Travel / Is Gdansk worth a visit in Poland? [33]

Going from Poznań to Gdańsk drop by in Toruń. Going from Gdańsk to Warsaw drop by in Malbork.
If you are going back to Berlin from Krakow, then drop by in Wrocław.

There is plenty of other smaller things along that path.

UK, Ireland / Benefit cuts for Poles in The UK? [143]

Dude, are you sure that NHS is refunding NFZ for your drugs? AFAIK EHIC works in that way, that:


Anyway, keep the bills maybe NHS will refund it to you back in UK...

Language / Ukrainian language similar to Polish? [236]

^^
well, I'must say Russian, but probably because I learnt it... Either way, frankly I don't care... girls are lovely in both versions ;)

Life / Migration To Poland - cost of living, work, safe for a girl? [20]


Oh boy... you can say many things, but this is enormous BS... I've never met any decent, not great but decent IT graduate who couldn't find a place in the field either in Poland or elsewhere... That is still the case in that domain. How stupid would that person be to go to the warehouse (except warehouse lovers)? If Polish IT salaries are not enough for someone the only thing to do is to make a year or two experience in something useful (ie. android recently) and London welcomes you with open arms and salaries more than satisfactory.

APF your property is to grumble, but this time you have stepped on a mine.

Work / Looking for Job - MBA (Marketing) - Krakow area, 5 years in Oracle India; Married to Pole [7]

I understand you have been working in Oracle in India? Which products of Oracle you have been dealing with exactly?
Why didn't you try to transfer to Oracle Poland?

Real Estate / Astounded by the poor value of residential property here in Wroclaw [92]

^^
That is complicated issue, and frankly speaking a lawer would be needed, but basically:
1. Yes, there is very hard to evict someone in Poland (if that person is good cheater)- it is a long process in the court. But there are ways to secure owner rights - for example some clause in angreement made with Notary (but I know the case when Notary screw this part and court didn't concede this).

Some owners use some more unlawfull methods - sometimes it is better to be the side incriminated but with a property than the other way around...

2. not written agreements are valid, just harder to prove
3. tenancy agreement don't have to be stamped or witnessed by a Notary - but in some cases it is more safe to the owner to do that

btw. point 1. is just another reason why rents in Poland are relatively high... there is much risk involved in that bussiness.

Real Estate / Best and worst months of the year to find a flat to rent in Poland? [39]



Guys, a lot of ads on the web are fake or long outdated. Agents just use them to catch a client: "oh I'm sorry I've just rented/sold it, but I have plenty more to show you"...

Heh... my own apartment is still "avaiable" for sale on some portals... I even called once and pretend I want to buy... :)

Real Estate / Is it possible for a bank to prevent you from selling your apartment at a logical price? [17]


Please note that in Poland there is no "walk away" option as it is in some USA states. As long as a debtor is solvent there is really not much incentive for the bank to renegotiate. What is more, depending on the agreement it is possible that debtor cann't repay his debt earlier without an additional fee. Besides taking into account current CHF rates it seems that it is absolutely unprofitable for a debtor to repay his debt sooner. So on the one hand you have a Bank unwilling to renegotiate, on the other unprofitable CHF rates... in that situation debtor is stuck with a property.

Just for the record, most of mortgages in Poland are in PLN, though FCY mortgages have significant share.

Work / Enterprise Content Management / Electronic Records Management - how good in PL? [10]


That is a huge overstatement... Some have, some have not. For sure though in most of RFP or RFI nowadays Banks either ask for ECM component or asks to integrate with what they have. So probably being up to date with current IT solutions for ECM will come in handy. Particular thing in Polish market is GIODO which is an institution supervising personal information management - access, encryption, etc.. Probably perspective employee in ECM field in Poland should know something about GIODO and rules for personal information management in PL.

Work / Ukrainian Software Developer moving to Poland - job and salary with my experience? [15]


I disagree, as long as he will be able to sell it as an experience for making presentations for a clients, internal trainings etc. then it is an advantage. It is not common in IT teams to find a person who will not forget a name in front of couple of dozens of people.

Life / Request for information on Wroclaw ( housing, transportation, general day to day needs) [8]

As for 3. if you want some extra medical services then try private centers, like Lux-med, Medicare, etc. There is no private hospitals though (with the full service at least...).

Private visits to specialists costs on average 100-150 PLN.

Real Estate / Is it possible for a bank to prevent you from selling your apartment at a logical price? [17]

Thanks for the lecture preacher... but the point is that the guy in the OP is stuck with the property and you are making false analogies between Polish and USA banking systems... Yet just another difference is personal bankruptcy which is almost not existent in Poland - it is in the law for some time, but it is very hard legal process - which can be described shortly as: you have to be rich to bankrupt in Poland... In order to "call their bluff" the OP guy would have to go on a dole, till then they will shear him like a sheep.

Life / Hey, Nice Airport Wrocław! Or! Day #1 for an American Ex-Pat in Poland. [128]

They are tearing down only this gray structure (though there is a controversy if they can tear down the tower). This huge red brick building behind is for renovation. Probably for condos, but I'm not sure.

