News / Freezing weather in Poland, 42 people dead in winter freeze... and no-one cares? [140]


Apparently it's not working. Homeless people are freezing to death. Could you do a better job with the money? Something local? Could you setup and run a shelter with all the money that you dump the governments way? Could you help out some people that are down on their luck with medical care? I bet you could. In fact, without a middleman, I'm pretty sure you could get way more out of your money than the government could.

The thing is, if you were in charge of distributing the money...would you spend it on corporate welfare? How about pet projects? would you send your soldiers to play in the desert?

The concept of the government using tax money to take care of people is a noble one, but it ultimately fails in its application.

hmm, another 1am rant

for a 3000/mo brutto salary...

3600 starts at the employer, by the time it gets to the employees bank account, they've got 2100 sitting in there. Then of course comes VAT@22%.

If the company managed to make any money, it is taxed at 19%... and if you're paid dividends on the whatever is left, that's another 19%.

Could you make better use of the money than the government? I think I could. I think a cage full of baboons could.

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]


that's the thing, where are the statistics? Anyone find decent statistics? US-VISIT stats don't seem to be online anywhere...

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]


It's not that they're not kept, they're just not public. It would be really nice to see the overstay statistics.

Work / Will it be easy to find a job within 6-10 months of moving to Poland? [41]


Had to put down my drink for that one.

Food / Why is it that some Polish people refuse to eat anything that is not Polish? [120]

to be fair, shrimp and crab are just goo until cooked.

But the same goes for Italians, Koreans, Americans. Some people are a bit more adventurous than others.

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]


I don't know, I've been to both. Poland is one of the safer places on this little planet of ours.

Petty theft is a small problem, violent crime isn't. I've had stuff stolen off of my car at night, but never anything else. No pickpockets, no burglaries, never been mugged, no highway robberies. I think most of the criminals have now been relocated to Poczta Polska sorting centers.

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]


I had to pay my own way, but I understand that you do get a free trip if you sign up for the army.

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]

I actually saw this in Poznan, little fellow didn't have a chance.

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]


If you're going to pray for him, you should also pray for the millions of babies that are eaten all across poland. Why do you think the birth rate is so low, yet there are so many pregnant women? Only one explanation.

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]


Unfortunately I didn't manage to get in on the package deal. I've heard really great things, especially regarding the cultural exchanges.

I hear that they are having to close some of the resort destinations, though I understand that may change in 2012 if the company gets a new ceo. If they start offering trips to Persepolis, I'll be first in line.

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]


I guess I'm fooling myself seeing as I've lived here off and on for the last 5 years (latest stint has been a year and a half). Things are great in my fantasy world. I've had parts stolen off my car, that's it. What happened to you here that traumatized you so badly?

This place is like candyland.

Travel / Free wifi in wroclaw and krakow? [12]

La Donna Cannone at Plac Grunwaldzki has free fast wifi...and really good pizza.

Real Estate / How do you comment on "Poland real estate analysis" of the biggest property site [24]

I agree, why live with savings and disposable income when you can be burdened by debt to pay for inflated assets!

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]

Anything spicy.

Life / Are foreigners welcome in Poland? [267]


That's just kind of what happens when something new and different comes along. If I drove a Ferrari through a village, people would stare.


I agree with you, "monkey" should be reserved exclusively for Amy Winehouse

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]

Take a 55gal drum, saw it in half, put some hinges on it, drill some holes, throw some bolts in to hold the grill rack, buy a bunch of oak or beech... the start of a beautiful bbq.

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]


US-VISIT, the $1.3b database of 200million names... is what's used, not the stub system. US-VISIT compares who entered with who left at all port of entries. Apparently, the system is about as effective as the stub system, you have to write the DHS in order to get the statistics on overstays, they're not posted online.

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]

You got the point I was trying to make.

Life / Reliable Weather Service In Poland? [25]

If you're close to an airport, a METAR is accurate for immediate weather, and the TAF (usually 8-12 hours) is based on what a local meteorologist at the airport thinks the weather will look like.

en.allmetsat.com/metar-taf/poland.php

As mentioned above, Pogodynka has good radar images

pogodynka.pl/radary.php

Euclid is good for tracking thunderstorms

euclid.org/realtime.html

If you learn a little something about how weather works, the forecast maps are goldmines. Not so much for exact temperatures, but they will usually tell you what kind of sky you can expect.

