What would it be like to live in Lomza?

I just saw that you will need to pay student loans, about 1000zl... So you will be left with something like 2500zl a month... Not so good, but you can live ok with that, but don't expect to become a rich man ;) It will be much better if your wife finds a job too.
You don't have to buy a car right away, but it would be mor comfortable for sure. Still you can use a bus or just walk to some places. The town isn't that big, so it's not a big problem. You won't be wasting much time for sure.

There are some restaurants here, fitness clubs too, live music can be hard to find, but from time to time it's possible, depends what kind of music you like. Poker nights? Don't think so... Darts too, it's rather a beer and talking or dancing ;) If you like bowling, it's here, but not very popular. I'm almost the same age as you and I wouldn't expect too meet lots of new friends at the clubs/pubs. Not so many people speak english good enough to freely communicate, but it's possible that you will be able to make some friends. I'd rather count on people from you workplace, to begin with something and clubs/pubs can be not that safe, ask someone about opinion before you decide to go somewhere. In some of them are mostly very young people (I'm suprised police don't do anything about 14 drinking in such places) and in some you can meet the local tough-guys looking for some "fun". If you choose the place wisely, you can still have fun and not worry about being beaten or robbed. And people should be friendly, most don't have anything against foreigners.

Hey, i grew up in Kincardine!! Small world haha. Kincardine/goderich are a good place too live, too bad they're so far from major cities. I do miss the lake/beach though. I live in the GTA now and rarely swim in lake ontario:(

Thanks for all your help, Bla. It's great to meet someone from Łomża! Though I'm cautious about disclosing my prospective employer, I'd be very keen to get your perspective on the place. It's the State College of Computer Science and Business Administration (Panstwowa Wyzsza Szkola Informatyki i Przedsiebiorczosci w Lomzy). Would you be able to shed some light into the reputation of the College? Do you know anyone who's gone there? All I know is what I've been able to ascertain through the web and the very courteous letters I've received from the Director. Anyone else reading this who may also know something about the College please feel free to share your thoughts.

It seems like the salary would allow us to enjoy what the town has to offer (though getting "beaten and robbed" will hopefully not be in the menu). We're both into the "cultural immersion" experience, and that's why Łomża seems more attractive than, say, Warsaw as a stepping stone into Poland.

here you have pizza menu in Łomża. Life is cheaper than in other EU countries.

1 $ = 2,27 Zlotys
1Euro = 3,53 Zlotys

3500 netto is ok in Łomża (one of the poorest regions in Poland)



Ohh I think it is because of atmosphere on this forum ... I am sure everything will be fine.

Wow, is all I can say! Even the most expensive pizza on the menu only comes to CAD$10. You can't buy more than a personal pizza at the local Pizza Hut here for that, never mind in France or Germany.

It will be neat to go there and already know what we want to order!

There is a lot of National Parks in this region :)

so:

European Bisons :


Big Lakes:



Rivers



different cultures and religions:







This region is interesting, town Łomża is nothing special. |(maybe because I am Pole and for me it isn't special ;) )

Fantastic shots, Lukasz! I'm e-mailing the Director today with a request for a job for my wife. Even if she earns a below-average salary, I suppose our combined incomes would allow us to live well and travel in the region. Maybe we could even rent a car the odd weekend for excursions? Łomża seems to be a hub for sightseeing into the wilderness, so there must be a couple of car rental agencies there...

The College you are asking about is a new school, only a few years now, so it's hard to tell something about it. Not the greatest one for sure, but as far as i know they are trying... ;) I don't know if you will be happy with the job or not, depends on what are you going to do there, I think... I know some people working there on IT projects and some students, it looks ok for me, at least for a small town like Lomza. And I see, that they are paying quite good for a public college. But depending on where you'll rent some place, getting there can be a bit difficult, the bus connection is not so good, but as I said the town is not big, so it won't be a major problem.

Warsaw is better place to have fun, I think. Maybe it's not the greatest city, but there are lots of foreigners, people are used to that and I think it's easier to meet some friends or meet someone speaking english, since there are more students in the clubs. Also in Lomza people tend to spend time with their friends rather, than going out to meet someone new if they are not single, so it may be a bit hard in the beginning. But don't worry, I'm sure you will be fine here, the winters are boring, but in the summer it's ok :)

I'll try to find some links with informations about things you asked. For a start fitness club, quite good one.
http://www.intercosmetic.pl/index.php

Hey, I've driven through Kincardine many times! That's hilarious, so close... :) Yeah, the isolation is my main complaint about being in the outer reaches of the Huron peninsula, but awesome in summer. Let me know if you plan to come to Goderich this summer. Assuming that we haven't yet left for Łomża I'll take you out for a beer. Cheers on this St. Patty's Day!



