Study / Moving to Warsaw for graduate school- need advice on relocation [10]

I would like to try to fit in as well as I can; I don't want to be instantly recognized as a foreigner walking in the street. How should I dress for this purpose? Also, would wearing a beard make me look more or less foreign?

Also, can anyone recommend any children's television programs that I could find online to help my three-year-old son pick up a bit of Polish? He loves watching Dora the Explorer and has learned a lot of Spanish from that.

Study / Moving to Warsaw for graduate school- need advice on relocation [10]

I am from the United States. I grew a beard for a while here and I was just wondering what the fashion was as far as that goes in Poland.

A few more questions:

How does the cost of landline phones compare to mobile phones in Poland?

Can I get prescriptions filled in Poland with a prescription written by an US doctor?

Study / Moving to Warsaw for graduate school- need advice on relocation [10]

Also, I've heard that electronics are more expensive in Poland than the US. Are they expensive enough that it makes sense for us to ship a desktop computer from here or is the difference in cost less expensive that the shipping? Are there any customs complications with doing that?

Life / Realistic grocery budget for a family of three in Warsaw? [20]

I am unfamiliar with either of those terms. Google tells me that Biedronka is a discount grocery that sells mostly local products under store brands and is targeted toward low-income consumers. That sounds a lot like Aldi in the United States where we do most of our grocery shopping (we've always been frugal people). What is Kaczynski style?

I assume that Biedronka is probably the way we would go. I assumed that we would be trying to buy as local as possible to keep costs down.

Life / Best place to buy winter clothing in Warsaw [11]

The stores where I live don't carry any real heavy winter clothing anyway; it doesn't get cold enough here even in the wintertime, and even if they did they won't have it during the summer when I would need to buy it; I'd have to mail order, pay shipping on that to here and then ship it to Warsaw. Is the price differential sufficient to justify that?

Also, are trenchcoats common in Warsaw? I'd rather get a coat that would look good over a suit as well for church as well as more casual clothes, but not if it carries a negative connotation- a friend of mine said that at least in Bulgaria they were associated with the mafia.

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]

Wow. Such emotional responses to such a simple question. I know a lot of you think that Americans are all a little trigger-happy, but let me give you some context on why I tend to carry:

1. I grew up in a very rough neighborhood in Los Angeles where my family and I were witnesses to the murder of a child. As a result we had constant death threats to try to keep us from testifying; the district attorney told my father to purchase a gun because he was not confident that the police could protect us. There were gang shootings at my school, etc. That has an effect on one's psyche.

2. I have worked both in corrections and as a police officer, and I have run into my "clients" off duty on numerous occasions, in situations that could have easily become a confrontation with someone I had fought with on duty previously in a segregation unit. Not being armed would have been irresponsible under those circumstances and endangered my family. I know these circumstances do not apply to my stay in Poland. I merely sought to be informed of the laws there, because I firmly believe in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law, something that is hard to do if you don't know what the law is.

I know that Europeans have a different outlook on weapons, war, and many other things than Americans. One of the reasons I will be living in Europe is so that I can respectfully learn about and appreciate other cultures on a real, day to day level (not just on the level of a tourist) and have a better understanding of the way they think. I accept that not everyone looks at the world the way I do. I want to understand how they do look at it. I think a lot of you should try to do the same.

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]

@ Z_Darius
You say that defending yourself from the government is a hilarious argument for the right to bear arms.

I cannot speak for Poland, but it is a real concern in the United States.
In 1838 The State of Missouri called out the militia to wipe out an entire religious group because they had dared to try to defend themselves from mobs burning their homes and murdering their families. The governor's order declared that they "must be exterminated or driven from the State." For more information go here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Executive_Order_44

That is just one example. If the government came to slaughter and drive out my family, I sure as heck wouldn't just lay down and die. This has happened before in our country. There is a lot of blood on the American flag, even if most of my fellow citizens are ignorant of it.

