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[dynow]

[dynow]

[quote]Is being a foreigner such a bad thing? I could have stayed in the US but then I wouldn't have experienced living in Poland, and I love it here.

We had a teacher from Oz at my school last year, and her mantra was the being a commodity thing. She wanted Australian wages while working in Poland. Sorry, but that's simply not reality. Most of us entered this profession with eyes wide open and accept a lower income for the advantages/benefits that working as a teacher in a different country provide. Poland's obviously not for everybody, but once you accept its peculiarities it's a wonderful place to be. I'm staying here.[quote]

i commend you for your effort and drive, but i would like to ask a question to you Scottie: how old are you?

[richard_1-1]

[scottie1113]

[dynow]

thanks for answering Scottie. i meant no disrespect asking that.

the reason I asked is that I assumed you were at least 50. basically, at 61, coming here must be for solid, well thought out reasons. for a young guy still searching, Poland lacks the hooks to hold him here.

i think it's great you found a place that makes you feel at home, not to mention allows you to experience new things at an age where most people do nothing but work their last few years at their whatever job and watch TV all night long, probably in the same town/state they grew up in.

[richard_1-1]

[richard_1-1]

[spiral78]

I'm a teacher and I get training (actually, at this stage, that means financial support for my doctorate), regular benefits and a pension. However, where I work it's not true that 'if you're native and have a pulse, you're employable.' If you want to stay at that level, then obviously it's not a career -

[scottie1113]

[dynow]

this is getting off topic, but you said you lived in Japan, Vietnam and many states in America.

what makes Poland better than those places?

at 61, do you feel the most comfortable retiring in Poland, rather than America?

[Harry from NWE]

[scottie1113]

[scottie1113]

I'd like to add something to my last post, mostly in reply to dynow.

As you've probably noticed, I'm not a malcontent. I didn't leave San Diego because I was unhappy or dissillusioned with the US. Far from it.

I found myself at a point in life where my children were grown with families of their own, and I realized that if I was ever going to do it, I'd better do it soon. I'm still healthy and most of my friends and students think I'm 45 or so, but that's not the point.

Ever since my first visit to France in 1986 I've wanted to live and work in Europe for the experience of being in a different place with a different culture and language.

But as an American it's difficult to work legally in France or Italy. I speak French and some rusty Italian, but those countries didn't look like an option to me, so I started to look for alternatives.

On a now defunct website I found two Americans who had lived here for about five years. They spoke highly of Poland, so in 2006 I came here to check the place out for myself. I didn't care much for Warsaw but I felt at home in the trojmiasto, especially Gdansk (it's on the sea, and as a sailor, that's important to me), so I moved here in 2007, got my CELTA, and the rest is history.

Last week I had a class in a company in Przymorze, which is a part of Gdansk. I was walking to the train station when one of my students pulled up next to me and offered me a ride. It was only about five more minutes to the train staion, but I accepted. He passed the PKP and said he would drive me to a different station. Cool.

He wanted to talk 1:1, and he asked me if I had known anything about Poland before I came here, so I gave him a condensed version of the last 1000 years. He was amazed and asked how I knew so much.

I told him I like history, especially military history, and he asked if I had ever been been to Westerplatte where WWII started. Yep, twice, first on my second weekend here, and again on 1 September last year when the ceremony began at 04.47. He was surprised that anybody who isn't Polish would know about the significance of that date, let alone bother to go there. Well, I live here. I'm not a backpack teacher, and as you know, I plan to stay here.

He dropped me at another station, I checked the schedule-train in four minutes- and the damn thing didn't show. Ah, Poland.

This is WAY off topic, and WAY too long, but after the OP's comments I felt that you should know why I'm here. I didn't come on a whim, and I did a lot of research before my intial visit. It always amazes me when someone goes to a country and is unhappy. Do they expect it to be like "home"? If so, why not just stay home?

Harry said it best.

