Not long after I landed in the UK; I learned to appreciate Polish plumbing acumen. And carpentry, brickwork and electrical skills too. That and the obligatory references to 'blitzkrieg' in history class was about the extent of my knowledge about the Polish and Poland.This summer I went to Poland. I went to Krakow, toured the old Jewish quarter, saw the Schindler factory and the sight of the labour camp; I danced at a wedding and did Vodka shots and ate a lot of stuff that probably wasn't good for my cholesterol. With a good portion of the wedding party, I recovered from a hangover by touring a famous Polish salt mine. I took a bus out to Auschwitz and read aghast at the treatment of Poles by the Germans and Russians around the time of WWII. It's not that I was totally ignorant before; but, there was a certain sense of reinforcement of knowledge, details to cushion the concepts. I had some new learning too, no doubt. At the time I was reading a hefty tome on Stalin. And, have since, moved onto a book that addresses the end of WWI and how factors led to WWII. A long way of saying, over the past year or so, my interest in Poland and the Polish has been peaked.
Not long after I first started blogging, I came across a certain actor's blog. I commented on his blog; he commented on mine; and one of those odd, new-fangled relationships burgeoned. I consider him a friend even though I've never exchanged a verbal word with him.
I saw him in a production - an uneasy, uncomfortable, magnificent performance (by the whole cast) in Zero. I've read his posts on music and teaching and followed the string of vitriolic hate comments he's received. I've seen his (hoootttt) girlfriend, Eva-Jane in a music video and read aghast about the time he went to meet one of his hate-commenters in person (I would have killed him if I were Eva-Jane). I was too shy to stay and hang around after the production of Zero; I hope to have a 2nd chance.
So, what is the point of these disjointed paragraphs? What do Daniel and Poland have in common?
Poles Apart.
Daniel and his mate, Mark, will be reprising their production. I missed it the first time; I'll be there this time. See you on the 28th?
9 comments:
Aaaah so that's what the actor and the country have in common. Will click on the last link NOW!
A Daily Smoke outing perhaps?
Thanks so much Ellie, I'm very excited to meet you and Beth and hopefully some more of your readers on what promises to be a grand night out.
xxxx
I can't really say too much about Daniel, let's face it, I don't know anything about Daniel. But he does seem to have extraordinarily good taste in music. I think my own topic for the day has just been identified. Have fun on the 28th, being safely esconced some 3,000 miles away, unfortunately means I'm unlikely to be there to make up the numbers.
My grandparents immigrated from Poland to the U.S. when they were teenagers. When I arrived in New York City, the first place I headed was the Polish restaurants of the East Village for some comfort food. Wish like hell I could see this production.
Chris of Arabia, you are my new best friend!
So long as you understand I'm rather unreliable, that should work out just fine...
You asked for it: you've been reviewed.
Congratulations on your review, Ellie!
Was it here that Auschwitz came up before? I didn't have a clear idea then of what the visit had meant to me, how I could "justify" going there, but I read this and it clicked - after visiting, you come away changed, deeper. Hopefully.
Sid ~ Sometime I try not to be totally random! ;)
UB ~ And we wish you could be here too. x.
Daniel & Chris ~ I feel like a yenta!
Calamity ~ HOLY CRAP!
Pueblo Girl ~ Thanks! and Thanks to AAYSR! Yep, Auschwitz came up here before. It is sobering and shocking even though we "know" what was done. The depth of the knowing is deeper after being there. xx
Post a Comment