Food / Kefir drink in Poland [79]

Merged: Buying kefir grains in Poland

Hello,

While I lived in the US I liked to make my own kefir. When I came to Poland I couldn't exactly carry live cultures in my carry-on, and obviously wanted to avoid any potential nightmares at customs. I realize that kefir is quite common here, and I was wondering if anyone made their own kefir, and if so, where I could go to purchase kefir grains. (I am currently in Warsaw.)

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Study / Information about Polish Public Schools (Warsaw) and Zerówka [8]

tanamera and pip-

Thank you so much for your input! I was truly worried that there was no way I was going to get my daughter into school (or at least not affordably). I have heard horror stories of trying to get children into preschool/daycare, but this has really taken some of the edge off of my concerns. Still, I have a great deal of planning to do.

Right now, I am looking into where I might be living and what apartments are available. Something close to the metro, while more expensive, would probably be a good idea as I will be working at the University of Warsaw... and living that close to the center may not be realistic. (Again, my income is somewhere around 7000PLN a month.) From an old forum thread, it looks like Mokotów and Wilanów are nice areas with lots of expats (and it would be easy to get to the university from there). But they are expensive. Besides, I'm trying to force myself to use Polish more, so it might be nice to get away from expats anyways. Some suggestions made were: Bielany, Ochota, Wola. Of course, these suggestions were made for people who have different job locations and no kids, so I don't know how relevant they will be for me. Apparently, everyone on the forum said "no" to Praga.

I just learned about my job less than two weeks ago, and it is rather tricky trying to arrange this outside of the country. So I am just figuring everything out now... Even if I get an apartment within the month, registering my daughter for classes in person will not be possible until September. Looks like I still have a lot to think about!

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]

Interesting (albeit complicated) topic. While I cannot speak for the Polish education, I will try to provide my viewpoint on the American education system as best I can.

People have mentioned that all Americans have opportunity to higher education. A simple answer is yes, this is true. Of course, there are things to consider. First of all, the quality of American primary/secondary education can be wildly disparate depending on a number of features including the type of school one attends (public vs. private, different ideologies like Montessori, etc), the state regulations, and the overall socio-economic status of the area. The financial difficulties in America are having a huge impact on education in many ways, and again, some areas will continue to suffer more than others. So any advantages and disadvantages listed in this forum will depend on where the student is attending. I would be happy to give examples for any of this, ranging from statistics to policies to anecdotes of teachers and students... but I won't bore you with the details unless you want them. :) These factors also shape how likely you are to get into a 'good' college/university, and the likelihood of getting a scholarship to help pay for college.

For those of you interested in American education: What I would recommend that you do is look closely at any area you are considering. How severely has the area been affected by the recession? Would you be able to find and keep a job there? If you can't, or you don't like the education in your district, would you be able to sell your house and move? Along with good private schools, would you have the option of different charter schools, and how difficult are they to get into?

(Also, if you can, set aside money for your children for a college fund. Accessible post-secondary education here comes at a cost, and the government supports students less and less as cuts need to be made. Right now, very well educated, hard-working students are coming out of school with large amounts of debt and facing an unhealthy job market. If your kids don't go to college, then they'll have the starter-funds to become independent that much faster!)

This is not meant to be discouraging. If you started this thread to establish where kids can get the greatest advantage in education, this should help with America at least. If you are wealthy/thorough/resourceful enough and can choose your location and school, your children will get good (if not great) education.

Study / Considerations for US Family Moving to Poland (esp. Int'l Schools) [36]

I want to thank you all for the comments thus far. While no one has accused me of this, I did want to clarify: this is something I was considering well before it would be a possibility (not like, 'Hey, I'm going to dump my family in Poland next summer!'), giving me an opportunity to either get more certifications/experience or look elsewhere. The purpose of offering an idea on a forum in its early stages is to prevent myself from building up too much of a plan without consulting people in the field. It's a matter of being careful. I am not so impulsive or delusional that I would put my daughter in a harmful situation only to meet my own dreams. I am not that stupid, I promise! ^_^

I mean this in no offense, but I do agree with z_darius about the Middle East- I find it about as appealing as someone telling me to move to inner-city Detroit because the real estate is so cheap. Sure, sometimes the reputation is grossly exaggerated, but there is the religious aspect to consider in many of these countries. I am female, as is my daughter, and there needs to be some thought into what that would mean for us in different countries. Furthermore, the problems of her being unfamiliar with a language persist in any other location. At least I am familiar with the Polish language, social norms and practices; and I was raised in a Catholic family. Using the logic provided here, it would make little sense to move to a country for TESOL at all in my situation.

So I was in fact eliciting advice on the possibility of doing any such move for TESOL as well- and I am not upset with the responses. I am aware that the more 'Western' a country is, the less demand there is for native speakers. I toyed with the compromise Eastern Europe may have provided, but only know what I've experienced. I have witnessed TESOL in Poland and had worked with teachers preparing lectures/tests/etc. (I am not one of those native English speakers who thinks breathing makes me a decent TESOL teacher- I had to learn the technical labels for different grammatical features just like any non-native speaker… you don't just KNOW that from speaking, and I can appreciate that.) I was aware that TESOL teachers can work horrendous hours for multiple schools, and still need to supplement their wages with private lessons. When I said I am used to working hard on next to nothing, I was serious- I have been a student worker with a full courseload and my contract prevented me from work more than 20 hours a week (or at least be paid more than that), during which my husband has lost jobs. You pick up second/odd jobs in the meanwhile if they're available (Michigan isn't exactly great for this), and get creative like taking in roommates to pay the rent. But you're right, I only have experience teaching some linguistic and philosophy classes at the university level, I've yet to teach an English class, and had no idea just how expensive the international schools would be.

While I don't begrudge anyone for their insight (I am ASKING for it), it is naturally disheartening to hear this. I really do love Poland, and have some background in Polish linguistics/philology, which I would have loved to explore more in the country. I'm not going to throw out all plans I had for Poland from one day on a forum, but if there is any viability for any of them, it would involve drastic changes to my career plans… and I have plenty of 'half-baked' backups not involving Poland as well. ^_^ I've got time to really think.

I'll discuss more some of my other ideas if they are still relevant later, but I thought I should explain a few things first.

Study / Considerations for US Family Moving to Poland (esp. Int'l Schools) [36]

I have three locations that I've been strongly considering: Kraków, £ódź and Poznań.

I've heard good things about the Polish language programs in both Kraków and £ódź, which would help my family with acquiring the language. They each have other academic/career advantages for me as well (e.g. there seems to be a strong focus at the University of £ódź in pragmatics... should I decide later I want to go back to school for linguistics). I've only spent about a week in Kraków, however, and even less in £ódź. I am considering of visiting one of these locations next summer.

While I've not personally heard anything about the Polish language courses in Poznań, the reviews on this forum were less than favorable. However, I have a good number of contacts in Poznań- from my school/work and from conferences I've attended. Having professional connections would increase my chances of getting a job, and I have a social circle to help with my transition there.

Honestly though, much of this will be determined by the job scenario- what I position I can get, and whether I can afford to live in the same location as I work. I imagine with my credentials I can find a job, it's just a matter of how good of a job I can get (in either teaching English or editorial work).