, but their system for internet banking is terrible. You need to put those pin numbers even for login which is quite irritating. Beside, internal transfers take them even one day (WTF?). For example MBank is much better in this regard, hell even PKOBP has better system than Nordea... On the other hand I must say that "face to face" service in Nordea is quite good. But how many times you are going to the bank this days? Internet service is a main thing... at least for me.
jwojcie   
23 Apr 2012
Real Estate / leaving apartment in Poland to bank [5]

There is no such thing as leaving apartment to the bank in Poland. Your apartment can be seized and sold if you can't repay it, but it don't end your debt if auction price didn't match your debt. If you just leave it, and stop paying you most probably will end up with enourmous debt due to interests in couple of years from now...

The people responsible for your debt can be those in mortgage documents (if you had guarantors). Besides that, probably your wife (if you don't have marriage settlement).

Anyway, you should check out with a lawyer....
jwojcie   
12 Apr 2012
Travel / Zielona Gora - What's there? [19]

I liked their renovated old town. There is also quite nice greenhouse over there.
jwojcie   
12 Apr 2012
Law / Online brokerage firm for Buying and selling stock on WSE? [6]

It looks that mostly bank have brokers in Poland: idm.com.pl/index.php?p=news&kid=11

Maybe you can try to check out this company, because they have some branch in UK, so maybe they have some way around... :

xtb.pl/o-nas/oddzialy

Personally I use broker account in mbank, rarely... they used to charge something like 0,39% per transaction. But you have to be resident to have an account there.
jwojcie   
5 Apr 2012
Life / Lodz vs Wroclaw - difference in mentality of people? [53]

city vs city is banned on some forums... ;)

None ot the two is tourist city in the full meaning of that term, but from the two of them Wroclaw is definitely more tourist.

Anyway those are two cities with very different history, so it all depends what you are looking for.

In terms of economy Wroclaw is relatively wealthier.
Lodz is kind of a young city which grew very fast on one type of industry and had very hard time landing when this type of industry collapsed, additionally nearness of Warsaw sucks vital powers from it. I don't know if it is special place in Poland, the distinctive thing about it is a directors school (ie. Roman Polanski is from there), but that would be mostly it. Well, maybe old factories and tycoon palaces is the second distinctive thing.

Wroclaw is much older so architecturally is more diversified, and has this charming thing which old cities should have - nice marketplace. Probably Wroclaw has better night life also, but that is quite subjective thing. The other advantage (and curse) of Wroclaw is five rivers flowing through it, which creates many nice places to feast and relax - with moskito repellent ;)
jwojcie   
8 Mar 2012
Travel / Driving from Krakow to Wroclaw to Gdansk in June (roads and driving time info) [11]

HOw do you book train tickets?

The train I was referring to is offered by Intercity company, so you can buy it via internet (you have to first register on their site): bilet.intercity.pl/irez/

but... I'm sure it works if you have Polish identity card... not sure how it will work with foreign one..
anyway, if it will be to overwhelming task you can try those people: flyaway.pl/content/english.html

I'm using them for booking bussiness trips, and they are fine. I don't know what is the fee though, because it is some general arrangement with company I work for. No idea if they work for individual people and at what cost. Ask them via email: koleje@flyaway.pl

Anyway buying at the station is the last and rare option I'm using...
jwojcie   
8 Mar 2012
Travel / Driving from Krakow to Wroclaw to Gdansk in June (roads and driving time info) [11]

Driving between Krakow and Wroclaw is fine and fast (about 3 to 4 hours).
From Wroclaw to Gdansk you should rather fly or... drive and make a stop in between - Torun would be nice - it is Euro 2012 free city, so good to take a breath, It has nice medieval city center with lots of nice pubs.

About trains, yes there was an accident lately but trains still are much safer than cars statistically... So good option would be to buy a ticket in sleeping car of a train between Wrocław and Gdańsk (10:47 p.m. from Wrocław and you are at 7:54 a.m. in Gdańsk well-rested). But you should book it fast.
jwojcie   
29 Feb 2012
Travel / Is Poland's Wroclaw zoo worth visiting? [17]

It has been improved in last years (management change...). I have the same sad face a few years ago (I was thinking that the place should be shot down back then).

When I was there last year, I was positively surprised.