corrective action
No, I am not interested in corrective action (I am referring to the comment on the blog). My father would be, I believe. My father stops people on the street who smoke and tells them that they should drop the habit because it will kill them. It seems to be a norm among people of my father's generation to tell other people what is best for them... at least in Poland. It requires much patience on my part... My hometown Poznan looks really nice: streets are extremally clean, there are many new buildings and the old ones are nicely restored, there are many cafes and restaurants, etc., etc. but I have noticed tension here which I haven't encountered during my previous trips. People are nervous and I can feel their impatience and irritation... maybe because I got here just before the elections for the Polish government and Poles are very much affected by the political life of their country. They always were but now the political life got very complicated... There are many political parties and the people who are in them don't have "clean hands" - most of them were or are involved in acts of corruption... I decided not to cast any votes because I lost contact with the Polish political arena and I don't know some of the people who run for the various posts. The presidential elections will be held in two weeks. I am really curious what the future will bring for Poland...
I spent most of the past week visiting the family of my father. I didn't have much contact with my father's family when I was growing up. I knew the father of my father was one of the 16 kids but he and all his siblings died before I was born except the youngest uncle who was the 16th child (I met him when I was 10 years old). My father's family came from Krolewiec (on the Baltic Sea) around the First World War to the area close to Poznan. Krolewiec is a very interesting place since it changed hands many times and was influenced by Polish, Russian and German culture. Now it belongs to Russia and is named Kaliningrad. When it belonged to Germany it was called Konigsberg (it was part of East Prussia). We found out from one of my father's cousins, aunt Halina, that one of their uncle had 23 kids! And some of them are still alive hence extensive trips to visit the family... The area in which they all live is very beautiful. There are lots of pine forests, farmlands, meadows, little towns and villages, many palaces and arboretrums... Most of the forests are state-owned and one can just stop at the edge of the forest and go for a walk or to pick mushrooms. I also walked around Poznan as if I was a tourist and found many interesting buildings around the old market square and I went to see the very old townhouse which my grand grand parents built (the parents of my father's mother) and in which my cousin lives now. I also visited Golebia Street (The Dove Street) where the ballet school is and you can see through the old beautiful windows the ballet dancers practising and a woman accompanying them on the piano, just as I remember them practicing and accompaying long long time ago, when I walked through Golebia Street when I was a girl. I also found a nice cafe Kawiarnia Krolewska which serves deeeeelicious hot chocolate.
I am also spending time with my mom and my doggies Buffcio and Maksio. B&M are having wonderful time in the forest behind our house. My mom takes them there every day for running around, chasing each other and bathing in the Rusalka lake (Rusalka is a kind of a water ghost, a bit like a mirmaid but not entirely). I went around the lake Rusalka with my dear friend Hania, who has been my friend since we were 10 years old, and we spent a wonderful evening talking about our lives and enjoying the lake and the forest, as we always do when we meet there. There are things in life which are everlastingly wonderful - we probably made a 1000th trip around this lake and every time we go around (or run as we used to be running around it before I left Poland) I feel as if I was walking around it the first time and at the same time it's so warmingly familiar...
More about Poland soon. And I haven't forgotten about the end of the trip in Mexico and "Mujer. Divina y Humana." I will write about it soon.
I spent most of the past week visiting the family of my father. I didn't have much contact with my father's family when I was growing up. I knew the father of my father was one of the 16 kids but he and all his siblings died before I was born except the youngest uncle who was the 16th child (I met him when I was 10 years old). My father's family came from Krolewiec (on the Baltic Sea) around the First World War to the area close to Poznan. Krolewiec is a very interesting place since it changed hands many times and was influenced by Polish, Russian and German culture. Now it belongs to Russia and is named Kaliningrad. When it belonged to Germany it was called Konigsberg (it was part of East Prussia). We found out from one of my father's cousins, aunt Halina, that one of their uncle had 23 kids! And some of them are still alive hence extensive trips to visit the family... The area in which they all live is very beautiful. There are lots of pine forests, farmlands, meadows, little towns and villages, many palaces and arboretrums... Most of the forests are state-owned and one can just stop at the edge of the forest and go for a walk or to pick mushrooms. I also walked around Poznan as if I was a tourist and found many interesting buildings around the old market square and I went to see the very old townhouse which my grand grand parents built (the parents of my father's mother) and in which my cousin lives now. I also visited Golebia Street (The Dove Street) where the ballet school is and you can see through the old beautiful windows the ballet dancers practising and a woman accompanying them on the piano, just as I remember them practicing and accompaying long long time ago, when I walked through Golebia Street when I was a girl. I also found a nice cafe Kawiarnia Krolewska which serves deeeeelicious hot chocolate.
I am also spending time with my mom and my doggies Buffcio and Maksio. B&M are having wonderful time in the forest behind our house. My mom takes them there every day for running around, chasing each other and bathing in the Rusalka lake (Rusalka is a kind of a water ghost, a bit like a mirmaid but not entirely). I went around the lake Rusalka with my dear friend Hania, who has been my friend since we were 10 years old, and we spent a wonderful evening talking about our lives and enjoying the lake and the forest, as we always do when we meet there. There are things in life which are everlastingly wonderful - we probably made a 1000th trip around this lake and every time we go around (or run as we used to be running around it before I left Poland) I feel as if I was walking around it the first time and at the same time it's so warmingly familiar...
More about Poland soon. And I haven't forgotten about the end of the trip in Mexico and "Mujer. Divina y Humana." I will write about it soon.
posted by Asia Kabat at 9:54 AM
2 Comments:
Witaj Aska ! Dwa zdania sprostowania. Maggie napisala, ze razem pracowalismy w Rebisie. Niestety nie mialem tej przyjemnosci pracowac z Toba. Pracuje w Rebisie od 7 lat. W 1998 roku juz Cie w Poznaniu nie bylo. Poznalismy sie jednak na imprezie w Warszawie z okzaji 10 lecia Rebisu. Pozniej spotkalismy sie tez raz w firmie w Poznzniu. To tyle wyjasnien. Moj czas wakacji w Stanach niestety sie konczy. Wracam do Polski w sobote. Zaluje, ze nie bylo okazji sie zobaczyc raz jeszcze. Szczegolnie w NYC. Kiedy zobaczylem Twoje zdjecia z Anka i Baska na jakiejs wspolnej imprezie bylem zdziwiony troche. Swiat jest jednak coraz mniejszy.
Pozdrawiam
Tomasz Malec
Czesc Tomek, no tak, ale chyba wczewsniej pracowales dorywczo w Rebisie, jak ja tam jeszcze bylam? Tak mi sie wydawalo. A od kiedy jestes w NY? Bo ja wyjechalam w lutym. Bede w Poznaniu jeszcze z dwa tygodnie to sie spotkamy w Rebisie i pogadamy. Swiat jest straaasznie maly. A czy masz e-mail do Baski? Bo Bogus mnie pytal - ja masz to mu przekaz bo ja mam tylko e-mail do Ani Porazki. Usciski i do zobaczenia wkrotce. Asia
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