Moving to Poland Long-term - Pros & Cons

I’ve been living in Poland for 5 years. If you’re seriously considering moving you will have seen optimistic videos but you need to know some of the cons as well. For me it hasn’t been all that easy and as we all know the grass is greener elsewhere.
I’d love to make more videos about Poland. If you guys have any questions let me know!
Pros:
- Awesome city life, easy to get around
- Easy to rent apartments and cheap. Not too much bureaucracy.
- Low cost of living (for western or tech salary). Affordable food, rent, transport, everything.
- Underrated nature. Mountains, lakes, rivers, biking, hiking etc…
- Very digital and modern services. Government, medical, transport.
- Polish people are friendly, educated and hard-working.
Cons:
- The language barrier is real, even if you are an advanced Polish speaker. It’s hard to fit in. This probably isn't a problem for digital nomads, but it is if you are considering staying here the rest of your life.
- It’s hard to make Polish friends.
- Taxation and small business will be difficult for you as a foreigner.
- Air quality is terrible in the winter, especially southern Poland.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:37 Compact cities, great transport
01:32 Renting in Poland
03:07 Cost of living
04:07 Nature & Hiking
05:29 Digital country
06:13 Polish people
06:59 Language barriers
09:37 Lack of friends
10:15 Difficult taxes & small business
11:52 Air Quality
12:49 Subscribe!

[@gregorymikula4249]

I moved to Poland from the USA after many years of visiting relatives and studying. The Polish people are polite, industrious and always very helpful. I am just sorry I didn't make the move earlier, (I am 69 years old) and have been living here for 10 years. I would never live anywhere else!

[@pantarei.]

Just remember that Poles especially like Americans. And there is a lot of reasons for that 🙂

[@Shakti700]

That's pretty flattering, kind sir😊

[@WujekFu]

Pros- No more huntsman spiders.

[@pantarei.]

Hi mate, as a Pole living in the UK, I think when it comes to cons, every immigrant in every country can say something similar to you. But at least Poland is very safe and nice looking country. Here, in the UK these houses, narrow winding streets, not too many trees, garbage everywhere, and many other things make cities look very decadent. For me it is hard to stay in the UK longer than one year in a row, cause this country makes me very depressive. And it was a big bad surprise the first time, when I came here... I expected nice looking country like Germany... but yeah, that was a big disappointment. Enjoy your stay in Poland. I wish you good luck! 🙂

[@Ula-Ka]

Gdzie mieszkasz w Uk? Brzmi jak Bradford (ja tylko na street view zwiedzam aktualnie).

[@namesaname]

​@@Ula-Kaja mieszkałem w Liverpoolu i na ulicy było dużo śmieci i sporo crack heads(narkomanów). Zależy od okolicy ale na ogół czasem strach wyjść

[@markusf2873]

Nice looking Like Germany? Well It depends where you live in Germany....

[@Vielenberg]

Regarding taxes: ask your accountant about the posibility to pay lump-sum installements (zaliczki uproszczone) - you would be paying 1/12 of the tax that you paid last year per month without the need to calculate it every month. That option is available for all non start-up businesses.

[@slavomt5832]

Great video! Moving to Poland from Australia and living here for 5 years - it means you like it 😀 Speak Polish, do not worry about mistakes. Poles will love you for your afford. You are a very nice person. Take care!

[@Ark-fj7xy]

Simple, honest and true. Good luck living in my motherland.

[@thatfifoguy2728]

Thanks for the information, enjoyed the vid!

[@krzysztof4347]

Good job, bro. Great vibe. Nice to see you. 😊You are very welcome.

[@miecz23]

I'm Polish, I speak English fluently but if I go to the English pub or American countryside I don't understand what they say either. Nobody is using newspaper English. Isnt it the same everywhere?

[@MsLinda165]

I live in a city in Canada; I was born here and was educated here, and I've never fit in. My husband and kids have not had this issue; they make friends easily and have no problem fitting in. Having said that, they're 'left' and I'm 'right', politically and ideologically. I'd probably be happier in a locale where other people are conservatives like me, but in Canada, that's not easy to find. I would find polluted air problematic. That's one thing about western Canada, is that our air is pristine. Our winters last 7 months of the year, but we have 320 days of sunshine, along with the 7 months of winter. (We also have high crime). We have to make do with what we're faced with. I"ve often dreamt of moving to Eastern Europe, but learning a new language is intimidating, and I also prefer sunshine to clouds. I'd love to explore Poland a bit, especially as you mentioned the mountains. I'd imagine it to be a beautiful country. It can't be worse than Canada, and it stands a good possibility of being better. We have Polish immigrants galore in our western city, and they're all workaholics and neat freaks. I can get used to living in a country where everyone works hard and keeps things clean. Oh, and their food is delicious.

[@user-lt1lm4fs8y]

Many foreigners make the mistake of closing themselves off to their English-speaking circles, which prevents them from getting to know us Poles. And reaching out to people even with poor English is how you pick up the spoken language very quickly. Another thing - Poland is Central Europe, not Eastern Europe - the same, for example, the Czech Republic - everyone considers Austria to be Western Europe, and their capital Vienna is further east than the Czech Prague. Go out to people, go for a good beer in the summer, then it's easier to make contact with people, do some outdoor events, etc.

