Job Discussion Forums

[sharter]

Programme Bwell and Akcess do summer camps in Poznan...could be a way into Bell for end of September. Other schools you could look up online are Empik, Intersection, Profi-Lingua...all in Poznan. I'd apply to one of them if you're just loking for a foot in the door. Privates are they key to having a good standard of living...or having another skill like DJing etc.
Buy your winter jacket and boots in the UK/US wherever you are.Other items you need include; a good tin opener and potato masher. Every one I ever bought in Poland bent out of shape very quickly. Bring an unlocked phone, 2-pin plugs, a decent big solid frying pan cos they're much cheaper outside Poland.

I do go over the top when I'm in Poland, but it is expensive and I couldn't live on less than 4,000 a month as I'd be slumming it. Put bluntly 80Zl a day equals; 1 packet of smokes (11Zl), a pizza (24ZL), a sandwhich (6Zl) a cup of coffee (6Zl), 2 tram tickets (7Zl) and 3 beers (8Zl each). That's it.

Cinema is 25Zl, a bottle of wine in a restaurant about 100Zl, a JD 20-25Zl, a steak about 50-60Zl, a TV 2,000Zl av, shoes 300Zl av, Levis 300Zl av, using a phone is expensive too. And remember when your dating you pay!!

[maniak]

Ive been in Dzierzoniow a few times... what can I say... its a town, the old part of the city is actually nice, I dont know how the TEFL scene looks out but I doubt its lively.

If anything Id go to Swidnica. Close by but tons better. But youll quickly see why anybody whos got half a brain is hightailing it to Wroclaw

Btw, salary wise you should be making 50-60zl an hour. 2500zl a month is... crap.

[coledavis]

[sharter]

That's just it -Polish men don't pay for everything. That's why foreigners are 'attractive'. Read into that what you will.

[coledavis]

Well foreign men who buy popularity will likely get the type of women who appreciate that sort of gesture. In other words, the sort who our colleague considers to be rather selfish; perhaps grasping is more accurate?

From an ideological point of view, if Polish men are seeking equality of the sexes, then good for them.

[Jack Walker]

I do go over the top when I'm in Poland, but it is expensive and I couldn't live on less than 4,000 a month as I'd be slumming it. Put bluntly 80Zl a day equals; 1 packet of smokes (11Zl), a pizza (24ZL), a sandwhich (6Zl) a cup of coffee (6Zl), 2 tram tickets (7Zl) and 3 beers (8Zl each). That's it.

Cinema is 25Zl, a bottle of wine in a restaurant about 100Zl, a JD 20-25Zl, a steak about 50-60Zl, a TV 2,000Zl av, shoes 300Zl av, Levis 300Zl av, using a phone is expensive too.




Mr. Sharter is giving the higher end/big city prices over there.

Just to give the other side for a moment.

A large Pizza can be gotten for 15zl-17zl in my old stomping grounds.

Some places still sell pints for 5 zl and the cinema I used to go to costs 15zl per ticket during the weekend.

Steak can be bought for 7-9 zl at your local supermarket and cooked up at home easily.I've had steak over there at restaurants for 25zl and it wasn't too bad.

I bought a 40inch samsung TV last year for 500zl and it's still going strong.

Shoes can range from 15zl-1000zl.It depends on what you're looking for like anywhere else in the world and of course where you're shopping.

Levis are actually 300-400zl, but you can get pretty good jeans from Zara, Smiths or any of the other strip mall boutiques for 80-100zl.

Whiskey is expensive over there but instead of paying 15zl for a shot of Jack Daniels (the price at my old hangout),you can buy half a litre for 55zl and drink at home....lol. There were plenty of cheaper whiskies available as well.


The two expenses which always stood out for me while living in Poland were the ridiculously expensive costs to rent or buy a flat and to operate a car.Those were the two big killers for me anyway.Most of my paycheck would go into my car and flat.

