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Posts by kpc21  

Joined: 19 Aug 2012 / Male ♂
Last Post: 17 Oct 2016
Threads: 1
Posts: 763
From: Łódź
Speaks Polish?: yes

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kpc21   
31 Jul 2016
UK, Ireland / How long does it take the package travel from UK to Poland [6]

Well... the post is always slow. I have sent twice a letter between Germany and Poland, and it took around a month, even though they were sent by priority mail. By the way, according to the tracking services, it took much longer in Germany than in Poland (it waited a few weeks on the Frankfurt airport).

Poczta Polska is not that slow with international shipping, the posts of other countries happen to be slower.

You should have a tracking number for your package, then you can check either on the website of Royal Mail (if it's still in the UK), or here: emonitoring.poczta-polska.pl/?lang=en

(if it's already in Poland) where it actually is.
kpc21   
30 Jul 2016
Life / Price/wage ratio in Poland - shocked! [16]

But take also into account, how many people actually buy new cars in Poland. Poles usually buy second-hand cars, and rarely new ones.
kpc21   
30 Jul 2016
Po polsku / Czy ma Brexit skutki dla Polski? [14]

Tylko bez tego ostatniego. Ci miejscowi nie są leniwi, tylko już dawno ich tu nie ma.

Ale ci elektrycy- hydraulicy to juz chyba nie wroca.

Jak ich nie wywalą po Brexicie, ale nic na to nie wskazuje.
kpc21   
30 Jul 2016
Language / Dziadzia / Babcia - help me with spelling/pronunciation [81]

"busia" must be something regional because I haven't met nor heard that until I appeared on this forum, living in Poland since I was born.

Even as a child, I have always used just "babcia" and "dziadek". "Dziadziuś", "babunia", also "dziadzia", "dziadzio" for a grandpa - I have heard that, but never "busia". I assume it can be a kind of abbreviation from "babunia", or rather "babusia", but I have never heard that in practice.
kpc21   
29 Jul 2016
Po polsku / Zamachy w Polsce? [46]

No, byłoby dobrze, i akurat finansowanie kursów języka polskiego dla uchodźców (a nawet przymusowy w nich udział, chyba że uchodźca potrafi potwierdzić że zna polski) jak najbardziej bym rozumiał.
kpc21   
28 Jul 2016
Po polsku / Czy ma Brexit skutki dla Polski? [14]

Z tego co mi wiadomo, u nas na polach brakuje akurat rąk do pracy. To po prostu ciężka praca i ludzie nie chcą jej wykonywać.

A np. wszelkiego rodzaju pracowników budowlanych kompletnie brakuje. Jak trzeba w mieszkaniu zrobić jakiś remont, to czasem trzeba czekać wiele miesięcy na elektryka, hydraulika, glazurnika, specjalistę od parkietów itd.
kpc21   
28 Jul 2016
Po polsku / Zamachy w Polsce? [46]

A oni (uchodzcy owi) byli zalamani, ze w takich warunkach im przyszlo zyc.

No to ktoś powinien im przypomnieć że tutaj są uchodźcami. Jak chcą luksusy, to nikt im nie broni kupić luksusowego mieszkania i wynająć służby (skoro mieli takie u siebie, to pewnie ich stać), ale nie ma nic za darmo.

Logiczne, że za darmo mogą dostać minimum socjalne, a i tak moim zdaniem powinno się ich zmuszać do jakiejś pracy, a nie żeby dostawali wszystko kompletnie za darmo.

Jest dużo zajęć do których brakuje ludzi.

Ale w Polsce mamy taką sytuację, że wielu Polaków żyje z zasiłków socjalnych, tak naprawdę nie szukając żadnej pracy, albo dorabiając sobie na czarno. Najpierw to trzeba by było zmienić. Rozumiem, że jeśli ktoś jest niepełnosprawny czy ciężko chory i faktycznie nie może pracować, powinien dostawać jakieś pieniądze (a tacy ludzie często dostają tych zasiłków zbyt mało i nie stać ich na potrzebne im leki!). Ale jeśli ktoś jest w pełni sprawny i może pracować, tylko nie chce, bądź udaje że nie pracuje, to w takiej sytuacji żadnych zasiłków nie powinien dostawać (ewentualnie tyle, by pokryć różnicę między zarobkami na tym stanowisku a minimum socjalnym). Jest dużo prac, do wykonywania których właśnie brakuje ludzi.
kpc21   
28 Jul 2016
Life / Price/wage ratio in Poland - shocked! [16]

Is there any Eastern European country out there still with extremely low prices across the board (rent, groceries, clothes)?