[@angelkana]

I left Poland many years ago and moved to other country and I have experienced some of the cons that you have mentioned. Language - it took me some years to being able to understand the locals well. Even though I'm speaking now on the C2 level, sometimes I am still unable to understand people especially when they are using they dialect. Friends! That is complete disaster! After 12 years abroad I still do not have so many friends as I have in Poland. It's pretty difficult. So I guess those issues could be more related to immigration at all, not to the country. But, don't give up! Kraków is really great place 😊

[@mateuszmazurek7991]

hey, where did you move? sounds more like Germany not an English speaking countries, I think anglosphere would be easy to adapt linguistically

[@angelkana]

@@mateuszmazurek7991 you guessed right! I'm in Germany, in the southern west part of it :)

[@christianbouchard13]

Nice and honest video man. I visited Krakow sometimes ago and I really liked it. It is not a country we hear every day and probably not on the top of the list for digital nomads, but it is one of the few success stories in Europe in the last few years and definitely worth mentioning. It is on par of becoming the new locomotive of Europe since Germany and France are struggling so much. What brought you there? do you have any Polish ancestors?

[@eduardfastovski]

Thank you! Are you a digital nomad? I ended up here by accident really, or maybe it was fate. My girlfriend has Polish ancestry, and I was keen to move to Europe, although not Poland specifically. We were both freelancers, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to move here together. She got the 'Karta Polaka' which allowed her to start a business here and then 'hire' me.

[@helenatomaszewska9512]

@@eduardfastovski You have lat name that sounds Polish

[@Jacek_videos]

Hello Many thanks for presenting my homeland in such a positive way to the world 👌👍 It's heartwarming to listen to an Australian praising the nature of Poland 😊 You're right about the language though: It's one of the most difficult languages to learn. But look there are parts of the UK where an Australian or an American would have hard time understanding the locals as well Best regards Jacek ps. It's hard to make friends nowadays anywhere. If you lived in Warsaw I'd be your friend 👍

[@anetafoiadelli405]

I am Polish living in Germany and I have the same problem. It is difficult to find a German friend even though my level of German is C1 and I have been living here for 16 years.

[@klausvonshnytke]

Your comment about not being able to make friends, although not wrong, is something that happens to anyone who decides to move abroad. It's not easy to make friends regardless of where you live if you are a newcomer. Some places are specially difficult. I've lived in Canada for almost 6 years and I honestly made two new connections here. It's in part because of the lifestyle, in part because of personality. As a native Pole I think you have a better chance of making meaningful connections with people in Poland. Taxes: Consider hiring an accountant. For a small monthly fee it will save you headache of doing it yourself. Good accountant will probably help you reduce your taxes as well.

[@radsec]

Excellent video....good luck....

[@zboromat]

Amen ! Good observation!

[@pyroblasted]

Thank you for this video. I hope you find some friends here. Also learning few basic words could be really helpful in your daily life. Greetings from Wrocław :)

[@eduardfastovski]

Już znam a few basic words, mam poziom A2 :). Wrocław jest fajny! Byłem tam ale to było w czasie covida... Chyba odwiedzę znowu niedługo. Dzięki za komentarz!

[@katharina...]

That's a very fair assessment. I know what it's like to be an introverted foreigner trying to make new friends. Polish people are much more open to accepting newcomers into their social group than some other nationalities though, so I hope things will improve for you on this front soon. Don't be afraid to suggest a get together with people you already know and enjoy the company of, we are very open to that kind of stuff. Particularly if you suggest a bbq or a hike ☺️ Best wishes!

[@SabertoothNomad]

Very good video. Ilike the vibe, topics covered as well as the audio quality. Keep at it mate, you dont have a lot of subscribers but you have gotten youself one more :)

[@eduardfastovski]

Hey, thank you! I'm glad you appreciate the vibe because I was worried it would turn out boring haha. Very interesting channel you have there also... Cheers!

[@SabertoothNomad]

@@eduardfastovski I wouldnt worry too much about boring, the problem you might face is being constrained to a small niche. Also, thanks :)

[@TheLucaseuropa]

Don't worry about the boxing trainer not being understandable, we also don't understand all words other people are saying, the language itself is difficult

[@will_274]

I agree with most of your points except your point about the outdoors lifestyle. I’m sure Poland is beautiful but there’s no comparison to Australia when it comes to outdoors lifestyle. e.g you can enjoy outdoors all year round. The beaches. Hiking. Camping. Rainforests. There’s even snow in some places.

[@eduardfastovski]

True, I didn't mean to say Poland beat Australia in that regard. Just that Polish nature is underrated. But also, I hide indoors all summer in Aus, just as much as in Poland in winter. When it's 35+ it's not enjoyable to be outdoors (for me).