I hope we'll be able to go while it's still summer, so we see Łomża at its best. Thanks for the feedback on the College. It seems like it has all the right credentials, and like you said it's pretty new so it's understandable that not all the wheels are in motion yet. It's part of the Erasmus EU charter, so there should be quite a traffic in foreign students; if not now soon. I'm hoping to buy a car before long, which would make us much more mobile; assuming of course that I'll be able to afford one.

Warsaw does sound like a fun place, though one has to go where the job is. At least Łomża is close enough that we could get away on weekends. Hey, I checked out the fitness club you posted. It looks almost exactly like the place I used to be a member of in my town. I'd appreciate any other links you might have to places in town. Thanks!:)

Definitely not!
Łomża is so boring...... I have visited it a couple of times. The cinema is a ruin and the only "attraction" to anyone who comes there is McDonald's................

Oh no! I forgot to go there. I was eating all that traditional home cooked food and I could have visited the diarhooea-coloured arches!

Yes, that's true, it is one of the poorest regions, not the town itself, but the region. And the town isn't rich too.



Well, I don't know how often you visited and for how long... The cinema is better now, but still isn't as good as it should. But i can't agree about the "only attraction". And don't forget that having a car you can go to some fun places in a time shorter than needed to get from one part of Warsaw to another... :) Mazury - about 1 or 2 hours of driving (3-5 from Warsaw at least), if you want a good cinema or pool (and those in Lomza aren't enough) - Ostroleka 30 minutes of driving max... etc. I don't see a big problem. And belive me, while I was living in Warsaw I often had to plan the evening in advance (where do we meet, where do we go, how we get there, how long does it take, blah blah), while in Lomza I can visit a few clubs/pubs if I want, cause everything is so close :) Don't like it here? Let's go there...5-10 minutes - done, it's so simple :) So every place has it's advantages and disadvantages as well... And of course I can party all night in Lomza for almost the same money I would have to spend for a taxi and a ticket to a club in Warsaw ;) For let's say 50zl you have a taxi, 2 tickets to a club and 4-6 beers for example. What you get in Warsaw for that? A taxi? ;) I can tell you it's not THAT bad as you think... Of course you have more things to do in Warsaw, but look at those two... Lomza is about 80k people... What would you expect?

These are very good points, Bla. There is also that amazing national park that apparently is only 30 km away from town. I realize this may have been already taken up in other threads, but would buying a used car (not too old) in Lomza be affordable? Or, would I be better off buying one in Warsaw? From what I've read elsewhere, cars in Poland don't depreciate in value as quickly as they do in North America. But is the difference between a new car and a used car so low that I'd be better off buying a new one?

Here is a great shot of the town (though the image itself has been too compressed):

Hello what kind of work will u do in lomza that offer u 5000zl ???

Teaching English. But keep in mind that this is 5000zl gross. Also, I've rounded it up from 4885zl for convenience's sake.

is it at a callan school ?

No, it's at the new business college. There is a British School in town; maybe they use Callan, or is Callan always exclusive?

no dont worry i was just curious .... c ja

If you want to buy a cheap car it's best to do it abroad, so maybe you will want to consider that... People here do it all the time, they buy cars from US or Germany etc. and after all the payments it's still cheaper. Used, few years old cars prices are usually somewhere between 10-20k zl. You can buy some cheap old one for as low as 3-4k or something good and almost new for over 20k.
New cars are much more expensive, prices starting from something like 40k for a cheap car and of course during the warranty period you need to use authorized service points, which cost much more.

i just bought a volvo 2002 model from uk for 14 000 zl

You guys are an endless source of priceless information!! :) Now I can gauge how much of my budget to put aside towards the car as I save up for the move. I'm going to sell my Elantra 2005 and hopefully have enough for a used clunker.

The Volvo 2002 sounds pretty affordable for 14K zl! I've always wanted a Volvo (right after the BMW that I'll never be able to afford).

Cheers!

You know and I know you can get in trouble for saying things like that.

If anyone wants to read about some fun times I had in a boring Polish town, check out my thread here.

