Moving to Wroclaw from New York City

Hi there,

Through my company I've been given the opportunity to work in Wroclaw for a 2 year assignment. Currently I live and work in New York City.

I've never been to Poland (or anywhere in Eastern Europe for that matter) and certainly don't know any Polish. Furthermore, I'm not white. My concerns revolve around what life would be like for a newbie in Wroclaw who didn't speak the local language - would it be difficult to fit in?

Are people friendly enough?

How many speak English?

Is it safe for a non-white foreigner to go walking about the city after dark?

Is it easy to make friends? Are people in general keen on meeting and socializing with foreigners?

What about dating - are women open to dating men of other races? Would this be seen as a major no-no there?

Is there an expat community (ideally American but any English speaking expat community, such as English/Australian/Irish etc would still be helpful, I guess)?

I wouldn't advise you to walk alone though a dark alley at 2:00 am, flaunting a Rolex & wallet full of money. Just use the same commonsense you'd use, while walking after dark in the Big Apple.

There's an area in Ferio Gej, an open field by Ul. Orzechowa behind the Blokowisko, that's fine during the day but it's a bad-bad place at night. Stay away from the sex shops/train station/ bus stops, night OR day, and some of the streets that border the Odra aren't friendly to lonesters or lovers. Park Południowy is no place to carry money or look lost, by any means.

Wraclaw is a lovely city, people are friendly and as stated use the common sense you use in any other city around the world. As for dating none whites, like in Amercia, there will be some women that are attracted to you and some that are not, not always based on the colour of your skin but maybe down to personality, there are a few expats on here that are living in Wrawclaw so they might be able to point you in the right direction for meeting other expats, but why not try and make friends with people you are going to work with rather than being insular and seeking "your own" it might a good opportunity to learn a new language and tbh Poles are no different than anyone else, they enjoy a few beers and good debate!

Just a word of warning, dont cross at the lights if they are on red, even if there are no cars about, you can get fined for this!

Even though only a tourist, I enjoyed my time in Wraclaw, the people are far more friendly than they were in Krakow and the food was better! But that, of course, is just one persons opinion.

Hope all goes well!

btw most Poles consider Poland to be CENTRAL Europe.

You may expect yelling on Friday nights when youngsters start to drink.

Plenty of that last night even in the storm rain, up and down the streets shouting and swearing at each other, I thought I was back in the UK for a moment.

Put Poland in Central Europe and you will avoid long lecture how it is not Eastern Europe...