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Richfilth
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 225
Location: Warszawa
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 Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:40 am Post subject: Re: erm |
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| dragonpiwo wrote: |
| I'll continue to post about the Polish reality of EFL teaching and living in general. |
Can you try and put some reality into the next ones please. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:31 am Post subject: arm chair interneters do my nut |
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Reality about what? The prices I actually pay in hotels and restaurants or my son's school fees? Perhaps you mean about the prices of clothes or electrical goods compared to those in the UK, where I was YESTERDAY. Perhaps you want to tell me running a mobile is cheaper here or a second hand car too!! Even supermarket food is pretty much the same as the UK now as my Polish fiancée told me yesterday...you know the one who is the boss of 5* luxury retreat, so knows something about buying food/drink and fine dining in Poland. You lot look online at things, I live it.
Can't be arsed to reply to this tripe that Poland is a great TEFL destination where you'll earn 'good' living European wage. You tell newbies that 3k is good and that on 7 k you'll live the dream. It's just tosh. |
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oipivo
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Location: Poland
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Perhaps you want to tell me running a mobile is cheaper here |
I buy 100zl of credit roughly every two months. I also bought a basic smart phone for about 350zl. 10 pounds a month isn't exactly expensive.
The point that everyone is trying to make is that you (dragonpiwo) are the exception to the rule. I don't know anyone else that is so out of touch to eat at the ridiculous places you've mentioned and stay at one of the most expensive hotels in Poznan. If you actually have an inkling of how to live even relatively frugally you can end up having a great time. I haven't stayed at a hostel in years. For 100-150zl you can rent an entire flat in the center of Poznan using airbnb.
You live differently than most ESL teachers. My wife and I are very comfortable here. We eat out as we like, we have money to buy things if we want them, we travel every now and again, and most importantly we're happy. Maybe we'll go crazy and eat at Fenix every day in a few years, but I doubt it. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 12:26 pm Post subject: erm |
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I wouldn't eat there again for all the parowki in Biedronka.
I'd love to read comments from these posters when they're 65. I mean the ones who spent 40 odd years in Poland and did not set themselves up first. |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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Man, you guys need to learn to use Skype....
My phone runs less than 30 zl a month. |
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dynow
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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| ecocks wrote: |
I don't know about that "convincing the Americans" comment Delph. |
yeah, because what would us poor americans with thousands of miles of coastline know about fresh and high quality seafood dishes..... 
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| My phone runs less than 30 zl a month. |
i'm curious....what kind of phone do you have? do you have data and if so, what speed is it, how much of it per month do you have, what kind of global coverage does it offer, etc.? what kind of calling plan do you have? unlimited texts? unlimited calls within the country? what does 30zl get you? |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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A Nokia, couldn't tell you the model number since I never needed to know it.
I just buy a 10 or 20 zl charge whenever I need it.
It gets me a phone that does everything I expect it to which is provide me with communication to anyone I care to talk to or hear from.
Had it two years now and it still works like it did on Day 1. |
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dynow
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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ok. so no internet?
the number of calls and texts are limited to how much money you load it with, righ? |
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Richfilth
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 225
Location: Warszawa
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 3:56 pm Post subject: Re: arm chair interneters do my nut |
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| dragonpiwo wrote: |
| Reality about what? The prices I actually pay in hotels and restaurants or my son's school fees? Perhaps you mean about the prices of clothes or electrical goods compared to those in the UK, where I was YESTERDAY. Perhaps you want to tell me running a mobile is cheaper here or a second hand car too!! Even supermarket food is pretty much the same as the UK now as my Polish fiancée told me yesterday...you know the one who is the boss of 5* luxury retreat, so knows something about buying food/drink and fine dining in Poland. You lot look online at things, I live it. |
Forgive this humble teacher for only having a brand new Xperia with 2.5Gb of free data and unlimited texts for 20 quid a month - cheaper than the UK. Or that I run a used BMW (probably the most expensive travel option possible) and maintain it with the complete garage full of tools. Or that this weekend the gf and I feasted on T-bone steak and crayfish washed down with a few bottles of wine; steak that far surpassed any of the stuff I ate in the UK two months ago when I flew back by KLM from Okecie, not the manky cheap airlines that fly from lesser airports. All of which were paid for from my EFL teacher's salary.
