Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]

Things are changing fast, but we're not there yet:

-as you point out, A2 is still not finished. Plans are for end 2012 but initially it was meant to be ready for the Euro
- another example: driving from the capital to the country's 2nd largest city , Lodz, which is less than 120 km away, is still a nightmare!!

But we'll get there sometime!!

Life / Fat People in Poland? [161]

Polonius3
In my view, that's because there was an "utilitarian" view of eating in most anglo countries, a bit like putting petrol in the car to keep it on the move. That leads to an attitude where the quicker and the faster you eat the better, to be compared to the countries like Italy or France where eating is viewed as a pleasure and takesa little longer. I wrote "was" because things are slowly changing, and certainly in the UK, more an more people view having a meal as something to be enjoyed as much as just "filling up"..

Life / Fat People in Poland? [161]

Polonius3

Yes, unfortunately you are right Polonius, fast food is catching up in both those countries.. France for example is Mc Donald's 2nd biggest country after the US but before the UK or Germany.. In fact, Mc Donald's most profitable restaurant in the world (incl the US) is in France, on the Champs Elysées, although admittedly, many tourists visiting Paris contribute to its turnover..

Life / Fat People in Poland? [161]

BLS

To be fair BLS, the link you provide focuses mainly on demonstrating that high fructose diets are probably responsible, at least in part, for high rates of obesity in the US, but not that food sold in the US is particularly rich in high fructose syrup (although some products such as bread, cereals .. are mentioned). But more generally I agree with your point that too much of the food in the US is processed and 'enriched', eg the fact that US beef is so 'tender' compared to other countries could be due that it is full of hormones (which are forbidden in many other countries).

Life / Fat People in Poland? [161]


I don't think that's the issue, it's more a question of culture and processed food (as opposed to fresh food). As Das Essenties pointed out, France, where food is more than plentiful, are amongest the leanest. Similarly for Switzerland where I live now (Zûrich) where everybody seems to be fit and lean (except me!)

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


Pure common sense!

Travel / What is the weather like in Poland where you are now? [202]

-29,5°C in January 2006 in Warsaw!! I still feel it..

News / Der Spiegel: "Poles are now the masters of Europe" [49]

Your 'polish friends' are probably quite young and certainly have no clue about what life was like in Poland before 1990 ..

Work / Questions regarding Job and salary? Junior accountant position in Poland. [33]


Not true if 1) the job is with a foreign company 2) it is located in the large city.

Work / Questions regarding Job and salary? Junior accountant position in Poland. [33]


Utter rubbish. When I was in Poland, the company I worked for employed ca 11 accountants and none was paid less than 5,500 PLN per month

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

unless your card is a polish one, never use an atm to withdraw pln, the rate you will get is much wore than exchanging your euros or dollars directly at a kantor

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

Well, i suggest you go double check what you effectively pay not against 'Forex', but against what are the real mid market rates; When you use a foreign card on a ATM, you pay not one, but 2 and sometimes 3 commissions: one commission to the local bank who runs the ATM, one commission to the bank issuing the cardd and one FX commission to whoever is the issuer of your card (Visa, mastercard.;). The exception of course is when you withdraw euros in the eurozone, even on a cross border basis (eg an italian card in France), where there are no commisssions.;

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


why don't you start reading before typing nonsense?

Life / Polish people are the most ignorant people in the world! [331]


yep, and try speaking French with a Brit and you'll see. Old joke: how do they call someone who speaks 3 languages? Trilingual .. 2 languages ? Bilingual 1 language: British!

History / Why Poland is not Russia [194]

Go buy yourself a history book!

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


I love Polish winters.. when they are real winters (ie -10/-15C with blue sky). One of the things I miss since moving to Zürich..

History / What do Poles owe to Jews? [586]


yep, and also many capitalists were jews (think bankers and rothschild, warburg..) and also many scientists and Nobel Prize winners.. Maybe it's just that the average Jew is more clever than the average non Jew??

Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]


All the major Polish building companies (Budimex, Warbud, Mitex..) are owned by..Spaniards (ACS), French (Vinci, Eiffage) or German companies..

Law / Opening a Polish Bank Account by a foreigner in Poland. Recommendations. [299]


The 'polish address' must be yours, not that of a friend

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

no, Poland is not in the eurozone

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


Never worked at a kantor


no

Love / Google: Polish women "easier" than English women - official! [52]


Especially when drunk, ie most of the time...

Life / The "I am never wrong" phenom - is it the Polish thing? [63]


What sort of sausage??

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1400]


Well, maybe just because you're British.. As the joke goes , how do you call someone who speaks 3 languages? -Trilingual.; OK, 2 languages? Bilingual 1 language? A Briton.. Sorry, I couldn't resist it.. I know it's cheap, but I swear, I first heard it from the mouth of a true Londoner..

News / Only 1 in 3 firms in Poland pays income taxes [20]


What has this got to do with the lack of taxation? Income tax relates to whether a company makes a profit or not, not where the profit is located...

News / Only 1 in 3 firms in Poland pays income taxes [20]

that's not purely polish, it happens with many multinationals in many countries (see Starbucks saga). I doubt however that this is the correct explanation for the title, most of those firms (not paying tax) would be SMEs and do not have the skills/logistics to set up such companies abroad..

News / Only 1 in 3 firms in Poland pays income taxes [20]


Quite the opposite in fact. Ask any Pole who had the opportunity to work for a foreign owned firm in Poland and for a polish one, in 90% of cases he /she would prefer working for the former (better salaries and conditions)

History / Judge Tuleya mother was in SB [74]

Very good post, Ziemowit...

Life / The Best Things About Poland [24]

I like that!

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

Excellent advice. If the sum is large though, be careful to keep all receipts in case the bank asks anti money laundering questions (due to paying a large amount of cash in new $ account)