Love / Do women in Poland change their surnames to a feminine form of their husbands' surnames? [40]


It used to mean "the wife of Mr Heller", regardless of her real surname. And "Hellerówna" - "the daughter of Mr Heller", especially when she is not yet married.

The thing you are writing about from the beginning refers only to the surnames ending with "-ski". Maybe some others as well. Let's say Kowalski. When a woman marries a Kowalski, she will be called Kowalska (unless she decides to stay with her original surname or take a double surname, but the tradition is that the wife takes the husband's surname). But this is exactly the same surname as Kowalski. Just in a different grammatical form. Look at it as at an adjective - because it behaves like an adjective. "Ten mężczyzna jest bardzo ciekawski", but "ta kobieta jest bardzo ciekawska". In the same way it works with surnames. And - it seems, that it works so with all the surnames looking like adjectives.

"Kowalski" and "Kowalska" are exactly the same surname, just in different grammatical forms. Which is sometimes not understood in the countries where in their main languages the adjectives don't change their form depending on the noun gender, and then in the credits of an American movie you can see female names with surnames ending with "-ski". And this looks just wrong. Although I have heard that Polish people living abroad sometimes decide to do so to avoid difficulties with public administration. But it's wrong and I really don't like that.

If, even in Poland, a woman marries a man called, say, Jan Adams, she will be still called Adams. Adams looks in Polish like a noun, not like an adjective. And there is many such surnames in Poland, I would even say most of them work like that. Even the most popular one - Nowak.

When she marries Jan Adamski, then she will be Adamska. Adamski looks like an adjective (even though it's a noun, like each name) and is declined like an adjective. A woman just cannot be called Adamski, she must be called Adamska. And the second most popular one (Kowalski) works in this way, although I would say there is less of them.

If a man is called Kowalski - his wife will be Kowalska. Jan (jaki?) Kowalski
If a man is called Kowal - his wife will be also called Kowal. Jan (kto?) Kowal

What is also interesting. A noun-type name being a male noun (e.g. Nowak or Kowal) is subjected to the declination in case of a man, but not in case of a woman.

M. Jan Nowak
D. Jana Nowaka
C. Janu Nowakowi
B. Jana Nowaka
N. z Janem Nowakiem
Msc. o Janie Nowaku
W. Janie Nowaku!

but:
M. Anna Nowak
D. Anny Nowak
C. Annie Nowak
B. Annę Nowak
N. z Anną Nowak
Msc. o Annie Nowak
W. Anno Nowak!

In case of women only the surnames being female nouns, and, of couse, those of the "-ski" type, will be declined.

In case of men - surnames are declined always. If the surname is a female noun - then it's declined like a feminine noun. After a masculine first name.

M. Jan Pluta
D. Jana Pluty
C. Janu Plucie
B. Jana Plutę
N. z Janem Plutą
Msc. o Janie Plucie
W. Janie Pluto! (about this one I have some doubts, but theoretically it should be so)

The exception was in the surnames of the nobility - the coat of arms names weren't declined, but now it's allowed to decline them as well.

So the old version is:
M. Janusz Korwin-Mikke
D. Janusza Korwin-Mikkego
C. Januszowi Korwin-Mikkemu
B. Janusza Korwin-Mikkego
N. z Januszem Korwin-Mikkem
Msc. o Januszu Korwin-Mikkem
W. Januszu Korwin-Mikke!

There is no much nouns in Polish that end with "e", so their declination is a bit awkward and people tend to avoid it, often leaving the name of this guy undeclined (or decline only the Korwin part, leving Mikke undeclined), but it's an error.

This version is now also allowed:
M. Janusz Korwin-Mikke
D. Janusza Korwina-Mikkego
C. Januszowi Korwinowi-Mikkemu
B. Janusza Korwina-Mikkego
N. z Januszem Korwinem-Mikkem
Msc. o Januszu Korwinie-Mikkem
W. Januszu Korwinie-Mikke!

Apart from surnames, to the nouns ending with "e" belong also geographical names. But the geographical names can end with "e" and look like adjectives. Like the town name Zakopane. What do we do then? IThe declination looks as follows:

M. Zakopane
D. Zakopanego
C. Zakopanemu
B. Zakopane
N. w Zakopanem
Msc. o Zakopanem
W. Zakopane!
The difference between the declination of a noun ending with "e" and of an adjective is only in the Narzędnik and Miejscownik cases - for nouns there is "e" in the suffix, for adjective there is "y" in the suffix.

