I moved here for a girl.
That’s probably answered your first question.
We met at a heavy metal festival in 2012. We started talking and went back to our respective countries. We kept talking and after a long time of talking decided that I’d move to Poland.
I started taking Polish lessons, learning about Polish culture and learning Polish history. I’m an unabashed geek and love history – Poland is full of it.
March 2016. I packed my life into 2 bags, we had a going away party (complete with fairy bread) and came here.
Upon arriving here, I was lucky enough to have an offer of work. Leah, who I had found from her blog polonization.pl, offered me a job teaching English via Skype. Most importantly, her offer of work meant I could apply for a karta pobytu – or temporary residence permit.
I taught on Skype for a while and enjoyed it. I soon found more part-time work as a writer/social media marketer for a small Polish startup, Shoplo. It didn’t take long for Shoplo to offer me full-time work. As a foreigner, full-time work is a blessing, an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
Working at Shoplo didn’t last, nor did the relationship with the girl I moved here for. I’ve since moved on (to another job) and am growing in just about every way that I possibly can.
I’m still Australian, I always will be. But I’m now an Australian living in Poland. I have a sense of purpose here, I can change the world and do more things here in Poland that I could in Australia.
How often do you see someone looking for a native English speaker in Melbourne?
I’m now working at a Polish company by the name of Packhelp. Long story short, custom packaging that you design yourself. I’m head of SEO, part of the marketing department.
In the nearly 3 years I’ve been here, I’ve realized that I am an asset here. I’m valuable. I have a skill that is in high demand. Therefore, I have a sense of purpose. Something I didn’t have in Australia – to this degree, anyway.
So much so, that another Australian friend of mine has started our own copywriting company – Joseph & Conrad.
Furthermore, I’m also trying to start the first Australian Rules Football team in Poland. Click here to find out more about Futbol Australijski. I also help some other Aussie friends with their ventures, like Warsaw Pub Crawl and Krakow Pub Crawl.
I can confidently say that I’m enjoying every aspect of it.
This blog came to me as an idea one night. Lots of people were blown away that I’m an Australian living in Poland. ‘Australia, wow, why are you here?!’ and so the story starts again.
My plan for this blog is to use it to share the stories of other expats in Poland. Citizens of other countries who now call Poland home. I will also use it to share more of my personal story, aid other foreigners who want to move to Poland and generally educate readers about Polish culture.
Hello there!!! Is interesting find an Australian guy living in Poland, I used to live in at atarlos as well, now I’m plannig to move to Poland, currently living in Mexico and come from Venezuela. I hope to read more about your experiences there!!!
Cheers mate ?
I used to live in Australia I mean 🙂
Hi Claudia, sorry for my slow reply! Great to hear from you. I have a good friend that is Venezuelan! Hope you make it here to Poland one day 🙂
Hi Phil, what a great idea your blog is! My husband used to be an expat in Poland and now we’re both expats in Australia (he is British). He certainly has a few stories to tell. We now love the life here and I hope you love it over there too! I guess sometimes we just need a change, and the grass is always greener, isn’t it? 😉 You are welcome to read about my adventures in Australia on my blog to practice your Polish! Keep up the good work!
I am looking forward to read your blog! As Polish who moved to Australia it is quite interesting that you have found the purpose in my country and I moved to find it for myself in yours 🙂
Hi Phil! I am an Aussie currently living in Krakow, and I totally relate to much of your experience! I love that the first response is always “wow, why are you here?!” I have experienced so much positivity and curiosity from Poles, I even had a doctor wave the entire consultation fee for me because she was so shocked that an Australian would move permanently to Poland!
Now that my university studies are almost over (the main reason I came to Poland 2 years ago) I am considering moving back to Sydney. It’s a tough decision because, as you so accurately described, I feel such a strong sense of purpose here. I have been casually teaching conversational English and although it took a while to get over this sense of guilt I felt for capitalising on something that was given to me by birth rather than through any endeavours of my own, as a native English speaker you can have such a great life in Poland. Congratulations on all your successes, I will be looking forward to following the rest of your journey 🙂
Hi
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I am an American of Indian Origin. I have been in various businesses in US, Middle East and India. I have been dating someone in Poland and wish to relocate there. Any help in terms of relocation and possible work that I can find will help will surely be appreciated.
Cheers
wow, seems like you have business relations. any family?
Hey!
I’m an Australian living in Poznań. I moved here, about 7 months ago, for love as well. We always get asked why we chose to settle in Poland and not Australia, which used to cause me to go off on a rant about housing affordability and the $7000 spouse visa costs. It almost never sunk in and was invariably followed by “But the weather! And the beaches!”.
Now I take a different tack and talk about how great Poland is, and it has a much better success rate!
Hey Lili. Congrats on the move! How are you finding Poznan?
There is a lot about Australia that is just…mind blowing, that a lot of people here just will never understand I think! For sure, you just gotta tell Poles how great their country is and it doesn’t take long to see their chest swell with pride!
Congratulations on starting the first Aussie rules team in Poland. When I read that, I had a flashback to a conversation I had years ago with a Maori workmate on a minesite. We were both former players and keen followers of Rugby League. One night, during an enthusiastic conversation about league, I said to him, “Mate, we should form a team here.” He agreed that it was a great idea and we tossed a few ideas around for a while and then the convo sort of lagged for a while. Suddenly he raised his head and asked the question neither of us had thought of before. “Bro, who we gonna play against?”
So bro, who is your Polish Aussie Rules team going to play against? lol
Hello, I am an American Researcher at James Madison University working on a study of expats. If you have 15-20 minutes and would like to participate, here is the link to the survey. All responses are anonymous. Thanks in advance!
Here is the link to the survey:
http://jmu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_42S7BYXE1HL64Bv
Hello- I intend to immigrate to Poland- I have a Polish background and simply need the help to find a good lawyer to help get the 3 year residence card. I have heard it is very difficult to obtain so I figured I would seek legal counsel. Any suggestion?
Hi Phil, I’m an Australian living abroad who also shares a love of Aussie Rules. I am wondering if you can help me – it is a very urgent family matter we have been confronted with in Krakow. If you get this and are able to email me ASAP that would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Alastair
Hi Everyone!
I am a PhD student at Warsaw University and I am currently doing research into the effect of age and aptitude on acquisition of second languages. I am looking for participants for my study, which has turned out to be a quite difficult task so I thought that maybe someone here could help me. I am seeking fluent speakers of Polish as a second language who:
– have a high proficiency in Polish
– started to learn their second language after the age of 17-18, the later the better
(were not raised in a bilingual family and did not grow up in Poland)
– speak Polish without a clearly noticeable foreign accent and sometimes are considered native speakers of Polish, especially in everyday conversations/first contact; in other words can be sometimes mistaken for native speakers of Polish.
Such speakers usually have been living for a long time in their host country, often they are married to native speakers of Polish. Maybe you happen to know someone like that in the expat community?
I would be extremely grateful for any help!
My email address is: [email protected]
Best wishes,
Kamil Zubrzycki