USA, Canada / Differences in How Polish People Raise a Child and How Americans Raise a Child [149]


Krysia, shocked by your 2 contributions. You're obviously enormously bitter towards your ex husband and men in general. Clearly your divorce was nothing to do with you!

4-5 year olds drinking from a bottle and using a pacifier is not normal. Pacifiers cause deformities in teeth that cost a fortune to fix.

Tom, I'm Irish and living in Poland. Families here tend to be much smaller and as a consequence children are subject of a huge amount of attention. Grandparents play a huge role in raising babies and although largely positive, it can overwhelm the parents at times. The over dressing of children is common here. They dress them for worst possible weather all the time. I have yet to turn on our apartment heating as the neighbours over do it so much. Its -20 celcius outside.

I have seen 2 friends of my wife who are obsessive of their new babies to a hugely unhealthy level. One refuses to let anyone else hold the baby and had not spent a minute away from the child in 6 months. Not even to go out for a meal!

The arrival of a child has a huge impact on the relationship of a couple. Long term having a child sleeping with their parents is going to damage a relationship in many ways.

Love / English boyfriend coming to visit me in Poland [55]

I stayed with my in-laws when I first visited Poland. Slept in my wife's bed while she slept on floor of her parents room. Her parents spoke no English then. I thinks its better to be with the family than in a cheap hotel. If nothing else he can drink vodka with your Dad! Send him out to see some local sights.

I'm sure he can occupy himself for 2 days.

Love / I love my Polish girl! Wanted to share my story. [55]

I'm married to a Polish girl and living in Lodz. Personally didn't have any problem with my family accepting her, wouldn't have tolerated it for a second if there was. Her mother and Granny were concerned that I would drag her back to Ireland though. We now live in Poland, jobs not easy to find though without language. Locals have excellent English so being a native speaker is little advantage.

The fact is that Poland's economy is the best performing in Europe at the moment and UK/Ireland among worst. What advantage has the girl got in going to UK. As an EU citizen she can go where she wants when she wants, visa argument bullsh1t and Poland is not as poor as westerners think. Just because they don't spend a fortune on pretty houses and gardens like we do in the West people think the place is impoverished. Well my friends did when they landed first.

You would want to have a serious sit down with your family and straighten them out, in my opinion.

Life / Electronics in Poland - what kinds are popular? [20]

Do all you Americans think that the rest of the world is stuck in the middle ages!

You can buy anything here that you can buy in the US pretty much. May be slightly more expensive, but the cost of shipping will easily offset any benefit of purchasing in US. Look at prices here to compare.

electroworld.pl/kat,165,komputery-monitory

Travel / Driving to Lublin from Cork in Ireland [7]

I've done Cork to Lodz. Took the Roslare to Le Harve Ferry overnight and landed in early afternoon. Drove to Neuse, Rhur Valley and stopped at 9pm (6-7 hours). Made it to Lodz in about 10/11 hours then (9am to 7-8pm). This is not an option with kids. The roads are generally very good and you should be able to keep at the speed limits of 120-130 until you hit Poland. There is a stretch from Frankfurt-Oder to the start of the motorway near Poznan that is terrible, do not do it in the dark.

I drove Lodz to Lublin last weekend. There is a good road from Lodz to Piortkow Trybunalski (A1 i think) but thereafter is average. You will be slowed in places like Radom. Busy road too with regular 70kph stretches.

With kids you will need to take 2 nights/3 days. Stay first night around Belgian border. Cross Germany day 2 and stay southeast of Berlin or just over border. Cross Poland day 3. Plan your stops and hotels if you can. I drove past a rest stop at German border with a cheap hotel and petrol. Nearly ran out and ended up staying in an overpriced hotel in Neuse as I needed petrol. The rest stops can be sporadic and are rare in the old east Germany, loads in Poland. In Germany you have a legal obligation to carry a first aid kit (including latex gloves), reflector and fire extinguisher. I'm told cops can be pricks about it.

UK, Ireland / Moving to Poland from UK - how to watch English tv? [7]

There are plenty of threads about this already. Either get it over the internet or get a massive 2m+ dish on your roof.

UK, Ireland / Moving to Poland from UK - how to watch English tv? [7]

you can pick up some channels without going to a huge dish but in order to get them all you will need anything up to a 3m dish. You are trying to catch astra 2a satellite. the further north west you are the better.

