Work / What is a 'HND' Business qualification in Poland? [42]


They may be in certain aspects - but as Matura they are the entry level to University. In this particular aspect they are equal.

GCSE... Ok, maybe in South Africa the educational system is a bit old an they are done later... What I was saying is that this is not enough to enter University, hence additional education is required (A-levels or Foundation).

Bottom line is that there are fundamental differences in the educational system across the world and it's not easy to find equivalent of every single thing without generalisation, such as MA = Magister, BA = Licencjat etc.

An as with every generalisation there will be 100's of examples where the given example is irrelevant because of the education level of the institution, schooling age, years spent at school or similar.

And the problem is that because of lack of some worldwide institution which would regulate this this is going to get worse - because people want "the paper" (degree, MBA, you name it...). Which now creates the response from the educational market which will be eager to provide "the paper". As more of the institutions are willing to provide it, the cost goes down and so does the standard... Unfortunately. So what's next? I saw a very interesting movie (movie not so good, but interesting concept) a while ago called "Idiocracy" - is this the way we are heading?

Work / What is a 'HND' Business qualification in Poland? [42]


I rest my case - I haven't studied in UK. But I still think it depends on institution. There are some pretty good Unis in Poland and some pretty crappy in UK...

Yeah - I understand what you are saying about comercialisation... Looks like now you will need a degree (the commercial one of course...) to choose a degree... I'm surprised no-one came up with it yet - a niche market to explore ;)

Work / What is a 'HND' Business qualification in Poland? [42]


Nope - rest is good for me. Not convinced.

Work / What is a 'HND' Business qualification in Poland? [42]


How could you be so sneaky Times? Rest in peace!

News / Poland being the powerhouse of Europe [40]


The issue here is corruption - the less developed country, the bigger the corruption.
BUT - Gulf Countries (look at UAE, Qatar, Kuwait) - those countries have very good standard of life. Yes, sheikhs are filthy rich (they had enough time to get rich), but at least they build structure and facilities that others benefit from.

USA, Canada / Lost Polish Passport--How To Obtain In The US? [8]


If he only needs to go back to Poland (from where he can re-apply for his passport and visa) - he only needs temporary travel document as Zman mentioned. This is only valid for travel back to Poland, as no other country will allow him in on this document. Once within Shengen he can travel on "Dowod Osobisty".

He may need to show proof of reporting the stolen passport to the Police in order to obtain the clearance letter to travel - I don't think he needs to cry :)

News / Poland being the powerhouse of Europe [40]

Haha, at least animals are taken care of :) But seriously - those golf courses and stables need maintenance, so they are creating employment. Not that they pay them well anyway, but at least a poor folk has a choice... Live in a stable with royal horses or live in the desert... And I'm sure royal horses live in good facilities :)

News / Poland being the powerhouse of Europe [40]


...even better... I was being sarcastic...

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]

Sukali - Poland is no different than any other European country in terms of safety for tourists.
You are probably going to be safer in countryside than in big cities, people are generally very friendly towards tourists.
I probably wouldn't go as far as camper-van (simply because I don't know how good are the facilities, but I'm sure you can check this on the internet) but there is other accommodation available (most popular is guest rooms - "pokoje goscinne").

Hotels, unless you go for the known chains are not the best.
Keep an eye on your luggage though, there is a lot of petty theft in Poland. No valuables in general bus storage, make sure you have certified copies of your documents - usual stuff really. Hiring a car is a good option, but roads are not so good and you will need to drive left hand drive :) If you are OK with that, hire a car rather than use buses, much more comfortable if you have big luggage. If you stick to backpack/small suitcase, buses and trains are OK (don't stay alone in a train compartment though, rather choose one with few respectively looking people in there already).

Have a great trip!

Love / Woman 23, man 47 years old. What do you think about ? [162]


Same as 47 year old woman and 23 year old man :) or isn't it?

Love / My Polish girlfriend's mother called her a prostitute because we live together [113]


You REALLY think paper is going to guarantee that? That you even need paper for this?

Love / My Polish girlfriend's mother called her a prostitute because we live together [113]


Money is not just a piece of paper. If it was, you wouldn't be able to buy anything for it (or at least very, very little). In fact you don't need the PAPER at all to buy things. This is only proving my point that this is the meaning behind the paper that is more important than the paper itself.

There are different reasons why people don't want that paper - often it's failed marriage already (where the paper brought more trouble for one party than lack of the paper ever would have). Sometime is a fear. Sometimes you may be right - lack of commitment. Sometimes people don't want to "fix" if there is no problem. If both parties are happy without the paper why would they want to change things? Marriage in the registry office or church is a contract. Some people need it to feel secure, some don't. Morals have nothing to do with this. Do you think a marriage where husband and wife cheat on each other is better that committed relationship of two people who are together because they want to be, don't risk the happiness through cheating on each other?

Love / My Polish girlfriend's mother called her a prostitute because we live together [113]


Absolutely - I cannot agree more!
This is a serious concern. But there are ways of sorting things out before they happen - the best is to draw Will to regulate such issues. Here in South Africa, even if you are married you still need Will to execute your rights, hereditary law is not very good and takes ages to execute (the fact that you can legally have more than one wife does not make it easier), that's why almost everyone has Will.

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

F stop, absolutely agree, moreover, the OP is trying to make a link between living together us unmarried couple and pathology. I think it's the other way round, social pathology can't be bothered to take any responsibility (including getting married or even divorced from previous marriage). They shack up with random partners so surely kids suffer. It wouldn't changed anything if they suddenly married. Whoever thinks otherwise is delusional.

