An IT specialist and truck driver family moved with their children from Minsk to a Polish village — how are they doing?

Lera (name changed), a former Minsk resident and a junior Frontend development specialist, told devby.io about the pros and cons of living in a Polish village.

— My husband and I had lived in Minsk since birth. We relocated to Poland, to a rural area 20 km from Poznań. However, it can hardly be called a village; everything here is very comfortable and civilized, although a "real" village, where it smells of a farm, is only a 10-minute walk away. And all around are fields, fields, fields... For some, this is a nightmare, but we really like it — it's our fourth year, and everything's going well.

Our location is Tarnowo Podgórne. This is a village (but I would call it an urban-type settlement) in the Poznań County of the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the center of one of the richest and fastest-developing gminas (municipalities) in Poland.

Why?

We went specifically to the vicinity of Poznań because my husband had worked here before and realized that we would like it here. We ended up in this particular town by chance: we found suitable accommodation right here. We wanted a suburb, with fewer people and cars, and more nature. As a result, that's exactly what we got; it's simply a superb place for a family with young children.

The criteria we considered when choosing a place were, first and foremost, the rental price of a 3-room dwelling, and there had to be a school and kindergarten for the children nearby, along with appropriate infrastructure. We have three children; they are all schoolgirls now.

Work

I work in IT. My husband was a truck driver; now he's trying to transition into IT, but it's not working out yet. He needs to go back to earning money; it's difficult when only one person in the family works. Besides, we won't be able to legalize our stay without a high income, as we have a large family.

I work remotely, and small Tarnowo Podgórne suits me almost perfectly. Previously, it was absolutely ideal. But after three years, we've explored all the surroundings thoroughly, and we want something new. Now there's a bit of a lack of events and cultural programs. For anything interesting, you have to drive 30-40 minutes by car.

Infrastructure

The advantages of our town-village: it's clean here, safe (the almost complete absence of alcoholics and homeless people is very pleasing), good roads, and something new is constantly being built and opened for people. A huge plus is the proximity to nature. In Minsk, we always wanted to go to the Isloch River, to the Minsk Sea. But here, it's a 10-minute bike ride — and you're at the lake or in the forest. There's even a golf course. There's a great network of bicycle paths that starts right from our house.

Every year, a really cool race, Bieg Lwa (The Lion's Run; the lion is the symbol of Tarnowo), takes place. The atmosphere is great; there's an all-day exhibition with lots of entertainment and freebies for children from local companies. [Store] Lidl distributes fruits and vegetables. This year, there was unlimited free ice cream from two companies. For children, they hold Bieg Lwiątek ["Lion Cubs' Run"]. Every year, there's a buzz around these runs, everyone wants to participate.

There are two primary schools in Tarnowo. A new lyceum with an observatory has been built, and there are also kindergartens. When our youngest was small, we managed to get into a state kindergarten near our house. We paid about 470 zlotys per month (about 130 dollars. — NN). Currently, they are renovating the children's playground and park in the center according to a cool modern project with fountains.

Lots of new housing is being built, so there's a choice for buying your own home. However, housing prices here are quite high.

There's a great big aquapark, Tarnowskie Termy. There's a technical school. There's a large Biedronka, Lidl, Dino, Delikatesy, Sklep Polski, Żabki. There are several cafes, pastry shops, pharmacies, many banks (PKO, Pekao, Erste).

At the end of September, a shopping center with various affordable stores like CCC, Pepco, Sinsay, etc., will open. That's also great; I miss proper big stores here. I still have the habit of buying everything in physical stores, although it's time to get used to Allegro.

Another big plus is the proximity to many interesting locations. About three hours by car separate us from Berlin, Wrocław, the sea, and the mountains. There's an airport nearby. Important highways A2 and 92 attract a lot of logistics and business here, and thanks to taxes from companies, the gmina itself is wealthy.

Among the disadvantages — it's quite far to travel to Poznań by public transport; it takes about an hour to the center with transfers. By the time you get there, you don't want to do anything but eat and lie in bed. And then you have to travel back the same distance! By car, of course, it's easier to get around.

I read in Facebook public groups that local Poles in Tarnowo lack a tram or electric train to Poznań, and restaurants.

Healthcare

Regarding healthcare: there's a polyclinic here, which we contacted for urgent matters. For other issues, we travel to Poznań or a neighboring town to the dentist.

Integration

People here are very kind and friendly. Many already know us because they know our children through school or the running club. We also run with Poles in the local running club, which is a great way to integrate into society.

With three children, safety is very important to us. They can walk to and from school by themselves, play on the playground near the house, because there are lots of acquaintances everywhere, few cars, which always yield. There are no reckless drivers or strange drunken groups here.

In four years, neither we nor our children have ever been told to "sperdalaj" (get lost) from here. On the contrary, we've met many great families. The children stay overnight with Polish friends. I think that in a small town, adaptation and integration into the local society are much easier than in a big city. And that's great.

Another plus: in a small town, there aren't many immigrants, including Ukrainians, so there are no school classes exclusively filled with foreigners. At most, there are 3-4 foreigners in a class, so our children quickly and calmly integrated and learned the language. The grade level for graduation exams after 8th grade in local schools is even higher than in Poznań schools. However, the top-rated lyceums are, of course, in the city.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of Belarusians here; in every apartment building, we know several families. All of them also have children, and some have already bought their own homes.

Legalization

A clear advantage for migrants is the not-so-long queues for a residence permit. And you can apply not only in Poznań but also in Kalisz or Leszno, where there are even fewer people.

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