Ukraine
kpc21   
27 Jul 2016
Travel / Train from Poland to Serbia and car from Lithuania to Budapest [15]

hi, i want to go from poland to budapest what is the cheapest way?is there any bus?thanks

If you can find a cheap flight (and you don't have to carry a big luggage with you), then WizzAir plane, if not, Lux Express bus. There is also PolskiBus, and, if I remember well, also buses of Hungarian companies: OrangeWays and VolanBusz, but Lux Express is the most comfortable and with prices comparable with the others. The second in the comfort row would be VolanBusz, then PolskiBus. OrangeWays - don't try to take it unless you really have to. I have read a lot of very bad opinions about this company.

The train is a little bit more expensive, but still worth its price. It has such a disadvantage that the ticket cannot be bought online. Interestingly, a train ticket from Budapest to Warsaw can be bought online (through the website of Hungarian railways), a return ticket as well, but not if you begin your trip in Poland. You have to do it at a ticket counter in Poland or in Hungary. Theoretically also in almost any other European country, but then it will cost much more (the special offer which makes the price 29 euro only will not be available). Maybe yet also in Czechia and Slovakia it's possible, but not anywhere else in Europe.

Some of the mentioned connections are from Warsaw, some from Cracow, some from Warsaw through Cracow.

In the Lux Express bus you have quite a lot of space for your legs (as for a bus), wifi (in my case it worked only in Poland, but even the drivers were surprised, so I assume that normally it works along the whole route) and an entertainment system.
kpc21   
27 Jul 2016
Po polsku / Zamachy w Polsce? [46]

Kwestia tego, ile przyjmiemy uchodźców, była długo negocjowana. Jeśli dobrze pamiętam z relacji polskich mediów, rzeczywiście tak było, Niemcy chcieli nam im wcisnąć więcej. Z tym że my, w przeciwieństwie np. do Węgier, staraliśmy się zachować rozsądek, i przyjść ich tylu, ilu rzeczywiście jesteśmy w stanie, a nie "nie bo nie".

Przynajmniej część z nich to rzeczywiście uchodźcy potrzebujący pomocy.

Mniej więcej w tym samym czasie (po tych negocjacjach) niektóre partie były przeciwne przyjmowaniu jakichkolwiek uchodźców, jednak, jak wiadomo, większość zdobył PiS, którego program w zakresie polityki migracyjnej nie różnił się akurat zbytnio od programu poprzednio rządzącej PO.

Nieprzyjmowanie uchodźców z krajów objętych wojną oznacza tyle, że w razie gdyby, nie daj Boże, u nas miała miejsce wojna, również nie oczekujemy że inne kraje przyjmą naszych uchodźców.

Też słyszałem o tym, że Ukraińcy mają obecnie bardzo łatwy dostęp do Polski i polskiego rynku pracy.

I dobrze, że chcemy z tym krajem utrzymywać dobre stosunki.
kpc21   
26 Jul 2016
Po polsku / Zamachy w Polsce? [46]

Do Polski przybywają uchodźcy, ale główne z Ukrainy.

Kto z osób stojących za ostatnimi zamachami w Europie faktycznie był jednym z uchodźców którzy przybyli tu w ciągu ostatniego roku?

Oni nie identyfikują się z ISIS, i ISIS też się z nimi nie identyfikuje. Jeśli jest jakiś związek między ich przybyciem a zamachami, to raczej taki, że terroryści atakują miejsca, do których ci uchodźcy uciekają.

