Top 10 Tips for Expats in Warsaw

  1.Learn some of the local language/dialect/slang - Not necessarily before you move but certainly while you are living there a knowledge of the basics is useful. '2 beers please' and I don't speak Polish' in Polish should keep you going for a couple of years.

2.Hang around with fellow countrymen - Find people who speak your native language, it will be easier for you in the long-run.

3.Hang around in Irish bars - There is usually one or two in every big city and it is where you will find drunk foreigners and tourists alike to chatter away into the wee small hours.

4.Set up a good TV system - Cable, satellite or Internet. TV will become very important in your home life as you will inevitably end up watching sport, home DIY and possibly Soap Operas beamed in to your home from your country.

5.Get married to a local - The majority of long-term expats meet that special somebody, fall in love and have children. Unfortunately, it all too often ends in divorce but you could be one of the lucky ones.

6.Travel around - It's a great way to see a different culture and explore. Poland has lakes, mountains and a coastline, just be careful on Polish roads!

7.Be polite- There is no excuse for being rude. Diplomacy, even when it's 4 o'clock in the morning and you're just coming back from a club, be diplomatic to your neighbours.

8.Teach English - If you're having problems getting a job, then train to become an English teacher.

9.Try the local food and drink - There's nothing locals love more than for a foreigner to appreciate their culinary delights. They will plough you with vodka until your body gets used to it and you might also notice that after the first bottle has been consumed they become your best friend and start speaking to you in some sort of broken English.

10.Drive by their rules, not yours - It's quite easy to think you are above the law when driving in a foreign country. Mind you, if you are stopped by the police, speak English and you should get off lightly anyway.