News from Poland...

[Mespheber]

I'm in Warszawa since three weeks and I admit I'm mostly surprised that many news don't spread out of the borders from this country, which is the third biggest of Europe in size and population.

I already wrote about the agriculture disaster, which is that 20% of the crops are lost because of the hot and dry summer. There shouldn't be starvation, thanks to the European exchanges, but still it means that the prices will increase for sure. It will just be an economic crisis for polish farmers... Strangely, I found no english link to provide about it.

Lately, mr. Kaczinsky, their president, ask for his prime minister demission and replaced him with his twin brother. Also there were lately some discussions at the assembly to restore the death penalty.

Meanwhile, unemployement is decreasing. Not because people are finding jobs thanks to the Entry of Poland in Eec, no. It would be to beautiful. It's just that polish are leaving the country to find some jobs out of here.

Hopefully, there is the Middle-east crisis to distract the world attention.

[nalpak retrac]

Read with interest. Thanks for the news.

[Mikey_C]

Meanwhile, unemployement is decreasing. Not because people are finding jobs thanks to the Entry of Poland in Eec, no. It would be to beautiful. It's just that polish are leaving the country to find some jobs out of here.

Are there problems with skilled workers leaving? My employer, a large county council, has employed a qualified Polish doctor as a care assistant in a nursing home, supervised by a nurse.

When I questioned the ethics of this, I was told "you must realise things are different in Poland". In other words, he gets paid more as a care assistant in the UK than he would as a doctor at home.

I understand that Ukrainians are going to Poland to replace the plumbers, dentists, etc who have left. But what if you live in the Ukraine and need a plumber or a dentist? You are left flooded out with a toothache I guess.

We went for a break in Devon last week and were served by young Polish women (graduates, I expect) in the fish and chip restaurant. I wonder what happens to young people born in areas largely dependent on seasonal low-paid employment in the service industry.

I guess they have to move - especially as they have no chance of ever buying accommodation in their home towns due to "second home" owners pushing up the prices.

What are these places going to be like in the winter when the seasonal migrants and second home owners go back to Poland and London respectively. Will they just turn into ghost towns as the older generation die out? Will they resemble the Ukraine?

It's probably not good to think about these. I certainly blame no worker for travelling to where they can get the best price for their labour, and I empathise with employers in the local tourist industry having to compete in a global marketplace distorted by VAT-free aviation fuel.

There does seem an irony, though, that UK resorts often seem to be chosen by people who prefer to avoid problems with foreign languages - I was served at a kiosk who could understand neither the phrase "salt and vinegar crisps" or the simplified instruction "the green packet, please!".

Strange days indeed. It's interesting to hear how these things are experienced on "the other side".

Do Polish people like having to travel abroad for work? The situation seems analogous to how Ireland was years ago. There seemed to be a whole national complex about emigration, a kind of sadness.

I have even been told that the popularity of one Daniel O'Donnell () came about as he was the perfect mother's son to replace those lost abroad.

On a brighter musical note, will we see a Polish version of the Pogues?

Now I hear that Irish people in particular are buying up property in Poland for speculative purposes, having seen what happened to house prices in their own country when the "Celtic tiger" eventually roared.

Also - I heard of a coleague's drop-out son buying a smallholding in Bulgaria recently, just as English hippies used to in Ireland.

[Morgan Kane]

Interesting ......

[Mespheber]

Are there problems with skilled workers leaving? My employer, a large county council, has employed a qualified Polish doctor as a care assistant in a nursing home, supervised by a nurse.

When I questioned the ethics of this, I was told "you must realise things are different in Poland". In other words, he gets paid more as a care assistant in the UK than he would as a doctor at home.

You get the point. Public services are totally collapsing in Poland. Medicine, education (which is another matter of madness: new needs but most of school and universities ruled by communist time regulations!) but also police. The consequence is most of enterprises or houses use private polices who are as big as the official one. However, I wonder if some are as honest as they pretend to be. Some friends's parents have a small house in the countryside, a few years ago, there were some robberies in every one of them, not valuable things, but personnal ones were taken away. It strangley stopped in every house protected by one of these services. Corruption is rising like weed without a gardener.

We went for a break in Devon last week and were served by young Polish women (graduates, I expect) in the fish and chip restaurant. I wonder what happens to young people born in areas largely dependent on seasonal low-paid employment in the service industry.

There is not such areas:the whole country is a mess and it is almost impossible to find a stable job now. Most of students have a crappy job like giving flyers in the street (which is paid 5zł, 1€, per hour ) or extra administrative assistants. Also, there is no unemployement security as it is in France: you don't work for a few months, then you can die and no one will care except your family.

Do Polish people like having to travel abroad for work? The situation seems analogous to how Ireland was years ago. There seemed to be a whole national complex about emigration, a kind of sadness.

Ireland is a dynamic country while Polish graduates are massively going out. Also, 50 years of communism let people unable to lead their destiny: it is easy to create an association or an enterprise here, but few have the will to. Maybe the new generation will improve the situation, however, guys like Kaczynski are driving the country back in Staline's days...

On a brighter musical note, will we see a Polish version of the Pogues?

Yeah, that's the bright side of Poland, there are a lot of artists and many bands, very creative like Moonlight, Artrosis, Hey, Behemoth, Kult, Vader... All they need is a proper promotion, even if a band like Behemoth or Vader are already known abroad.

Now I hear that Irish people in particular are buying up property in Poland for speculative purposes, having seen what happened to house prices in their own country when the "Celtic tiger" eventually roared.

Indeed, buying houses in Poland is cheap and there are awesome countrysides, especially in the south. I wish I could invest in this business.