And still all these refers only to those nouns ending with "e", which really cannot be declined in any different way, I mean, you cannot change the stem of the word. For example Zaosie declines normally:

M. Zaosie
D. Zaosia
C. Zaosiu
B. Zaosie
N. w Zaosiu
Msc. o Zaosiu
W. Zaosiu!

Or some of them behave like a plural noun:
M. Bratoszewice
D. Bratoszewic
C. Bratoszewicom
B. Bratoszewice
N. w Bratoszewicach
Msc. o Bratoszewicach
W. Bratoszewice!

Language / "Hardening" of soft-sign endings of certain plural Polish nouns [4]

As for me, the only difference (except for the accent) between "odpowiedź" and "odpowiedzi" in pronounciation is the presence or absence of "i" at the end of the word. The same with "niedźwiedź".

And as a result, "odpowiedzi" has one syllabe more than "odpowiedź".
jedna od - PO - wiedź vs. dwie od - po - WIE - dzi
jeden NIEDŹ - wiedź vs. pięć niedź - WIE - dzi
Accent changes because we usually accent the last-but-one syllabe, and here a new syllabe at the end appears - so the accent is shifted.


Really? Your examples (with errors in syllabe division) show that the accent is exactly on the penultimate syllabe (or it may seem that on the ultimate one, but it's because of an error, I showed the proper version). Rarely, in words like "mateMAtyka", "FIzyka", "MUzyka" - mainly names of sciences with a Greek origin, it's the third syllabe from the end, although Polish people tend to accent them also on the penultimate syllabe. There are also other exceptions, some result from the grammar, but the main rule is the penultimate syllabe and it doesn't change with the noun declination.

Nothing is hardened here. In the plural nominative/singular accusative etc. of these words there is just "i" added at the end, and that's all. The strike creating "ź" from "z" disappears, but this is because there is "i" after it, which already indicated the softening of the cosonant, this is only a spelling issue. "Odpowiedzi" is pronounced exactly like "odpowiedźi", just "odpowiedzi" is the proper spelling and "odpowiedźi" incorrect - don't ask me why, it's just a rule that you don't put the strike when there is an "i" afterwards. Probably because "i" after a cosonant in Polish somehow forces it's softening, it's almost always so in Polish, you will not find a hard cosonant and "i" after it. The exceptions are words with foreign origin, like for example sinus (s before i is not softened, it's not pronounced as "śinus"), but not always, for example nazizm is pronounced as "naźizm" (it seems that German was too tough for us and we needed to change the pronounciation). Or there is such an old soviet brand of lorries, ЗиЛ, which we write in Polish as ZiŁ (most Europeans do it as ZiL), and here we pronounce the "z" as a hard cosonant even though there is "i" after it. But never in typically Polish words, and even not always in foreign words, where it's hard originally.

Language / Difference between również, też and także in Polish. [5]

Też is most used, especially in the everyday language; także and również are rather for written texts, speeches etc.

Life / Is Hale Mirowska in Warsaw a large or small market? [3]

The interior should look like that: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Hala_Mirowska_wn%C4%99trze_05.JPG [big image] Hall in Poland

You can see it here: goo.gl/maps/n1X27esbNiy - there are 2 halls and a covered market area between them.

Here on Street View: goo.gl/maps/4nPfJcNAeDH2 you can see a lot of small sellers also outside, not to mention this market area between the halls.

Law / Getting a Polish drivers license / Poland's residence permit (how long it might take to get?) [25]

They did it because with a B category driving license you are also allowed to drive the AM and B1-category vehicles. That's all.

No idea why they did so, on my driving license it's only B category marked, but I wouldn't consider it an error. Maybe in different offices they have different customs.

Law / Buying an unregistered car in Poland? [8]

I have no idea what about the other countries, but you will not be able to register in Poland a car that has been already deregistered in Poland. If a car gets deregistered it must be either sold abroad (it's sale is the base for the deregistration), or disassembled by a certified station.

Life / Closing Polish bank account and transfer money [3]

Go to the bank and just close the account. They will have to give you all your savings in cash.

The best is to have some money on it until the moment of closing it, it will make sure that it really gets closed, that the closing doesn't get blocked by any unpaid fees etc.

Life / Specific information about Polish healthcare system? [17]

An interesting issue is that to get a refund from the government for a pair of glasses, you need to get a prescription from an eye doctor that has a governmental contract and to get to this doctor you need a referral from a GP doctor.

