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...

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 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.

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!"

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 / Cheapest car spares in Poland? [23]

another one: mroauto.pl

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... ;-(((

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.

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...

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

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

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]

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

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...