PolReport
21 Jul 2006 / #1
Polonia [Polish immigrants living abroad] - They aren't usually very friendly towards each other (in contrast, they are usually nice towards other nations). Why?
Migration is so common nowadays that we do not even pay attention. Migrants are a common, even inescapable, motif in today's multicultural landscapes of most modern countries, like the US, Australia and most European countries. But if you think about it, there is nothing normal about it - for thousands of years people used to live in the same social groups and in the same places. You were born in one place, you lived there and you died there and that was the common order for generations.
My family used to live for hundreds of years in one place and it was first my father, who after the end of the second world war moved a few hundred kilometers from Brzesc on the river Bug to live in Gdansk, a port on the Baltic Sea. Although people spoke the same language, he still found that it took him some time to adjust. New people, new habits and new circumstances. I myself moved a bit further to Australia, where everything is different, not only the language.
When you live in your own country, you are a part of it, and you know what to expect. You know who you are, your social position, you do not even reflect over the situation. You are a cogwheel in motion and there is no reason to stop and contemplate over what is going on. When you move overseas, you are like a cog that does not fit anywhere, not within the new society, not even within the local Polonia.
Not only these are new people, they also, just like you, do not fit together. In principle, the only thing in common they have is the language and the fact that they come from the same country, but is that enough? How close are we really to strangers that speak our language?
What has a medicine doctor from Szczecin in common with a plumber from Katowice, what can a civil engineer from Gdansk talk with a taxi driver from Poznan about? What can a female factory worker discuss with the, also female, rocket scientist from Warsaw, except possibly their kids and cooking?
It is easy to forget those differences living abroad and meeting each other. It is easy to forget the fact that these people would have never met each other in Poland, moving in totally different social circles. They would have never spoken with each other or socialized. Can you imagine the respectable doctor inviting the hard-working plumber for dinner?
Well, once they come abroad, as a part of Polonia, they will have more than one occasion to talk to each other, sit at the same table, go for a picnic or to a party organized by the local Polish club. On the surface, they are equal, but once they go home and on Monday morning return to their jobs, a doctor is still a doctor, and a plumber is still a plumber (it is still a good profession, though). No wonder if there can be a dissent.
Another factor that contributes to the problem is that, in a way, everyone starts anew in the new country. It is hard not to keep an eye on the people from the same place and compare them to yourself. "He came with me and he already has a new flat. She came after me and she already has a better paying job." This kind of constant comparison with each other creates more frustration.
Just see what happens when the local Polonia organizes a local pick nick. Instead of enjoying the excursion the men spend half the time checking out each other's cars, while the women compare their dresses and the kids' education ("you send your kid to a private school?").
We were all created equal, as they say, but there it stops.
Polonia is not a homogenous group of people, but they are all individuals, and some are more forward than the others taking the wheel and running with it, whether asked for it or not. Just check out who decides in the local Polish club, who is in charge of the finances.
Unfortunately, there is often a group of people that runs the Polonia like an own business instead of a social club. They do organize activities, but not in the first place as a means of creating new contact opportunities, but in order to bring more money into the treasure box. And it is the same people in charge that decide how the content of the box will be divided. No wonder not everyone is happy.
On the other hand, there is not such a conflict of interest when it comes to the contact with the natives. We accept if they are in front of us. After all, they have been here first and they have more rights, than a Pole that came to this country with us on the same flight. We don't care either how other nationalities do. After all, it is not our business how well a migrant from another country adjusts to his new homeland.
As Poles, we are all different, although we are alike. The language makes a Pole, but it is the friendship that makes Polonia.
PolReport
Migration is so common nowadays that we do not even pay attention. Migrants are a common, even inescapable, motif in today's multicultural landscapes of most modern countries, like the US, Australia and most European countries. But if you think about it, there is nothing normal about it - for thousands of years people used to live in the same social groups and in the same places. You were born in one place, you lived there and you died there and that was the common order for generations.
My family used to live for hundreds of years in one place and it was first my father, who after the end of the second world war moved a few hundred kilometers from Brzesc on the river Bug to live in Gdansk, a port on the Baltic Sea. Although people spoke the same language, he still found that it took him some time to adjust. New people, new habits and new circumstances. I myself moved a bit further to Australia, where everything is different, not only the language.
When you live in your own country, you are a part of it, and you know what to expect. You know who you are, your social position, you do not even reflect over the situation. You are a cogwheel in motion and there is no reason to stop and contemplate over what is going on. When you move overseas, you are like a cog that does not fit anywhere, not within the new society, not even within the local Polonia.
Not only these are new people, they also, just like you, do not fit together. In principle, the only thing in common they have is the language and the fact that they come from the same country, but is that enough? How close are we really to strangers that speak our language?
What has a medicine doctor from Szczecin in common with a plumber from Katowice, what can a civil engineer from Gdansk talk with a taxi driver from Poznan about? What can a female factory worker discuss with the, also female, rocket scientist from Warsaw, except possibly their kids and cooking?
It is easy to forget those differences living abroad and meeting each other. It is easy to forget the fact that these people would have never met each other in Poland, moving in totally different social circles. They would have never spoken with each other or socialized. Can you imagine the respectable doctor inviting the hard-working plumber for dinner?
Well, once they come abroad, as a part of Polonia, they will have more than one occasion to talk to each other, sit at the same table, go for a picnic or to a party organized by the local Polish club. On the surface, they are equal, but once they go home and on Monday morning return to their jobs, a doctor is still a doctor, and a plumber is still a plumber (it is still a good profession, though). No wonder if there can be a dissent.
Another factor that contributes to the problem is that, in a way, everyone starts anew in the new country. It is hard not to keep an eye on the people from the same place and compare them to yourself. "He came with me and he already has a new flat. She came after me and she already has a better paying job." This kind of constant comparison with each other creates more frustration.
Just see what happens when the local Polonia organizes a local pick nick. Instead of enjoying the excursion the men spend half the time checking out each other's cars, while the women compare their dresses and the kids' education ("you send your kid to a private school?").
We were all created equal, as they say, but there it stops.
Polonia is not a homogenous group of people, but they are all individuals, and some are more forward than the others taking the wheel and running with it, whether asked for it or not. Just check out who decides in the local Polish club, who is in charge of the finances.
Unfortunately, there is often a group of people that runs the Polonia like an own business instead of a social club. They do organize activities, but not in the first place as a means of creating new contact opportunities, but in order to bring more money into the treasure box. And it is the same people in charge that decide how the content of the box will be divided. No wonder not everyone is happy.
On the other hand, there is not such a conflict of interest when it comes to the contact with the natives. We accept if they are in front of us. After all, they have been here first and they have more rights, than a Pole that came to this country with us on the same flight. We don't care either how other nationalities do. After all, it is not our business how well a migrant from another country adjusts to his new homeland.
As Poles, we are all different, although we are alike. The language makes a Pole, but it is the friendship that makes Polonia.
PolReport