Life / English channels on Poland's Cyfra+ [13]

you can change to original language with subtitles on selected channels only. Ale Kino does it i know. there are a few bbc channels like knowledge and entertainment that I'm pretty sure allow it too. That's about it. The others don't allow you to remove the polish "lektor".

Love / Demands from Polish ex! [75]

you pay in advance for water and then pay/get refunded versus what you actually use. That's what happens in my apartment. Thing is I can't see how you could be near 1000pln over, maybe 100-200.

Work / Whats the job and school market like in Warsaw? [27]

Wish I had some good news for you. If you're not bringing a job with you, teaching is one of the few options. I'm here a year and not a sniff of a job. Not having the language puts you at a huge disadvantage to the locals. What jobs are there for English speakers pay poorly. Start applying now and never send a CV off without getting the name of the contact. Follow up with them to see if anything is progressing. Recruitment agents are lazy and will forget about you if they don't have an obvious job to put you forward for. Start to learn the language before coming and practice at home. I've been looking for a trade buying/purchasing job. Had the wind taken out of my sails when I was told max to expect is about 3000pln p/month before tax in Lodz, more in Warsaw or Krakow but still only just covering the bills.

Ireland even now offers far higher wages and I have 2 interviews after a week looking.

UK, Ireland / EXCHANGE RATES BETWEEN POLISH ZLOTY AND BRITISH POUND [73]

phone your bank and ask them for a special rate. you should pay about 5/6 grozy commission. e.g if the official rate is 4.63 then you should get about 4.7:1 which would mean you get 63,829pounds.

We were quoted a 10 grozy margin by our bank online but they cut it to 6 when we phoned and haggled.

History / Thinking of changing Wikipedia's Holocaust article to include genocide of Poles. [78]

I thought about doing the same. From what I have read approx. 5-6 million Jews and 6-8 Million non Jews were killed. The pre-war east was so poor it is impossible to know exactly as there was never a proper census done. I've read on a few holocaust (mainly US based) websites that the holocaust is specifically the term used for the eradication of Jews. This seems to be a political attitude and I don't agree. These people starved and were murdered side by side. You cannot distinguish them by religion. Once they were singled out for their fate they all suffered identically. People of many religions died and dozens of nationalities. Its is not just in Poland that these things happened so you cannot just refer to Polish victims along with Jews. Anyone deemed an enemy of the Nazi's was processed to their death.There were camps in several countries.

On the wiki page it does mention that there is a difference of opinion on a definition. I suspect that's as good as you will get as it is such a tender subject, and even states the fact the word was used pre-war to describe other genocides. Basically the word has been hijacked.

History / Thinking of changing Wikipedia's Holocaust article to include genocide of Poles. [78]


I don't accept it and nor has anyone I've spoken to. I lived in the US for a while and know the fear people live in of insulting Jewish sensitivities on the matter.

The dishonesty toward history is that the word has been hijacked. It has been in use since long before WW2.

Someone had a different opinion to you and you suggest they drown themselves in a toilet! Why do you bother coming on a forum?

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [301]


If you use that logic how many British, French or North African victims had the Nazi's. For that matter New Zealand, Canada, the USA, India, Nepal....... Now we're splitting hairs. The borders of Europe were very different at the time. If you want to get into military causalities you're talking a totally different story. I'm well aware of how the Nazi's treated the "occupied" civilian populations.

This thread is about whether the use of the word holocaust should be used exclusively to define Jewish victims of the Nazi's. Nothing you have said defeats that notion, in fact I think you have endorsed it.

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [301]



Ditto.

I'm trying to stay on topic. Unlike your original assertion above, you are now agreeing that the term holocaust is not exclusively a Jewish term. That's what the thread is about. I'm not arguing anything else.

As I've said people of all religions and nationalities died under the Nazi's and should be all counted as victims of the Nazi holocaust.

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [301]


And you say I don't understand! The thread started as a discussion that the holocaust was not exclusively a word for Jewish victims of Nazi's. It's not. You assert in one line that it is exclusively for Jews, and then say that I must include Soviet victims. I am happy to include any civilian that suffered under the Nazi's. You are just being inconsistent.

Polonia / TRAVEL TO DUBAI - VISA for a POLE? [29]

I and my Polish wife had this same problem last year. The best advice I can give you is simply not to go to the place.

I did not need a visa. We booked with Emirates via Dubai to Australia just to visit a friend in transit, We ended up going straight through on the way to/back from London, after an ordeal trying to get a tourist visa.

