History / Why Poland is not Russia [192]


I think it has something to do with invading each other's countries throughout history.

Life / What do Polish people do for fun? [18]

Picking mushrooms or berries in the woods, depending on the season.

western companies???

Language / Standard Polish taught in schools? [18]



Lubin (near Wrocław) is Dolny Śląsk but many of the residents are descendants of eastern Poles relocated here at the end of the war.

It seems odd to me that in Dolny Śląsk, no one seems to speak Śląsk!

Law / Permanent residency for my Chinese wife (I'm Polish) [3]

You can't get permanent residence immediately after marriage. You need to go to the urząd województwo to get temporary residence, maintain that for two years, then you can apply for permanent. See if you can get a two year temp. They gave me a year and a half, so I get to reapply (and pay fees again) so I can finish up the two years and apply for permanent. As far as I know the exact duration of the temporary is up to the issuing clerk.

Oh, yeah. This is after you get to Poland on a short term visa from the Polish consulate/embassy.

Language / Polish baby talk [16]


Not strange to the baby! :->

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

I read what you wrote and I typed what I know from experience.
I'm just curious. Which kantor do you work at?

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


I did check. I get more złoty than I would going to a kantor. Maybe you need to look for another bank.

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


Not true. I get the same rate that Forex shows as the current exchange rate when I withdraw pln. Kantors always take a bite out of you when exchanging money. That is, after all, how they pay their rent. And unless Kalifornia is the newest woj. mine is not a Polish bank.

News / Marion Barry insults Polish people calling them "Polacks" [33]


You sound like a Lenny Bruce fan! :->

News / Marion Barry insults Polish people calling them "Polacks" [33]

The only Poles I know who might be insulted if I called them a Polak are the women. They prefer Polka.

Language / The Polish language - it's bloody hard! [210]


If the other language is Polish, you are correct.
I have a theory.
Long ago a king of Poland decided to raise money by taxing vowels.
The populace responded "Screw you! We just won't use any!"
Kind of a Polish version of the Boston Tea Party.

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

I always use a bankomat (ATM) and withdraw in złoty. Most of the bankomats now offer to charge you in dollars (or Pounds, or Euros I suppose) and give you a "guaranteed rate" which seems to be 4 or 5 percent worse than what I get by letting my bank do the exchange. I don't know if that is true of most banks or only mine.

Love / What strange/unnerving/funny things do your Polish wives do? [153]

Nothing particularly Polish about that one. The husband asking nor the wife's answer. :->

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]


Once you find a place you might want to take along a translator to help with financial details, etc, but as far as searching through the ads, google translate works well.

After your first dozen ads you'll see that there are about 20 or so words that are repeated over and over.
Especially words like "cichy" and "spokojny" :->

Life / Poles always ask how much money you earn. Why do they do this? [30]

I've had people ask me that question.
Maybe it's not so much prying into your personal space as it is doing research for their own future. If you're thinking of going out of country for work it would be nice to know what "real people" earn where you're headed.

The same conversations usually include questions about what it costs to live there.
Also, I get less personal questions about how much different professions make.

Life / Polish people are the most ignorant people in the world! [331]

Wizard's use of English is very strange for an American. At least he used a spell checker.
It's just a shame that Avalon and phtoa were sucked in by such an obvious troll.

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]



That's pretty much my point. One doesn't walk up and say hello in Poland, much less ask for their financial status. And to assume that the way things are done in Polish cities is the way they are done "in all social situations" would indicate you are rather limited in your exposure to "social situations" around the world.


Barking? You mean the caps? I plead guilty to the unnecessary capitalization of "Dobry" but maintain that capitalizing "Dzien" was appropriate. :->

Study / Is it really worth moving back to Poland to study in a pharmacy school? [44]


I can't quite imagine doing this in a country where "Dzien Dobry!" gets you an icy stare from strangers on the street. lol

Life / You've been in Poland a while if .... [49]

- you stop trying to explain to people that San Francisco is not very close to San Diego and just say "No, I don't think I remember meeting your cousin."