W Polsce nie ma zbyt wielu muzułmanów, bo po prostu dotychczas nie było ich wielu. Ci przybywający do Europy obecnie jako uchodźcy czy imigranci to mała grupa w porównaniu z tymi, którzy żyli dotychczas w krajach zachodnioeuropejskich. W Niemczech czy we Francji było ich dużo i jest dużo, natomiast w Polsce ogólnie jest bardzo mało obcokrajowców (96% ludności to Polacy, a największą mniejszość narodową stanowią... Niemcy). 7000 uchodźców tego nie zmieni, bo to 0,02% obecnej liczby ludności Polski.
kpc21   
25 Jul 2016
Travel / Lublin to Tatra Mountains, Zakopane - via public transport in Poland [9]

there is a big traffic jam from Krakow to Zakopane

Bus is faster even in traffic jam conditions, trains are just terribly slow on this route. The tracks condition is not good, the railway line winds much and the train has to change the direction a few times, which in case of long-distance trains means waiting until the locomotive will be transported to the other end of the train.

By train it takes 3-4 hours, while by bus - around 2 hours. Even if it will be 3 hours because of a traffic jam, it will be worth that.

I can recommend a train only in three cases:
- you are a fan of trains
- it's better for you to take a train for health reasons (motion sickness)
- you are going on a night long-distance train
kpc21   
25 Jul 2016
Life / Where to buy cosmetic items such as razor and pumice in Poland? [39]

Well, they should have them somewhere.

The Internet, even the Polish one, is not helpful here, because if you google for "where to buy a safety razor", it finds mostly posts of people from a subculture who want to buy them to cut their skin...

In the past it was easier, such razor blades were used not only for razors, but also in many other applications, for example in pencil sharpeners. Now it is no more so.

Some people say there should not be a problem to buy them in any newspaper kiosk or in a big supermarket like Real or Auchan.
kpc21   
20 Jul 2016
UK, Ireland / Time for Polish Leaving England [15]

after reading about the strong Brexit response as well as PM May's critical immigration stance, Panna Misiuk may not be far from wrong:-)

What turns out in polls, referendums, etc. to be what people actually want is often really surprising.

Look at the support Erdogan has in Turkey. People want him. Even though he violates all the human rights, and starts going towards religious country instead of Western Europe-style one. Some people were telling that he is like Putin. But now he seems to be rather like Stalin. Explicitly arresting thousands of people having nothing to do with the army, although the coup was military - but being just enemies of the system. It looks like stalinism, but just right-wing instead of left-wing. Although... he has support of the people. Doing all this explicitly. In Stalin times there was no free media in the Eastern Europe, showing what the country was actually doing. In Turkey there (still some) are.

The same mechanism is with Brexit, the same mechanism is with PiS winning elections in Poland... Tell people that you will give them money. Many will believe it's just election sausage (is there a proper English term for that? election sausage is how we call it in Poland) and they will get nothing, but even more believe in that, or will at least think - other parties don't say they will give away money, the main opponent party ruling for 8 years until now have only been increasing taxes, this one says it will be giving away 500 zł for each child every month, so let's vote for this one, there is a chance that they don't lie. Now the support of PiS grows even more, because they are actually realizing this promise.

Most people think just about themselves only and in short term. "I will get 500 zł. Not stupid investments, from which there is nothing [yes, because it takes time, but people don't notice that...], I will have pure money in my pocket. For which I can buy something.". And it is how it works.

From what I know, in the Brexit campaign they also used this money trick.

This is how democracy works. People get a task to rule a country, but they don't feel responsible for it. And the main deciding factor is in reality:

Now it's time to invent a better political system. But, supposedly, there is no better political system :(

Communism? In all known cases where it was introduced, it leaded to abuse, which had more or less, on larger or smaller scale, the same effects as now in Turkey (to which pure democracy leaded). And, by the way, communism is also democracy. By another way, it inherently leads to economical crysis.

Monarchia? Dictatorship? One king or a ruler of any other kind might be good, and then it will be defintely better then democracy, but the next one can be terrible and destroy the country.

Who will invent a new better political system, will be a genius.
kpc21   
20 Jul 2016
UK, Ireland / Time for Polish Leaving England [15]

And where will the UK find people willing to work for Polish wages? :-)

Personally for me it's not so bad - it will be easier to find a specialist when you need to make a renovation in your apartment.

Although actually, if you throw the Poles out (and you won't do it, because for economical reasons you will most likely stay associated with the EU, which means you will have to obey all the rules anyway), they will go to Germany, Denmark and Norway. So... do it :-) But I don't think you will manage to do it without an economical collapse of your country.
kpc21   
19 Jul 2016
Love / Baby naming in Poland - name chosen by the father? [48]

This might help avoid conflict. For example: Adam, Eryk, Alexander etc.