[@TiaraAyim2]

I've stumbled upon this by accident but enjoyed it:) Thanks for an honest video and pronouncing our Krakow correctly (and Zakopane) ;) Regarding friends - as a fellow introvert I also don't have many friends either. And I'm Polish. I think it's hard to make friends as an adult? Also, I knew a foreigner who spoke completely fluent Polish after few years living here. Not all hope is lost for you haha

[@eduardfastovski]

Thank you! I'm really glad. Yes, it is hard to make friends as an adult but usually it's easier through sports and hobbies. It is much harder in a foreign country. Regarding Polish, people like yourself speak English so comfortably it proves another point I forgot to mention - that even when speaking to Poles, I never get any Polish practice :).

[@TiaraAyim2]

​@@eduardfastovski have you tried pretending you don't speak English? They will be forced to continue 😜

[@WalkingandTalkingAussieGirl]

cool will be watching from aus as child of polish parents

[@CLaw-tb5gg]

My partner is Polish and although I do know a reasonable number of words, I've tried to actually sit down and learn it properly so many times and Polish is.. ...Polish was not a language designed to be spoken by humans. lol. Like "yeah it's drzczszłwęwprzsztrzczszłbrzczę, except if it's a Tuesday in July, when it's drzczszłwęwprzsztrzczszłbrzczbrany". Like every time you think you understand how something works, Polish is like "lol nope"

[@eduardfastovski]

I actually had no problems with pronounciation. Grammar is what kills me. I'm never sure of the proper way to structure a question, and because I look and sound polish, locals just think I'm an idiot rather than a foreigner :).

[@MichalKubik146]

For example when People in Germany are in bunch of friends they talk in German and it would be a little bit strange that everybody had to switch to English in normal dayily activities

[@bystander1255]

That's hilarious xD. Greetings from Poland!

[@zeus2zeus2zeus2]

I will tell you how to make your life easier when learning Polish, first learn to pronounce the letters of the alphabet correctly, the pronunciation of Polish words and sentences is exactly the same as the sounds of the letters from the alphabet

[@huberttorzewski]

@@zeus2zeus2zeus2 not exactly. We tend to soften the endings of the words while speaking ('d' at the end of the word becomes 't', "g" becomes "k" etc.). But generally yes, a lot of the words are spoken exactly as written except the endings or "ą" which a lot of the times becomes "om" and "ę" which becomes "e" or "em/en".

[@Milus2006]

Currently we have SPRING ;-) in Poland not a Summer. Yesterday in Krakow was +7 C 44F

[@Askorti]

I can't say with 100% certainty that it's a thing in Cracow, but in my city of Poznań we had (and I believe still have) language exchange meetings in some pubs. On a particular day and hour people would gather and all mingle and chat in english, both immigrants and locals went to those. I would suggest looking into whether such meetings are a thing in Cracow, and maybe that will help you find some friends. :)

[@piotrg2096]

11:40 you can pay taxed every 3 months if you wish, I am not sure if it is also about ZUS (social security), but this is the lowest amount. We also hope they will simplify tax system and law in Poland but it is not happening. 12:20 choose Gdansk, it is much better in terms of air quality

[@Eric-jy8ec]

Don't you worry about sometimes not understanding what people are saying. I'm polish and I sometimes can't understand them either ;D

[@piotrkrok2022]

Your are great.... Don't worry... This country is the best in the world..... Good luck my friend....... 😎

[@Nieszpieg]

Haha don't worry, even us Polish sometimes have problems with finding friends. I'm also from Kraków and there are plenty of activities - English speaking ones as well - and maybe try it :)

[@KVINTUS7]

hey mate! i am half polish half australian and you are 100% right about almost everything... in my point of view both Warsaw and Melbourne have their cons and pros but somethin about Warsaw man..

[@lollylula6399]

I'm half Polish half English. My heart longs to go to Warsaw, one day I'll get there.

[@jakubozarek75]

dobrze się Ciebie słucha, z roku na rok twój polski będzie lepszy musisz duzo rozmawiac i słuchac audiobooków po polsku, pozdro.

[@GoreTheSummoner]

hey as an introvert myself and polish i can tell u it aint easy to find friends :D so i dont know if that will cheer you up but im in a similar position. It just must be an introvert thing. Im will try to go to some groups hobby releated to maybe meet someone but yea, most of the people already have their friends. Keep trying mate, or better just focus on yourself and maybe you'll meet some similr folks who will get along with u .

[@ask157]

Pollution is due to home heating (using coal) not due the industries (like no pollution in summer). Its somewhat improving slowly. They are putting gov programs to replace coal heating with something more eco-friendly. Krakow (only city area) since 2019 you can't use coal and wood to heat your house.

[@eduardfastovski]

Yes, I should have mentioned the home heating. But personally, I don't think it's just homes. As you say the law has been in place since 2019. Summer is actually not so great either like if you look on Airly right now, Poland is still worse than most of Europe - airly.org/map/en/.