Poland is not the place to go to make money.Living there requires making lots of sacrifices and seriously cutting back on your spending.You can live on a higher scale there, but you have to be prepared to open your wallet and keep it open.I guess it's pretty much like that everywhere in the world these days when you think about it.
Cheers,
Jack

[Master Shake]

[sharter]

1-80Zl/day is a minimum wage.
2-Polish men thinking about sexual equality.....you're having a laugh.
3-There's nowhere in Poznan where a beer is 5Zl. Stajenka Pegasu is 6Zl.
4-Tivoli pizzas start at 22Zl and that's a bog standard pizza chain in Poznan.
5-Poznan is expensive because it has 22 international trade fairs a year.
6-Late at night public transport doesn't go everywhere. Maybe in Warsaw yes.
7-TEFL life is becoming a financial struggle for most. Having kids? Forget it if you're the only bread winner. You might not plan on having a kid....but if you 'slip up' 9 out 10 times she'll have your baby. Just something to think about.

[Vaporate]

[quote="sharter"]1-80Zl/day is a minimum wage.
2-Polish men thinking about sexual equality.....you're having a laugh.
3-There's nowhere in Poznan where a beer is 5Zl. Stajenka Pegasu is 6Zl.
4-Tivoli pizzas start at 22Zl and that's a bog standard pizza chain in Poznan.
5-Poznan is expensive because it has 22 international trade fairs a year.
6-Late at night public transport doesn't go everywhere. Maybe in Warsaw yes.
7-TEFL life is becoming a financial struggle for most. Having kids? Forget it if you're the only bread winner. You might not plan on having a kid....but if you 'slip up' 9 out 10 times she'll have your baby. Just something to think about.[/quote]

In bold, is that the norm here in Poland? I'm trying not to blanket the Polish female population with the naive outlook of always having the baby over abortion. Guess it is the same in the UK as far as I am aware.

[Richfilth]

[Vaporate]

[sharter]

You'll be surprised at how many people, especially Americans go there with the sole intention of getting hooked up.

Many a Polish woman has tried to trap a foreigner who's then done a flit.

In my case, she left me. Then again he did earn $15,000 A month!! Not that I'm cynical. He soon went back to Houston.

[Vaporate]

[quote="sharter"]You'll be surprised at how many people, especially Americans go there with the sole intention of getting hooked up.

Many a Polish woman has tried to trap a foreigner who's then done a flit.

In my case, she left me. Then again he did earn $15,000 A month!! Not that I'm cynical. He soon went back to Houston.[/quote]

This is a interesting subject for me.

I've been involved with a few Polish girls in Poland in the past during my summer breaks from university.

From my experience the mother of the girl usually took an interest in 'hooking' their daughter with the boy/man.

In bold, I wouldn't worry. I think she did you a favour and saved you time. She sounds like a gold digger if she left you for money...

Trap a foreigner? financial reasons?

[sharter]

It was all a very long time ago and it was well over long before she left...I had not been a knight in shining armour for quite some time myself .

My post was just a heads up that's all. If I think of all my friends in Poz, the banker has 3 kids, the loaded accountant has one, my mate at BAe has one maybe two by now, I work on an oil plant and I've got a son. A Yank I know has one and is a relative newcomer, an Irish mate has two and works his socks off. All the lads who came post 2000 are now settling down and will soon realize that Polish language school wages don't allow for having kids. It's when it goes wrong that life becomes complicated. Do you stay in Poland or go home? If you go home each visit will cost you thousands of Dollars, which you might not have being in TEFL. I make a lot of dosh doing what I do but it's cost me thousands...probably the price of a new 50 meter flat in the last 7 years. I know loads of Polish girls (mostly barmaids and usually degree educated) who have had kids with expats. Polish when go for the jugular in divorce situations when it comes to cash. Money is only money but as always the kids get damaged.

Since 95 I've had a host of Eastern European partners, not bragging just giving some perspective. If I were to sum up Polish women, I would say the following things; they are generally very smart;they look nice; they are feminine;they are ambitious to improve their lot in life;they are generally more concerned with having their hair done than having an intelligent conversation; they are often vain; they are temperamental; they are materialistic; they moan a lot; they have a problem being single; they lack the sophistication of 'western' women and they wear nylon pants and colour their hair too much. Eye candy yes- life partners no....not for foreigners. Then you've got her family to think about......it's like the Jonnie Knoxville touchdown return on Jackass at times

[coledavis]

"Polish when go for the jugular in divorce situations when it comes to cash. Money is only money but as always the kids get damaged."
Funny, this has been observed amongst Brits too. Verrrry interestink!