For more in depth forecasting of temps, the 16 day plots are pretty good

wxweb.meteostar.com/sample/sample_C.shtml?text=EPWR

Language / WHY THE HELL CANT I LEARN POLISH?? [64]

Go to the countryside for a couple of weeks with a dictionary. You're not learning Polish because you don't have to learn Polish. No motivation. I could live my entire life "getting by" with English and German in Wroclaw. I learned more during my month in the countryside than a year in Wroclaw.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


It's not enough to pay the mortgage on a modest apartment. Double that for a dual income, and use 28% of your income, and you can still only afford 1680 a month towards a mortgage.

I would say that not being able to afford a modest apartment in the city I want to live in is not a comfortable wage.

Now if comfortable is putting half your monthly wage towards a tiny apartment, then it is indeed comfortable.

If comfortable means living with roommates for 20% of your monthly income, then you will be really comfortable.

Every month, you can buy 11 Big Macs every day on your salary. You can buy 30 monthly public transportation passes. 500 beers, a steak for lunch and dinner at miod malina everyday, 1,5 32gb iphones, drive 11,000km in a new VW golf, but you can't afford to make the payments.

What's comfortable for you?

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


cat food has come quite a ways.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

350 big macs aren't enough?

I think there are two separate issues:

1. is 3000/mo is a good salary for an English teacher?

2. An English teacher salary may or may not be enough to live comfortably in Krakow, depending on the standard of living you're expecting. It's plenty to have a good time on, not that great if you have expensive tastes.

UK, Ireland / Mercy flight for dying Polish woman living in the UK [21]

In the US they have Angel Flight that flies exactly these kinds of missions. They are quite active. I can't find any trace of a similar organization in Europe.

Bristol has quite a bit of private general aviation, it's a shame that there is no volunteer organization wiling to help out.

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]


Kvas street vendors are all over the place in Moldova and the Ukraine, quite a few street vendors in southern Russia too.


Wow, really? A light alcohol? 40% is light? If it's snobbish drinking what tastes good to you, then yea, I'll take being a snob. What is it again that they call the people that don't care what they drink as long it gets them hammered?

History / Life in communism vs democracy in Poland [234]


It's much easier to be successful in the US than it is in Europe if you come from modest means. You don't need a degree in the US for starters, it helps, but it's not required. Employers can't take the same risks with a new hire in Europe as they can in the US. Making people easier to let go also makes it easier to take a chance on someone new. Either they can do the job, or they can't regardless of what the piece of paper says.

Here in Europe, you need the little piece of paper for all but the most basic of jobs. The universities churn out pieces of paper, and the quality of education suffers tremendously.

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]


heh, that was actually running through my head when I reread what I wrote...


Spirytus is rectified spirit, so I guess it would be cherry infused rectified spirits. You can save a lot of money by just heading down to the gas station and buying it for 4.20 a liter straight out of the pump.

History / Life in communism vs democracy in Poland [234]

No you don't. I'm living proof of that. Of my successful friends, most of them don't have college degrees, they worked their way up.

In Europe, you do have to pay too. There are quite a few costs outside of tuition (which you have to pay for in a few countries as well..). Housing, food, transportation. You can't pay that without having some kind of income.

In the US, student loans are available, grants if you're low income, and you can always go to community college which is dirt cheap. If you want to go to university in the US, there are plenty of ways to make it happen.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Take the job in Krakow, see how you like it, and then figure out how to make more money :)

History / Life in communism vs democracy in Poland [234]


Isn't good old bafog just another loan? There are a couple of Bundeslander that are charging now too, it's only a matter of time until this goes up even more... How difficult is it if you're going to a Hauptschule and decide you want to go to Uni? Isn't it just a bunch of well off kids in Gymnasium in Germany? The Pisa findings make it pretty obvious that if you come from a low income background, you're probably not going to university either

pisa.ipn.uni-kiel.de/PISA2003_E_Zusammenfassung.pdf

doch net so einfach...

As a percentage of the population, the US has 50% more graduates than Germany.


It's only going to get worse. The world got competitive all of a sudden.