Food / Dr Pepper in Poland [16]

Kuchnia Swiat in Galleria Krakowska have it in cans, and my local Piotr i Pawel had it bottles the other day but it ain't cheap!

Work / Salaries for architects and interns in Poland: how much? [18]

Have you looked at architekci.pl as this is the best website for architectural jobs that I know of. It's hard for Polish people never mind foreigners to find work and the pay is not great at first, I've been told Warsaw is the best best for English speakers but still not easy. Even in the UK 20% of all architects are unemployed according to the latest survey (bdonline). Try and network, learn Polish as well as you can and I assume being in Poznan you have been at Arena Design for the last few days trying to meet people??

Travel / Krakow to Zakopane - public transport [12]

you can find timetables of all buses, trains etc. here e-podroznik.pl.

Travel / Poland-Kaliningrad connection? [6]

There's meant to be a bus that goes between the two places. If you have an EU issued passport you can get a short term 72 hour visa when crossing the border as long as you have an invitation from one of the listed travel agencies here: kaliningrad.mid.ru/eng/acc_002.html. haven't made the trip myself but might do it later this year

Real Estate / Non Pole Applying for Mortgage in Poland [11]

I went to PKO, they weren't interested in the slightest in my foreign accounts, income or history. They were just interested in what I'd earned and for how long I had been working in Poland, together with my partners income and how long she'd been working. Was all super straight forward, there was a bit of paperwork but not a huge amount. I have temporary residence here as an EU citizen, though they did want to see copies of my zameldowanie and my authority to stay in Poland as an EU citizen. With regards to mortgage approval we did what they call a 'simulation' based on our income etc and with that information, ie. that they didn't see any problem with us getting credit we made an offer, but remember the simulation is not 100% mortgage approval. A good size deposit always helps with approval too :)

Australia / I'm Polish - moving to Perth from UK [6]

Perth is a nice place but it doesn't really have that big city feel. My first impressions go back to 1994 when I first went there, and I thought it was a real big country town, everything was shut on Sundays, including petrol stations, and they'd turn all the lights off in the city at night, but thankfully it has changed over the years and is now growing into the city it should be. It is a great place if you like to be outside, the weather means that for most of the year you can do almost any outdoor activity. It is a good place for family life but it is now extremely expensive there, rents, food, alcohol etc have all gone through the roof, some places are now charging between $17 & $20 for a pint of beer!!

How much did I like it? After originally planning to spend only a couple of months there I ended up spending 15 years, though after 15 years of being there I had to move (I'm in Poland now) as it's isolation from any other major city was starting to get to me, having to fly 5 hours to the next major city is quite a distance. Though the countryside in Western Australia is extremely varied and would take you many a year to explore it all.

Are people friendly, yes and no. Like every place in the world there are nice people and nasty people, some Australians can come across as being quite rough at times. There is such a diversity in the people that you will have no problem meeting other people and there are two Polish clubs there as well, but in my 15 years of being there I only had a couple of Australian friends and they weren't from Perth originally. The people born and bred in Perth tend to be more insular and stick to the friends they had during their school days. If you want to compare it to the UK I'd say it feels like half the UK has moved there in the last 5 years so no need to worry :)

Vegetables - are rubbish, tomatoes etc don't taste anywhere near as good as in Poland, and forget strawberries etc as they just taste like water, having said that one of the things I miss most there is the fresh food & salads you can get all year round, and the seafood is fantastic.

Sharks - never saw one, and I used to swim every day at the beach, they tend to attack surfers that look like seals from under the water, swimming in the dark, at dusk or dawn are the riskiest times, so don't do it! and if all else fails make sure you are near someone in the water that you think might be slower than you ;) I would safely say that swimming in the water is 10x safer than driving on the roads in Poland!

If you can afford it and can get the visa i'd say go for it, all you can lose is a little bit of time and money but could also gain a whole new experience in life :)

Australia / Looking for Polish lessons in Perth, Australia [32]

The only place that offered Polish in Perth about 2 years ago was TAFE and it was a basic beginners course. Though after i did the course i managed to organise private lessons with the teacher. If you want more information PM me and i can send you the teachers email address. Otherwise contact Sylwia :) And Sylwia if you're interested in teaching Polish, the two places i would contact would be TAFE and also the University of Western Australia as they run short extension courses for non-university students, i studied Italian there for a short while and i know they had Spanish, Russian and some Asian language courses but no Polish.