[@gregcioch]

Unfortunately, some people also burn trash along with coal or wood which is what usually makes the air really bad to breathe. Hopefully, government incentives will modernize heating systems and people's standards of living increase over time so they don't have to resort to this unhealthy behavior. I agree this used to be much worse but it's slowly getting better.

[@ask157]

@@eduardfastovski yes because winter is back? Have you been outside? It's freezing

[@quadro1337]

​@@eduardfastovski Krakow is located in the middle of a valley, and a lot of air pollution accumulates at the bottom of the valley. Unfortunately, government programs cannot change the geography, neighboring counties must be as clean as the center of Krakow, which will happen in the coming years. It's also worth mentioning that Poland probably has the most Airly platforms installed in Europe, so the results are very precise no matter where you are. This helps avoid bad air conditions when you go outside.

[@Kejmur]

It's important to note it's not just Tatry. Sudety and Karpaty can provide fantastic mountain views as well, and they aren't as crowded if you prefer a more isolated experience. Also for fresh air - near Pomorze, like Koszalin, Kołobrzeg, etc. is a low industrial area, so the quality of fresh air here is pretty high.

[@Shakti700]

As a business owner myself, I'll give you a friendly advice: fire your accountant! A good sepcialist should know how to calculate your monthly tax rate. I can't comprehend how you put up with this hustle on a monthly basis. You've got to be far more patient man than I am😊 As for the air quality: Kraków is well known for its smog, along Silesia (Katowice, Zabrze, Sosnowiec etc.) If this bothers you, move up north - Gdańsk or somewhere in that area. Baltic sea releases large quantities of iodium, and air in there is absolutely wonderfull. Good luck bro👍

[@antoniolejniczak5181]

i am polish and i love living here

[@likier1]

Give it a time and you wil be on level that you can speak with anyone :)

[@olgagal8800]

Interesting...🤔🤓👍👍

[@sokoowskitosmrud6630]

i used to live in Sydney for almost 1 year, it was super hard to get a job there w/o any experience. Vans shoes at that time (2018) cost me 100$ which i worked for about 4-5h. In Poland it was almost 400zł which was about solid 16h 2 day job. (construction site). Same goes about phones and many many more. However rent was kind of high at 200$ per week for 1 bed though.

[@waldemarusmc3191]

Poland is not an Eastern Europe. Just like Australia isn't Oceania or Polinasia. Reason why because the it has a negative connotation that has to do with the Soviet mentality and standard mainly. Compare Poland eith Moldavia or Russia and you'll know what I mean. Poland and Poles have more in common with England, Italy or Denmark than it has to do with the Russian sphere. Similarly Australia as a country culturally and in development has more to do with Canada or England than with Fiji or Toga.

[@eduardfastovski]

Yes, I agree. I even added a note saying *central europe when I accidentally said this 😅. But I think it's often still called eastern europe for two reasons: 1. Historical - It was part of the eastern bloc and it was a communist country, so in a historical discussion it was part of "eastern europe" but modern Poland is definitely not eastern europe. Maybe in the future Australia will be occupied by China, and we will say Australia is part of Asia. 2. Slavic people - I think there is often some crossover when people talk about "eastern europeans" they really mean all slavic people/languages and common cultural elements. Sometimes this includes baltics also (are they eastern or northern?).

[@brys555]

@@eduardfastovski Little reminder that Poland was part of eastern bloc for only 45 years out of over 1000 of it's history.

[@MrGurus86]

​@@eduardfastovskislavic race??

[@MrGurus86]

English race French race Spanish race and i think you need to go back home with your anglo saxon race

[@eduardfastovski]

@@brys555 Do you mean those times when it was geographically much further east than it is now? Including Lwow, Brest, Wilno...or Poland-Lithuania when it included Kijow and Smolensk? I'm kidding 😄. But seriously, the eastern bloc influence is still very visible now. You can feel it in the bar mleczny, or you can stand on some streets and they look exactly like Ukraine or Belarus. There is no doubt it is a modern but ex-communist country. I know Polish culture is distinct and much more western, trust me I am not grouping you with... others. When I say "eastern europe" I'm mostly referring to infrastructure and architecture.

[@NazwaBricksZajeta]

That was a cool video. Pole here. Yeah the taxation system is really frustrating for us too - if that makes you feel any better. About paying taxes quarterly, or for every 6 months - others already explained. About the cities - and this could start a steamed conversation between my fellow Poles, but - I would rank top cities like this: Wrocław, Gdynia, Warszawa, Kraków. Check them out for yourself and let us know what are your thoughts! And finally - welcome to Poland! We welcome all legal immigrants :)

[@ozlinx]

G'day mate, I'm an Aussie living in Poznan PL and have been for 18 years and would never live back in Oz or anywhere else for that matter. Much of what your saying is quite right although I will say making friends has never been an issue and I've lost count of the hangovers after these wonderful Polish people found out I was Australian matko! :) Enjoy!

[@miriam2909]

The housing market in Australia is so bad right now. Costs an arm and a leg, one full weekly wage and the queues are incredibly long. We have tent cities springing up absolutely everywhere, like in the US because of the housing shortage. And still they allow hundreds of thousands of people migrate here every year. Best to stay where you are.

