Top 5 tips to live in Poland

Here are a few tips based on my personal experiences after living in a small village in Poland for close to two years with my wife and children. Others I'm sure others can fill in from other perspectives.

1. For me, having a job lined up made all the difference regarding ease of moving and getting set up here. I work for an American company whose EU HQ is (believe it or not) in a small town two hours west of Warsaw. The company did all the hard work obtaining visas, residency, helping us find a house, register for trash pickup, and a million other little things. Many expats do this successfully themselves, however in a small Polish town where there are practically zero other foreigners, this would have been very difficult to try to manage myself. My wife and I aren't Polish, so we would have really been on our own without their help. So, if you want to come to Poland, I would recommend trying to have some work arranged for ahead of time. Might be impractical for you, but it made all the difference for us.

2. Since I live in a small town, many of the locals have learned some English in school, but don't get many opportunities to practice. So my wife and I are quite motivated to learn Polish, and have found that people are quite helpful if you take it slow and give them a chance. Use Google Translate on your phone if needed. Smile, don't act rushed or stressed while dealing with someone whose English is basic, and always compliment them when they do try to use English. You'll be glad you did. You'll find that after a few months of this, you can go back to that shop and they'll treat you like their favourite customer. :-)

3. Some cultural observations. Try not to be bothered by how cars are parked... ;-) It's just the way it is! And our Western customer-comes-first culture isn't always expressed the same way in rural Poland. And make sure you maintain your place in the queue, even if you're not exactly sure where it is! And get used to shaking lots of hands while in the workplace. And don't eat bread with potatoes - it's an either/or thing apparently.... etc ;-) I love learning the subtleties of the culture and the differences. It's fun.

4. Your good Polish friends will do anything for you. Realize that investing in your relationships with your neighbors and friends is worth it.

5. If you like Mexican food, you're out of luck! ;-) The Warsaw Tortilla Factory is an exception! You can source many of the ingredients, but they can be hard to find. Real refried beans can be found at 'Piotr i Pawel'.

I could go on, and my 'top five' list is a bit random, but I can say that my family and I truly enjoy living and working in Poland and I think most other people would as well. Polish people find it hard to believe that I enjoy living here, but I do!