What is wrong with Poznan?

Why do pedestrians need to press a button in order to get a signal allowing them to cross the road? Was having the pedestrian signal change automatically with the traffic lights something that Poznan city engineers didn’t consider? It is only like that in pretty much every other city in the entire world! Absolutely ridiculous.

I can’t think of a city in Poland (including Warsaw) that has ruder and angrier citizens than Poznan. Why this is I would love somebody to please explain.

Why do pedestrians need to press a button in order to get a signal allowing them to cross the road?

There is nothing special about Poznan at all, and on top of that, it has so many issues that make it an annoying place to live.

- Why do pedestrians need to press a button in order to get a signal allowing them to cross the road? Was having the pedestrian signal change automatically with the traffic lights something that Poznan city engineers didn’t consider? It is only like that in pretty much every other city in the entire world! Absolutely ridiculous.

- On a related note, why does the traffic light for a car turn green seconds before the pedestrian signal? Does nobody understand how dangerous and stupid this is? Every day I see cars that start to make right hand turns having to slam on their brakes as pedestrians step right in front of them because of their delayed signal. Stupid stupid stupid.

- This is a city that decided it would be a good idea to do every road construction project it could think of simultaneously essentially bringing all road traffic to a grinding halt. Brilliant.

- I can’t think of a city in Poland (including Warsaw) that has ruder and angrier citizens than Poznan. Why this is I would love somebody to please explain.

- This is a city that only now is starting to put ticket dispensers on their trams and buses. Come into the city on a Sunday? Good luck finding a place to purchase a billet and then risk getting caught by the conductors if you take a tram or bus – very fair system for citizens and tourists alike.

So there is it, what is wrong with Poznan and why doesn’t anything get done about it???

in most places pressing the button makes no difference. the sequence of lights has already been decided.

Actually - on a Sunday, you can buy tickets pretty much everywhere.

Oh yes. The fact that it allows in almost anyone to study medicine provided they pay the fees is a great example of what's wrong with it. The same university also barely bothers to disguise the fact that people on the English-language courses have a far less demanding course than those on the equal Polish language course. And of course, we don't bother to talk about the sheer arrogance of many of the American students there.

Again - obvious that you're not well travelled. This is the normal way for European traffic lights to operate. This isn't America.

Yes, we are particularly rude to dumb American medical students who are effectively buying their medicine degree. Much of it is due to the arrogance, false self confidence and shocking lack of knowledge that they exhibit. I've seen one clown in late May struggle to buy beer from Piotr i Pawel - LATE MAY.

I think it's called "going to a poor EU country to receive medical education because you were too stupid to get it in the US".

Truth be told, I came to Poznan to study medicine because getting into a Canadian medical school is amazingly difficult

I think we're seeing a perfect example of the "I pay, therefore I am" arrogance that many foreign medical students (except Norwegians and Asians, funnily enough) display in Poland.

I'm really struggling not to write what I'm thinking here. Generally though - the arrogance of the student is in exact reverse proportion to the ability of the student to get into medical school in their own country.

As a smart Canadian

I've got no ******* time for any of them.

Delphian, I think you owe us Americans an apology :)

the fact that the op thinks that mexico is in north america?

what is wrong with Poznan and why doesn’t anything get done about it?

Yes, we are particularly rude to dumb American medical students who are effectively buying their medicine degree. Much of it is due to the arrogance, false self confidence and shocking lack of knowledge that they exhibit.

press a button in order to get a signal

Polish students need to pass a SINGLE exam at the end of their six years in order to become doctors

so please don't even try to compare the competence of Polish vs. American doctors.

Are you originally from Poznań?

Mexico is not part of northern america

Sigh, your assumptions and angry tone in your response proves my point and shows that I struck a nerve in a Poznan citizen with much undeserved city pride who also has much anger and rudeness within haha. Also you can talk as much smack about the school as you want, but my post has to do with the dumbness of the city of Poznan and not the University.

And on a side note - most Polish medical students cheat their way through six years of education and become terrible doctors with only a select few who actually care about their patients and do their part to learn what is necessary. Polish students need to pass a SINGLE exam at the end of their six years in order to become doctors where as those who want to practice in the US need to pass an 8 hour basic sciences exam, a 9 hour clinical knowledge exam, a clinical skills practical exam and another exam (Step 3) after that - so please don't even try to compare the competence of Polish vs. American doctors.

Is this really your response?? Just because it's done a certain way doesn't make it the correct way. The European system is dangerous! Walk in to the ER rooms in your city hospitals and talk to the doctors to know the truth about the dumbness of the traffic lights in Poznan. You're pride in your city is blinding you to the problems it has.

Truth be told, I came to Poznan to study medicine because getting into a Canadian medical school is amazingly difficult, and the opportunity to study in Poland with my Polish wife seemed like a great experience. As a smart Canadian I was able to write my first US Medical Licensing Exam and get a passing mark better than 90% of American medical students who took the same exam.

I am actually well traveled, and may have exaggerated a bit with the "every city in the world" comment due to my frustration with the simple task of crossing the road in this city without getting hit by a car Every Single Day... but I digress.

Just because I'm a student in Poznan doesn't make my criticisms any less valid - you're assertions that it somehow does is ridiculous.

I'm wrong about what I've said about Poznan having some serious issues?

"The acceptance rate for first-time applicants in Canada is under 30 per cent."

Delphian, I think you owe us Americans an apology :)

After you know what the system is there's no excuse for being caught out. If you're too cheap/disorganized to buy a sieciówka then if you're out of tickets try to buy one from a fellow passenger (Polish skills are needed for this though).

I bet you could find some dumb brits buying their med degrees in PL too. However i think most are actually too dumb to buy a degree as they are would prefer to get sh!t faced in krakow's rynek then run around naked & and give the local population a headache.

complain and whine about absolutely everything

I bet any money that if the system allowed you to buy tickets from the driver, he'd be complaining about the trams/buses being held up.

Exactly the same reason why most of the NA students whine, ***** and complain so much - they know, deep down, that they're failures.

I welcome comments to this post because in my opinion no other city in Poland has citizens with such undeserved pride in their city.

The truth is that every immigrant complains after spending some time in a foreign country. Also Poles in America or Canada complain. It's more a psychological phenomenom regardless nationality. After some time he will get used to the way of living in a new country, if not then the better he graduates the university soon.
Funny thing is that in this psychological phenomenom people tend to complain about the small things. Traffic lights are a great example! Who would bother to start a thread because of traffic lights who change too quickly or because those silly buttoms who you don't even need to push in many places to make the lights change? Only a person who starts to miss the home. It makes people irritaded about all the small things which differ in home.

Funny thing is that in this psychological phenomenom people tend to complain about the small things. Traffic lights are a great example! Who would bother to start a thread because of traffic lights who change too quickly or because those silly buttoms who you don't even need to push in many places to make the lights change? Only a person who starts to miss the home. It makes people irritaded about all the small things which differ in home.

I don't know about Poznan but in other cites there is an option of buying it at the driver's. They are more expensive however (to make people buy it rather in other places, preventing that way holding and interupting a driver too much). I like it more that system because it makes the buses faster and the stops denser. Also there are many newsagent's open on Sundays.