Best of luck.

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

I went to Alior and had no problem. I went with my passports and Zameldowanie (the 3 month one) the guy spoke broken English but was very pleasant. I even opened it using my folks address in Australia, as he wanted a permanent address not the temporary Polish one. The only other thing i needed was a mobile number to get a code whenever doing online payment. They have an account that has no fees and can withdraw from any ATM for free if you have more than 10,000PLN in the account or if i think you deposit more than 2000PLN a month. Hope that helps.

Life / EXPATS in POLAND: 10 things you miss / don't miss about home . . . [138]

thanks for the heads up on the BRU at Kuchnia Swiata will have to check it out...

as for the grill, if only i had a balcony :( the frying pan and oven will have to do for now :)

Life / EXPATS in POLAND: 10 things you miss / don't miss about home . . . [138]

Its even in the Real & Tesco in Rzeszów, beside the hot sauce, chinese stuff, sushi kits and the overpriced tortilla chips... been missing a good burger but went to Love Krove in Kraków the other week which wasnt half bad at all, the wait was a bit annoying though as i was hungry... an IRN BRU would be nice too.. havent had one in ages!!!

Work / Teaching Architecture in Poland [23]

i'd say with a Phd and only 2 years working experience you might struggle to find any University position here. Where's your Phd from and in what country have you previously worked? From my limited knowledge most of the professors here seem to be Polish. You might strike it lucky and a University might want to hire you as there are a number of the courses taught in English.

But i'd prob agree with Delph you might find it hard to get by, and would also suggest that you try get work with a Polish company first prior to even thinking about teaching.

I'm currently going through the nostrification process to get my degrees recognised as equivalent in Poland (my degrees were obtained in Australia) still waiting to hear back from Krakow University as to what exactly i need to submit.

Work / Teaching Architecture in Poland [23]

Marchi,

sorry for the delay in replies. Currently i'm not working or teaching as an Architect in Poland. I'm kind of having a break from working life and i'm basically just doing some English teaching at the moment and doing the odd bit of documentation and detailing for colleagues back in Australia. Also i'm based in Rzeszow at the moment so the number of Architectural practices is a bit limited. I was going to try test the market around April/May, and let my Polish improve a little bit more.

With regards to recognition of qualifications, after sending my degrees and translations to the Ministry of Education they have responded with a letter in Polish stating what my degrees mean and what they would enable me to do if i wanted to continue further study in Australia. This letter apparently is sufficient to explain my qualifications if i want to continue study in Poland. But, to work towards registration as an architect here i would need to go through a nostrification process to get my degrees assessed for equivalency with the Polish degree. This i'm investigating now. Will keep you uptodate.

If you want to chat a bit more PM me and i'll let you know my email address.

Mark.

Law / Online Polish banking (in English) [27]

Alior Bank. Website in Polish and English and setting up my account was done in less than 30mins. Everytime i've needed something done staff have been more than helpful and made life easy.

Work / Teaching Architecture in Poland [23]

As someone in a similar situation, i'll try pass on what i've found out to date.
(i'm an Australian qualified architect, worked for 10 years in Western Australia specialising in high end residential work while also doing some part time tutoring at the local university)

to answer your questions first;
i) & ii) i would say that teaching of architecture in Poland would be more specific to your expertise & your ability to work legally than where you are from. The fact that you have a Phd should hold you in good stead for this. Though you might have to get your degrees and academic records translated and recognised as they are all non EU. researching this myself at the moment but have a look here

buwiwm.edu.pl/rec/index.htm

Also on the Krakow architecture department there was an advert for a position in June 2010 that might give you an idea of requirements riad.usk.pk.edu.pl/~a-0/pl/index.php

iii) as part of the requirement for students to study architecture i believe they have to have a knowledge of a foreign language, and from some people i know some of the classes they have attended have been in English. But advice i got was learn polish as quickly as possible! (my aim for this year and probably for many more years to come!!)

iv) salaries don't know, but dont expect it to be too high

v) there are numerous Universities offering architecture courses, best one would be the one that has a vacancy i guess. There is a list of the Universities with architecture courses on wikipedia with web addresses

vi) i'd imagine professorship as a full time employee would mean payments are made to ZUS so that health etc would be covered, but i guess it would depend on contract

vii) enough to survive depends on how you wish to live...