Quite frankly I am somewhat surprised that Poland doesn't encourage a well-armed citizenry, given its history of invasion and their geographical vulnerability, and the way that Russia has been reasserting itself, such as its invasion of Georgia in 2008 (this is not intended as a snide remark or insult here; The Poles are obviously free to do as they see fit in this regard, and certainly no foreigner has any right to criticize them for it. I am just surprised).

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]

There are numerous examples of self defense shootings in the South of the US that are fully justified. I remember hearing just a few months ago of an old woman who was able to defend herself against multiple young male armed assailants in my local area because she had a gun. Firearms are an equalizer; they make it harder for the strong to prey on the weak. Even if you can't take on the government directly small arms can still be effective in a long-term insurgency. If you want a more recent example of the US federal authorities overstepping their authority, you should remember that during WWII the federal government put American citizens of Japanese descent into internment camps with no due process. Granted we didn't massacre them the way Nazi Germany and Stalin chose to do to their targets, but I believe they would have been fully justified in resisting such action with weapons if necessary. Don't forget too, things can change very fast. Germany went from economic ruin and military defeat to being at the gates of Moscow and defeating France in only twenty years.

Classifieds / Warsaw (PL) Tabletop Role Playing Game Group for Expats Only. D&D Fortnightly [87]

I'd love to join you in September. I'm moving to Warsaw for grad school in September and haven't been able to play a good pen and paper D&D game in a long time. I've DMed several groups and am very familiar with 3.5, at least. I think its silly the way they feel a need to release a new edition so quickly. I hope you guys will have room for me.

I love playing unconventional characters. Two of my most memorable characters were a halfling barbarian with a major napoleon complex and an insane monk who thought he was actually a mage. At the worst possible moment the "mage" would stop fighting unarmed and start trying to "cast" something. He also had an imaginary dragon familar he spoke to on a regular basis and everything he said was always in rhymes. He was a lot of fun to play.

Life / Cost of delivering a child in Poland [30]

I will be in Warsaw in September. At this point I am still in the US.

Life / Cost of delivering a child in Poland [30]


My wife will be having our second child in Warsaw around February.


Since neither I nor my wife are Polish, my understanding is that our child will be born an American citizen by blood and we will just have to register his or her birth with the US Embassy. In our situation our child would only be born Polish if he or she would otherwise be stateless, which doesn't apply here. We will need to get a passport.


I would love to see that article. I'll PM you my email address.

As far as insurance, at this point medicover looks like our best bet. I'm not dead set against using state hospitals but I can't get a visa for my family without proof of health insurance, and medicover would cost less than half what insurance from one of the foreign companies that caters to expatriates would charge. Medicover has English-speaking staff which helps too since my Polish isn't very good yet. I don't think there is a way for non-EU citizens to use the state system (If I'm wrong please let me know, I'd like to know all my options- the main concern is the visa thing).

Language / plural forms (cztery kubki / czternascie kubkow) [23]

Quite confusing. I'm glad I will be able to take a class once I get there. Polish will be my fourth language but the grammar is so different from English or the romance languages I have already learned. I think I'm gonna put away Rosetta stone for a while and concentrate on my grammar book. Rosetta is great for helping me with listening and pronunciation I think but it hasn't helped much with grammar at all.

Life / Anything like netflix in Poland? [27]

I love netflix instant viewing and I'd like to find a similar streaming service I can use in Poland. I understand how I could still access netflix from Poland but if there is a comparable European service I'd rather use that and get more exposure to non-American cinema. Are there any that work in Poland without a VPN?

USA, Canada / Gift idea for something uniquely American that is difficult to find in Poland? [67]

Thanks for all the ideas, guys. This thread provided me some great entertainment.

I guess the real question is would a baby bison get along with a pygmy marmoset? If not I better only get him one or the other ;)

Travel / Area's of Warsaw worth a visit? (including outdoor camping) [9]

Merged: Boy scout camping/hiking in Warsaw area question

I am a youth leader at my church in Warsaw. We are starting a varsity scout team through the Boy Scouts of America so that our American boys can continue in the Scouting program. Does anyone have any recommendations of great places to hike or camp fairly close to Warsaw? Any other outdoors activities you'd recommend for this area?