- you realize that "Nie, dziękuje." never works at the dinner table.
- you say "Herbatka" not because you want tea, but because you don't want to hear the list of all possible drinks your host can provide.

- you pepper your English with Polish words because the Polish words fit better what you're trying to say.
- you laugh when someone mentions the A2

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]

The A4 between Kraków and Wrocław is pretty nice. And then there is ... uhh ... hmmmm... ???

Life / Scars of Communism on Polish culture. [55]


Just tremble, roll your eyes, and talk to people who aren't there, preferably in a language other than Polish. You'll find you have lots of space in the line.

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


Uhh, it was a joke.....

- you stop trying to explain to people that San Francisco is not very close to San Diego and just say "No, I don't think I remember meeting your cousin."

- you realize that "Nie, dziękuje." never works at the dinner table.
- you say "Herbatka" not because you want tea, but because you don't want to hear the list of all possible drinks your host can provide.

- you pepper your English with Polish words because the Polish words fit better what you're trying to say.
- you laugh when someone mentions the A2.

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


Ok, maybe California has better beaches than Śląsk......

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

"Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash" ROFL
There will never be a FINAL report as long as PiS thinks they can stir up things by demanding another investigation!

Life / You've been in Poland a while if .... [49]


- you expect beef to be cooked to the point it falls apart on your plate or raw with raw egg and onions. Neither of which requires a knife!

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


You now know one. Or at least know of one.
After 40 years in California I moved to Poland. It's hard to convince Poles that years consisting of 50 weeks of warm sunny weather and two weeks of downpour get boring after a while, but it's true. And I'm living in a house with more history than anything in California not made of mud bricks that cost me about what a nice one car garage would in CA. Not a house with a one car garage, just the garage.

Real Estate / Thinking of buying an offplan Luxury Property Wroclaw [79]

On our first trip to Poland I asked my wife if we shouldn't look at buying an apartment in a building undergoing remodeling very near her parents' place. The artwork looked great and the building would include underground parking and a playground. Oddly enough the asking price was 50,000 PLN....

On our second trip to Poland we found the developer had left the country, taking all the pre-payments with him. Luckily for us my wife had decided she wanted a house not an apartment.

Caveat Emptor seems to be the applicable phrase here.

Life / Moving to Poland Part-Time (probably Katowice) [56]

Which part of Sosnowiec are they from? :->
My wife is Śląsk on her birthday and Gorole on her name day....
Katowice is not a bad area if you need to be near heavy industry. and Śląsk (the language) has heavy German influence which makes it easier to learn for a native English speaker. Not so many szcz type phonemes.

USA, Canada / Would like to move back to Poland from New York after living in USA for 20 years. [155]

My situation is quite different from yours. I'm retired, have no Polish heritage, am slowly learning pidgin Polish, moved here with my wife, a Polish native. We are living in a small village far from anything that would be considered a medium sized town in Southern California where I lived for forty years before coming here. That being said ....

I think I know enough about what you are going through to be able to say "Give it a try."
I agree with several other posters that you should try to find a job before you come over, and that teaching English is not a viable option. Knowing a subject and teaching a subject are two very different things.

Housing costs in Warsaw are outrageous compared to the rest of Poland, just like they are in New York City compared to the rest of New York.

Some things cost more, some things less and there is a different take on what is a necessity and what is a luxury.
The winters are very cold compared to So. Cal., but not bad compared to the US North East and Mid West.
The hardest thing to get used to is the cultural homogeneity. Everybody knows the saints days and the life history of THE Pope. Everybody knows that the "katastrofa" means Smolensk. Nobody questions why the shops are closed on Sunday. Why whiskey, vodka, and wine are in a special high security section of the store, but beer is stacked next to the soft drinks and mineral water. Something built 300 years ago may be historical, but something built 100 years ago is just old.

It will be either frightening or fascinating, and you'll never know which until you try.
I've found it all fascinating, I hope you will too!