UK, Ireland / UK car in Poland [4]

I believe the rules have changed some time ago and you do not need to physically swap the steering wheel any longer - but some amendments to the headlights and side mirrors must be made, maybe a bit more, and you can register the car in PL - search the forums, there were posts about it in the past...

Life / Poland vs Hungary for an expat? [34]

Agreed.
Vienna is not a too distant 2nd IMHO...

Po polsku / Zniszczenie (zniesienie) wiz dla Polaków do Ameryki [7]


Tak - ale to też zależy. Dla wielu informatyków Krzemowa Dolina to raj na ziemii... a parki narodowe w samej ino Kalifirnii są warte zachodu... co nie znaczy, że przeciętny John Doe z Kentucky wiedzie bardziej ekcytujące życie niż Waldemar Pająk z Podkarpacia...

Life / Poland vs Hungary for an expat? [34]

... not to mention those sexy Hungarian women... ;-)

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]

UK is similar - folks from Asia, Africa, South America, etc - no issues as long as you are willing to work... but Poland begs to be different... ;-( No clue why they insist on being this way...

Travel / What is Olsztyn known for and what things can you do there? [8]

I would say it is not known for anything more exciting than being in the lowest league of the voivodship capitals due to its low population size and cultural offer, but good location due to being surrounded by lakes, sleepy and quiet. The NE of the country has, in general, better air and surface water quality due to being less densely populated, having less industrial polluters, more favourable wind patterns for air quality than most of Poland.

However, the voivodship usually leads in highest unemployment rates, lowest test scores in education, childhood poverty, and other similar rankings.

Life / Tap Water quality in Poland [44]

One other very important issue related to this topic is air quality... This is a huge issue in Poland in the heating months (so Sept to May). Generally, the first thing that you ntice you when arriving in Poland from the West is the choking/smelly air - generally, the southern half of the country is much worse... Kraków and Śląsk are the worst. This is due to people heating their homes with very poor fuel (coal derivatives) and using old style furnaces, because gas and electricity are very expensive - even more expensive than in the West without compensating for the differences in income...

This is the next huge issue the country needs to address instead of pretending it is OK to do nothing. Estimates say between 30,000 to 50,000 people die each year due to the air pollution - so half a million a decade! Compare that to road fatalities of about 2,800/yr... ;-(((

Life / Cheapest car spares in Poland? [23]

another one: mroauto.pl

Life / Poland vs Hungary for an expat? [34]

I am sure you will find some more examples of decent architecture in PL if you scratch the surface a bit...

Life / Tap Water quality in Poland [44]


Yeah - and what to do with the tons of plastic...? Sounds like solving a problem with a bigger one... Not sure all the hype about lead is justified...

In Poznan there was a good poster recently by the municipal water company: "Nie daj się nabić w butelkę - pij wodę z kranu!"

Work / Job opportunities for experienced US Civil Engineer in Poland - any hope? [30]

Yeah, I have to say that the job market for foreign civil engineers, in general, continues to be very poor (there may be some options for lower grade CAD techs or number crunchers in building structures that are paid poorly). I got so disheartened to hear that I need, at first, to do 'nostryfikacja' of my diplomas (yeah, believe it or not, US education is not up to their standards, they said). After I have jumped that hurdle, which was painful, long, and costly, I was told I now need to have the equivalent Polish professional licenses to practice. After completing that hurdle, which again, was long and painful, I was told all is now in order - and all I now need is to have some considerable Polish experience under my belt... So you end up having to compete with the fresh graduates half your age as an assistant fat not much more than minimum wage. No thank you. A complete joke. Needless to say, I have given up on the idea completely and found work in the UK.

If you are still young enough there is hope for you, just do the right thing and switch to IT right NOW - any flavour will do! - just forget civil engineering altogether ...

Best of luck.

Work / What is a physician assistant salary in Poland? [7]


I wonder where you get your data, eh? Last I heard PL had the LOWEST doctor to patient ratio out of any EU member state...

Work / Job salary comparison in UK and Poland and other European countries [6]

Earnings is only one side of the equation. You need to factor in the expenses to make the comparison be of any use... For instance, can you buy a freshly baked roll for 18groszy (3.75pence) (Auchan) x2.55 = 10pence in the UK? Think not... And so on...

Life / Poland safe for a Greek? [93]


Well, always dangerous to generalise, but in comparison to some other EU countries, I think the people tend to appear more tired/worried and gloomy, are not that courteous on the streets/shops, not to mention aggressive (especially on the roads). And this is actually what a Greek friend of mine pointed out after visiting Warsaw recently...

By far most violence is a result of aggressive drunk idiots as Dominic pointed out.

There is a growing gay awareness, especially in Warsaw.

Overall, I thing Poles have a soft spot for Greeks in general, so you should be fine.

Enjoy your stay.