And you don't get the refund directly when you are buying the glasses, like it is with the medicines. You must go to the NFZ premises, often wait in a queue, fill in a form, and only then they return a part of the glasses price. Or alternatively you can send this form through the post.

Travel / Which way from Poland to Croatia.... [30]

From Budapest to Cracow there is a few bus companies going: Orangeways, PolskiBus, Lux Express and Volanbusz. The prices are similar in all of them, but the most comfortable will be Lux Express.

You can also take a train (to Warsaw through Katowice), but it will be more expensive. Another option is a plane from Budapest to Warsaw, it can be cheaper than a train if booked early.

Language / How many tenses and cases in Polish? [33]

Exactly, it's normally used. It's sometimes replaced by Nominative, especially in very informal situations, but it's often used (for example you will never replace it with Nominative while speaking to someone who is more important than you, maybe except for family members) and it's not disappearing as some try to suggest.

Law / From A1 motorcycle license to A license in Poland? [3]

To get A category driving license in Poland you need to be 24 years old. The exception is when you have A2 category for at least 2 years, then it's enough to be 20. But you have A1, not A2. So if you are not yet 24 (or at least 23 so that you could make the course and tests now and get the document when you are 24), its too early. What you can get is the A2 driving license (for motorcycles up to 35 kW and power-to-mass ratio not exceeding 0.2 kW/kg).

Of course if you are already 24 (or almost 24), you can do the A category which is for all the motorcycles.

From what I know, you must do all: the course, the theory test and the practical test.

Po polsku / Ustawa antyterrorystyczna w Polsce [6]

Czekam na link do przykładowego artykułu, który tę tezę potwierdzi.

Life / Which is the best mobile network in Poland? [29]

I am not a fan of Plus and Polsat (this is the same company) from the time of the recent attack on their bank (yes, they have a bank too) when they didn't do much to make their system more secure and to get the money stolen from the accounts back on them, but they did much to make the information about the break-in not to spread.

But as a phone network they work OK.

Po polsku / Ustawa antyterrorystyczna w Polsce [6]


Z tego co mi wiadomo, to bzdura, obecne przepisy pozwalają na dokonywanie zatrzymań i przeszukań w uzasadnionych przypadkach także w nocy.


Bo każdy wie, że terrorysta posługuje się swoim własnym, autentycznym dowodem tożsamości. I że w razie potrzeby nie przygotuje się, i nie zdobędzie karty z innego kraju, gdzie rejestracja kart nie jest wymagana, albo istnieje tylko w teorii (np. Niemcy - po zakupieniu karty SIM, by aktywować numer, trzeba ją zarejestrować np. przez internet, ale można to bez problemu zrobić na fałszywe dane).


Czy to, że gazeta ta z obecnymi władzami specjalnie się nie lubi, od razu oznacza, że "zieje nienawiścią"? Przydałoby się tutaj trochę spokojniejsze podejście.

I czy możesz podać link do artykułu, w którym według ciebie dziennik ten utożsamia omawianą ustawę z walką z opozycją? Jeśli o czymś piszesz, to wypadałoby dać innym to zweryfikować.

Tu jest ciekawa i obiektywna analiza założeń tej ustawy:
zaufanatrzeciastrona.pl/post/czy-mozna-ustawa-zatrzymac-terroryste-analiza/

Law / What banks are people using in Poland? [50]

I don't know much about the offers of banks, especially those with physical offices where you can go and do something, not internet-only ones, but there is a comparison of bank accounts here:

najlepszekonto.pl/ranking-kont-osobistych
(mBank, Smart, T-Mobile, Inteligo are internet-only)

Here accounts in foreign currencies: najlepszekonto.pl/ranking-kont-walutowych
(Alior Kantor Walutowy is a virtual exchange office, not a typical account

Unfortunately Polish-only. Ask if you can't understand something, it's difficult to translate everything here.

Life / Which is the best mobile network in Poland? [29]


T-Mobile doesn't have an offer with a year-valid account for free (with some limitations), so I think a good idea for her could be one of the offers mentioned by me before - from Play or Plus. In T-Mobile she would have to pay 3 PLN every month for this service.

Although maybe it's worth this taking into account the offer from T-Mobile that you will have? Maybe you will have cheaper, or free, calls to T-Mobile, and more expensive to other networks?

