Life / Poland needs more immigrants and their children - which nationalities are the best? [518]

Just see what happened in the West and learn the lesson from it.
Conclusion: if you keep Islam and Thirld World out of Poland, which other nationalities/cultures you should accept is not an issue.

News / Polish hero pilot lands 767 without wheels. (Warsaw) [191]


Couldn't agree more. My worst landing was with Ryan Air. It was so brutal that I thought it was crashing when wheels touched the ground. As the saying goes, "you get what you pay for"... On the other hand, my best landing was with American Airline, hardly felt we were touching the ground.

Hats off to this LOT pilot. I watched it almost live on TV this afternoon. That's incredible the plane didn't even slightly fell apart.

Food / Bary mleczne/milk bars in Poland [30]

In Krakow, I sometimes go to the one in Grodzka for pierogi or kotlet schabowy. The kotlet is served with mashed potatoes a salad of minced cabbage and carrots. I think it costs about 13zł and I forgot if this price includes the fresh fruit/vegetable juice I usually drink with the meal.

I know another one "Bar Flisak" near the Jubilat but it's not a very pleasant place.

My favorite is another one in Karmelicka called "Bar Smak" but I think it's not a traditional milk bar. It looks like a small inn from the mountains inside ;-). It is cosy. They serve the same food than in milk bars, at the same prices.

Life / The Blame Game (Have you ever noticed that a Polish person is never wrong!?) [205]

I didn't have time to read through the thread, just the original post by Avalon.
Entirely agree ;-)

Work / I'm Algerian and I need information on finding work in Poland [8]

I was thinking the same.
As for French, French companies established in Poland will hire French people to ensure proper accent. By the way, what are your qualifications?

I can see on your profile that you are based in Wroclaw. There are many foreign IT companies there. Contact them, you may perhaps find a call center job requiring French language. That will be better than travelling in the E.U. on a tourist visa, trying to find a job in a country where you are not legal resident and not affiliated to some kind of social insurance or health care.

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

Britinpoland,

You will find all regulations on this official website : paiz.gov.pl/en

See "Polish Law" in the upper right corner.

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]

8K gross is an excellent salary in Poland. You may find it unsufficient because of your higher qualifications and experience but if you accept to move to Poland, you will have to accept and comply by its standards.

For living in Krakow, I'm renting a flat a few tramway stations away from the very center of the city. It costs me 2000zł/month, everything included. It is fully furnitured with one bedroom and a double bed, wash machine, ADSL, cable and satellite TV, wooden floor, in a modern and quiet block. So those are the standards.

For food: 200zł/month to get all the required complete and decent food/drinks from the normal shops. It excludes alcohol and restaurants. There are also more luxurious shops like Alma, a Polish chain where you can find standard products but also more sophisticated ones.

Restaurants: from 25zł to 50zł per person depending on the restaurant standards. Of course you can also have a quick meal in a "milk bar". Quick and cheap plain cooking for 10-15zł.

Movie ticket: from 15zł to 30zł depending on theater (small art house vs. modern technology-oriented multiplex).

Life / Girls in Poland shaving side of head!? [30]

I noticed that as well recently in Krakow. I usually think that young Polish women/girls are quite elegant when it comes to clothes and shoes, but regarding haircuts... hmmm... why do boys and girls here seem to get inspiration from the worst haircuts we saw between 5 and 20 years ago in Western Europe's suburban proletariat ? :-(

Feedback / Why PolishForums? Give us your stories! [60]

I think I searched Google for some forum or website about Poland and it appeared in the results. I registered in 2007 to ask a question about electrical sockets and voltage in Poland because I wanted to take my hairdryer with me on holiday (first trip to Poland). I'm amazed to see that the thread is still active in 2011. ;-) OR maybe my first message was a question about Polish vocabulary or grammar. Can't remember exactly though...

Miłego dnia.

Work / Cost of Living, Average Salaries and Job sites in Poland [263]

Don't know if it was ever posted on PF yet, but here is a link to the website of Hays Recruitment in Poland. They publish tables of salaries.

hays.pl/en/salary-overviews.aspx

News / Poland needs a left wing govt. [111]

I'd say the problem of communism is excessive regulation and the problem of the libertarian model is excessive deregulation...


I agree with your analysis except maybe for the taxes. How can you fund the required public services, like the education you mentioned, with minimal or no taxes? I'd add to this a better health care system. As an immigrant from Western Europe, I think the taxes here are much lower and of appropriate level. Not sure less taxes would be good for the country, but they should not be raised, for sure.

