Tag: Poland

It’s On

Today the starting pistol was fired for NaNoWriMo.  I wouldn’t say my start was a flyer, alas it wasn’t too bad either.  1700 words in on what will be a 50,000 word journey is quite an intimidating thought.  I feel like I am standing in front of Everest.  I am scared but also exhilarated.  I am the master of my fate for the next month.  Come the end of November, if I fail I shall only have myself to blame.   I shall try to keep posting on my blog, obviously I shan’t have so much time, at the least I shall keep adding progress reports.

It’s a strange irony that the 1st of November is not only the day I have started my novel, but it is also the day of the dead here in Poland.  As death is a key theme in this project, and death is absolutely everywhere, it’s hard to actually think of much else.  I intend on writing a more detailed post about this peculiar Polish holiday later in the week.  What I will say for now is that it the inspiration is working for me.

One of the many wonders of writing for me is when you find yourself typing a word that you seldom use.  So much so that when you say the word aloud it makes you smile.  Todays word was ‘skittish’.  Is it me or does it sound a little like a nationality?  Maybe it’s used to describe people from St Kitts?  Anyway, enough of my nonsense, I have to get ready to join the real world.

7 Years On

Today is my 7th anniversary in Poland.  I thought I would try to note down some observations on the changes I have witnessed here.  However that is proving to be much more difficult than expected as I haven’t actually seen that many.  What I have experienced are lessons.

The first lesson I learnt here was that despite the fact that Poland looks much the same as any other country, albeit with a higher proportion of tower blocks, cars which drive on the wrong side(which now peculiarly feels like the right side) of the road and signs in a funny language it isn’t.  It is impossible to say that Poland is diverse in its culture and its beliefs because it isn’t.  If anything it is a country still in the process of finding itself and figuring out its place in the 21st century.

The second lesson I learnt was that a grieving Pole is an unpredictable Pole.  It is somewhat typical here to lament your lot in life and look to assign blame.  Rarely do people just move on.  Sadness here can quickly turn to anger.  In the 7 years gone I have witnessed Poland grieve a Pope and a President(with many other poor souls).  Sadness here is a bitter pill.  I have seen miners riot, football hooligans riot and most surprising of all, Old people fight with the police.

The third and final lesson I wish to mention is that bureaucracy is a cancer with always remains.  The remnants of history here are hidden in plain view to anyone who has to visit a tax office, a doctor or apply for anything at all.  The average Polish government office has to cut down the equivalent of 62.7 percent of the amazon rainforest every year in order to have enough paper to ensure that every form is signed and dated in quad-duplicate.  It is as if the advent of computers is kept in the same part of the Polish psyche as the enlightenment.

These are just a few observations in my time here.  Poland is my adopted homeland and in truth trying to love her is like loving your least favourite cousin.  You have to see beyond her rough edges to get to the good stuff.  Now it is my home.  And like any home it needs a few repairs.