Job Discussion Forums

[JohnnyDangerously]

Hello.

I'm finishing up a contract in Bangkok in the next couple months and looking to move on to greener pastures. You know, somewhere where the education system isn't a running joke. Poland is a place I'd like to go, but some months back IH Katowice told me they couldn't hire Americans, no how, and now I read a post that says visas must be arranged in one's home country before coming to Poland.

Here's my question for the Americans/non Europeans out there: How difficult and expensive are visa's to come by? Could I arrange such a visa at the polish embassy in Bangkok? How much are schools willing to assist with a little bending of the ole rules?

My question for everyone: is Poland, in general, a good place for a teacher who is seriously looking to develop professionally? I don't want to get stuck in another Thailand. Thanks for any help or advice.

Johnny

[gregoryfromcali]

[Blue Jacket]

Normally you are supposed to get your visa in the USA before coming here. I have been able to get papers anyway. My experience with this may be unique, I don't really know. What I did notice is that at the office where I applied for residency there seemed to be a lot of confusion even amongst those who worked there. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are noticeable differences between offices in one city and another.

If a university wants you to work for them then this is your ticket in. They must write a letter saying that they will hire you when you have proper papers. Private schools do not count.

You must show that you can support yourself here. I did this by getting letters from a few different schools saying that they would likd to hire me for X amount of money. (This wasn't difficult since I had already worked here for 4 years before I ever tried to get any papers and just went to the schools that I was already working for.)

I must tell you that their lack of knowledge about their own system nearly caused me to give up at one point. I had done exactly what they had asked (which was a bit confusing since I had been given two different sets of written instructions).

Some things that happened while going through this process:

Having letters written 2 or 3 times changing the wording to satisfy the different personnel. They seemed to be working off different sheets of music.

Being sent to some office (which I still don't know what it was) to pay about $300 (dollars) for what I don't know and then deciding not to do this at the last moment. I am not sure if someone was trying to scam me or what but later when I had a rather candid discussion with a supervisor I was told that it wasn't necessary.

The whole process was supposed to be only a couple of months, it took nearly 6 months.

My candid conversation was basically me pointing out that their lack of knowledge about the procedures had caused so much confusion that it seemed virtually impossible. Then I explained to the nice young woman that I wasn't interested in getting papers and would continue to work in this country without paying taxes. At this point she became a bit more helpful. I suppose this was a risky move.

One of the annoying things about the whole procedure was waiting in a hallway sometimes for hours just to go in and have someone tell me something new or contradictory to what I had read or been told before.

I also recieved a rejection letter from one office the day before I got a letter from another office which told me that they were working on it. ????????????????? I haven't a clue why and they didn't either.

I will tell you that organization and logic don't really seem to be strong points here.

I am currently trying to make my next move as far from this place as possible. After my first lesson in a school here a student (30 year old man), who had lived in the states for 5 years, came to me and asked me, "What the F**k are you doing here? Our conversation was fairly brief and I tried to tell him that there is no perfect place in the world and he tried to tell me that I should pack my bags and get out to save myself the from learning the hard way about Poland............... He was right.

I suppose this place is ok if you are only interested in chasing young women and drinking,,,,, Not my cup of tea.

I am planning to go to Latin America this summer, I can't wait.

Good Luck. If I can help you with other info feel free to contact me.