Life / Price of cigarettes in Poland? [192]

The funny thing is, Japan is where I finally quit smoking. Its ubiquitousness grossed me out.

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

Been super happy with ING, about on par service wise with my credit union in the US and my banks in Japan and Canada. Friendly staff, no fees for the stuff I do most often (unless I use a teller, but I do everything mostly online and via bankomat and wpłatomat) and were pretty mellow about letting me open an account. All I had was a Canadian passport and a letter from the local urząd wojewódzki confirming my Polish citizenship. The teller had me set up in minutes, explained the procedures for getting my card activated and asked if I could come in and give them my dowód osobisty number once it arrives (I'm a returning Pole doing all the bureaucratic stuff from scratch.)

My girlfriend, who is American, has been treated well by them as well, and they've been able to accomodate her when she speaks English and broken Polish.

Life / Polish Hip Hop [47]

Early Bakszysz is also awesome.

Brygada Kryzys dabbled in reggae stuff a bit, too, though they were just as much a punk band.

In fact, 80s Polish new wave and punk music is phenomenal.

As for Poles making hip hop, what exactly is wrong with that? Modern musical forms tend to manifest globally. Are people who are not American and black not allowed to play jazz now or something?