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Does anyone have any experience in Lublin?

 
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seajlorraine



Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:51 pm    Post subject: Does anyone have any experience in Lublin? Reply with quote

I am about to accept a job teaching in Lublin, and I am curious about all aspects of life in the area.

When it comes to groceries I'll be mostly seeking out a big bag of rice and lots of fresh veggies... Any idea what kind of weekly/monthly bill that might run? Is it pretty easy to get lots of fresh fruits and vegetables? Is there such a thing as organic? What about tofu and other meat substitutes?

Laundry... Do most places have washers and dryers? I lived in South Korea for 2 years and had just about enough of hanging my clothes up to dry!

Clothes... Are clothes fairly inexpensive and easy to find? And are polish women in general average to above average in size? I'm about a size 22 (U.S.) and I had a heck of a time finding clothes in Korea...

Also, any other info about things I might want to bring that I can't find there would be really helpful.

I'm also curious about the cost of a train ticket from Lublin to Warsaw.

Lots of questions, I know! Any info is useful.

Thanks,
Jen
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dtomchek



Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 135

PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 4:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hello:

You are one lucky person. Lublin is a great place. Big city but not too big. My favorite city with the exception of Gdansk. To answer your questions as best I can:

1) Fruits/Veggies are available and cheap in the summer in the markets. Most of it is better than the stuff you buy in the West as far as health goes (fewer pesticides and such) but the going is a littel rougher in the winter (case everwhere though). Rice was readily available but prices were on par with the west (slightly cheaper maybe but not much).

2) You know, unless things have changed, I do not recall a single individual who lived there that had a dryer and half did not have a washer. I also do not recall any laundry mats there ever. Some of the major cities may have them but I cannot recall seeing any and I have been to all the cities. Half the people I knew washed their cloths in the bathtub and all dried their cloths on a hanger.

3) Cloths are just as expensive in Poland as in the West. I bought to pair of Levis and it was 200 zloty (about $50 back then). There are 2nd hand shops which have cheap cloths that are not too bad. Larger size cloths might be a bigger problem though. Poles are just as tall but not as big as us in the West. That always was the strangest thing about Polish women. They all managed to stay so thin and drop dead gorgeous despite that Kielbasa and Lody diet they have. Shocked

4) Cost of a train ticket depends on what train you want to take (slow, fast, express) and whether or not you have a legitymacia and if so, what kind (students and teachers get this and it entitles you to half off the train fare). I would say $20 as a round figure but like I said, this could vary. Maybe others would have better info on it. I just did a check at Polrail.com and could not find prices but journey takes anywhere from 2.1-2.5 hours give or take a few minutes.

5) Things to bring...lots of books (expensive to buy english books there) if you are into reading...go to a used book store and get all you want and use a service called PolAmerica (outta Chicago but they might have offices elsewhere) to ship it...money if you want to hook up a satllite dish, buy a bike (great land as it is flat so riding was always one of my favorite things to do there) or buy a washing machine if you will not have one...Can't think of anything else at the moment...hopefully others will write with other suggestions...

Hope this helps...
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seajlorraine



Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:20 pm    Post subject: Lublin info Reply with quote

Thanks for the info, it was very helpful.

=)
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Alex Shulgin



Joined: 20 Jul 2003
Posts: 553

PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Er, it isnt expensive to get English books here. Every big town has an Empik, where books are as cheap as they would be in the UK. I've got a washer drier and so do most of the English teachers I know. Just explain to the landlord that it'll be a deal-breaker about whether you have one. Train fare: about 40PLN/US$10 each way to Warsaw. About the clothes, over to my girlfriend "Clothes here are cheap if you stay away from the western labels. Here we are average size. You will find US size 22 but you won't find it for women who haven't had children. Sorry."
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dtomchek



Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 135

PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 12:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hello again:

Well, I think it depends on what type of books you want. I remember buying novels (Tom Clancy and others) in Warsaw/Koszalin for about 35 zloty so that is not too bad. The big historical novels that I like however ran about 150 zloty or more which can be up there when living on a Polish salary.

Washer and dryer, uh? It is nice to hear things are changing for the better. Still, both in Poland and Japan, I usually found that the washing machines just beat the crap out of my cloths and I found myself replacing things more often than back in the states.
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