Job Discussion Forums

[sharter]

5 days, 1600 Zl so far....
Suffering fro a JD hangover right now:)

[Jack Walker]

JD is good stuff, but it can produce really nasty hangovers if over-indulged in.

I picked up a 1 litre bottle today for New Year's Eve.It cost 89zl at Real.

That's a pretty good price.I drink it neat, but I try not to have more than 200ml in one sitting.It's a potent nectar.

[sharter]

Me and sonny did the kino yesterday...51zl without the popcorn and only had to yell at one woman who self-importantly tried to jump the queue.
Piorun in 3D was excellent.

The lasagna in Pizzahut was dreadful and wouldn't have fed a cat.

Went to Smyk and Reserved for Kids to buy some long sleeved t-shirts....bought 4 at 64zl a piece....the same ones would cost about 20 in the UK.

Bought a new wallet to cope with the copious amount of coinage I accumulate here....25 quid for a crappy little thing from a cheapo shop.

Then played pool all night.

Spending now at 2,200 since Dec 24th. That figure doesn't include any Christmas presents. If I was staying in a hotel, you could add another 1,500zl for the past 5 nights and another 1,500 for the next 5 nights. 2 weeks all inclusive in Barbados is cheaper.

Thankfully, the JD hangover has gone.....but I ain't getting any younger and boy was it a bad one.

Ticket prices for Sylwester range between 150 and 600zl in the rynek.

One thing that pisses me off about Poznan is that all the Polish grub places have disappeared....it's all gone American grillbar....and they just don't do zeberka right.....they don't even do golonka....I miss the good old days of Pozmeat, when you could get Granny's cooking in a restaurant. A burger in Dom Vikingow really is 29zl and a large glass of wine upto 40zl......that's a Gulf price....and we're only talking about Barolo and Pinot Grigio....

Bought a book in Empik...the price was on the back at 8.99GBP...Empik were selling it for 69zl...or about 17GBP, some mark up.


Stary Browar is still as impressive as ever but how zillions of Poles wandering around it aimlessly buying nothing keeps it open, the lord alone knows.

Prices are so stupid here I'm beginning to think that drinking beer through a straw makes sense.

[lundjstuart]

Why continue to complain? If it's too much for you here, go to a place where it's cheaper. An example for you Sharter, go back to the UK! We all know that the prices are, well, not what they should be. Ask yourself the question, what keeps me living here and not somewhere else?

[Jack Walker]

[Jack Walker]

[sharter]

Yep, I come back because I have a son here. I spend about 18 weeks of every year here. I can afford to do what I want because I work for an oil company which pays well. So Lund, I can't exactly walk away.

Over the years I've spent a lot more time in this country than most on this board. What is happening in Poland right now is frightening.

As it's a forum, I can say what I want.

Before you give advice....at least learn to give it in correct English. Most of your posts are priceless.

At a guess, I'd say you ain't got much experience, you've got no kids and your American.

It's my opinion that teachers should know what it costs these days as it might stop the backpackers and US find a wife tourists coming.

[lundjstuart]

Correct English. Your correct English or mine? We are both native speakers of English but we have variations in them. So tell me what dialect of English so that it can be correct!

How much would you pay for my posts? In correct English it would be 'worthless' but lets not go into details!

So you do go back to the UK, you're tied down because of a prior commitment, congrats on your son! What's stopping you from taking him back to the UK for holiday? Or where ever you are at the time? Why continue to complain when you have options here?

Experience... as in life or in work? I don't have any children that I know of and I'm from the country that over powers you and because of that you have a lot of resentment towards everybody from America!

Maybe it would be a good thing for the backpackers to not know and when they get here, they won't be able to live and will have to leave! That means in the long run that ones with their roots or are settling down here a chance for more work! We work in a competitive market, one less person means that there will be one less person in the running!

On the mark-up subject, why not bring whiskey and gifts from a place where it's cheaper? Some things can't be planned like shirts for the son but why go to one of the more expensive places to buy clothes? I know you want the best for your son as I would for my children!

The movies are actually cheaper in Poland than in the States! $12 for a movie and 18zl in Poland. At an exchange rate of lets say- $1-3zl, It's by far cheaper here!

Sorry if I didn't know your circumstances Sharter and I didn't want to offend you by telling you to leave Poland! What keeps me here are the opportunities that are here in this developing country!

[dynow]

[dynow]

[lundjstuart]

In California at my local theater was $12 at night and yes around $9-10 during the day.