The only really neutral one of them is Adam (which is not weird taking its origin into account). With the others he will always have to explain the spelling being in another country than the one where his birth was born...

"Jestem Aleksander, ale pisze się przez x"
"I am Alexander, but spelled with ks"
kpc21   
19 Jul 2016
Law / How to get a Polish Police Certificate from overseas. [5]

It's possible now to do this online, however (as well as being more expensive) it requires that you have a "verified electronic signature".

I don't know how it is in this case, but for doing most administration staff that is available online, it's possible to use a "trusted profile", which is free, instead of "verified electronic signature". You must register on the website, send (through the website) an application for a "trusted profile" selecting a point to which you will have to physically go to confirm your identity (there are such points in Polish embassies and consulates) and go to this point with your identity card or a passport. Then you will be able to use those services.

To use this online administration platform (it's called ePUAP), you must have a PESEL number. If you don't have it, you can use only an electronic signature.

But it seems, you can also send the application for this certificate by post: bip.ms.gov.pl/pl/rejestry-i-ewidencje/krajowy-rejestr-karny/

bip.ms.gov.pl/pl/rejestry-i-ewidencje/krajowy-rejestr-karny/pytania-i-odpowiedzi/

You need this application form: bip.ms.gov.pl/Data/Files/_public/bip/krk/formularz_krk_osoba.pdf (PDF), bip.ms.gov.pl/Data/Files/_public/bip/krk/formularz_krk_osoba.rtf (RTF)

Fill it in:

- Nazwa i adres... (upper left corner) - your address (they will send it there)
- Data wystawienia - Current date
- Numer PESEL - your PESEL number, if you have it
- numer paszportu... - your passport number, only if you don't have a PESEL number
- Nazwisko rodowe - your original family name (before you got married, if you are not married or you didn't change it, and therefore you have never changed your family name, just put here the only one you have ever had)

- Nazwisko... - your current family name
- Imiona - all your "first" names (so not the family name)
- Imię ojca - first name of your father
- Imię matki - first name of your mother
- Data urodzenia - your birth date
- Nazwisko rodowe matki - maiden name of your mother (if she has never changed it, just put the current one)
- Miejsce urodzenia - City, town or village where you were born
- Obywatelstwo - nationality (if you are Japanese, write "japońskie" or: "Japonia")
- Miejsce zamieszkania - your current address where you live
- Wskazanie postępowania... - you may leave it empty, it's needed only if you apply for a certificate for someone else, which is allowed only in special cases

- Rodzaj danych... - you may mark all three points and it's the safest option, it doesn't increase the price
- Zakres danych... - you may leave it empty, reason the same as two fields above

You must transfer 30 PLN to the following bank account:

Recipient: Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości, Al. Ujazdowskie 11, 00-950 Warszawa
Bank name: NBP O/O Warszawa
IBAN: PL 77 1010 1010 0400 1922 3100 0000
Bank address:
Narodowy Bank Polski
Oddział Okręgowy Warszawa
Plac Powstańców Warszawy 4
00-950 Warszawa
The transfer title must contain the same date as in "data wystawienia" on the application form and your name (first name and family name is enough).

and attach the confirmation of the transfer to the application.

Send it to:
Biuro Informacyjne KRK
ul. Czerniakowska 100
00-454 Warszawa
POLAND

They have 7 days to prepare the certificate + the time for the post to deliver it in both directions + 20 days because if you are not a Polish citizen, they are obliged to ask your country if your records are clear also there and your country has 20 days to answer.

So if you need it quickly, try to contact both the Polish institution (Biuro Informacyjne KRK), as well as the institution responsible for issuing such certificates in your country (whom Poland will have to ask), and ask them to do everything quickly. And send it by a possibly fast kind of post service.

The certificate is actually just a stamp on your application. I am not sure how it is if you do it by post, but probably they will just send it back with a stamp.
kpc21   
15 Jul 2016
Law / "185 Days" Requirement for Applying a Driving License in Poland (Detailed Research) [5]

Relaying on the present/continuous tense in a text machine translated to English from a language which doesn't have such a division (ok, we have perfective and imperfective verbs, but they are not alwas equivalent to the English simple and continuous tense) is a stupid idea.

