Law / If you lose your job in Poland is it easy to claim welfare? [36]

And who, in his right mind, quits, without having a new job within his grasp?

Law / If you lose your job in Poland is it easy to claim welfare? [36]

Come to think about it, every EU country should have exactly the same welfare system. Especially if they expect us to adopt euro currency.
After all, it would be nice to quit a job, for a year or two...

History / Would you classify the Poland's Communist years as a "Soviet occupation" ? [221]

JohnyM, people who builded PRL communist state deserve to be denigrated, as Russian pupets, and traitors of Poland. That being said, there would never be communism in Poland, least for Russian involvment.

History / Would you classify the Poland's Communist years as a "Soviet occupation" ? [221]

Peeing problems aside, certain jobs flatly required party membership. Like being a teacher. Or any managerial position. And there where times, when it seemed that communisem will never be overthrown. So some people just tried to make a living around it. Higher ranking party members had no choice but going to Church in secrect, baptise children in different towns, then they lived in, and so on.

Communists, that really believed in it? Don't know. About 5%, I'd say.

History / Would you classify the Poland's Communist years as a "Soviet occupation" ? [221]

Yes. Most were.

History / Would you classify the Poland's Communist years as a "Soviet occupation" ? [221]

Depedns on the time period, obviously. Is was quite different during 1980s then during 1950s. And we are not talking about Physical Education teachers.

History / Was the Polish/ Lithuanian commonwealth a European power? [111]

Commonwealth has been quite a powerfull entity.
However, our ancestors were never interested on meddling in other's nations affairs, the way today's "powers" do. (Russians may diagree, but it was just a group of private citizens, not a Commonwealth as such).

Commonwealth was mostly focused inwards.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Yeah! And "Gwiżdże pociąg w lesie" they say as "Wyje bana w lesie"

Life / Polish Film Industry-Popular Polish Movies [7]

Not so long ago, Polish film makers used to create the real movies, as "With Fire and Sword" or "Pan Tadeusz".

But since they discovered soup opera's formula, all they are producing are countless episodes of "telenovels". And, from time to time, a bland romantic comedy.

Law / Is there a legal requirement for us to support aging parents in Poland? [26]

What is really scary, that there are human beings, who need the court order to take care for theirs parents.

Law / Is there a legal requirement for us to support aging parents in Poland? [26]

He is still your father, nothing changes that. Father is a father, I don't know how to put it in English.

Law / Is there a legal requirement for us to support aging parents in Poland? [26]

So he was not the great human being. Does it mean, you have be just like him?

News / Does Poland support the idea of Slavic unity? [129]

All Slavic unity projects, I have heard about, assume Russian domination, to various extent. That is the last thing, that Poles would support. We just managed to free ourselvs of such a situation.

History / Do Polish people in general dislike Russia or Germany more? [369]

Germans, at the very least, have been honest enemies. When they invaded, they did not call it "Brotherly help". When they occupied, they did not demand to be called "friends"

Love / Living with a Polish man, but he has a drinking problem? [60]

Oh, comon, maybe he just got a stresfull job, or something. There is no better way of dealing with streses, then geting dead drunk. Not every day, to be sure, that would be like alcoholism. But twice in the week, it is about right.

Po polsku / ACTA, anti-ACTA - kto ma rację? [5]

Co to znaczy "sie ugial"? Czy Tusk ma byc czyms w rodzaju dyktatora?
Wydawalo mi sie, ze demokracja ma polegac na tym, aby politycy dzialali zgodnie z wola wyborcow. Pewnie, zwykle nie ma tak dobrze, ale taka jest teoria. Oskarzanie o slabosc bo wzial pod uwage wyborcow... Polonus, a moze liczyles na to ze Tusk sie uprze i jego rzad upadnie?

Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Well, seatbelts, these are almost an obsession of Polish police. It is very irritating, and I can see why it can take a foreigner aback.

I mean, with speeding, I am going to endanger other people's lives. But seatbelt, it is just my own life. If I am wiling to risk it, so what. My life, my decission. Good luck with explaining it to a cop, though. I guess, it is just a phase. We need to wait it off.

Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Or, you can burn alive in your car, because seatbelts kept you in place. Think about it.
Seatbelts on the freeway, when you are going fast? Sure. Seatbelts in town, when you cannot get over 50 km/h? Ridicules.

Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Grzegorz, the day we have to give up common sense, that will be sad day, for sure. Thankfully, I think that it is just a police, who lost common sense, temporarily.

You are worried about NFZ? Really? C'mon, gimme a break. NFZ does not pay for anything serious nowdays. If you got anything more dangerous then common cold, if you count on NFZ to help you, you are going to die, while waiting in the queue.

Sasha, I am willing to take that risk. Why sholudnt I?

Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Delph, and I know someone who probably got a cancer. Waited more then half a year for a doctor to see him. Then got send to MRI imaginig. Waited half a year for his turn. After geting the results, he waited more then half a year, untill doctor could have seen these results. Doctor was not sure, so he have send him for the biopsy. For the biopsy, there was also a queue. Almost a year. He finally got the results of the biopsy, and now is waiting for the doctor to see it. Another half a year. Judging by his looks by now, I dont think he is going to live that long.

Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

The seatbelts are just constrainig and uncomfortable. And the law demanding to wear it, it is downright stupid. As i have said, it is my life and my decision. If I decide to jump, head first, from the roof of 10th floor building, it is my buisness too, and no one's else.

History / Polish Officer in NATO, Col. Ryszard Kukliński. [145]

Being a spy is the exact antithesis of heroism.

History / Polish Officer in NATO, Col. Ryszard Kukliński. [145]

Higher values, my toe. If he got any guts, he'd fought with the gun in his hands. Fighting for your country, by hiding in the shadows, and taking money from the people who would happily nuked your homeland, is like killing people in order to save them.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]

For the English spelling, I just had to accept that I have to lern both how to pronounce the word, and how to write it down, that these two cannot be figured out from each other. When I accepted that, my problems with spelling disappeared.

What I find really iritating, are the two past tenses. What person, in his right mind, needs two different past tenses? The past is the past. End of a disscusion. Yes, I know the theory. And I can, more or less, put it into use, when writing something. But while I talk, I can hardly stop mid-sentence, and ponder if that past happening, I just want to mention, has any influence on the presence, or maybe not.

Similarly, articles "the", "a"... I know the theory. But the very concept is alien to me, and I tend to play hit or miss with these.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]

Wroclaw, while stating that my spelling troubles ended, I have meat relatively speaking :) Example: I do hear the difference between "man" and "men", but I'm unable to faithfully reproduce any of these sounds.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]

It definitely is. And it is geting worse day by day.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]

It is pis poor by European standards.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]

If I never visited Western Europe, I'd be unaware how poor I am. Going around as a turist, it is not enough. I have visited homes of my supposed equals, my business partners, and I felt like imposter. Begger in nice clothes.

When I first registered here, I needed to know how Westerners see Poles. And it helped me somewhat, I found out that I should not wear socks with sandals, when abroad. And stuff like that.

I almost forgot about Polish Forums. Now I sometimes read it, when I drink myself to sleep, trying to forget that I wasted my life, strugling to to get onto the level slightly above an unemployed from the western country.

I want communism back. Now, I have said it.

News / Topless sunbathers acquitted in Szczecin, Poland [128]

Mike, boy, are you really proud about US's TV swearing topping Poland's TV swearing?
Do you know why the BEEP thing has been introduced?
You know, in USA, there is more swearing on TV. In PL, there is more swearing in real life. Even educated, rich Poles use to say Kur*wa and Pierdo*le, more filthy language then black gangsta in US.

The law against it, there was the time when celebrities in Poland used to earn cool points by talking kur*wa and ch*uj every second sentence. I kid you not. Even if it was supposed to be high brow movie, or literature critic.

Just try to imagine that Oprah Winfrey starts to drop F-bombs.
The law against the cursing in TV, it was created to curb this fashion.

News / Topless sunbathers acquitted in Szczecin, Poland [128]

It is clear now, that you never even been into US