But I forget, you have the monopoly on reality in Poland what with all those years of living with only one foot in the place, while others have lasted a solid decade of full-time employment in Poland, buying real estate, setting up pensions, and having a very enjoyable time doing so. |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: arm chair interneters do my nut |
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| Richfilth wrote: |
| dragonpiwo wrote: |
| Reality about what? The prices I actually pay in hotels and restaurants or my son's school fees? Perhaps you mean about the prices of clothes or electrical goods compared to those in the UK, where I was YESTERDAY. Perhaps you want to tell me running a mobile is cheaper here or a second hand car too!! Even supermarket food is pretty much the same as the UK now as my Polish fiancée told me yesterday...you know the one who is the boss of 5* luxury retreat, so knows something about buying food/drink and fine dining in Poland. You lot look online at things, I live it. |
Forgive this humble teacher for only having a brand new Xperia with 2.5Gb of free data and unlimited texts for 20 quid a month - cheaper than the UK. Or that I run a used BMW (probably the most expensive travel option possible) and maintain it with the complete garage full of tools. Or that this weekend the gf and I feasted on T-bone steak and crayfish washed down with a few bottles of wine; steak that far surpassed any of the stuff I ate in the UK two months ago when I flew back by KLM from Okecie, not the manky cheap airlines that fly from lesser airports. All of which were paid for from my EFL teacher's salary.
But I forget, you have the monopoly on reality in Poland what with all those years of living with only one foot in the place, while others have lasted a solid decade of full-time employment in Poland, buying real estate, setting up pensions, and having a very enjoyable time doing so. |
+1 |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:16 pm Post subject: Well done |
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Well done to you. Your situation isn't normal at least not among the teachers I know here.
I could relate stories of dozens of Polish vets who work in the Gulf these days, drive Toyota VXRs, holiday several times a year in the Far East and eat lobster etc daily, whilst giving their kids great educations and saving tonnes but I can't be bothered. My aim isn't to measure what you have versus what I have.
I just repeat that the vast majority of schools are shysters and the place is pretty grim for various reasons. |
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delphian-domine
Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:46 pm Post subject: Re: Well done |
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| dragonpiwo wrote: |
| Loch Fyne was excellent the other night and packed to the rafters. It's next to the dock where the fish is landed. Delph continues to talk tosh and I suspect that as usual he's never eaten in that particular one. Like the Poznan hotels he's never stayed in. |
I'd just like to point out that Loch Fyne is actually a chain run by a brewery. Those of us with even a slight understanding of the UK pub business know and understand how breweries do their business.
If you had any connection to the UK these days, you'd know that Loch Fyne usually puts their restaurants next to water for marketing purposes. And they don't even bother to pay their staff minimum wage - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7524021.stm - it's really not a classy joint at all, but rather the kind of place that attracts scruffy students like myself would eat on 2 for 1 meal offers.
http://www.lochfyneseafoodandgrill.co.uk/menus/main-menu
Select a location - I chose Milton Keynes for kicks. You can see that main courses cost between 13 and 17 pounds. Not exactly a high class joint, or even a mid-class - it's chain food at chain prices. A picture online validates this - http://www.greeneking.co.uk/assets/images/pictures/pub_slideshow/loch_fyne/pho_loch_fyne_2.jpg
Do you honestly think we're idiots on here? A quick look tells me that the price of fish and chips these days is around 7-8 quid to takeaway - so - 13 quid to sit down and eat it seems very cheap indeed. You're going to have to try harder with your boasts.
| ecocks wrote: |
| I'll validate your memory in that I also remember disparaging remarks about those who have to shop for their vacations versus (bragging about) not having to worry about pre-planning. Now it's talk of chains, search engine pricing systems and discount carriers. |
Bizarre, isn't it? One can only conclude that Mr Dragonpiwo is perhaps not as wealthy as he makes out, given that he rents cheap cars, dines in cheap "restaurants" and flies budget airlines. And yet he had the gall to insult us...
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| Despite having hundreds of thousands of Zl in cash in my Polish accounts, a karta and my salary paid into them, I still have the useless Visa electron as does my pal, who's a millionaire and has lived here for a decade. |
How strange. I have a Visa card issued by ING and got it when opening the account. Perhaps they saw you coming.