The Polish text says: (removed text in Polish)

You have to actually live in Poland, which means:

- either you are in Poland for at least 185 days every year (it's not said that it has to be 185 days one after another, you just have to be in Poland for most of the year) because of your personal or professional relations, or intending to stay in Poland because of your personal relations,

- or you "stay regularly" (so it can be less than 185 days, it's enough that you regularly return to Poland) in Poland because of your personal relations and due to your professional relations you stay in at least two EU countries,

- or you stay irregularry in Poland for your personal relations because you stay in another EU country to do a limited-time professional task,
- or you stay in another country due to studies or school education.

But I would say that these conditions refer to a situation when you don't have a driving license at all rather than to a situation when you want to exchange a foreign driving license. They are mentioned next to conditions such as that you have made a diving course or that you have passed an exam. And it's obvious that they are not the case when you have already a foreign driving license. The point about exchanging a foreign driving license says:

(text in Polish removed)

(sorry for this weird quoting stye, there is an error in the forum which I reported already a few weeks ago, the admin said it's fixed, but it is actually still not fixed...)

It says that it's enough to file an application. And, in some cases, to pass a theroetical part of the offcial exam.

But it seems that the offices actually interpret it so that those conditions refer to exchanging a foreign driving license as well. Don't ask me why.

You must just live permanently in Poland. If you were in Poland for at least 185 days within the last year, they shouldn't make any problems. In other cases - well, as you have written, no regulation says that you actually must have already been in Poland for 185 days, it may be your intention.

In my opinion - actually it is so that they cannot refuse registering you in the PKK system once you sign this paper. What they can do is check after a year if you actually stayed in Poland for at least 185 days within a year around the moment of signing that paper and take you to jail if it's not so.

What country are you from, so that they don't even issue IDP there?
kpc21   
14 Jul 2016
Language / Polish flower that starts with T [7]

Tulipan (tulip) is the most common, but I wouldn't call it a Polish flower, rather a Dutch one...
kpc21   
11 Jul 2016
Travel / Getting from Krakow to Warsaw [99]

IC and TLK trains are cheaper, but most of the connections between Warsaw and Cracow are the more expensive EIC and EIP.

The tickets are the cheaper, the earlier you buy them. They are to buy online on intercity.pl
Train connections search - rozklad.sitkol.pl

If you change between two trains in the middle of the route, it counts as a single connection and you get a single ticket (cheaper than 2 separate ones), but not if you buy the ticket online. So try to find a direct connection.

The tickets are sold not earlier than a month in advance.
kpc21   
11 Jul 2016
Life / A rumour about the need to give passport copy when you buy a prepaid sim number in Poland? [23]

So, without much talk, total control over population, what everyone talks, and exactly with whom, has been imposed.

Like in the communist times, or even worse - because in those times spying was much more difficult than with today's technology. In the past they had to find a suspect person first, now computers analyze everything.
kpc21   
9 Jul 2016
Travel / How does wizz air compare with ryanair? [32]

In Ryanair: 2 bags, one up to 55x40x20 cm, the other one up to 35x20x20 cm.
In Wizzair: one bag up to 42x32x25 cm

For me it looks like Ryanair is more generous. But it depends. In Wizzair you can pay not much extra for priority boarding and be allowed to take an extra small bag. You can also pay for a bigger hand luggage. In Ryanair the only option is to buy checked-in luggage.

Going from Łódź in Poland to Karlsruhe in Germany I can take Ryanair from Warsaw Modlin to Cologne or WizzAir from Warsaw Okęcie to Basel, and WizzAir is always much more expensive. But maybe it depends on the route.
kpc21   
8 Jul 2016
Genealogy / Looking for Polish Spelling of Last Name [13]

It's definitely not the proper spelling, if you wrote it phonetically in English, because we don't have "ea" in Polish and "ch" is pronounced totally different than in English (it's pronounced like in Loch Ness).

It would be written Sperczek, but there is no such last name in Polish, Google doesn't find anything.

Maybe someone will have an idea about possible Polish surname that sounds similarly.

"Tanak" also isn't a Polish name, even though in Polish it would be read almost same as in English. Google says that Tanakh (pronounced Tanach with ch like in Loch Ness) is a Jewish name of a part of the Bible. Maybe it's not a Polish, but a Jewish name.