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American student in Krakow |
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| 10/14/2007, Sunday | ||
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Howdy to everyone! Thanks to those of you who wrote with comments, suggestions, questions, and the like following my last email. As a quick answer to a few of your enquiries: 1.) Unfortunately Mr. Talley, I can't join a church choir here because a.) I'm not Catholic (95-98% of this country is...and I don't think I've ever even seen a protestant church here...ha!) and b.) I wouldn't even know how to go about asking such a thing. But I did seriously consider the suggestion, so thank you. 2.) Aunt Jennie, I bought a copy of The Guardian (British newspaper) the other day. It was definitely nice to read something in English...so I understand why you enjoyed Time so much. 3.) Mariah, you better believe I got the new Radiohead CD. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.  Okay...moving on. Yesterday, we went on a study trip to the nearby
suburb of Nowa Huta. The city was built in the 1950's as a part of the
Communist regime's 6-year plan to build a city for the working-class.
Now, I'm sure that most people who grew up during the cold war have the
view of Eastern Europe as being a gray, cold place with nothing but
concrete blocks for buildings. And while each major city has some of
these types of buildings in the outskirts, it's largely a misconception.
But Nowa Huta is EXACTLY what one might imagine a "communist city" to
look like. It was gray, it felt cold, and every single building looked
like a massive concrete block. As one might expect, each block of houses
was equipped with a bunker (in case of attack), a kindergarten, and a
shop full of supplies (until the economic crisis of the late 70's left
the shops empty). Nowa Huta is communist efficiency with no frills. It
truly was a city built to eliminate class.The most interesting thing about the city is that there still exists a strong divide among the people. Of the 40,000 people who worked in the steel mill which the city was built upon, almost 38,000 of the employees became members of the Solidarity movement. So this town which had been built for the workers had seen the workers turn against the government. Walking through the city, our tour was interrupted 3 or 4 times by different people (mainly older citizens) who told us that they loved their city and that they loved communism. One man, who must have been 85 or 90 stopped us and told us that he had helped build the city. He shouted (in Polish), "I'm a communist! You can think what you want about me, but I'm a communist! I miss those days." Though it's probably difficult for an American to imagine, there are still quite a few people in this country (again, they are usually the older generation) who would still prefer to live in those times. For a short and simple explanation, let's just say this: Retired pensioners live on about $300/month. With the Polish economy booming, it's difficult to live on such low wages. Though communism clearly wasn't good in terms of freedoms, it is possible to sympathize with someone who can't afford to live in this capitalist society. On a different topic, these are pretty exciting times in Poland. The parliamentary elections (which you may or may not remember me telling you about previously) are next weekend. Unlike elections in America, no one seems to have any idea how they will turn out. Basically, the election comes down to two major parties: Law and Justice (PiS) and Civic Platform (PO). There are no real equivalents in American politics to these two, so I'll explain just a bit about them. Law and Justice contains many former members of the Solidarity movement and is run by twin brothers, Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski. They were famous in the 60's for starring in a Polish movie called "The Two Who Stole the Moon." Don't ask me...I didn't make up the title. Anyway, Lech is the President of Poland, and Jaroslaw is the former Prime Minister (he's trying to win his post back). These two are Catholic and very socially conservative. They get themselves into trouble quite often for their comments on Germans (who they hate), gays (who they hate), the European Union (which they only like if it helps Poland in some way), and their opponents. It's actually thought that Jaroslaw influenced his brother's presidential win by claiming that the opponent's grandfather fought for the Germans in WW2 (a claim which was found to be true - his grandfather had lived in a German area, and reported to compulsory service for 10 days. After those 10 days, though, he defected and joined the Polish army). Many people here liken Law and Justice to the Bush administration. Not in terms of politics (though they share many similar views)...but in terms of the fact that they often say or do things which a majority of people don't necessarily agree with, but they refuse to alter their stance. On the other hand, PO is lead by a man named Donald Tusk. It looks at the moment like he will be the next prime minister (from what I've read...though no one can say for sure). He ran in the presidential elections against Lech Kaczynski (his grandfather was the guy who joined the Polish army after 10 days with the Germans). His party, Civic Platform, is very pro-privatization and free-market oriented. They are supportive of the European Union, and they are fairly liberal socially. It will be an interesting week, and I look forward to sharing the outcome with you sometime in the next 10 days or so. Hopefully, whatever happens, this country will get back on track politically because Poland is quickly gaining a reputation as Europe's "new Italians" (because they've changed ruling parliaments and parties so many times since 1990). Hope all is well with you! Cheers, Kento |
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 Photo 1 - The Wisla Krakow soccer match (they're much better than Cracovia Krakow)
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8/31/07 9/11/07 9/20/07 9/27/07 10/5/07 10/14/07 3/22/08 3/30/08 |
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