It also depends on whether she will be using mobile data transfer.

Law / What banks are people using in Poland? [50]


In which bank? Usually you don't have to have any minimum balance, but when you don't have it, you pay more (or you pay, while normally you wouldn't pay at all) for having the account. And it's rather not about the balance, but about either income to the account within a month, or transactions made by a card within a month.


In most of the banks you can.

Life / Specific information about Polish healthcare system? [17]


There might be a case that you know that you should be insured and the system shows you aren't. Then you have to sign a special paper that you claim it's a mistake and you have to explain it with your employer who is in most cases responsible for your insurance.

The previous system was such that every employee had a special booklet where the employer had to stamp regularly that the health insurance has been paid by him to the ZUS. And you had to take this booklet with you when you went to the doctor. Then they were going to start this computer system so they stopped issuing new booklets, but it turned out the start of the system had a delay of a few years. So if someone had no more free place for stamps in the booklet, he had to show at the doctor a document from the employer confirming that the employer has paid the insurance (which looks so:

formularze.iform.pl/zdjecia/formularze/6471/1329589097raport-miesieczny-dla-osoby-ubezpieczonej.png
- and shows also the specific amounts of money paid, so it betrays how much the patient earns, so it might not be comfortable, but it was a temporary solution).

As the people before me said, if you are insured in the national healthcare system (which is done by the employer, employer of a family member, in some minor cases by a university, or you can pay the insurance or your own), you don't pay absolutely nothing for anything that is covered by the healthcare system. Unless something is paid by the healthcare system only partially, of course (it's often so with different dental services, there are also some medicines for which the country pays a part of the price, for all other medicines you pay the full price), and unless you go to a doctor that has no agreement with the healthcare authority (NFZ) - sometimes you have to wait months or even years for some medical services provided for free, and then you have to pay and go private.

Life / Which is the best mobile network in Poland? [29]

I use Play and I have never had coverage problems. At least for calls and SMS'es. It might be different with mobile internet (in the past it was so, I have no idea how it is now). But for calls and SMS'es it's perfect. If you don't like Play, other operators also have such offers, but i case of most of them you have to pay something every month - here is quite an old comparison of such offers: gsmonline.pl/artykuly/roczna-waznosc-konta-na-karte (in Polish)

In Plus GSM: plus.pl/uslugi/rok-waznosci-konta
- you need any pre-paid SIM card and at least 10 PLN on the account (it will cost 10 PLN to start this option)
- you use the code *136*11*18#
- you charge your account with at least 5 PLN within 30 days
Then your account is valid for a year.

I recommend pre-paid rather then post-paid, it's just cheaper in most cases.


Yes, it's usually so that you can make calls and send SMS'es up to the level of your monthly fee. Often you have some SMS and calls more for free, or even totally for free (to the same network, to all mobile phones in Poland or to all the phones in Poland).

I'm afraid you must try to use Google Translate and study Polish versions of their websites.

Pre-paid is "na kartę", post-paid is "abonament", "mix" is something in between (either you sign a contract that you will charge your pre-paid account regularly with for example 30 PLN for a month - it's so in Plus and Play - or you pay a monthly fee based on a bill and you can make calls and send SMS up to this fee without any extra charges - in Orange and probably T-Mobile, although I am not sure about the last one; but in any case, if you use it up, you can charge your account like with a normal pre-paid).

Life / Which is the best mobile network in Poland? [29]

Ad. 2.
Probably yes, it is so with most pre-paids in Poland. If you want to have such conditions that you charge your account with so many PLN as you want and then have almost unlimited time, look at the Play "Rok ważności konta" offer (you must charge the account within a year with any amount, so it's almost nothing). The prices are then a bit worse, you don't have access to so good special offers, but this is the cost of that. You can activate it having any Play pre-paid card with a code *111*692*1# - but with a card sold specially for this offer you don't have to use any codes.

Ad. 1.
It's rather difficult to find such a thing even in Polish, not to mention English. The best is just to look at all the offers, at least of main operators, and compare on your own. There are 4 main operators (Orange, Plus, T-Mobile and Play) and many MVNO's, but worth looking at are, in my opinion, Red Bull Mobile (this is in fact not an MVNO, it's an offer of Play, but sold under a separate brand) and Virgin Mobile. Others didn't offer anything special from what I remember, and they like to disappear after a few years (Virgin Mobile is not likely to disappear since it's an international mobile network brand, RBM is in fact not an MVNO).