[@ozlinx]

@@miriam2909 Yes my whole family are in Oz and I talk to them everyday, very sad to see & hear what's happened to a once great country :( Disgusting is not a strong enough word....and I can assure that when looking back in from the outside it's worse then you may think or believe.

[@wlodekpodhorodecki901]

Polish is pretty difficult even for Polish people. The grammar rules are extremely complex and the sounds are really hard to reproduce for a native English speaker. When it comes to making friends, working at home doesn't help at all. I lived overseas for almost 30 years and all the friends I had were the people I used to work with. Pollution is a serious problem in Poland. There are however certain regions where the quality of air is very good. My favourite is Pomorze, with Gdynia and Gdansk. Winter in Poland is pretty miserable to the degree that it makes me depressed. When I was a child the winter looked totally different. There was heaps of snow everywhere, from early December to late March, it was frosty but bright with some sunshine occasionally. Nowadays the weather in winter is pretty gloomy, wet and smoggy.

[@gawel772]

Hi! If you ever wanted to visit Katowice, I could give you a tour!

[@piotrprs572]

There are many polish variants that are a little different than 'general polish'. Even many Poles can't understand fully in 1st impression this variants... we need to focus to understand it. So, don't blame yourself that you can't fully understand that some Poles talking about. 🙂You should do some journey to diffrent polish regions and check this differences. It will help you later to understand another variant of speaking polish lang. 🙂But if you speak 'literacy polish', every one Pole can understand you v. well. So you can ask what 'that word mean' and you then realize, that you know this word.. but not this spoken variant. 🙂 I think in Australia you have same thing.

[@buffalosoldat]

Hey Eduard! I'm Polish myself, but I speak English proficiently. Come back to Warsaw, I'd love to meet you. I used to be a web developer myself. Nowadays I work as a Project Manager in IT and I'm also self-employed. I do also look for new chaps to hang out with. Our tax system might be complicated, but frankly speaking I from my POV I consider it as one of the biggest assets due to taxation rates if you do it wisely. For instance my income tax is only 8.5% and in your case it would be 12%. Probably only Romania and Bulgaria can compete when it comes to tax rates in IT. Btw. interestingly when I was younger, I dreamed about moving to Australia, but sadly after observing how the country has changed over the last decade (real estate prices, covid freedom limitations etc.), this is no longer my wish.

[@eduardfastovski]

Mine is also 12% but the ZUS payment is a fixed 2800zl per month! Making my tax more like 25% all together.

[@arekkrolak6320]

There will come a moment you realize you understand everything :)

[@sSomeawesomeneSs]

id say people in cities are cold compared to those living in the countryside

[@malanalan1]

FYI. In US depending on your gross income, you may have to deposit tax semi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. I had to deposit tax in US semi-weekly for a couple years!!!!

[@sunflowerhappy8021]

Yes. I agree with the invasion of privacy here. And the Collecting of Private Business. I was renting my place and I did better than using them. I even got better tenants. They are hopeless, unless you get a good one. Glad you happy there. Things are competitive here now.

[@travelvideos]

Interesting observation. I think population density is relatively high in Poland, but for Australia it is low. So, to find accommodation should be easier in Australia. Also, in summer time Poland have pretty high demand for recreational facilities, so the mountains and beach can get pretty crowded.

[@eduardfastovski]

Ironic isn't it. But in Australia the population is very concentrated around the main cities. There is nothing to do in the countryside, so nobody wants to live there. You can almost imagine a map of Australia as a group of city-islands, and the countryside as water. Then it starts to make sense.

[@eduardfastovski]

The Polish mountains and lakes are indeed very crowded on summer weekends. But weekdays are amazing if you can take some time off work.

[@maciekszymanski8340]

@@eduardfastovski If you like lakes, do not stick to the obvious destinations like Mikołajki or Giżycko. Overcrowded to the top. Poland has thousands of lakes and is easy to find remote place with just few regular and friendly visitors.

[@justcallmetapple]

fajnie

[@mateuszmazurek7991]

4:18 lol yea that meme, things is it's not even Poland but an ex-USSR, but I know, I've seen it titled as Poland lol

[@FreyaFromAsgard]

I'm planning to do complete opposite 😄 I'll be moving to Melbourne in 2 years. You should mention that Poland is not only cheap but earnings are even smaller. You're barely able to afford single room apartment in Cracow with a "normal" job. That's why Poles are going to Germany or Sweeden to work for 5-10 years. Just so they can afford car, house and their kids.

[@eduardfastovski]

You can be from a richer country and it's the same - can barely afford a single room apartment rent in Sydney with a normal job. So if you work remotely you go to Thailand or Bali, or in my case Poland, to save up some money. Good luck with your move to Melbourne! It's not as expensive as Sydney, and hopefully in 2 years this current housing crisis won't be as bad.

