Unless you have the right connections, or perhaps the right pieces of paper, I wouldn't bother.

It's difficult for me to pin it down to a single overarching factor.

People are not that outgoing, co-workers (at least in this job) are ready to throw you under the bus. I have been here a year now and I don't have any friends here. I don't know if I have a bad personality or something but it seems like it's really difficult to meet people here. And expensive considering some beers cost 20 PLN and I only make 2000 PLN a month.

Having lived in a Southern state (Florida) I am used to a laid back life style of the smaller town and knowing lots of people even just in passing. I liked the fact that I could go to a local convenience store and the guy there knew me well enough that he would my usual brand of smokes ready for me. I liked the fact that I could strike up a conversation without feeling like I am wasting someone's time. Here, in Warsaw, it's very cold and impersonal here. Fun fact: I was born in Warsaw but I really don't feel like I am actually from here :D.

All of the above could be just me being worn out from working and not seeing everything in the proper perspective. YMMV.

Already happening now. Oh and don't get me started on VAT. Living here is an ongoing education on VAT. I even have a saying about VAT:

VAT = a tax where the only value added is purely mathematical.

Say what you will about Florida but at least they did not have a state income tax and the only tax you paid at the cash register was a 7.5% sales tax on anything that wasn't uncooked/unprocessed food.

Your life sounds like hell, man. You definitely need to move because your culture is just too different from the culture of the Warsaw people it seems. How come you are only thinking about moving to the UK? Why not Sweden? Or back to the U.S.A.?

Already lived in the US for 22 years.

Sweden is out because I can't speak Swedish although I would love to visit the country. My main reason in coming to Poland was to actually see most of Europe instead of just reading/hearing the odd news item on the news networks in the US.

Stereotypical US train of thought on Europe = radical socialist paradise with free health care that happens to contain Germans and the French in one place. it's next to the big, bad Sovi- errr Russian Federation.

The above is a sweeping generalization so no one take offense :P.

Free healthcare? I have to pay to register, nevermind treatment. Don't start me on the drug costs either.

It's a miracle you can survive given high property costs, high taxes and high fuel costs. Even a cheap and nasty room is into the £300 region per month (1350 PLN). When a job, if you can get one, tends to pay about £700 per month after taxes (3150 PLN) it isn't fun at all.

Sweden is more up north than I would to be. I already had two fun Polish winters with -30 C. I don't think I would survive Swedish winters :P
Ahem, as I stated above that is not my line of thinking just a (stereo)typical American statement concerning Europe. Not saying that ALL Americans think this way but a lot of them do.

It seems to me, after getting to know some people from the UK that jobs pay almost nothing there and rent is very expensive. So there is a lot of people in their late 20s and older living with mom. UK doesn't sound like a nice place to live, right now...

Would love to go to Germany but my girlfriend is like "Heck no, I am not going to learn German!"

BTW, how is the situation in Germany now that it has opened its job market (again)? I keep reading in the local papers how people are just gearing up to go there because of a lack of opportunities here. They are even writing articles about a lost generation of educated people that know at least 2 languages really well and they can't find a job in their home country.

Sure, you can earn more, but there's a lot of competition and the demands of employers are incredibly steep. Besides, you don't earn extra money to live in a crappy room do you?

After 5 years in the IT sector I'm no better off than a cocktail waiter. I'm amazed people flood in here to get british degrees, they're far too expensive. Not quite American level but getting there.

700 pounds/month sounds an awful lot like minimum wage to me. I don't know how the UK works, but minimum wage isn't considered livable in the US, either, unless you live in the slums.

Most easily available jobs pay that much, high tech\manufacturing etc is on the wane. As I said above, having a technical skill doesn't mean you'll live well.

That's why having a trade is sometimes better, in my opinion. Sure, I might make less money than someone in the IT or engineering field but mechanics are always needed.

As far as technical skills go, I don't hear any engineers complaining about a lack of jobs :P.

Sure, but mechanics don't earn that much more than £6 an hour. It'll easily disappear if you were to rent an apartment over a room.

I know, I have a friend who's a systems engineer. He was up against a lot of competition though, and fortunate enough to have family supporting his degree studies.

If you also do, then great. I'm just speaking from my own position here.