[dynow]

Sorry, but I have more questions. Mainly because I'm really curious Scottie. You're not exactly the avg. case, so if you wouldn't mind:

You said that you had spoken to a few Americans that spoke highly of Poland. You can find 2 Americans living in any country in Europe that could speak highly of the place, so my question quite simply is: why Poland? any Polish roots? there just seems like there must be some other reasons for making a move to a country like Poland. I know there are paperwork issues with working in other countries in western europe, but at 61, i would think you're resourceful enough to do whatever would be necessary, considering it's a very significant move, maybe a permanent move, considering your age.

any other country west of Poland would be warmer, more technologically advanced (for the most part), more "westernized", have a WAY WAY easier language which would make integration into society much easier along with opening an infinite number of new doors for you, a better health care system along with maybe retirement as well......I dig Poland, I really do, but on paper, for most people, especially someone in their 60's, most people head for a different country.

You said you went to France in 1986......ok. But when I think about your situation, at 61, I would be considering all the countries before settling down in one and saying "this is the place for me" when I don't know what it's like to live in the other countries. So with that said....what makes you so sure that Poland is THE place for you to be? You said you came here before you moved here to "check it out"......did you "check out" the other countries?

By the way, this isn't a critique, I'm not saying right or wrong, I'm just thinking out loud and curious about it all, Mr. Scottie

[scottie1113]

Dynow, those are all good questions. I have no Polish roots, so that wasn't a factor in my decision, and I had no Polish girlfriend who inspired me to move here. As I mentioned, as an American it's difficult to work legally in the older EU countries so I began exploring other countries.

I've always been intrigued by Poland and I wanted to experience life in a country that's still making the transition from being a Soviet satellite to becoming a player in the western capitalist system. As we all know, there's still a long way to go, but I enjoy watching the changes every day.

Yes, there are more "westernized" countries, but so what? That wasn't what I was I was looking for. I simply wanted a new experience and I'm finding it in Poland. I didn't expect Poland to be like California, and it certainly isn't. That's part of the attraction for me.

True, there are warmer countries, and if you know anything about San Diego and its climate you may question my sanity, but as my Polish army students/friends say: there's no bad weather, only bad clothes. I agree. I actually enjoy the climate in Gdansk although I'm looking forward to spring.

I didn't check out the other countries because I'd already been to several of them. I didn't want to go back to Asia and South America has never appealed to me, so Europe was where I wanted to be, and here I be. So far so good.

Yeah, I'm pretty resourceful and I probably could have found a way to cope with the problems in France and Italy but I decided to come to Poland. A move to any other country is significant no matter what your age. Believe it or not, 61 isn't really that old. I've probably got two or three good months left. Ha ha. And at the moment I plan to spend them here.

It's true about the language but you wouldn't believe the help I'm getting from my Polish friends. Besides, that's just part of the fun of being in a new country. Except for the characters, Japanese was a lot easier than Polish, and French and Italian were a piece of cake. So why not take on the challenge of learning Polish? It keeps my mind from atrophying, at least the part of it that's left after Okocim.

Assimilating into the culture has been easy because I have a lot of Polish friends. Some are fellow teachers, some are students, and some are friends of friends, etc. It's the same in any country if you approach it with the right mindset.

You may have a point about the health care system. I really don't know. I have insurance through my school-I pay 50% of the monthly premium-and the only time I had to use it last year I got an appointment for the next day, went to the clinic, waited five minutes and was out the door shortly thereafter. No big deal. It was minor, just a virus, so I have no idea what would happen if I have to deal with something major. I'll take my chances. Fortunately two of my friends are doctors so I'm sure I'll figure something out if that ever happens.

I'm really not sure what you meant by more technologically advanced. Poland has electricity and indoor plumbing. What more could you ask for? I'm being facetious, because Poland has a long way to go to improve its old transportation sytem, but that's a holdover from the old days, and they'll get there in time.

You mentioned retirement. There will come a day when I won't be able to teach any longer, but as long as my mind is still functioning I'll be able to do other things. I don't want to spend my days playing golf or lying on a beach somewhere. I enjoy working and I plan to continue doing so until my health forces me to stop.

I think I've addressed all your questions, and until the moderators shut this thread I'll entertain any more. I want to stress that these are just my opinions and observations and certainly are not representative of anyone else's, especially the OP. Believe me, I don't have a Pollyanna attitude about Poland. I just like it here. So ask/flame away.