[@haczyk84]

Jako programista możesz przejść na ryczałt 12% płacisz podatek od sprzedaży / wystawionych rachunków, nie możesz odliczać kosztów. Zaliczki na podatek możesz płacić co miesiąc lub co kwartał. Bez problemu do ogarnięcia samemu. Zawsze co miesiąc musisz płacić zus, około 2000zł

[@hypatiatv421]

It is the same in Serbia, even Serbia is a little cheaper than Poland. greetings from an Irish American in Serbia. I have everything here I havein the States, but cheaper. + Cities are cleaner.

[@wiktorgski7892]

This video was made near to Tauron Arena Krakow?

[@vaakdemandante8772]

Have you considered recording your videos in Polish? Try it, see how it turns out. Take care ;)

[@T_Witek_T]

I know, Poland is polluted. But look at that map (looks like Airly to me) and see how many sensors are there in Poland and how many are in the rest of the Europe. ;-). Sometimes I think that Kraków alone has them more than eg. the whole Hungary.

[@artystakombinator]

Musisz posłuchać Polskich piosenek :) Polski się poprawi :)

[@barabarakaczmarek8791]

Pozdrawiam z Adelaid.

[@GdzieJestNemo]

hmm taxes are done on annual basis, not monthly. Must be super specific to your profession. I would recommend checking up some tax advisor. For office job that you mentioned you only need to approve the statement once a year plus you can donate 1% of tax to some foundation or add some tax benefits :) As for friends i know the feel - been living in Ireland for 2 years now and didn't manage to meet may people outside work. Pain of changing your living space as an adult :(

[@herbertvanlynden6629]

Maybe he means VAT?

[@herbertvanlynden6629]

There are no real cities in Australia , but they are conglomerations of suburbs and these ¨cities¨ don't have a centre, but a CBD instead. Melbourne was the second largest city of the British Empire at a certain time in the 19th century, but not much of that old city has been preserved.

[@purpleguy5274]

Good video,when I was in Australia all I remember is the pain of buying pack of cigarettes for 50 CAD (around 130 PLN at that time ) You guys really believe that making cigarettes more expensive will make people stop smoking ?

[@eduardfastovski]

Australia loves rules and restrictions. It's one of the reasons I left.

[@Lithoxene]

​@@eduardfastovskisorry mate, I'm gonna have to ask you to delete this comment: without a permit, you're only allowed to post critical comments between the hours of 10pm and 8am on weekdays. Saturdays and Sundays are fair game, but mind that it's not a public holiday or if the footy's on.

[@leherion4276]

I was thinking about moving to Poland. There is a beautiful town where my mothers side is haling from. Well, was Germany back then... Anyhow, don't wanna move close to Russia anymore 😅

[@aurei7775]

The taxing system sounds so Eastern European. I've always thought about moving to an eastern European country but the bureaucratic system & headaches there is for someone that knows the ropes very well.

[@malanalan1]

Eduard and you don't know much about taxes. Come to US and you may have to pay/deposit tax semi-weekly. The employer (which is you) must deposit their employment taxes on either a Wednesday or a Friday, depending on when the payroll is paid, within three business days of paying wages to yourself.

[@mormakill]

Id u ae in IT u might like board game and if u do u can try find friends in board game caffe, they are few in Kraków

[@michamarkowski2204]

Regarding fast travel in a city, it's not always like that. With car, sure, you could go to most places in an hour. With public transportations? Not always. For instance, I'm living in Gdańsk, near the old town (15 mins by foot to the Gdańsk Główny station), but it takes an hour by tram to get to a dentist I used to see. Public transportation could be a lot better in many Polish cities I've been to. It's not that easy to rent a flat. There's too high demand. When I was living in Kraków, you could text or call the owner of a flat 3 miuntes after he put an ad online and it was already rented... It's an urban legend that IT gets western wages. Yes, some specialists do earn 5-figures monthly wages (in PLN of course), but the vast majority doesn't. I've worked for small, medium and big companies so I know. It's not easy to get friends not only if you're an immigrant. I know a lot of people born and living in Poland struggling to get friends. I don't know why, but from my experience and observation it's very easy to lose a friend, but it's hard to make a new one, regardless of nationality.

[@eduardfastovski]

Gdańsk / Trojmiasto is a perfect example - it suffers from many of the same problems as Sydney. Instead of a single city it is 3 cities that are very spread out. Its a big challenge for public transport planners, and so the locals are more car-reliant than in other Polish cities. Regarding your other comments, you're probably right. I made a lot of generalizations in this video just based on people I know, rather than statistics. I think regarding renting in Krakow, it only got more difficult after big population growth caused by war in Ukraine.

[@PR_nick]

Local farmers have their own ksnguage in every country.

[@WatchTV-sr4qv]

With understanding of the Polish language - it's same with Australian accent, only Australians understand each other, it's not just Polish... Small business in Aus also file BAS every month lol, even if you sole trader u still file BAS every month, I don't understand your point here.