Still, thank you for giving us all a good laugh. Your Wizzair flights, Fenix meals and 12 quid car hire while staying at an Ibis gave us a real look into how your lifestyle really looks.
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| The nicest places I've visited in Poland is without doubt Dom Wypoczynkowy Pod Strzecha in Giewartow. |
Would that be this place?
http://pensjonat-giewartow.com/informacje.php
Doesn't appear to be particularly high class, expensive or indeed great. Then again, for someone that flies Wizzair, sleeps in the Ibis, eats in cheap chain restaurants and rents the cheapest car available in the airport, I'm not surprised that you think that it's luxurious. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin
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| Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:47 am Post subject: ha |
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For once in your life actually go there and see. It's a beautiful venue, furnished with antiques in the old style and is fully booked for weddings the whole summer and business conferences and parties for much of the rest of the year. What's great about it is the fact that it's very Polish and doesn't try to be something else Delph. I ate there last week and it's great.
As for your remarks about travelling Wizz air from Poznan? just dumb again. It's the most practical way of getting home. The Ibis? 5 minutes from departures, so go figure. Go and Google the Doha Sheraton, Shaheen restaurant, that's where I got married. Google the Nissan Patrol Super Safari too...I suppose that's a shit car.
Loch Fyne Milton Keynes ain't Loch Fyne Portsmouth either. It was packed with well-to-do types, the fish was all laid out and cooked beautifully. There were no 2 for 1 deals and that fact that it was packed with people in their 40's and 50's speaks volumes for the place. Having lived in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi, I know something about fine dining and the sea food was excellent. Have you been there? No, yet again. Perhaps you want to comment on Reste de Fidele in Berlin too and tell me that's crap? Simpsons on the Strand? awful I suppose.
Fenix? I've eaten there once and it was an impulse as we walked by. Dreadful, simply tosh. We went there precisely because it was one of the few restaurants we haven't eaten at in Poznan. Never again. You know many of the people I know in Poznan and you know that very few of them earn the sums you talk about, certainly not from teaching. I've always conceded that Warsaw is a different case altogether though.
Then there's your constant sniping bout prices. Go to supersklep.pl and price up a mid range snowboard with prices and bindings. Go and price up Lego and kids' clothes. Tell your kid (oh you don't have one) that he can't go on the winter and summer camps with his school mates. Live with your missus and kid in a 1500Zl a month flat. And, pitch up at a hotel.
And what's this with banks? I earn a heap more than you, have tonnes of benefits like BUPA (which is great) and have no debt at all. Saw me coming? Nonsense. A Pole can earn money in the UK and get cards etc easily in Poland, so why can't a foreigner who earns his money abroad ie not in Poland do the same in the EU, especially when he has a karta, obeys tax laws and has a Polish kid? You know a journalist mate of mine I'm sure. He's a millionaire and has the same problem, so it ain't just me. Bureaucracy is and always has been a nightmare. On all my travels, I've only seen worse in Libya.
Big shot? Not at all. I live a very normal life and look after the missus and the kid to the best of my abilities. I have more options because of career choices I've made. There are dozens and dozens of people I know who left Poland for the Middle East for the same reasons. Now you'll tell me they don't exist either. The Poles I work with in Libya have no problems with their banks, so it is a race thing. Poland's laws haven't quite caught up with its EU money grabbing status.
How much is Shake going to earn during this winter break by the way? Uncertainty isn't something you can afford if you have kids. You live like a singly and talk like a singly. You also offer people who have failed 2 interviews work, so there goes your judgement.
I'm, happy Rich is doing great and wish it were like that for the other 99.9% of TEFL hand-to-mouth Poland. You've got big fish/little pond syndrome. |
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delphian-domine
Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674
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| Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 5:18 pm Post subject: Re: ha |
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Can't be bothered to write more now, but this is the classy joint that Loch Fyne is - http://www.lochfyneseafoodandgrill.co.uk/reward/1 - sign up to receive marketing spam and you'll get a 10 quid voucher.
classy. |
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TwinCentre
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 273
Location: Mokotow
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| Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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Can I just say this...the Loch Fyne in Alderely Edge, near where I live in the UK, is well up-market and seems to be the in-place to go for the resident Man United players...I went once, but can't afford to go again...It actually cost more than our weekly grocery budget (for two) per head.
Didn't realise it was a chain, nor a regular-student eatery in some parts. Are you sure? |
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