News / Poland needs a left wing govt. [111]

My parents' English friends used to say "Thatcher is the best Prime Minister we had since Winston Churchill".

She dropped industries which were ailing or had become too expensive because of exaggerated union power. Yes, unions have their own way of being greedy; it is the case in other Western-European countries as well such as Belgium and France to name a few. A spoiled child's behaviour which views economy as a static thing not submitted to change or performance.

As far as I remember, Thatcher's policy resulted in the loss of a million jobs in primary industry but favored a modernized economy focused on secondary and tertiary industries where about two million jobs were created. However I agree that some minimal protective measures, such as minimum wage for example, were not secured by Thatcher. It made her policy over the top for some.

The prosperous-again England was then later morally and financially ruined by New Labour, which you can blame among other things for that immigration policy which fed the U.K. to cockroaches from West Indies, Middle East and then Eastern Europe.

History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]


Well, as I now live in Poland and do not want to remain single, the "Slavic offer" is obviously broader than the non-Slavic one ;-)

History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]

With all due respect to Slavs, I much prefer Germanic soul. It is more logical, practical, rational. The Slavic soul can easily drive me up the wall, either with women in relationships or with people in general at work, due to their work ethics and "corporate culture" inherited from communist administrations. Not to mention the constant victimization.

I will not comment any further on the "soul at work". But on the "soul in love", I will say this...

Back then when I was still in Belgium, my teacher of Polish used to tell us that Poles were often described as "the Latins of the North" (or was it from the East?). Actually it was tough for me to cope with the temperament of my Polish girlfriend. As a Belgian, I'm a cartesian cold-blooded animal and my culture is a mix of French, Dutch and German cultures. I'm used to be with women like the ones you see on TV in "Derrick". With my previous Polish girlfriend, I was spending most of the time trying to cope with an emotional hurricane which made me think of Penelope Cruz in the film "Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona". :-) I'm a bit exaggerating the caricature, of course. But she was complaining that I had "no sensibility" (!) and was not expressive enough. As a result, she didn't feel secure with me. And I was exhausted by her sudden changes of mood and her frequent exaggeration, and ended up telling her to go to a psychologist. I must however mention than even her mother and her best friend kept telling her to cool down, but it was useless. This misunderstanding on both sides eventually destroyed the relationship.

Since January this year, I'm with a new Polish tornado, though a much smaller one this time. So far it's OK. Of course I received my dose of energetical complaint already, but after socializing with Polish girls over the past 2 years, I now understand how to deal with it. The question is: "will I have the patience to deal with it in the long term?". Slavic soul can be touching with its romanticism at the beginning, but its unpredictability and extreme intensities could still easily shut me down. I envy those Polish men who can somehow manage it with the appropriate way and "coolness". ;-)

Law / What information is in the Schengen Information System? [10]

Paul,

So all of this happened by telephone while you were back to the U.S. and she still in Poland? First of all, I doubt she filed a complaint. She rather looks like somebody with a big mouth, and probably not many guts. Furthermore, filing for harassment has been a specialty in the U.S. and not necessarily in all countries ;-) and this case looks rather childish to me.

And if such complaint was actually filed, the police will investigate the communications both of you had by requesting informations from the telephone company. Did you call her twenty times a day during this "conflict"? Did you threaten her of rape or murder? You're innocent unless proven otherwise, and you wouldn't probably come back to Poland just to meet one of those immature and emotional Polish pests, would you? ;-)

Forget about it and sleep well...

Work / Polish students among best in OECD [32]

I've read the results. I think the problem with the methodology is that it only focuses on reading, math and science. Very restrictive... Happy to see that Belgium still ranks amongst the best despite the disastrous reform started twenty years ago by a new socialist government in order to allow just any ignorant proletarian brat to make it to college. Negatively surprised to see that Luxembourg and Russia are below average; I would expect them to be higher. And Poland ranks where I expected, in the top ones ("average" according to their figures, but still in the top ones).

When it comes to the U.S., I blame their school system for providing pupils an image of the world restricted to their country. I'm speaking of the ideological aspect of education. In a few words, being ignorant of what is outside America, considering that everything done differently from the American way is wrong, and brainwashing them with a sort of "we are the champions of the world" way of thinking. You see that a lot when you talk to Mr and Mrs Everyman. Come on, bring on REAL geography lessons and that would already help a lot.