[@Dadgrammer]

As pole, that live in Poland and use to live in UK. About bureaucracy and taxation, as foreigner in UK this was pain for me, comparing to Poland. In other hand I’m as well web developer, as well self employed, and for me is like 1h on 1st of the month, and all my paper stuff are done. I’m using service called wfirma, that I can handle everything there, have decent invoice OCR, and you can send all legal paper from it, even money transfer but this I prefer to do, old fashion way from my bank dashboard. With all other stuff I mostly agree. Young generation know English quite well, older probably will use Google translate. If you want live here permanently, I’ll need to learn language, like in any other country. When you’re open minded and respectful, you’ll have life here. In other hand, when you’ll come here with western attitude that here is bad, west is good, and „should do something” you’ll have hard life here. We really don’t like to be lectured by outsider, hard to blame because past with Germans and Russians. One more thing, learn a little bit about history of country, for us is very important, and you can easily score some social points, if you’ll know something.

[@Pachi9-]

very nice video. do you have a Polish ancestry? Welcome in Europe!

[@eduardfastovski]

Thank you! No, I have Belarusian ancestry.

[@Pachi9-]

@@eduardfastovski Same thing basically! Haha no im kidding. Best of luck buddy! I think your Polish will eventually get to that desired level btw.

[@biglance]

Hi, I'm curious if you got the Karta Polaka before going? Or you got permanent residency by ancestry? Or did you get a Polish passport b/c your parents/grandparents were Polish citizens? I'm planning to move to Krakow soon, peace from China.

[@eduardfastovski]

I have no Polish ancestry. My girlfriend does. We moved here together, and in the beginning, it was difficult for me to stay - I had to be employed. But after 2 years she got citizenship and then I could get a partner visa. You can read her blog post about Karta Polaka here - kristi-digital.medium.com/step-by-step-guide-how-to-get-a-poles-card-karta-polaka-a38944d7cbe1

[@biglance]

@@eduardfastovski Thank you brother! I appreciate the link! Take care of yourself! peace.

[@waldek2303]

@@eduardfastovski Jesteś pewien, że nie masz polskiego pochodzenia? Masz polskie nazwisko. Dobrze znasz swoje drzewo genealogiczne?

[@eduardfastovski]

​@@waldek2303 Nie bardzo. Dużo informacji zagineło przez wojny swiatowej 2.

[@AK-lg2pj]

@eduardfastovski Maybe you could try to do some autosomal DNA test? You have now many companies like My Heritage, Ancestry, FTDNA or 23andMe. From the results you will know more about your roots and your ancestors. DNA genealogy can be very helpful. I am very happy that you enjoy living in Poland.

[@mleko23]

Let me guess, you live near by Tauron Arena

[@TheAluna26]

Remember its almost only like this in the big cities

[@CattusAgatus]

Same when you move to most of the countries of the world I think. You make friends in immigrants circle. I moved to Sweden from Poland recently, I have one Swedish friend which is in truth half finnish (great girl!) and understand a difficulties of emigration (or have finnish vibe, dk). But yes, taxes are fucked up for small businesses in Poland. But... If you think polish taxes are hard for one person company... Then don't come to Sweden.

[@jedrekfotek-nn4ns]

When you will be able to say Grzegorz Brzęczyszykewicz u can say that you know Polish.

[@eduardfastovski]

I can say it, I practised 😄. But it doesn't help with grammar.

[@katharina...]

​@@eduardfastovskiProve it or it didn't happen. I'm subscribing specifically because I want to see the evidence behind this bold claim. Don't disappoint me 😁

[@DrAhzek]

At 9:00 you mention "not being a part of the society". Well, I don't think it's that true when it comes to big polish cities. I myself am living in Gdansk, which is probably the most "progressive" in Poland as well. "Urban" Poland is surprisingly open when it comes to inviting people into the society. Sure, there will be some fringe guys from right wing sphere that might have some issues "because of accent" but generally it should be easier than in a lot of countries. From my personal experience, it's definitely easier to be part of this society than in Japan, China, Scandinavia or Netherlands, where people are quite insular and often make few friends very early in life. While not as approaching as Americans or Irish, it is also not as closed as most of the northern countries. Also, again, in bigger cities it is quite common to find services provided by the expats or ex-expats. I visit a local barber shop owned by arab guy from Jordan that speaks very little polish but since he speaks english and norwegian, I have no problem striking a good convo in both languages and establishing what you could call a friendship at this point. Similar thing happened with my masseur that is...a certified korean MD. At quite a lot of gyms there are trainers that used to live in Canada, Ireland, UK and the US for some part of their lives, so they offer bilingual services as well. It shouldn't be a problem to find something similar in Cracow I think :) BTW, air quality problem is unfortunately a part of the "living experience" in Cracow, which is why I don't like nor recommend this city for perm-stay. At the coast, just because of the constant air-flow, air quality is many times better than in the south...but winters here are even more depressing, with snowless bitter cold :D

[@gosianic1212]

Well... I wouldn't say Poland is low cost of living country. The average salary in Poland is one of the lowest in Europe, when the cost of living here is pretty similar or higher than in other countries in UE 🤷‍♀️

[@user-nm6sp1eg5o]

It must feel good to live in country where is dense net of paved roads and is more people than sheeps. Not to mention about things worth to see😂

[@elizabethmatraszek630]

I prefer sheeps. I am glad in Australia is only 26 mln people

[@AdamMarcinkowski-yn6tb]

In Australia you have Great White Sharks , in Poland we have Great White Dres , those are present in whole Poland , very aggresive avoid them ! , when you will hear their battle cry "KORWA" , just run !