Life / 'Migawka na okaziciela' card which entitles to travel by public transport in Poland [3]

"Na okaziciela" is a more expensive version of the public transport pass, which is not connected with a specific person.

If only you will be using it, a monthly ticket for the whole public transport network, for a normal price, costs 80 PLN.

If you want to use the MPK (public transport company in Łódź) network also outside of Łódź, it's 96 PLN. It doesn't cover buses in Zgierz and Pabianice.

You can buy also a 90-day ticket, which is cheaper. 192 PLN - Łódź only, 230 PLN - Łódź and MPK outside of the city area.

For 82 PLN you can buy a monthly ticket which covers not only buses and trams, but also all the regional trains within Łódź (so called WBA - Wspólny Bilet Aglomeracyjny). Unfortunately it's not available in the 90-day version.

If you are a student (there are also other entitled persons), you pay 50% of that, but you need a student ID of a Polish school/university or the ISIC card (only if you are a student of a university-level school somewhere abroad).

You fill in this application form: migawka.lodz.pl/application - put:
Imię - first name
Nazwisko - family name
mark "Jestem obcokrajowcem" - "I am a foreigner"
Data urodzenia - birth date in YYYY-MM-DD format
Ulica - street where you live
Numer domu - house number
Numer mieszkania - apartment number (if applicable)
Miejscowość - town (probably Łódź)
Kod pocztowy - postal code
Adres email - no need to explain
Numer telefonu - phone number, you don't have to give it
Zdjęcie - upload a pass photo in JPG format, max 500 kB
Punkt odbioru karty - select the point where you want to receive your card
Rewrite the captcha code, mark the first of the two points to mark. The second one is that you agree to receive commercials, you don't have to mark it. The first one is that you agree that they process your data, you must agree, otherwise they are not allowed to use your personal data to issue a ticket, so they cannot issue the ticket.

Click Zapisz - Save. After a few days, your public transport card will be waiting for you in the selected point. While receiving it, you have to buy any long-term ticket, for example a monthly one.

If you have your photo in a paper version, you can go to any of these points, fill in the application form on paper (looks like that: migawka.lodz.pl/files/MIGAWKA_wniosek.pdf) and give your photo together with it, but then you have to wait a few days anyway.

When you already have your card, your ticket expires and you want a new one, you don't have to go to any of the few points where you could receive your card, you have much bigger choice: migawka.lodz.pl/sales-points - which are mainly different kiosks. Some of them are ticket machines, they might be easiest for someone who doesn't speak Polish. Or on the website - here: migawka.lodz.pl/login (it's impossible to buy the ticket that is valid also on trains).

Even if you need the ticket only once, you have to do it with this card, there is no other way. If you don't want to wait, you can get this version "na okaziciela", then you don't wait, and you can get it in all the points where you buy new ticket when you have the card already (except for ticket machines), but it's much more expensive, for example a 30-day ticket for Łódź only costs in this version 124 PLN instead of the normal price 80 PLN.

For a slightly lower price (for example 70 PLN instead of 80 PLN) you can buy a ticket that is valid in two selected intersecting bus or tram lines only instead of the whole network.

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

Nie.

Prawdę opowiadać wolno zawsze, natomiast nie wolno mówić o innych rzeczy, które prawdą nie są.

Np. w moim mieście właściciel pewnej przychodni lekarskiej zbiera wśród pacjentów podpisy, by móc złożyć wniosek o referendum za odwołaniem burmistrza, wmawiając przy tym pacjentom, że burmistrz chce zamknąć przychodnię. Tymczasem prawda jest taka, że burmistrz nie ma ani chęci, ani nawet takiej władzy, by niezależną przychodnię zamykać, a jedyne o co chodzi to to, że burmistrz nie chciał sfinansować z budżetu miejskiego zakupu defibrylatora dla tej przychodni (czego zrobić nie mógł, bo byłoby to nielegalne, a poza tym nieuczciwe, bo w mieście działa więcej przychodni). Poza tym w trosce o pacjentów wysłał pismo do nadzoru budowlanego z pytaniem, czy budynek w którym działa przychodnia, a także powiązany z nią zakład opiekuńczo-leczniczy dla osób starszych, spełnia wszystkie normy, co właściciel potraktował jako "nasyłanie kontroli" (mimo że kontrola i tak by była, bo nadzór zaostrzył kontrole po tym, jak w podobnym obiekcie w okolicy doszło do pożaru i ktoś w nim zginął - stąd też troska burmistrza). Wmawianie ludziom takich rzeczy może doprowadzić do tego, że burmistrz rzeczywiście zostanie odwołany ze swojego stanowiska, mimo że tak naprawdę zupełnie nie będzie do tego powodu (oczywiście mieszkańcy mają do tego prawo nawet bez przyczyny - ale po co w takim razie to robić?).