You must have a sponsor to get a visa for a Polish national. This can be a company, a hotel or a resident. A resident can apply for a visa on your behalf but will have to pay a deposit to ensure you leave the country. Most hotels want nothing to do with the applications as we experienced. My friend had to pay a few thousand of a deposit to get the visa himself and did not want to do as they are difficult to recover. Do not book a hotel until you have confirmed with them that they provide a visa service. We booked a hotel and discovered after that would not get involved in a visa application, but tried to refuse a cancellation.

By the way as you have a girlfriend and not a wife you are in a difficult position. Technically you cannot share a room in a hotel unless married. You could be imprisoned for it if caught. If you get in any trouble you have no rights to access to each other, unlike a husband. Trust me we could tell just from the airport women are very much second class citizens in Dubai. Couldn't believe some of it.

This is the official web site we used and explains visa options, far from straight forward.
uaeinteract.com/travel/visas.asp

This is just 1 example of their morality code. As a boyfriend you have no rights. These 2 kissed in a tourist hotel! I have read far worse stories than this about tourists being mistreated by local courts/law enforcement.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8602449.stm

News / Cadbury Wedel invest PLN 960mn in Poland by 2012 [19]

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335093747472322.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Brit - US - Japanese ownership in a year.

E. Wedel has been bought by the Japanese Lotte group. They will take on the E Wedel brand, 1000 or so employees and the plant in Warsaw.

The Cadbury, Hall's and some other small brands along with 2 plants in Skarbimierz will stay with Kraft. Kraft also wish to hold on to another plant in Bielany Wroclawskie but need EU approval.

Looks like good news for Poland as Lotte are the 3rd largest maker of gum in the world and will use Wedel as a way to break into Europe.

UK, Ireland / Moving from Ireland to Poland [29]


That was a great reply to the question, concise and informed as ever. Everything he needs in there!

Don't worry us Irish intend to crawl back under the nearest stone and put on our Leprechaun suits. Forgive us for trying to better ourselves, mistakes and all. What were we thinking, we should know our place and accept it right?

Travel / Can I enter first to Poland having a Czech visa? [13]

If you have a Czech visa it is not valid anywhere else, even if traveling within the Schengen area. I don't think there is any body/country that issues a Schengen Visa, just national specific ones for Non-EU citizens.

I know of an Iraqi who had a student visa for Poland. He traveled by train to Denmark and was arrested while returning through Germany. Spent 2 weeks in a German jail before being deported to Iraq, and had to pay for a flight to get back to Poland. Think he was told he would have trouble ever getting back into Germany again too.

History / Give back Lwow to Poland and Kaliningrad to Germany - is it possible? [198]


Lwow was an island city of Poles surrounded by land inhabited by ethnic Ukraines. Also a large proportion of the Population were Jewish and targeted by the nazi's. After the war Lwow and its institutions, people etc were re-located en masse to the new city or Wroclaw post war.

Wilno/Vilnus was a more Polish city and unlike Lwow was surrounded by Poles.

USA, Canada / What do Polish people think about Canadians? [44]


You are all unable to pronounce 'about'

UK, Ireland / Irish leaving Ireland again. Economy forcing them to immigrate [39]


Bitter yet MG?

God you're painful to listen to. If you don't like Ireland leave now, you're happy enough to collect a cheque there though.

This constant rant you go on with against Ireland is pathetic. Accepting some of your points about young people thinking the CT would never end, racism being a problem etc. Is racism not a problem in Holland, the USA, Canada? I've spent a lot of time in the latter 2 and the US is the most racist place I have ever been. Everyone is judged on their ethnic background, not just colour. Ireland has a lot to learn and much to improve. You say we have wasted our boom, we are about to complete an orbital motorway from Dublin to the 6 largest cities in the country. 15 years ago we had no motorway in the country. We have invested more in our train infrastructure in the past decade than since the inception of the state.

I think all Irish people would be happy to chip in and send you home ASAP.

PS. You should hear what Poles call Dutch women.

UK, Ireland / Irish leaving Ireland again. Economy forcing them to immigrate [39]


Really, all you have ever done is criticise Ireland and it's people on this forum. Last time you just went on a rant completely off topic when an Irish guy asked for advice on moving to Poland.

On developing infrastructure, you mean like the link below where Ireland has the fastest link between the US and Europe now. Small sensible steps to a sustainable economy that is Irish developed and job creating.

irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0723/1224275281028.html

Many of the multi-nationals in Ireland including Google have announced new jobs this year. Yeah they'll go where's cheapest but that doesn't mean we shouldn't get what we can, while we can. I see Irish band U2 are now declared Dutch tax resident as we have been undercut us on such taxes, how sustainable is that for Holland?