viii) side benefits, dont know, maybe that you get more contacts in the profession and might learn something as well as imparting your knowledge to others???

links;
Board of Polish Architects izbaarchitektow.pl
(I will be visiting them next week to confirm requirements for recognition of my qualifications and procedure for registration within Poland)

Association of Polish Architects sarp.org.pl

a couple of useful websites;
architektura.info
architekci.pl
a-ronet.pl

Life / Polish pride. PL stickers, flags and the white eagle! Where does our obsession come from? [79]

there's the same obsession in Australia... just look at Australia day when all the flags come out. I'd find it hard pressed to find a mate that dosnt have some sort of flag, stubbie holder, shirt in their house somewhere with some sort of national symbol on it. There's the green and gold army that attends all the sporting events. I don't see this display of who they are as negative as long as its not done in a malicious way.

Love / How to find an English speaking boyfriend in Poland [110]

check out this blog, might give you some ideas... paddyinpoland.com

History / Poland - Scotland, the untold story... [75]



me too, so i guess times don't change that much! :)

Love / How to find an English speaking boyfriend in Poland [110]

for sure! If you don't have a dream... how are you going to have a dream come true?

Love / How to find an English speaking boyfriend in Poland [110]

i met my girlfriend at a mates wedding... (i'm Scots, with an Australian mix... so not really English speaking...) and i'm relocating to be with her... so it can happen... you know any English speaking people?? as that always helps a little i guess.. not really helpful am i...

Australia / Can My Polish girlfriend get a working visa in Australia?? [28]

put simply, no. there is no working holiday agreement between Poland and Australia. as dnz said if you can prove a defacto relationship maybe, but it isnt easy. And sponsorship isnt so easy either, expect a lot of paperwork. there is some cash work around if you he can get a holiday visa but depends on where you're heading and what he can do.

Travel / Looking for a good map of Poland on the Net [19]

i use zumi.pl

UK, Ireland / Any direct flights from Aberdeen or Inverness to Poland? [11]

originally from Inverurie, been stuck in OZ for quite some time... headed to Rzeszów in about 2 months... will be nice to be a bit closer so can actually make the trip back a bit more often :)

UK, Ireland / Any direct flights from Aberdeen or Inverness to Poland? [11]

ah well maybe 'Trump convenience' might occur after he's finished mucking about with Balmedie and then we might get the extra flights :)

UK, Ireland / Any direct flights from Aberdeen or Inverness to Poland? [11]

list of destinations from Aberdeen and according to that there aint even a BA direct flight... be nice though as when i get round to showing the misses where i'm from make things a bit easier...

Love / Marrying a Polish girl near Wroclaw [12]

if you're British and getting married you will need to get a Certificate of No impediment and also get your Birth Certificate translated into Polish by a sworn translator. see here for more info:

gov.uk/marriage-abroad

Travel / Bus travel Krakow to Przemysl [5]

i'd take the train too... if you take the IR its about 3.5hours... which isnt too bad if you ask me.. leaves Kraków Płaszów at 12.15 according to website rozklad-pkp.pl

Language / Site I've been using to learn Polish--what do you people think? [18]

came across this site yesterday not sure how good it is yet... .learn-polish but so far i been using, tapes, cds, dvds, websites, and whatever books i can source from local bookshops but best way i learn anything new is from the girlfriend and her family and talking to them... i find its the only way to tune your ear to the sounds... i thought russian was hard learning but this takes the cake! good luck!

Genealogy / Village near Lancut [15]

or try this one also quite detailed [lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/3felmeres.htm] click on square with Przemyśl and then scroll around to find £ańcut

Life / Dutch bicycles repair shop in Warsaw [16]

not quite in warsaw but might be worth a contact as they might be able to help you out;

electrabicycle.pl/katalog-produktow/amsterdam_7/classic-3i-czarny_52.html

Australia / Anyone from Sydney, Australia? [44]

looking on whitepages.com.au (australias phone book) the only B. Pasternak lives at 18 Raine St, Woollahra in Sydney tel number is +61 2 9387 7868 not sure if this is the Bogdan Pasternak that you are looking for as i live on the other side of the country in Perth but might be worth a try.