Life / Living Costs and life in Poznan? [70]

City is only half a million but agglomeration is something around 1 mln... just saying...

Study / Study about law in Polish? [4]

law is very regional thing - different in every country, even among EU countries.. I'm not sure it is the right choice if someone don't intend to stay in Poland.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


Maybe Americans should first move to somewhere in southern Canada... because it seems that there is a misconception around the weather around here... When I see from time to time that some america expact is surprised that there is radiator in every room in Poland then I think that someone didn't prepare himself ;)

What can we do? We burn a lot of coal to speed up global warming but it seems to be counter-effective ;)

Study / How hard is it to get accepted to Wroclaw University of Technology? / Unis in general? [37]

I more or less concur with previous posters... first year on WUT is mostly about math, physics and basics of software development, algorithms and data structures, and basically students are thrown into a deep water - they either swim or are left behind... it is a reason why there is not many if any at all costly courses at the first year - labs, projects in small groups, etc. - first year is designed as a sieve and catch up phase.

I have no idea how it adds up with studing in English but you should take in mind that there are three departments where you can study computer science on WUT, and they are different:

informatyka.im.pwr.wroc.pl

this one :
wppt.pwr.wroc.pl/index.dhtml
is probably the most theoretical and math oriented
this one:
wiz.pwr.wroc.pl/index.dhtml
is I would say mostly toward software engineering with some management elements
and this one:
eka.pwr.wroc.pl/index.dhtml
is more hardware oriented

as for the first year hardships probably the formal logic and discrete math can be the hardest things mostly due the fact that those fields are not taught extensively at secondary level of Polish schools, and because those are two the most crucial math fields in computer science. Also physics can be a problem, because lecturers usually don't care that students didn't finished yet mathematical analysis courses... anyway for those who likes math first year is not a big problem, for those who don't WUT is just not the right place

Life / Is living cost in Poland lower than Germany ? [32]

@oxon
last time I checked SGH graduates have not much problem finding a decent job in Poland...

Travel / Poland Baltic Sea holiday [30]

I wouldn't recommend Międzyzdroje - there is a very nice National Park there, but also a lot of mosquitos. Weather on the Baltic Sea is unpredictable, and definitely it can be a problem. But one thing Baltic sea is superior to any southern warm place is cycling - just don't forget your bicycles or to rent something. There is really nice cycling path starting in Świnoujście (well, of course there are great paths on the German side to) up to Rowy. Actually with some short detours there is a cycle path to straight to Hel ;) Anyway, in the area you are focusing on, I think the nicest town is Pobierowo. Overall unfortunatelly many of the small towns at the sea looks like a chain of temporary shops with cheap China toys... Pobierowo on the other hand managed to avoid this kitch as much as possible. Reverting to the cycling - there is a couple of places worth of recomendation, so lets stick to the two of them:

- really nice path through the swamps near the sea (well, most of this paths is near the sea anyway) - just after Kołobrzeg toward the east

- in the area you are focusing on: between Pogorzelica and Mrzeżyno - there is a trail opened last year through the until recently military area. On the one hand, it is a nightmare for cycling this one, the bad exception - because, at least in last year it was old cobblestoned road. But the highlight is: the beaches there are totally empty, and generally not many people around, which is growingly rare thing on Polish coast - which is being built-up at terrifying speed with mostly quite bad architecture...

One more thing, for longer trips from your base camp:
- one/two day trip by ferry from Kołobrzeg to the Danish island, Bornholm - though going there is something like 3 or 4 hours on ferry in one direction

News / Why is Amazon not present in Poland? [57]


Nah... simply before any of the wester bullies put a foot on Polish market Allegro, Merlin and the likes have taken it... Maybe story of a complete failure of e-bay in Poland, which still, cann't really compete with Allegro has more to do with Amazon bussiness decisions than some sociologic blabling ;)... I guess contrary to portals like Facebook or Google, where there is no tangible bussiness behind it - no real goods to move around, it is much harder and costly to enter new market - which is not so green as some would like to believe. Besides, banking infrastructure: simple thing, how can I pay using mTransfer on Amazon? Answer I can't... just an example of regional differences, that they would have to overcome by sign some agreements and develop some new functionality which is currently standard in Poland... last but not least, Polish language localisation of their site... To sum this up quite a lot work to do for them without guarantee of success what e-bay venture showed.

Travel / Transport from Krakow to Wroclaw Coach or Train [2]

I would go for a bus. There is a highway between both cities. Train take much longer (there is a couple of issues with this line).

As for 4. The preference is for those with the ticket. It is possible that the bus will be full.

You can use this site to check the buses:

It is possible though, that their data will not be fresh in some cases (ie on holidays sometimes it is better to call bus company directly).

Travel / Weekend getaways around Wroclaw? [6]

Stawy Milickie are great by bicycle. You can take a bicycle into a train in Wrocław and go to Milicz in about 1:40 h.

Beside there is couple of mountain resorts in the south which can be reached by bus or train.

