Job Discussion Forums

cheeseandegg · Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 58

I'm interested in a job with this school as it'll beat working in a small town in the middle of nowhere. The school sounds quite good. They have a nice website, many students and sound professional. It's run by an English bloke and they specialise in business English amongst other things.

Has anyone here worked for them or heard about them? The pay isn't great but I don't really care so long as I'm in a city. Flat is also provided for only 500zl which sounds like a bargain (who know's what it'll be like but I'll be seeing it before I accept any offer anyway).

Zarny · Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 14

If it's a city you want. Then go for Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow. Lodz has a lot of pubs if that interests you?
As for the school, sorry don't know nothing about them.

Lancer · Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Posts: 12

I'm working in Lodz right now and it is a pretty good place to live and work. Plenty of clubs and pubs to keep you occupied during the weekends. Apartments in the center (like everywhere in the world) are a bit expensive. 500 zloty for an apartment is pretty good, but where is it? Does that include utilities? Last year I had an apartment next to Polytechnic that cost me 750 with bills and internet included. But a colleague of mine had a great rent price on a place but that didn't include heat... which happened to be electric and the bills equaled to more than his rent which was 600 (and the place never seemed to be warm anyway).
Highton is supposed to be a brand new school run by two UK teachers who have been in Lodz for a while teaching at other schools. Another friend of mine recommended them to me. How much did they offer you to work there?

jacquelinekerouac · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 7

Sorry, Lancer, I'm going to go against what you just said about Lodz, and you may know why.
I lived in Lodz for just over a year and I honestly wanted to gouge my eyes out every day I had to venture outside. The place is a hole, an absolute hole, and I'd take every small town I visited in Poland (as well as every city, for that matter) over Lodz.
I've never heard of the school, and I would understand if you want to trade what is probably job security over a reasonably pleasant place to live. For me, geographic location is more important (consequently, in Lodz I had neither a pleasant place to live nor job security) and by those criteria Lodz loses every match.
The pub are either way over-priced or meat-markets-on-steroids, more so than most clubs/pubs are meat markets. There is no attractive city centre area to speak of, and if you just want to have a pleasant afternoon out about town without spending too much money, Lodz is not the place to go. When I worked in Lodz, I spent every weekend I possibly could in other parts of Poland in order to avoid the place, which meant nose to the grindstone 5 days a week in order to pay for 2 days a week of actual fun. Now, I actually did like Poland, but I never could acclimate to Lodz and to the "atmosphere" that a few expats I know seemed to find in the place.
I met friendlier people and had a considerably better time in other parts of Poland. That's what I'd recommend to anyone considering Lodz--find something else.

Bialonoz · Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 57

I've heard people say the same about Ł�dż, I understood their point, but didn't totally agree. I found it friendlier than Pozńan (not difficult), and much more atmospheric. True, it can look foul on a cold morning, but I always thought that those tatty streets had a bit of charm. There's plenty to see and do there; and though I agree with you about most of the pubs, there are one or two decent ones (try Ł�dż Fabryczna - the bar, not the station, or Narragansett). And Warsaw's but a train ride away. The people can be a bit blunt, and it's very poor, but if you manage to make a few friends, it becomes much more bearable.

cheeseandegg · Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 58

Thank you Bialonoz and jacquelinekerouac. I visited the city for a few days last week and liked what I saw. It was poor and gritty but entertainment-wise it was good. Ulicja Piotrowska was nice and there were lots of native speakers in all parts of the city. I'd do anything to be in a city where there are other who speak my language and are in the same boat as me. Where I am now, I'm the only native speaker in a town of 15,000, one pub and one restaurant and slowly going out of my mind!

The location also sucks as any trip elsewhere in Poland requires an overnight stay with only two trains a day to Wroclaw or Ostrow Wlkp. At least it's difficult to spend money here!

joshsweigart · Joined: 27 Feb 2005 Posts: 66

If you're looking for expats try Lodz Kaliska (the bar/club at Piotrkowska 102) also, Dublin and Bibliotheka on Kosciuski 50 or so. These places are filled foreigners--mostly students from around Europe, as well as English teachers and the like. Like anywhere, Lodz is what you make of it, if you choose to sit around and avoid meeting new people and trying new things you'll probably start to mind its dirty grayness and end up hating it. I recommend getting out there and giving anyone a chance to show you its good sides.

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

Lodz is not an attractive city. The architecture looks Soviet. But it isn`t a bad place.
For beer, go to Bagdad.

The unemployment rate is high, so lots of people go to Warsaw to look for work. Warsaw`s unemployment (last time I checked) was 3-4%, but in Lodz it must be pushing 20%.

At the university, there are a lot of bright, motivated students.
Lodz has more people sit for the Cambridge Proficiency exam than anywhere in Poland. Heck, maybe even more than anywhere in Europe except for Greece.

There are good people there. You are lucky to meet them.
But I will say that in Lodz, the more Polish you know, the better.
In Warsaw you can get by without knowing much Polish, but in Lodz, it is a different story.

Lancer · Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Posts: 12

Hi jacquelinekerouac,
I know you have very bad feelings about Lodz. I never knew exactly why, because working for AAE sucked everywhere just because it was AAE. I was surprised that you liked Soscnowitz so much (but glad you wanted to switch locations). Most people I've met that have been there describe it just as negatively as you describe Lodz. But then again, I have to admit that even Bytom had its charms and it wasn't so small that there weren't any other foreigners there nor did it have a lack of places to visit on a Saturday night. Most were not high class, but all were usually packed with fun people.
I guess it just depends on what you like to do. I spent two years living in the wilds of Northern Kazakhstan with almost no comforts or luxuries. No supermarkets or good pizza places or Mafia free discos. But I enjoyed the culture and the people were great. However, I prefer the Lodz because of the active night life. I always meet lots of fun people who speak English here. Meat Markets? Maybe... but I'm not vegetarian so I don't mind.

ktodba · Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 54 Location: UK

Assuming this is the school I'm thinking of then it's run by a guy I used to know when I was working in Poland. I'd expect nothing but good things from him regarding pay etc as he's been in Poland for a while and knows the unpleseant side of affairs.

As a city Lodz is no beauty but when you consider that Polish winters keep you inside most of the time anyway this isn't a major issue - the pubs are good and the people are generally more friendly as they don't have so many foreigners walking around with attitude.