Life / Poland's Alior Bank reviews / ING / Millenium [26]

Fresh off the press re Millenium Bank: seems they are being fined 20M PLN for misleading customers
businessinsider.com.pl/finanse/kara-dla-banku-milennium-od-uokik/nx986we

Life / Feedback on Smart Bank / Nest Bank [4]

I use Nest also as I like the no-fees for cash withdrawals at all ATM policy, and the account+card are free, no strings attached (no min monthly pay-ins, etc) - no problems thus far...

Law / Insure your British car in Poland for a full year. [15]

I believe you can now also register your UK vehicle - may be even cheaper in the long run - search the forum, I recall a post about it.

Po polsku / Polecam to, strony i wiadomości w sieci o Polsce [181]

A taki sympatyczny ekonomista był z niego; szkoda, że w politykę wdepnął...

Life / Costs of living in Bialystok [17]


How recently have you left PL? I think it's time for you to wake up and smell the... bacon... ;-)
This is utter nonsense - survive you could (and on a budget), yes, but it will not be a comfortable existence after you've paid your housing, car/transport/costs associated with children... forget any savings or vacations, especially if the kids are in paid schooling or want to attend after school activities...

Life / Poland's Alior Bank reviews / ING / Millenium [26]

I am with ING and I cannot think of anything negative about them...

Travel / Suggestion for nightlife in Poland [28]

Oh dear...!

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

I don't know any other places except the banks - and their rates are always lower.

To get best exchange rates, you will need to sign up to on-line exchange services such as walutomat.pl or cinkciarz.pl - best real time rates and small provisions.

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]


Well, some of the staff (the ones up in the ranks) to be precise are the ones who benefit from the bleeding system - your average resident, doc, nurse, etc. is not in the position to take advantage of it...


Well, you make it sound as simple as making a PB& jelly sandwich, and it probably is in the West... I think Poland has not reached the level of rule of law and public trust in the highest national institutions that would enable such approach - see below for more


Spot on, Braveheart. I think this is the rarely mentioned sad, sad reality I don't like about Poland... the system is broken and the people either do not believe they can fix it, or do not want to fix it... speaks volumes about the Polish society, I think.

Thanks for sharing your story - not really a pretty picture...

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

It is no secret the NFZ is a mess and needs a proper reform from the very top down, no doubt about it.

One major issue is that there is real control or accountability of the hospital directors and the deals they do with the heads of the disciplines when awarding lucrative contracts for private consultations and procedures in the NFZ hospitals and clinics - using NFZ equipment without any contribution/deductions... The whole arrangement seems more like the mafia as it is typically all kept between family members/friends rather than the best/competition... it is also common practice for chief hospital specialists to monopolise their specialist services and actually not allow younger competition to get their training simply out of fear that they could become their competitors. How vicious is that? But that's how short-sighted the system (or the people who are responsible for it and those who take advantage of it - I'll let you decide) here have become...

This is something I wish the media focused on more that the idle BS political news...

Yet, similar to the NHS, there are no volunteers who would be willing to take the risks and responsibility for fixing it properly... (is it even possible?)


Unfortunately, and I hate to say it, this seems to be as common as vanilla ice cream in the States now that I think about it. How is it justified in practice? As far as I gather, since the NFZ is so overstrained/inefficient/underfunded/mismanaged, the waiting lists for specialist consultations/tests are typically so long that the medical staff seem to view it as a work-around as this way patients get access to the tests and specialist consultations, as they would otherwise have to be placed on waiting lists. So the way it is seems to be viewed by the medical staff is that it is actually a win-win situation for both: patients and hospital.

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]


Well, I do and a member of my family happens to work in a hospital...


It is not ideal for sure, but that would be an overstatement... Overall, it is probably improving as more $ is being pumped into it, but it cannot meet the demand and the standards of Western EU countries, not to mention the pay, development opportunities and work conditions offered there to attract all medical professionals away from PL (but also RO, GR, CZ, etc...).

But this is not to say that say the NHS in the UK is doing that much better (massive mismanagement issues, etc) - and probably the same goes for many other Western EU countries. The general trent seems to be to attract medical staff from the East - so say India/Pakistan for UK, and so I would imagine we will see Belarusian and Ukrainian medical staff in PL more often in the coming years...


True, and also to Scandinavia & UK...

Life / Costs of living in Bialystok [17]

It will be a challenge to make a move like that, no doubt about it - especially with the children at the age where they are... It will be a culture (not to mention the weather) shock - I will be on the lookout for your impressions and comments... Are you Dutch?

All the best!

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]


From my experience most specialist consultation visits are 50-150pln. But yeah, with any treatments that will quickly add up...
But the most likely alternative would be to deduct more from salaries to fund the system...
No easy way out of this one...

Travel / Two weeks in Poland - would like to get an idea of costs please. [5]

numbeo/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=South+Africa&city1=Johannesburg&country2=Poland&city2=Warsaw&displayCurrency=EUR

Life / Costs of living in Bialystok [17]

numbeo/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Poland&city1=Bialystok&country2=Poland&city2=Warsaw

Travel / Traveling to Stuttgart from Poznan and back [7]

You could also try blablacar....