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]


The main difference between IT and Civil Engeenering lies in the number two of your list: you don't need additional professional licenses given by a proffesional chamber to get a good job. The advantage is that there is easier start in IT than in CE... on the other hand all those additional licences in CE lets you to build a more solid cereer - in the end a Civil Engineer with a solid background and solid papers can earn gratifying money - but it takes years to build such a position. Those people in many cases have small independent bussiness and work on their own.

Life / Why are Polish so obsessed with Russia [46]

Poles are maybe obsessed with Russia... but not with Russians...
Anyway I think that we still cann't get around with the fact that ex KGB agent rules in Russia... I mean I do understand circumstances, Smuta of Jelcyn times and general collapse of the Russian state in 90'... yet as I remember it, after fall of the communism in the begining of 90' there was this popular felling of hope and change in the entire CEE block, regardless of hardships and doubts in the next years most people in Poland and some other CEE countries were quite sure that the very good thing happend in the 1989... yet out of the sudden all started to change in Russia with Putin era, starting with the hymn, with assessment of SU, with supporting Lukashenko rule in Belarus, etc... it was full ideological change in completely different direction. Poles didn't live in 90' Russia, and don't know how wrongly democracy and capitalism were implemented there and it was hard to understand this. Additionally, already during Jelcyn era and later, Russian state tried to undermine Polish ambitions to integrate with the West.

So it was big "WTF moment" in Polish society when Putin came to power there and started to build empire again... From post historic dream of eternal peace, democracy, cooperation and wealth for all, we got back to hard reality of uneasy neighborhood with big Russia which beatifies SU, has some strange political system of democratic tzar and tries to rebuild some form of Russian Empire by meddling in the neighbouring countries affairs, Poland included...

Well, maybe in a way Poles still think in the spirit of 89' peace revolutions and looks at Russian state as a counter-revolutionary state...

Life / Why are Polish so obsessed with Russia [46]

Alphabet is just mapping of sounds onto symbols... so it doesn't matter actually which one you use as long as everybody sticks to it... since 1000 years Poles use latin alphabet. Anyway, regarding similarities it all depends, for example as I was told by some German friends, they are unable to distinguish between spoken Polish and Russian...On the other hand some Ukrainian guy said that Ukrainian language is much closer to Polish than Russian, as a Pole I have an impression that I can actually hear that.


I agree, popular theory that Poles somehow understands better Russian soul is overinflated in my opinion... maybe part of the older generation expatriates from areas close to Russia have/had that ability. But current reality is that Russia is far far away country. Bordering with small Kaliningrad Oblast doesn't change that much (maybe recent border opening and influx of Russian guests into Gdansk will). Moscow is as far from Poland like Paris or even Istanbul, centralization of Russian politics only accelerates this feeling of the distance.


Well... speak for yourself :-) I could use a year or two in Moscow or Sankt Petersburg...

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


The true is a little bit different. Polish FCY/LCY rate was stabilized in the times of biggest fIuctuations not by IMF loans but only by possibility of IMF loans - Polish gov. just paid for open credit line just in case but AFAIK it was never used.


nah... I don't agree, in my opinion the reasons are:
- there is basically no serious equivalent of cadastral tax in Poland - which means one can keep a property longer without feeling a pain of just having it

- due to inflation ind the last couple of years prices are actually becoming in many areas quite close to the pre-bubble prices in the nominal terms

- due to banking framework fire seling is very rare - it is very hard to escape a debt burden in Poland, also, as was explained in other threads those with FCY loans where value of the property is lowest than a loan itself are trapped in the situation where selling is impossible

- renting in Poland is rather costly and uncomfortable in comparision to owning even on credit
- last but not least, ending of "rodzina na swoim" at the end of the last year kept the bussiness flowing. It will be interesting to see what will happen to the market in the void between "rodzina na swoim" and some new "let the bank and devoloper earn some more money" gov. program

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


yeah, right... in order to have cadastral tax you need integrated system to track cadastral data. AFAIK the tender for this system is still in progress. Taking into account complexity of such a solution they need 1-2 years to implement it. Which is around 2015 which is election year in Poland (both parliament and presidential). Obviously whoever will propose cadastral tax will lose it... so I'm pretty sure we are save at least till 2016.

Real Estate / Is there an issue with sitting tenants in Poland? [5]

Yeap, pretty much there is... if you are unlucky then you can stack with not paying tenant for months or even years.
Attention: so called "najem okazjonalny" where notary is involved is by no means sure deal...

News / Shops in Poland to be closed on Sunday? [208]

I'm totally pro. Mostly because it would be really nice to have one day off from city rush - thats for me. It would be also really positive that all this clerks which are sometimes pressured to work on Sundays would have a day off when all other family members have it. Saying that - it seems to me that it would be very good pro-family legislation.

Real Estate / Is there an issue with sitting tenants in Poland? [5]

To much to translate... basically the main point of "najem okazjonalny" deal is that tenant indicates a place where he can be evicted if that will be needed. This has to be signed by notary.

nieruchomosci.egospodarka.pl/49357,Najem-okazjonalny-nowe-przepisy,1,79,1.html
pfrn.pl/page/1402