[@eduardfastovski]

😂😂😂

[@eduardfastovski]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g16rk2lpd7eGpdksi=W68O5_9-NpmfvJqA

[@stankos1637]

Poland is not Easter Europe can’t be 1/3 of Europe west and 2/3 east so where is Central Europe. For example Alice Springs is in eastern Australia ?

[@likier1]

We wanted to have our taxes easier but thats on our politicians not us sadly.

[@noodleppoodle]

Cons: weather. No surfing.

[@waldek2303]

W Polsce popularny jest Windsurfing.

[@noodleppoodle]

@@waldek2303 ale najbardziej surfing w internecie, też uprawiam xd

[@qiyankaaa]

Dude I didn’t know you could pay taxes yearly. That’s something new

[@malanalan1]

That depends on your income. I guess his income was low per Australian standards.

[@donutello4001]

[@arsenhaha1643]

because most people don't speak correctly, they use slang, you should find friends with good English, they will definitely help you learn

[@purpleguy5274]

Its not even slang , what they teach you in every language lessons is proper newspaper language , but as we know language evolves all the time . For example when I learned german I was taught that geting something is "bekommen" when in reality when you go to Germany everyone is saying "kriegen"

[@dawiddudka777]

🤍❤️

[@dudek1810]

W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie powiedział Krzysztof Brzęczyszczykiewicz. Good luck!

[@ask157]

If you have no friends you really need to work hard to put out yourself. The easiest is to make friends when other people are also looking for new friends. So other imigrants are your target or freshmen at any university. Just join some uni for anything (like learning Polish). I studied in Germany (Im Polish) and 30% of my frinds were Polish 65% other international students and 5% German and this only because I joined some German international organization for students. .

[@mateuszmazurek7991]

wtf man, I live my whole in Poland, and my biggest dream would be to move to AU and live there in peace. Great weather, civilised first world country, basically almost lowest war risk in the world, better security than US (low crimes, free healthcare, no guns) Almost paradise. Meanwhile I don't have money for a flight ticket, but that's other issue. Adelaide sounds great, or maybe Melbourne cause it's colder (I'm not accustomed to heat, In Poland at least 6 months is cold and dark, though I love some and warm). And you're moving from AUS to PL 😂 No hating, just laughing at the fact, but at least we don't have crazy snaked, cassowaries aggressive magpies and all the rest lol All that said welcome in Poland! I see that you have some polish roots

[@piter4e]

I came across this video randomly. Living in Sydney 12 years. Happy to tell you more about it as it is not even close to paradise mate.

[@WalkingandTalkingAussieGirl]

make sure you bring bags of cash if u want to live here 😂😂😂😂

[@kasiarybak84]

I was living my whole life in Warsaw and now for a year in Melbourne. It has nothing to do with paradise. And not because of crazy snakes.

[@malanalan1]

The grass is greener on the other side. Lowest war risk in the world - hmm? FYI Australia has a monster neighbor.

[@pisuoxide]

Hire an accountant, they'll take care of your tax issues. Only thing you'll have to do is transfers.

[@alefbo8767]

Taxation system in Poland, yeah... XD

[@NuvusCo]

Well done. All points so true. Vote Konfederacja for easier taxation. Time will bring you friends. Be patient

[@user-nm6sp1eg5o]

You must learn Polish lamguage if you live in Poland..the same as you needntocspeak French in France or german in Germany or Finish in Finland or Norvegian in Norwey . You must excersise your language skills harder to be fluent in it sooner. Talk with your Polish friends in Polish. Beeing english languege speaker made your brain some how lazy because the rest of the wprld is speaking English as their second language. That can be reason why you don't have many Polish friend. I can sugest you to buy a motorcycle and find some riding budies...or join thw club. After few rides you will find some.friwmds. i did that and found 5 friends on which I can count sometimes even more than on my nearest family and with them I can talk on all subjects.

[@darekradulski6213]

I’m polish and I can tell you how sugarcoated is your story. Yes,for a person moving to Poland with lots of $ or very well paid job is easy . Obviously you didn’t talk to average Pole . Like in any country living is easy for the people with more than sufficient wages ,not so rosy for unemployed or low income . Average hourly wage is 20 zł (not everyone gets it) and a cup of coffee 15-20 zł.

[@eduardfastovski]

You're right, but this video wasn't about life for the average Pole. It was directed to someone considering moving to Poland from a western country. So I am assuming they maybe have the opportunity to work remotely or as a freelancer like I do, making money from their home country and spending it in Poland. Moving here with no plan would be dumb.

[@pawelrk]

"to live in Poland or Eastern Europe in general" Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do :D