Life / Welcome to winter in Poland! (-19C tomorrow) [64]

I was surprised by winter. I woke up Saturday morning (Kraków) to find out snow. Didn't fall yesterday but this morning it was heavy snow. Back to using mountain shoes instead of classy oxfords and monks.

• 
  Took a picture with iPhone this afternoon, while walking in Planty :
  

Travel / Vegetarian places to eat in Krakow [30]

I like chimera.com.pl. Good restaurant downstairs, and more casual food on the ground floor in a nice courtyard. It's not just veggie but they have wonderful salads, vegetable pies, vegetable and fruit juices.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

Why did restaurants, pubs and theater lobbies stopped the tradition of having a "smoke room" (not sure about the English word though, in French we say "fumoir") ? Then it was OK until people remained courteous and asked their neighbour if they'd mind their smoking ? Then of course if the neighbour expressed the fact that smokes annoys him/her, the smoker would refrain.

Unfortunately with the advent of "It's my freedom, I have the right to this, I have the right to that, and blah blah blah...", manners disappeared and excess triumphed in many domains. I'm happy of this ban on smoking, although I'm an occasional smoker myself. I had stopped going to several places because of the heavy moke. It's suffocating and makes me sick. I smoke pipe and, due to its strong smell which not everybody likes, I only smoke it at home. Which reminds me of the stunned look of a Polish girl to whom I had just said "Od czasu do czasu, bardzo lubię dobrą fajkę".

Food / Any królik (rabbit) fanciers on PF? [76]

Where to buy good rabbit in Kraków ? I know of a few good recipes from my grandmother and would like to try them out for my Polish znajomych here ;-)

For example, cooked in the oven with szalots and brown or cherry beer. Mniam...

Law / Your experience as a foreigner running a small business in Poland [43]

In my case, registration was quick and easy and the same goes for all other things like opening a bank account, registering for social security and tax office.

Beware though of who you call in as a legal advisor and accountant. Poland, like all poor countries, are full of people who will claim they can do everything for you just to make you one of their customers, although they don't have the required level of expertise or simply no clue of what you expect from that kind of professional relationship.

Travel / Starbucks in Wawel Castle, Krakow. Is this a joke or true? [42]


Is it Krakowska or Kazimierz? I was shopping at Alma in Galeria Kazimierz lately and saw a Starbuck announced.

Food / Problem to find "cream" in Poland [23]

I confirmed that £ukasz recommended the right product. Actually the one I'm using is the "Śmietana kremowa 30%" from Mlekovita. It's thicker than "Śmietana do kawy" so it's more appropriate for some sauces. The more liquid Śmietana do kawy is however OK to mix with soups.

But what they advertise as "for sauce and soup" in Poland is definitely not appropriate for sauces in foreign recipes.

Work / Wage and Salary rates in Poland [37]

Last summer, the person who was to become my accountant told me that (so, it's for 2009), the lowest monthly salary in Poland is around 980 zł netto (the money that is actually disposable).

Law / Advice required about opening a Serbian restaurant in Krakow [24]


Cevapcici is delicious !


Official informations about migrating and conducting business in Poland. Read the Polish Law section.

Travel / Internet for 1 month in Kraków? [11]

Orange also has offers for 3G USB dongles.

Life / Talking over people in conversations; is it a Polish trait? [41]

Not a Polish trait. Just a lack of education for some people.

I always wait until somebody finishes, before I say something. If I accidentally interrupt somebody, I will usually realize it, stop talking and apologize. And when I get interrupted (I hate it) especially during an argument, I usually interrupt back by toughly asking "May I finish?".

Next time a Greek woman interrupts you, tell her to go and shave.

History / Poles should emulate Jews? [153]

Nice text. But I couldn't comment, as I'm no Pole and don't know Poles well enough although I live here. One thing I see however, is how passive they can be when it comes to changing things in their native country. They will just run away abroad in search of a better life, then criticize Poland remotely. Probably a consequence of communist culture where everything sorts of "comes from above", and the feeling of being powerless as a consequence.

USA, Canada / US Polonia 70% for Kaczyński [343]


Actually, my remark was not to express disappointment or anything. I consider normal that a foreigner, whichever country he is, isn't automatically granted the right to vote. And it doesn't matter whether it is a presidential election, or local, or European. ;-)

USA, Canada / US Polonia 70% for Kaczyński [343]


It's an interesting point. But following your logic, would you then accept that foreigners living in Poland, working and paying taxes there, have the right to vote?