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

A to miałoby się tu coś zmienić?

No i wolność słowa nie ma nic wspólnego z możliwością grożenia innym. Wolność słowa oznacza możliwość wyrażania swojej opinii, a i to w ograniczonym zakresie, bo inni mają prawo do godności. Te dwa prawa się w pewnym momencie "gryzą" i po prostu nie da się zapewnić obu w pełni. Jeśli będzie można o kimś opowiadać kłamstwa, które będą temu komuś psuć opinię i powodować, że inni przeciw tej osobie będą się odwracać, to będzie to wprawdzie zgodne z wolnością słowa tej osoby, która te kłamstwa opowiada, ale będzie to złamanie prawa do godności tej osoby, o której te kłamstwa są opowiadane. I odwrotnie, jak zabroni się opowiadać o kimś takich rzeczy (a w praktyce tak jest, to się, bodajże, nazywa pomówienie), to będzie to jednocześnie ograniczenie wolności słowa. Po prostu nie da się zapewnić wszystkim pełni wszystkich praw.

Law / File complaint against Poland's police [97]

Well, this is how the beaurocracy works - not only in Poland. I feel sorry for all of that, but it is just so, that the services like police are ineffective if you don't control whether they do their job or not.

It's reprehensible what this company has done, but to win the case at the court it will definitely take much time, especially taking into account that everything is about a really big amount of money.

Life / Poverty in Poland - is it the "legacy" of communism? [4]

Yes and no. It's impossible to answer to this question in a simple way.

See that poverty is also in the countries which have never been communistic. I don't know how much truth is that, but according to my grandfather, there was much more poverty in Poland before the WW2 than in the communist times. This might be, however, an effect of PRL propaganda. Like some people think now that there is much more crime now than in PRL times, which is not truth. The difference is that after the fall of communism independent media have appeared, and media like to publish sensational news (to which the news about crime also belong), as they bring more money.

One of the main ideas of communism was to make all the people equal. Of course, it's in fact impossible, it's always so that there are the equal and "the more equal". There was no official unemployment, everyone was legally obliged to have a job, so everyone had to earn some money (which was detrimental for the economy since you couldn't fire an employee who doesn't want to work). This is, at least, the theory and the propaganda version, but it must be at least partially true. How it was in reality, noone can say, I am afraid. Maybe analyzing some statistical data could help, but I don't think the statistical data from the communist times are reliable. Asking people that have lived in these times will not help since it will tell the truth only about the environment the specific person lived in and not about the country as a whole.

And after the fall of the comunism many people fell into poverty because of losing their jobs in the bankrupting enterprises.

On the other hand, "equalizing" everyone meant also making those who were rich much poorer (for example, a lot of possession has been confiscated by the government after the WW2, just in order to get rid of the rich people), which leads to making the country as a whole poorer than before.

But in the communist times, the economy of Poland was basically weak - due to the forced cooperation and "bortherhood" with the Soviet Union and bans on cooperation with the western Europe. Not only because of the Soviet Union, but also because of the western countries, which didn't want us to have access to their technology (COCOM). So if Poland wasn't communistic for such a long time (although not just the communism seems to be a problem here, but rather the dependence on the Soviet Union and treating us as an enemy by the West), it could probably be much richer now.

Study / Medical exemption from a Polish doctor to justify my absence - Hospital Warsaw. [12]


No, it doesn't work so.

EHIC works so that you can get any treatment that is needed for you from the medical point of view (so permanent medicines too) at the given time, which cannot be delayed safely. On the conditions equal with the citizens of the country you are in. EHIC exist just in order for you not to have to buy any extra travel insurance while travelling within the EU.

It works not only in emergency situations. For example - I am for student exchange in Germany (I am from Poland). I got once sick, with high fever, and the main symptoms vanished quite quickly, I was virtually "healthy" on the next day, but what stayed was a very strong cough. When it hadn't disappear for over a week, I went to a doctor to have myself examined if it's nothing more severe. And with EHIC it didn't cost me anything, neither had I any problems at the clinic (although it was a small private one, of the "two doctors and a registration lady" type, since such clinics are typical for Germany).