Of course salaries are not up to par here and it does make it more expensive to live! If I go around having to pay for the movies instead od downloading them illegally off the net! Don't have to pay for it that way! Download time 1 hour and 5zl for a 2 liter bottle of your choice(soda, pop, fizzy, etc.)! Everybody complaining on this forum is like having old people on the public transportation here, grumpy and nothing is ever right!

[sharter]

That was deliberate Dynow, but thanks for the advice...really needed it....actually it was a bit of a troll.

Mr Lund usually goes for them.

I'd like to apologise to anyone who thinks I'm anti-American as I'm not. It has just been my experience in Poland over the last 13 years that Americans-

1.Don't stay in Poland long but love to wax lyrical.
2.Usually lack experience and or quals.
3.Fail to understand that the British English 'Cambridge Suite' is what rules the roost here.
4.Come girlfriend hunting.
5.Make good goal keepers.
6.Avoid buying rounds.
7.Get very chippy and over sensitive.

I haven't lived in the UK for years and years and couldn't care less about the place. It's just easier to compare Poland to the UK to say, Libya or Saudi.

Yes, Polish students are great, but students can be great anywhere. I like Polish home cooking and Zubrowka. I like the mountains and the forests. I love the history of the place and the babes. The nightlife beats the krap out of the UK.

It's just that most TEFLers need to know that in modern Poland, a TEFL salary will give you no future. So, when Dwight Aaron White the 3rd gets recruited in Detroit and told that 2,000 Zl is a great local salary, later arrives in Poland and dumps his load he can't blame old Sharter here for not trying to warn him.

Poles do frown a lot, aren't naturally giving and generous and relationships here are frought with danger long-term. Poles are extremely nationalistic, often racist (according to my Kenyan friends who I was with tonight), conservative with social/religious issues and the winter is shite. Is that complaining or just fact?

Virtually every TEFL teacher I know here is broke. With very few exceptions the only ones who have anything, got most of it through marriage as oddly enough, many families here seem to have a spare flat.

I could view Poland through rose tinted beer goggles but I don't. Zapiekanka isn't amazing. Polish club football is dreadful. You don't get what you pay for and Polish girls like beer when you're friends but JD when you're dating.

Maybe I'm just becoming an old fart.

[dynow]

[lundjstuart]

I see in this forum and others that everybody is trying to be right! And if someone has made a stupid mistake, people jump all over them for it. It's like leeches fighting for blood here! Can we just not give a flying f**k and get down to the real points? There's too much chatter on 'right vs. wrong grammatically' when things should be about 'ex-pats in Poland'!

Who cares if Sharter is anti-American, he just doesn't realize that it's better in the States! We drive on the RIGHT side of the road, higher salaries, nicer homes, etc.

Back to the point- Hope here for ex-pats in Poland will only be if the quality meets the value.

To your points Sharter-
1.Don't stay in Poland long but love to wax lyrical.

-when you say long, you mean? 2 years, 10 years, ? years

2.Usually lack experience and or quals.

-We all have experience speaking English, quals? CELTA/DELTA, BA? Explain in more detail about this one!

3.Fail to understand that the British English 'Cambridge Suite' is what rules the roost here.

-Depends on the school, student/group. FCE, CAE, LCCI are a big waste of time and money and mean nothing. Just another piece of paper attached to the resume. I have Polish friends that don't have those certs and speak better English than most of my students! They put their money in speaking and not in a cert.

4.Come girlfriend hunting.

-I know more British guys that come here to find girls than Americans! British girls come no where close to the Polish ones! I had a Polish girlfriend before I ever stepped foot in Poland! It's quite far for an American to come to find a girl! 100 GDP and your in Poland at the Warsaw airport! I know more Americans who have Spanish speaking gf's in the states than coming to Poland.

5.Make good goal keepers.

-I'm actually a striker/forward/attacker when it comes to soccer. Reina on Liverpool is good but does it make every American a good keeper?

6.Avoid buying rounds.

-Come drink with me, I'm not shy in buying rounds! Some Americans don't know the code or follow the 'when in Rome, do as the Romans' in buying rounds! We all know that Polish guys never buy rounds!

7.Get very chippy and over sensitive.

-Might just be the person and not everybody! Once again, stereotypical in that regard!


I want the back packers and others who don't want to really know what it's like to return home! 2k zl and you're in the hole but 4k zl a month and you're living it up for the most part! 4k in Warsaw and 4k in Suwałki are huge differences when it comes to standard of living.

[hrvatski]