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I've read this before. Has this already been posted to HN? I am trying to convince my native born Polish girlfriend to move back for a year to live/work/travel

by _mgr 11y ago

I've read this before. Has this already been posted to HN? I am trying to convince my native born Polish girlfriend to move back for a year to live/work/travel. I figure I will pick up the language far quicker than my current pace. She's a little apprehensive about our earning potential there. The Polish Zloty does not appear to be the strongest currency and the average wage is half of some of it's other EU cousins.

krallja 11y ago
It's from 2014, and by an infamous HNer, so you've almost certainly had a chance to read it before.
- bernardom 11y ago
  It's even weirder clicking on the story, thinking "wait, I remember this," and then reading your name on the intro :-) (Thanks again for writing this up, Jacques!)
viraptor 11y ago
I can understand it. Moved out around 9 years ago and I really wouldn't go back for a longer period. Tech jobs I see are not that exciting, unless you work in some startup-like company. (although it got way better in the last few years, can't deny this) And there are just so many things I see every time I go back, that I don't want to experience in normal life. If you're successful after moving and don't have strong family/friends ties, it's hard to find good reasons to go back.
limaoscarjuliet 11y ago
Poland is still very closed society. You will be fine in large cities (Wroclaw, Krakow, Poznan, Warszawa, Gdansk), but unlikely to do well in small and medium cities. Wages are way smaller than in EU countries, prices are pretty much the same. Real estate might be the only exception, but not by much. Polish is a very hard language to pick up. Not only tongue twister, but full of exceptions and mind twisting rules. A pretty good example is counting objects, e.g. apples: 1-4 jablka, 5-21 jablek, 22-24 jablka, 25.. jablek. Yes, good luck with that! The good news is most young and some mid-age people speak English, large cities welcome foreigners, and - if you have decent profession - you will do ok.
- nekkoru 11y ago
  Actually, 1 - jabłko, 5-21 jabłek, 22-24 jabłka, 25-31 jabłek, 32-34 jabłka and so on and so forth.
  - _mgr 11y ago
    I was discussing this with my partner last night trying to understand the pattern/logic behind it. Would you see this similar pattern when counting oranges or coffee cups?

by _mgr 11y ago

krallja 11y ago

It's from 2014, and by an infamous HNer, so you've almost certainly had a chance to read it before.

bernardom 11y ago
It's even weirder clicking on the story, thinking "wait, I remember this," and then reading your name on the intro :-) (Thanks again for writing this up, Jacques!)

viraptor 11y ago

I can understand it. Moved out around 9 years ago and I really wouldn't go back for a longer period. Tech jobs I see are not that exciting, unless you work in some startup-like company. (although it got way better in the last few years, can't deny this) And there are just so many things I see every time I go back, that I don't want to experience in normal life. If you're successful after moving and don't have strong family/friends ties, it's hard to find good reasons to go back.

limaoscarjuliet 11y ago

Poland is still very closed society. You will be fine in large cities (Wroclaw, Krakow, Poznan, Warszawa, Gdansk), but unlikely to do well in small and medium cities. Wages are way smaller than in EU countries, prices are pretty much the same. Real estate might be the only exception, but not by much. Polish is a very hard language to pick up. Not only tongue twister, but full of exceptions and mind twisting rules. A pretty good example is counting objects, e.g. apples: 1-4 jablka, 5-21 jablek, 22-24 jablka, 25.. jablek. Yes, good luck with that! The good news is most young and some mid-age people speak English, large cities welcome foreigners, and - if you have decent profession - you will do ok.

nekkoru 11y ago
Actually, 1 - jabłko, 5-21 jabłek, 22-24 jabłka, 25-31 jabłek, 32-34 jabłka and so on and so forth.
- _mgr 11y ago
  I was discussing this with my partner last night trying to understand the pattern/logic behind it. Would you see this similar pattern when counting oranges or coffee cups?