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Expats in Gdansk

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Texan
  6/24/2003 15:47 EST

Hello all! We have been living in Gdansk for 10 months and loving it! However, it would be nice for some American (or other expats) companionship. We enjoy good food/wine/beer, Blues music, outdoor activities like biking, hiking, skiing, and traveling! We have one cat (Tommy the Cat) that we brought over from the US and live in a beautiful flat 20 meters from the sea. If you would like to chat, please replyl. We would like to hear from you!

Have a good day!

jimpl
  6/26/2003 11:14 EST

Hi Texan - glad you are enjoying Gdansk. I am no longer in Poland, lost work a year ago and had to come back to the US, but miss it a lot.

You should search out John Borrell, he runs the Kania Lodge in Kartuzy, about an hour away from you. It is a lovely B&B, and his wife Ania is an awesome cook. John also runs a wine import business which you may enjoy.

John is a Kiwi and a former war correspondent for Time magazine. He is a very interesting and friendly soul, and weekends at Kania are great ways to connect with other expats in Poland.

I don't have his contact info handy but I'm sure you can get the number from TPSA info (if your Polish is up to snuff).

Tell him I say hi - Jim Demartini

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Texan
  7/5/2003 09:38 EST

Hello Jim,

Thank you for your reply! It was great to get your email and interesting as we just heard about Kania Lodge and John Borrell from our friend, Herman Moyers, last weekend! I have emailed John to see if he has any free weekends this summer for us to visit. The lodge looks beautiful!

How long did you live in Warsaw? How did you find it to repatriate back to the US? We believe we will be in Sopot for 3-4 years, and we'll miss it when we leave.

Jen

powelltr
  7/13/2003 20:23 EST

Hi,

My wife was born in Poland and still has some family there. We've visited twice and thoroughly enjoyed it. Recently, we've tossed the idea around about relocating there. Any advise? We have two little girls 3 and 2. We would love for them to grow up in europe. I work in the insurance business and speaking a little polish. My wife is a homemaker. speaks perfect english and her polish is perfect as well. Please reply. we need advise on how to make this possible. thanks

jimpl
  7/14/2003 20:41 EST

I think the big question for you is, how will you support your family in Poland? Here are a few thoughts, from an American who did the same until recently:

1. Like in any country, work authorization is a big thing. Does your wife have Polish citizenship? In that case you can apply for a permanent residency card as her spouse, but a warning - it's harder, much harder than the US, for you to get one. You will most likely have to go to Poland on a temporary residency card _without work authorization_ and prove that you can support your family there by living there for at least 3 years and making money, before they will consider you for permanent residency. Therein lies the Catch-22, because Polish companies will not consider you for work without work authorization.

2. In order to work effectively in Poland, except in the big multinationals, you will have to speak Polish fairly fluently, or have key technical or subject matter skills that will outweigh this disadvantage.

3. You say you work in the insurance business - you may want to inquire to AIG, who have a large operation in Poland, if you have experience working in a large insurance corporation. They may be interested in hiring you as an expat. Realistically, without fluent Polish and work authorization, expat is the way to go. Warning, though, unlike 5-6 years ago, expat jobs are few and far between, and again, unless you have key skills that a company can't get internally, they usually prefer to send a known quantity to represent them in a foreign country, i.e. someone already in their organization.

4. The unemployment rate in Poland, last time I looked, was near 20%. Therefore, the demand vs. supply for people at all levels, including very high in organizations, is definitely in the employer's favor right now. 12 years after the wall fell, there are quite a few native, English-speaking, Western-thinking managers and professionals on the job market, thus depressing the demand for expats.

Wish I could be more cheerful, but having left the country after 6 years of working there, and seeing a number of expat friends do the same, my short-term outlook is not rosy.

As a US Citizen, you may want to inquire at the State Department. They are always hiring, and if you qualify they will give you language and cultural training and their relocation deals are sweet. Plus diplomatic priveleges and paid American school for your kids in Poland (value of that is $12k/yr/child!).

Jim

powelltr
  7/16/2003 18:05 EST

Jim,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my message.

Much of you said, I've suspected. It is clearly not a simply task. My wife is a Polish citizen, but as you've indicated, that may not make much of a difference in the beginning. I have looked briefly at AIG and plan to look more at the State department.

We are mainly just "feeling" this out for now. We know and expect that our standard of living may decrease with a move to Poland and are willing to accept that, but we've got to be able to live.

Your remarks are greatly appreciated. You've given me much more to think about.

If you don't mind, I'll keep you up to day and possible utilize you as a resource in the future.

Thanks for your time and most of all your candidness.

Regards,

Tim

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Ramon98x
  9/26/2003 10:03 EST

One of the things that I am hoping for is that the US Government decides to formalize plans for moving some of their Army bases from Germany to Poland. They already conduct yearly exercises in the region of Drawsko Pomorskie (Operation Victory Strike), which also just happens to be beside a gorgeous national park in a region of numerous lakes (and Polish Horse country). I was an Army officer posted in Vilseck Germany for three years and if they build a post near Drawsko, it would be an ideal situation to get a job there. My wife is Polish (from Szczecin which is only 2 hours away) and if they did build the base, then you would have the advantage of a full support network, to include a commisary, PX and most importantly, an English speaking school (unless your kids already speak Polish). I am continuing to watch the situation and hoping they make a decision on this soon so I can plan a move to Poland in the next 7-10 years. For anyone really considering a move to Poland, drop me an email at [email protected] as I would like to put together a list/group of folks (just on email) so we can consolidate our notes/ideas.
Ramon

KellyCannon
  4/26/2018 11:43 EST

We are thinking of moving to Gdansk, so we are taking a trip this July, 2018 to visit and see the city. Any information would be appreciated!
Kelly

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