I don't know what you mean...

andysterdam I see, that you'll be teaching english... I guess the first thing you will have to learn is the totally different approach to cheating on exams than in most countries ;)

Someone on this very forum teaching English in Poland told his class that he wanted to buy what must have sounded to the schoolkids before him like a cipka.

Your romper-stomper through Łomża & co. is a gripping read, osiol! I've just finished plowing through the whole thing. I posted a YouTube video of the (possibly) same shot from the tower in town that you mention.

I've read some very negative reviews of Łomża beer, though ironically the export variety seems to be worse than the home-brew one. Either way, Browar Łomża seems to sponsor some pretty cool events in the region.



Yeah, I got the skinny on cheating from this American dude who taught in town some years back. Here's what he wrote on his blog:

"Cheating: This may be an unfair stereotype, or even a vicious, bigoted remark, but one of my stronger feelings about Polish students is that Polish students are a bunch of filthy cheats. I mean, okay, of course some American students cheat. Some people will cheat at anything. But at least in America there is something of a stigma against cheating; people acknowledge that it is somehow wrong. Not here. My students cheat at any opportunity; they think of all kinds of inventive ways to cheat on tests and exams; they invest considerable time and effort in cheating. They basically seem to consider all of their work to be something of a group effort, and they all try to help each other do as well as possible in school."

You can read the whole entry here:

http://monodrone.org/fulldisclosure/working.html

osiol, I didn't know that ;) Well, that might get him in trouble ;)

andysterdam, that guy was right. Of course it depends on a teacher, you may punish them for cheating, but it's not like in the US for example, you won't be removed from school for cheating. You may not pass the exam, you risk that the teacher will make it hard for you next time, but still almost everybody cheats. It's not considered something very wrong, even many teachers pretend they don't see what's going on, if only students don't get it to obvious ;) I don't know how to explain it well, but it's like cheating was wrong, but not helping somebody is worse ;) So people help each other if only the exam is not about competition. I mean nobody will help you on the entrance exam, when you fight for a place in school of course. And the cheating is often just another way to complete the course etc. As that guy wrote, education here is often about learning many different facts, dates, etc. It's all hard to remember, just too many of that, so people cheat. They think "what's the difference, I won't need it later anyway. And if I do, I'll check in the book or Internet". I think there is less cheating involved when you have to think rather, than just remember some useless facts or numbers. They should change that, as it's no good. People know many things, but still can have absolutely no clue how to use them. And the fact that you can't decide what you want to learn only make things worse. You can be great at math, but you still need to learn a lot of history, biology, geography etc. It's impossible to be good at everything. And you only start to learn what you need (mostly) when you go studying at university level. So often cheating is the only way to get through all the stuff you don't need but must learn anyway. I think that many people (teachers too) realize that and that's why cheating is not considered an absolute evil ;)

Hey andysterdam,

Don't know what your status is with this whole situation. But thought I would try and help. I am an American living here in Lomza. My husband is from here. I taught at a private school teaching Callan method. Super easy and very easy to get a job teahing it here if you are a native speaker. If you wife want a contact number just email me and I will get the info for my former school.
As for Lomza...huh...well, dont expect a huge night life or much to do, some pubs, more to do in the summer but not so bad really. But the bright side is that if you are into nature you have it made here. River for swimming and fishing, Mazury just a short hour or 2 away. My favorite is Ruciana Nida, because it is only an hour and we have a friend that owns a beauitful hotel/camping/boat rental place on a lake. Also fantastic fresh fish! MMM!
Warsaw is only 2 hours away and Bialystok about an hour...if you drive like a crazy Polish person. Bialystok now has a shopping mall with cinema, bowling and the works. Also the area around Bialystok is lovely.
If you can afford a care get one, or better yet send on from Canada, we are buying a few cars in the states to send here and sell since the dollar is so low. After you finish you can sell it and probably still make money!
You will also really get the Polish experience here as the number of people who speak English are low. But that can be really good.
As for restaurant and shopping well, it is getting better. There are a few more restaurant in the last few years and there are now 2 larger grocery stores like a Tesco.
Also (shameless self promotion to follow) there is one of the best meat production factories in the country here (it is owned by our family) ask anyone around here about meat from Podgorze and they will tell you.
I know only a few other native speakers here, one Canadian woman from Manitoba and another American. There may be a few more, but I have 2 kids now so I am sort of out of the loop.
Your pay should take you a long way here. Rent is fairly low. But I find food and clothes expensive. I only buy clothes and shoes in the states. Gas is outrageous.

if you have any question just ask away!