The First 30 Days: Foreigner's Survival Guide for moving to Krakow

 

Google Translator (Polish to English, documents to Web Pages...a lifesaver)

http://translate.google.com/?sl=pl&tl=en#

 

Networking is the Key (how to find folks from your country in Krakow)

http://www.internations.org/krakow-expats

 

Intercultural Events in Krakow

http://www.interkulturalni.pl/-34.html

 

Polish Office for Foreigners (coming to Poland from the Government point of view)

http://www.udsc.gov.pl/index.php?documentName=main

 

Great all-around Krakow info resource

http://www.cracow-life.com/

Krakow English Newspaper

http://www.krakowpost.com/

Krakow City Guide

http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow

Spotted by Locals

http://www.spottedbylocals.com/krakow/

 

Getting Around Krakow

Local Public Transportation Routes and Schedules in English

http://krakow.jakdojade.pl/?locale=en

Polish Inter City Train Tickets in English (online Booking...registration required)

https://bilet.intercity.pl/irez/

 

Finding a Place to Live

A very useful web thread

http://www.polishforums.com/housing-wanted-49/find-flat-krakow-49705/

For those unafraid of using Google Translate and negotiating, the best source

http://krakow.gumtree.pl/

A Real Estate Firm owned by an Englishman (so yes, he speaks decent English)

http://www.leachandlang.com/

 

Where to wash your clothes (everyone needs to do it)

http://laundrycracow.fm.interia.pl/laundromat%20express%20cracow.htm (Near AGH University)

http://www.cracow-life.com/services/services_details/1067-Pepe_Laundry (Near Kazimierz)

http://www.franiacafe.pl/en/ (Laundromat AND Cafe)

 

Direct Info for the Foreigner in Krakow (in Government Speak)

http://www.malopolska.uw.gov.pl/default.aspx?page=Foreigners

 

• Locations of foreigner service centres in Małopolska
• Residence permits for EU nationals
• Visa prolongation
• Granting of settlement permits in Poland
• Residence permit for a long-term EC resident
• Residence permit for a fixed period
• Registration of invitations for foreigners
• Acquisition of permanent residence by EU nationals
• Work permit for foreigner's work in Poland

 

Resources to Navigate Polish Bureaucracy (Note: These companies have no tie to this website)

 

Interpreter Foreigner's Aide (Helps Non-EUs Nationals Get Polish Permits in order)

http://www.interpreter.waw.pl/index.php?lng=en

 

 

Living in Krakow

 

Groups to hang with in Krakow speaking English

Depends so much what you are looking for

 

 

biz and social entrepreneurs

www.meetup.com/opencoffekrakow for early birds, on Rynek Głowny 28 Thurs 11th @ 08:00

www.facebook.com/events/1525651274223090/

Krakow Enterprise Mondays https://www.facebook.com/Krakowenterprisemondays

Monday 15th @ 18:30

 

 

Collaborate Krakow www.facebook.com/groups/collaboratekrakow/

 

 

Krakow Standup Comedy www.facebook.com/krakowstandupcomedy/

 

 

TEDxKrakow and TEDxKazimierz (though tickets go very fast ) TEDxKazimierz

www.facebook.com/TEDxKazimierz

www.facebook.com/tedxkrakow/

 

 

For business types

 

 

www.aspire.org.pl all the big companies belong

http://bpcc.org.pl/pl/kontakt/krakow - the Brits

http://amcham.pl/amcham-krakow-katowice-monthly-business-breakfast the Americans

(I'm am sure there are others)

 

 

for Language Exchange and Couchsurfing

https://www.facebook.com/events/2018731668381096/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/252523571757/

 

 

Massolit is a cool English language bookshop and cafe

 

 

JCC Krakow https://www.facebook.com/pg/jcckrakow

 

 

International Women http://iwak.pl/

 

 

There is a very good Calendar site Crossweb

https://crossweb.pl/en/events/krakow/

which tells you if the events are in English

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     a. Singing for Fun in Krakow  (sadly died - Contact Richard Lucas if you want to restart it)

     http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32785457126

 

     b.  Couchsurfing have an active Cracow group, and is a great way to meet both locals and people travelling through Cracow

 

     c. IWAK

     http://www.iwak.pl/

 

 

 

Resources to help the Family Adjustment to Krakow (Note: These companies have no tie to this website) 

 

Europa Care 24 (Babysitting, Moving, Family Support)

http://wwww.europacare24.pl/

 

International Schools in Krakow

     a. International School (aka the American School) http://www.iskonline.org/

     b. British School http://www.bisc.krakow.pl/ 

 

Food from the Home Country (whichever one that is)

http://www.kuchnieswiata.com.pl/ang/store.html  (at the Galeria Krakowska)

 

News about Krakow and Poland (English languague)

1. Google Email Alert for “Krakow”
2. Krakow Post - http://www.krakowpost.com/
3. Warsaw Business Journal - http://www.wbj.pl/
4. Warsaw Voice - http://www.warsawvoice.pl/WVpage/pages/index.php
5. PMR Free Newsletter - http://www.ceeitandtelecom.com/
6. Paiz Newsletter - http://www.paiz.gov.pl/en
7. Wall Street Journal Section on CEE - http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/?mod=emergingeurope
8. Financial Time “Beyond BRICs” - http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/
9. The Economist - http://www.economist.com/blogs/eastern-approaches
10. Polish Radio External Service - http://www.thenews.pl/
11. Google Translation of Gazeta Wyborcza - http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=pl&tl=en&u=http://miasta.gazeta.pl/krakow/0,0.html
12. Google Translation of Gazeta Krakowska - http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=pl&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.gazetakrakowska.pl/%3Fcookie%3D1&usg=ALkJrhhYcCeYAcv7Ul2LCvrfQh1r-W_OBQ
    
     

 

IT Associations

ASPIRE - Association of IT and business process services companies in Poland

ITK - Information Technology in Krakow portal

ITSBA - IT Small Business Alliance Krakow User Groups

PJUG - Polish Java Users Group

kgd.net - Krakow .NET User Group

KRUG - Krakow Ruby User Group

Polish Adobe Flex User Group Pykonik - Krakow Python Users Group

Polish Scrum Users Group  TCPIP - Technical Communication Professionals in Poland Events

Academic IT Festival - Annual student-organized conference across four major universities

KrakOpen Team Programming Challenge CodeCamp - Annual .NET programming event

CONFidence - Annual IT security conference

Java Developers’ Day - Annual Java conference

GeeCON - Java/JVM/Groovy/Ruby conference

Polish Network Operators Group - Annual Service Provider Conference

Krakspot  is a thriving IT community,soun off from Mediaframe, the AGH (technical University student body

TEDxKrakow  running annual TEDx Conference to the TED.com format.

Now Here Krakow Open Space group for community projects

Pecha Kucha nights 20 slides 20 seconds each, mainly for artists in Atropos gallery. No web page, but well promoted on Facebook

Interactive Day   design and marketing students and professionals. Apparently 700 people showed up to their first even . led by Dawid Szczepaniak a lecturer from WSE - one of the more progressive private universities.

 

General Sources of Information about the small details life in Poland

http://expats-in-poland.com/

 

http://www.polishforums.com/everyday-life-7/

 

http://www.justlanded.com/english/Poland/Poland-Guide