Why do the little things cost more in ireland? I agree there are excessive prices, but Ireland will always be more expensive than most of Europe. It is a small island off the coast of Europe, check the same prices in Iceland.

Progress is expensive but we now have interlinks for gas and electric with the UK grids and prices for both are way down on what they were. The Irish national electric company is buying its northern equivalent to merge the grids to bring scale, cost savings and security. We were a second world economy until the 90's remember. How long is Holland a free Republic, well over 400 years. We are a nation of 4m who have yet to reach our centenary of freedom. We have never colonised anyone to create our wealth, don't have vast natural resources and aren't lucky enough to be strategically located. We're slowly making the best of what we have, with plenty to learn along the way. By the way Dublin 4 is not Ireland and it's people are not a general representation of everyone.



The above 2 statements aren't too consistent are they?


I'm home, thanks for asking so not home-sick, no need to get into childish comments.

Sorry for making you angry MG, not my intention. Just straightening you out on a few points you've made. It's easy to pick holes in any country, see it all the time here about Poland. I'm sure I could be done to Holland too.

Life / What would YOU do to make life in poland better?? [72]

Same thing you would do anywhere, get rid of the civil service.

UK, Ireland / Irish leaving Ireland again. Economy forcing them to immigrate [39]


Party for Freedom. 3rd largest party in Holland with up to 17% support.
"the party believes that the Judeo-Christian and humanist traditions should be taken as the dominant culture in the Netherlands, and that immigrants should adapt accordingly. The party wants a halt to immigration from non-Western countries. Wilders has also put forward the idea that the Netherlands should open up its own "Guantanamo Bay" that would detain people which the intelligence service sees as a security threat, somewhat akin to the Israeli and Algerian administrative detention"

a few policies:
"# Ethnic registration, (went so well in Uganda)
# Active repatriation of criminals of foreign citizenship and Dutch nationals originating from the Netherlands Antilles,
# Restrictions on immigrant labour from new EU member states and Islamic countries,
# Removal of resources from anti-climate change programmes, development aid and immigration services
# Dutch language proficiency and a 10-year Dutch residency and work experience requirement for welfare assistance, page 15
# Constitutional protection of the dominance of the Judeo-Christian and humanistic culture of the Netherlands, page 35
# Repeal of anti-smoking legislation in bars, page 39
# Investment in more nuclear power plants and coal plants to reduce dependency on imported oil and because coal is cheaper"

UK, Ireland / Irish leaving Ireland again. Economy forcing them to immigrate [39]


That's rich. You come on berating another nationalities and when it's pointed out that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones you get all stropy.


No problem, I've criticised it plenty. You are doing so in a completely unbalanced way on a forum with many people who have never been to the country and therefore are forming their opinions based partly on what you are saying. I'm balancing that. I detest the current Irish government and they have much to answer for waste and the debt burden we all now face. I campaigned against them in 2007 knowing that what was happening was unsustainable. (I never imagined it could get THIS bad). Unfortunately, as you've just pointed out, people vote in a nonsensical/selfish way sometimes.

Maybe you're frustrated in Ireland but you choose to be here. Is Holland so much better/different?

PS: for someone setting up a call centre you have a huge amount of free time!

UK, Ireland / Irish leaving Ireland again. Economy forcing them to immigrate [39]


Because of what they think they have "lost". The generation just behind me never knew a bad day, never were hungry or really told no. The current government (it's there since 1997) have done anything to stay in power, including buying votes. 2/3rds of males jobs created in the boom were in construction and 2/3rds of female jobs were in the civil service, madness. The stated government policy was to get mothers out of the home and into work (contrary to our constitution). This meant children got less attention and their affection was bought with things.

It's a balance most Irish people are now questioning and realising that a better work/life balance is what we need. Most people realise that it is nothing to do with the foreigners that the economy collapsed. In my personal experience the lower the education level the stupider the stance on such matters. I've had a few gobshites make moronic points to me based on widespread unfounded rumours. I've seen the same thing in many countries though.

You are poor at portraying your point at times MG. Your first and last posts are completely at odds.

Real Estate / Websites for purchasing / exchange properties in Poland [6]

gratka.pl is the biggest. there is a search option to exclude agencies and have only sales by owner. site in polish but if you have a translation toolbar it's easy use.

daft.pl an easier site to use.