Job Discussion Forums

[nocturnalme]

If Chris is getting blootered every night on 1500z a month, methinks he can't handle his drink! I lived in Bydgoszcz from 2004-2006 and, whilst agreeing that it's perfectly possible to live well on very little, you wanting to be looking at 2200/2400z a month to be truly comfortable. Saturday classes can be a pain but they were paid at 140z a time and made all the difference at the end of the month.

[Chris1984]

Yes, I live on that and I'm very comfortable. As far as I'm aware so are my mates.

Scare stories like this annoy me. We're doing fine here.

[caramel]

[biffinbridge]

Only the lonely can live on IH handouts. Get real! 300 quid/ 600 bucks is barely a living wage and will not enable you 'to travel around central Europe or go skiing in the Tatras' as the IH promo literature claims. 50 Zl. ,(your daily allowance), barely gets you and your date a meal in the cheapest grill bar in town aka 'Sphinx'. Poland is Europe and 300 quid is a pittance in any country in the EU.
I've lived in Bydgoszcz, Poznan and Warsaw and know the country very well. Let's take Poznan shall we? An average hotel price is about 200zl/ night. A pint is about 8Zl. An average taxi fare is about 12 Zl. A meal in Sphinx', (if you want to go down market), is about 25 Zl. and that's with only 1 drink. Multikino is about 22 Zl for a ticket. A novel in Empik will set you back a day's wages as will an english paper. A coffee in the old town will cost 6 or & Zl. Forget buying clothes or electrical appliances and be prepared to start texting instead of calling.
1,500 Zl. Absurd. Another round gibber by the sound of it

[jestert79]

I hate to continue this argument, but I find it amusing that 3-4 people who have lived/worked in Bydgoszcz for IH's "pittance" have insisted they've lived well, and people are still insisting it's the breadline.

I did the IH Bydgoszcz thing, and made a bit more than 1500 zl.

The flat was free (as in, no bills to pay at all), a 20 minute walk from the center. The flat had a lot of dishes, crockery, and utensils, and a TV.

I went out 2-3 times a week and had several beers each time.

Maybe once a month I went on a proper bender with liquor drinks.

I took a taxi home 2-3 times a week.

For food, I cooked at home a few times a week and ate out a few times a week.

I bought a few DVDs and books. Not too many clothes.

I went on a few trips - Gdansk, Torun, Chelmno. One long trip consisting of Warsaw and Krakow, staying only in hostels.

For one big trip around Germany and Eastern Europe, I had to dig into my "home" money, but that's it.

The main point is I never felt "Damn, I wish I was making more money so I could party more."

Granted, the people who really liked partying were usually skint by the end of the month. I usually saved a few hundred zlots a month.

[biffinbridge]

1.) Torun and Chelmo, not exactly far from Bydgoszcz.
2.) Staying in hostels over the age of 30...nah.
3.) Going out 2-3 nights a week....what did you do in that sparsely furnished IH flat the rest of the time?
4.) You got exploited...just admit it.

1night in the Hotel Mercure, an average hotel is Poznan, is currently 150 Euros including breakfast:)

I was at IH Bydgoszcz in 96 on 900/ month and one of my phone bills was bigger than that. My flat was near a field and it certainly wasn't the 'Venice of Northern Poland' as described by the IH bumph. International Heist more like.

[bje]

[biffinbridge]

My TEFL time continuum:

The Czech Republic, Poland, UK, Qatar, Poland, Libya, Poland again, UK, Saudi, Libya (current). Oh and some summer schools here and there.

As I recollect, IH Bydgoszcz was then next to the train station on Dworcowa. 15 students crammed into tiny rooms. Workshops on Wednesadays, which were ok for newbies I suppose. My flat had fields behind it, so you could say it was on the edge of town. 24 lessons a week. Utilities paid except for the phone bill. Paid through 'Glenrex' a UK holding company, which used your UK minimum tax allowance whether you had earned money that tax year or not....ie they paid no tax but you got a tax bill when you returned....if you did a tax return that is. I earned 30zl a day, the trams stopped at about 10 then and we didn't get out of school until about 9, having had no supper. The taxi home cost about 7 zl ie nearly 25% of my daily handout. We ate in the milk bar a lot with all the people on the dole.

My point really is that there are much, much better deals around and you don't need to exist on 1,500 zl a month. My bone of contention with IH is that they exploit young, generally new teachers by telling that 'it's a good local salary' etc. When I told my Polish girlfriend's mum how much I got a month even she said it was nothing. (Ex-Wife now). I think the best gig is to get a uni job, (free housing), and then bump up your hours at several other places.

I had a great time in Bydgoszcz, largely because I spent my own money, (mostly in 'Musg') and my folks supported me when I ran out.

And yep, you are right; leaving the Gulf and trying to go back doesn't work because you just blow everything on fine living.....it's what you get used too. I once spent 9,000zl in a night in Poznan:))

[jestert79]

[biffinbridge]

ha ha...hallucinations or food poisoning from overdosing on 'zurek' at the milk bar?

[scot47]

US$600 a month ? People work for that ?

[biffinbridge]

Yep they do Scott...that's why TEFL wages will always be *rap. Quite honestly though, most of the teachers I've come across in Polska are complete jokes as teachers and I've come across hundreds over the years. The Americans there seem to be especially clueless.

My last job in Poland involved being the personal tutor to a very wealthy man; 7,500zl a month net, a free 2 bedroom flat in Warsaw next to Zamek and all my bills and taxis paid for, but by god, I worked for it. 7 days a week starting at 6am...not fun at all.

Once kids come along life gets really expensive.

[Richfilth]

[scot47]

So that is why biffin and I have taken refuge with employers who have petrodollars !

[asgerd]