From my ex-pat perspective, the people here (here being Europe) seem acutely aware of place and of history. Sometimes this takes the form of celebrating ancient anniversaries, sometimes more recent anniversaries, sometimes just celebrating the history of a building or the evolution of a public space. My Russian studies professor used to joke that in Europe, there were so many anniversaries that you could find something appropriate to commemorate for any possible date on the calendar. Indeed, dates are very important (just ask the Obama administration, who made the mistake of announcing the changed missile defense program in Poland on the anniversary of Russia's WW2 invasion of Poland). Regardless, the public administration seems very keen to provide such celebrations and commemorations and the public seems apt to take part.
For example, at the beginning of this month, posters appeared in the Stary Rynek (old marketplace) and Adam Mickiewicz Square of Poznań, marking the 30th anniversary of Solidarity. In Kraków this past week, I observed the final celebrations of the 600th anniversary of Grunwald, the battle between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Teutonic Knights. Celebrations took place across Poland, but some of the highlights were in Malbork, the former castle of the Knights, and in Kraków, the seat of the Polish dynasty at that time. And today, walking past the Zamek, I noticed a new set of posters chronicling the 100 years of history of this castle.
However, what surprises me most of all is not merely the initiative of various groups to mark such commemorations and arduously piece together the past and display the history, but the eagerness of the public to take part. The posters outside of the Zamek were completely surrounded today, so much so that I gave up trying to find a space to read them myself. Similarly, for the first week or two, there were always at least 5 people reading the Solidarność posters at any given time (the collections of about 30+ posters in each location are still outside on display). And the Grunwald ceremonies of Kraków were packed! It's not that I don't think that Americans would enjoy these commemorations and exhibits of information, but I doubt that many would take the time to gather to read, observe, learn, and participate.
Maybe America is still too young of a nation to have many public commemorations of places or events. But at the same time, 234 years is a longer history than many of the states of the world. (Though whether or not the nations of people trace a longer history of statelessness is another story). More plausibly, we are still too young to have become comfortable with our cohesiveness as a nation. Or maybe we're just not interested in (or the public administration does not think we're interested in) our own history?
Yet as I walked back today, I found myself wondering about many of the buildings in the cities where I have lived, and how I know next to nothing about them or what has happened in those spaces. I might be able to tell you the year for certain major events in American history, but almost never the exact date. (Whereas in Poland and in Europe, it seems like there's a different anniversary for every week!) I know nothing about the history or places of my home town, besides that it used to be all farmland and earned a spot in a footnote of history as a sometime stop on the Underground Railroad. I can tell you a little more about Rochester, NY, but that is mostly from ventures in urban exploring (be sure to visit the abandoned subway!), conversations during long car rides with older professors, and flipping through the tan Images of America paperback books. And even during my short stays in NYC and DC, my awareness of the history of each place was mostly only supplemented by what I had learned in schools or a paragraph in a tour book.
Friday marks the 2-month anniversary of my departure from the USA, but as I learn more about Poznań and Poland and Europe, I find myself seeing America in a new light, and wondering things about it that I hadn't considered before, perhaps giving me a new appreciation of home from afar.
On this date each year, Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of the Assumption, a holy day when Mary was taken up to heaven. In Poland, they also call this day the Blessed Mother of the Herbs or St. Mary of the Herbs Day (Matki Boskiej Zielnej). Bunches of flowers, herbs, and fruit are available everywhere-- outside churches, on sale in the street, etc. Many churchgoers bring a bouquet of these herbs (zioła, or matką ziół) to the church for a blessing and for an offer of thanksgiving. At a parish I attended, it was a children's mass, and at the end of the (rather noisy but lively) service, all the children and families and indeed most of the parish clustered around the altar for a final blessing, holding these herbs and singing songs. They brought these herbs home again after the service, and in olden days they were believed to have heightened powers for seasonings and curative abilities.
As part of a summer language program, I've been gradually learning more about Polish, Poznań, and the local culture. I am the only American enrolled in the program and while English is the language of instruction, I am one of the few native-English speakers. (I've had a lot of fascinating conversations that involved explaining colloquial phrases in English--why do we sometimes address small children as "pumpkin" anyway?-- and learning about similar phrases in German, such as "Mäuschen" and "yaco taco" (not sure about the spelling there...)). Here's some things I've noticed so far:
50 Page Friday: The Abyss Beyond Dreams
9 years ago