Travel / The best and inexpensive way to travel from Prague to Warsaw? [15]

That's true.

With the buses from Kraków to Cieszyn it is so that they have all their timetables on the Internet.

lajkonikbus.pl/Nowy-rozk%C5%82ad-jazdy%3A-Krak%C3%B3w-Tychy--Bielsko-Bia%C5%82a---Cieszyn.php

In the blue-red line you have information on the days of the week, for example 5-7 means from Friday to Sunday.
In the table for the direction from Kraków to Cieszyn, you have also the information about the corresponding gates at the bus terminal in Cracow.

You can use also the website: e-podroznik.pl

This is the price table: lajkonikbus.pl/Cennik-bilet%C3%B3w%3A-Krak%C3%B3w---Tychy---Bielsko-Bia%C5%82a---Cieszyn.php

First table - normal tickets. Second table - for students (they don't give any information on what documents confirming being a student they accept - and for this case, unlike in case of the railway tickets, it isn't also definied by the law).

Life / Polish ID number - Numer Dowodu Osobistego required in Poland [7]

Well, they are private companies and they can always refuse to sign up a contract without any reason.

But I know that often when a client have some problems (especially strange problems) with them, and when he starts to talk about that on social media, especially on the profiles of the specific mobile network (but also just on Internet forums, although I don't think they ever look at PolishForums.com), it often helps.

Why don't just use a pre-paid? It is usually more affordable anyway. With a contract you theoretically get a cheap phone, but then all the calls are much more expensive than with pre-paid. It's better to buy a phone for a full price and use a pre-paid.

Po polsku / Czy Polskie liceum by przyjelo mnie do 1 klasy liceum jak wroce z Ameryki po szescioletnim pobycie w Ameryce? [7]

"Dziedzinowe" słownictwo to nie jest akurat żaden problem. Często jest ono w różnych językach podobne, bo wywodzi się z greki lub łaciny, albo polskie słowo jest po prostu tłumaczeniem słowa angielskiego na polski zgodnie z językiem ogólnym (np. w matematyce variable - zmienna). Problemem mogą być braki z języka polskiego, bo tego przedmiotu w amerykańskim odpowiedniku gimnazjum cię raczej nie uczyli. No i ogólne różnice programowe. Z drugiej strony - przecież nie będą raczej kazali powtarzać ci całego gimnazjum, a wrzucenie cię np. do trzeciej gimnazjum byłoby bez sensu, bo sprowadzi się do tego, że przerobisz pewnie jakąś małą część braków, a z drugiej strony, niepotrzebnie drugi raz będziesz przerabiać część materiału, jaki miałeś już w USA. Co do procedur określonych przepisami - nie kojarzę takich, ale najprościej właśnie po prostu się zapytać.

Nie raz są sytuacje, że ktoś zmienia w Polsce szkołę, bądź klasę, i pojawiają się różnice w takiej postaci, że w starej szkole na dany przedmiot przewidziane były, przez całe nauczanie, po dwie godziny tygodniowo tylko w drugiej klasie, a w nowej - po dwie godziny tygodniowo tylko w pierwszej klasie. W praktyce wygląda to tak, że taki uczeń musi się zgłosić do nauczyciela który prowadzi ten przedmiot i po prostu go u niego zaliczyć w formie czegoś w rodzaju egzaminu z całego materiału nauczania (czyli musi się tego wszystkiego nauczyć sam). W odwrotnej sytuacji, gdy drugi raz miałby w takim przypadku przerabiać ten sam materiał z tego samego przedmiotu - musi przychodzić na zajęcia (bo z racji że jest niepełnoletni, szkoła nie może go zostawić bez opieki - jeśli jest pełnoletni, teoretycznie nie powinno to być problemem, ale w praktyce spotykałem się w tym zakresie z różnymi dziwnymi procedurami, typu np. zbieranie kartek od rodziców, że zapewnią uczniom trzeciej klasy liceum bezpieczny powrót ze studniówki, mimo że wszyscy uczniowie byli pełnoletni), ale nie ma obowiązku nic zaliczać, może przychodzić na zajęcia i nic nie robić. Chyba że chce poprawić ocenę.


Zdaje, albo podchodzi się do nich.

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

Czyli wolność słowa w Polsce jest.