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American mother moving to Poland

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odemko

Hi! I am new to the site! My family and I are moving to Poland in less than ayear , hopefully as a permanent move. I have so many questions!!! My first would be for American mothers who have moved to Poland...what has been the hardest thing for you so far?

My children understand Polish fluently, speak a little. My husband is POlish and fluent and I am learning...

Olivia

Armand

Hi Olivia!

Welcome to the forum ;)

Armand

thesearles

What are your questions? We live in Lodz.
Liz thesearles@gmail.com

odemko

Thank you for responding! I will email you!

Olivia

Deepfern

Hi Olivia,

Poland is a lovely place to live.  The people are friendly and the food is good!  The weather in winter can be harsh, but still nice.

The biggest difficulty for anyone coming from an English-speaking background is the language.

debisia

Hello there, Im english and live in Lodz, I have a polish husband and have been here for 4 and half years now, i love it although the language is a challenge, but everyone is very helpful.

Drop my a line any time should you want to

Debora

odemko

Hi Debora!
Thanks for replying. I'll get back to you!

Olivia

jpt

it is true??in 2012 the poland currency will be change to euro...???

odemko

no.
due to the economic difficulties in europe at the moment it would not be wise for poland to switch to euro right now.

Aussika

Hi Olivia,

I'm from Australia but like you I'm a Mum - I have a 3 y/o and a 9 week old. I moved here with my Polish Husband in July of this year. I speak a little Polish but am far from fluent.

Below is all 'generally speaking' and from my experience:

I have found the people here to be well normal. The general public can be nasty and nice - just like Australia and perhaps America. Family and friends on the other hand always seem to be close knit which is nice - and the culture here is very much 'your kids are mine and mine are yours' which means there is always someone to lend a hand.

I had no trouble getting a 3 year visa and have found most administrative and medical type things (I had my baby here) to be straight forward, efficient and friendly.

Personally I have found myself feeling a little isolated at times. Not being able to speak the language and having small children has meant I haven't been able to travel and socialise too much. In my home country I could put my 3 y/o in the car and head out for the day - that's not so easy in a foreign country. My Husband works so my days can be quite long. On that note, not many people here speak English (or are willing to) so I find myself relying on hubby for quite a fair bit which I'm sure is taxing on him. I'm usually very independent so this has required some getting use to.

Baby products and toys can be quite expensive here if you are going to be living off Polish currency - don't make the mistake I made of selling/giving things away rather than making the effort to send them over. Ouch.

Anyway that's just a few things that come to mind. Please feel free to send me an email if you have any questions.

:)

odemko

Thank you so much for your reply and taking the time to write it! I am making my way through all of the info. I have received and luckily much of it has been the same from the ex-pats and foreigners I have talked with.

I am surely going to have to learn the language. I speak "baby Polish" and can certainly get around but I know that if I want to be able to feel "a part of everything" I will need to make more of an effort before we go. So hard to find the time!

I am sure that there will be times in the future where I have more questions. I will certainly contact you when they come up,

Thank you!
Olivia

maciejski

Hey Olivia,
It's true that the hardest thing about living in Poland is the lack of English-speakers. I went to Polonus because they had a flexible program that fits to my work schedule. They also have a program where you can learn as a family I think.
Here it is: polonus-lodz.com/home.html

Hugodc2000

@Deepfern

hello i am also in the brasilian  forum , but thinking    of Poland,  I saw some forum expl about the language that most speak english  in polan,  I’m interested in Krakow, im a Usa citizen,  also have a way of studying Poland in the city university? how i ca pursued that? since I’m not in Poland to applied ?  thanks

Bhavna

@Hugodc2000


hello and welcome !


Please note that you are replying to an old post.


I think it is best that you open a new thread on the Poland forum to seek advice from active members.


All the best

Bhavna

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