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


You seem to take part of the statement and comment on it rather than comment on meaning. If you are talking about NORMAL AND FUNCTIONING marriage, than I can agree with you. But I did not talk about normal and functioning marriage/relationship. The post was about "patologia" in Poland. Kids are given stable environment by responsible parents - the "patologia" is far from being responsible, therefore nothing would change if they got married.


Really? I'm surprised to hear that - I thought Russia was actually quite progressive on those issues. What rights are illegitimate children denied? Interesting to know...

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


But surely this only relates to kids who's fathers did not "register themselves" as their fathers not to all kids born outside marriage? If a father recognises his fatherhood on childs birth documents - will it still make difference if the child is born outside marriage?

Love / My Polish girlfriend's mother called her a prostitute because we live together [113]


I wouldn't attribute this to "Polki" rather to the level of thinking of lower class parents anywhere in the world (not excluding Poland), by whom marrying a daughter off to a rich guy is considered a "social promotion" - which I think is what Azra87 was trying to say.

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


And what if drinking causes violence? You really think it's good for the kids to watch their mother beaten up til she's blue or getting beaten up themselves? If this is what being married is about than your idea of marriage sucks.

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


Yes Zimmy - I actually agree with you on this one - I was only biased by frequency of occurrence.


I know some marriages where the husband treats dog better than he treats his wife... They are still married, so surely they share your views on "unbreakable bond".


You are not brainwashed in thinking that committing to one person is a good think, you are brainwashed in thinking that marriage is the only type of commitment that works (which clearly does not work in every single case). Just accept that people have different views on commitment and sometimes they don't need paper. Personally I have nothing against marriage, but I'm not going to expect everyone to be pro-marriage.

Real Estate / Buying flat in Poland by non resident [8]

I live in South Africa - proving the origin of money is not an issue, I work legally, the only problem is that it takes ages to get any sort of tax or government paper in South Africa...

I think tax return would be easiest, but I do mine on-line so would probably need to have one certified. And here one trip to tax office = one trip to hell...

The transfer would be done from my bank account in Poland, into which I transfer money from time to time, the value of property is not big (200-250 000 PLN) and I would be financing probably 50-80 000. I know that there are some taxes associated with transfer (like everywhere I guess) and the notary services, but not sure if there is anything else.

Real Estate / Buying flat in Poland by non resident [8]


My mom did and she said that the proof of the origin of funds may be required (although not always requested), as well as that I will have to give my mom special authorization so that she can sign documents in my place (called Apostile or something like that), which has to be signed by notary and government authorized official (who I still have to find...), but apparently Polish Consulate should be able to provide the list.

This is apparently because a flat is not only an asset but a liability so you can't just buy a flat for somebody (or make them co-owners) without them formally agreeing or participating in the process. It makes sense, but it all seems like a bit of pain in the a** so I might just give my portion to my mom as "darowizna" as far as i know this is not taxable between first tier family members (but I might be wrong).

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


Sofianec - make sure the company covers schooling for the kids, most of international companies do that when placing foreigners overseas. 7500 won't be enough to cover private school (not a good one).

Real Estate / Buying flat in Poland by non resident [8]

In Kielce (actually my mom is buying, I just contribute - she will be the real owner).
Thanks for the offer, I don't think it will be necessary as most of the painstaking activities need to be done in South Africa...

Law / Dying in Poland - Inheritance tax ? [62]

What about Deloitte? Company I work for uses them to manage expat's taxes and I haven't heard anyone complain so far?

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


Good - at least we understand each other here. The big issue is that marriage doesn't guarantee that the "multiple commitments" won't happen (not even talking about affair as this usually does not imply commitment, but a child out of wedlock does).


You seem to distinguish only the two types or relationships - no commitment or marriage. It is perfectly possible to be in fully committed, monogamous relationship, house and kids together without being married. As long as kids are brought up in a steady, happy home with two parents they won't know the difference. There is much more to commitment than marriage (but yes, I agree - you need sense of commitment to get married).


Oh, please, we are past the religious aspect.

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


Oh, yeah? And what would you do if your spouse brought you divorce papers to sign one day (for whatever reason)? Force her to stay with you?

Language / Polish language would look better written in Cyrillic Script? [212]


No - it couldn't have been. The Cyrillic script has only been developed after X century (and made popular even later, something like XII century). Before Cyrillian script was developed, Cyril and Methodius developed Glagolitic script - which was based on Greek script (although some of the characters are taken from Oriental scripts: Hebrew, Samaritan and Coptic)

Interesting link: ancientscripts.com/glagolitic.html
Texts in Glagolitic are apparently the oldest written Slavic texts.
Glagolitic probably wouldn't have even been introduced on the territory of Poland (due to being formally developed only in IX century) as Poland took Christianity from Rome (with the Latin script) in X century and the oldest scripts found are Latin.

I couldn't find much about scripts prior to Glagolitic and pre-Latin - were we illiterate back then?
Or, rather than that - based on the fact that Poland was on the "Amber Route" - we were likely to use combination of Latin and Greek characters (as most of the amber traffic came from those directions)?

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


I'm finding annulment worse than divorce. Divorce is admission of a mistake. Annulment is a denial.
You meet a person, you love them you get married and then suddenly decide that marriage is no longer valid for whatever reason.
This is the most selfish thing on earth.
Worse then saying I don't want to be with you any more, because I don't love you.

Love / Child support in USA order (child born in Poland) [56]


Yes - some earn 1200 PLN/month and some earn 12000 PLN/month. What's your point? You think 400 USD/month is too much?
If she works full time, doesn't have family to look after the kid and the kid could not get into nursery, she will pay the 1200 PLN/mont for the nanny.