Love / My Polish wife got married to me but she's still not in love? [34]

My first thought is of course to ask why would one marry someone who doesn't love you, but human experience is more complex than simple reactions like that.

There are many traditional societies in which marriage is arranged by the families and the future marriage partners have little say in the matter. There have been many studies of this and with surprising results. In the first few years of marriage it appears that one or both (but most often the woman) is less happy within the arranged marriage than is true within more modern 'love choice/romance based' weddings but that after about 5 years reported happiness rates are very similar for love based or arranged marriages. After 10 years the arranged marriages report greater feelings of happiness with the marriage than love/romance based marriages do. This is not every case of course (a woman who is physically abused by her husband will never be happy no matter how her marriage originated) but for most the long term best results happen where two people face adversity together and then allow love to grow from their shared experience. Romance and 'true love' at the beginning does not last so well, especially where there is unrealistic expectation of romantic play lasting forever.

Ultimately is does seem that whether or not a marriage will be a good one for the long term has less to do with romantic love than we generally believe. Far better indicators of future happiness are found in commitment to a common cause, acceptance of the other 'for better or worse', and having realistic expectations of what the marriage can achieve. Mutual respect for the marriage and what that means is as important as mutual respect for each other.

When your wife tells you that it will take time to feel the love she sounds like a wise woman who will be a good partner to you for many years provided you learn to accept her in a way that she can respect. Good luck to both of you.

Love / Why marriage ring on the right hand finger in Poland? [11]

I wonder if the wearing of the wedding ring on the left hand stems from British practice because the the left hand tradition seems to be strongest in the former British world - US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc while the right hand tradition seems to more usual on the Continent of Europe and its former colonies.

I was always told that the left hand is reserved for the wedding ring because it is on the same side as the heart while wearing a ring on the right hand 'wedding finger' denotes friendship type love. Is it a Polish custom to wear a friendship ring on the left hand?

Language / A typical quality of book translation from English to Polish? [28]


There is one version of Solaris published in English, translated by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox 1970 which was not a translation of the Polish original but instead was translated from the French translation by Jean-Michel Jasiensko 1966. Apparently Stanislaw Lem was fluent in English and hated the Kilmartin and Cox translation believing it departed too significantly from his original Polish. How could it not be since it was a translation of a translation? He, however had originally sold all rights to the book and the Polish publisher who was responsible for granting translation rights apparently did not care that the Kilmartin and Cox version was poor. It sold well, and that is all they worried about.

Fortunately, while the Kilmartin and Cox version is still the only available print version, Audible.com earlier this year released an audio book version. Aware of the translation problems, and because it is in a non-print format they were able to negotiate rights to translate with the estate of Lem, bypassing the print publishers, and commissioned a new English translation which was done by Bill Johnston directly from Lem's original text. This new translation is widely regarded as superb and does an excellent job of bringing to life the story much as Lem intended. So while it is in audio download form rather than print, it is the recommended way to enjoy Solaris in English.

Life / An example of what is wrong with Poland (fatal traffic accident and a tram) [55]

Yesterday north of Sydney, Australia the F3 Freeway was closed for 12 hours due to a fatal hit and run accident. Different accidents have different circumstances and where it is only property damage or the circumstances are clear then opening a road to traffic can happen fairly quickly but there are also cases where major traffic disruption is inevitable. In the Sydney incident there was reason for police to suspect a murder had taken place or maybe it was a suicide. It turns out that is probably not the case but they closed the freeway to all traffic while they thoroughly searched every square cm of road surface, marking where body parts were found and making certain that all evidence originated from this incident. As a result police are now looking for a dark red colored sedan which indicates they found debris from the car involved. Without thorough forensic investigation despite the inconveniences suspects cannot be charged and evidence can be thrown out of courts for being "shoddy". There are good reasons for such drastic action as shutting down a major freeway. This would happen in any country with respect for law and the sanctity of human life.

The result would have been choked alternative roads and many people not being able to get to Sydney for work or to catch flights and so on. But where there is death we all have to stand back and deal with the consequences with respect and sensitivity to the life that has just been lost. When my father died I instantly left work and took several days off due to funeral and helping my mother. It is normal for life to be disrupted by a death, and two hours traffic inconvenience in a city where there are many alternative routes is not such a big problem.

In the Polish case the tram would not be able to be moved immediately for several reasons. First as due to collection of evidence and police determining whether or not there was an accident, a suicide, or a murder to investigate. The tram driver is likely to be traumatized by the death and might not be capable of driving the tram and inevitably he or she would need to be tested for blood alcohol to rule that out as a factor. Other evidence would need to be collected, everything thoroughly photographed, witnesses interviewed, assessment of damage and potential safety issues with the tram, replacement driver found and so on. For the intersection to be partially closed for only two hours indicates a highly efficient response by police, medical, and transportation officials who all had important roles in the incident. Meanwhile the comparatively minor inconveniences to members of the public affected needs to be kept in perspective with the far greater issue of the unfortunate death of the woman involved. May she rest in peace.

Life / Polish and Slavic Art [48]

Merged: New painting in the Music Center and Concert Hall for the Filharmonia Orchestra in Olsztyn

In recent months I was helped a great deal by forum members as I prepared a new painting that I created for the new Music Center and Concert Hall for the Filharmonia Orchestra in Olsztyn. Forum Members even decided on the the Polish name for the painting: 600-letnia pieśń.

The painting is now finished and already in Poland and will be on exhibition there permanently from 19th March.

There are now 3 YouTube videos about the painting that you can view. I hope you enjoy them. The first one is a documentary about the making of the painting and the poetic linking of the music of Chopin with the artwork. The other two videos are the speech and artist talk from the official Sydney unveiling of the painting earlier in February. Please feel welcome to send any of the links to friends who might be interested.

Making Of The 600 Year Old Song - 600-letnia Pieśń - Tony Johansen



Unveiling Of Tony Johansen Painting "600 Year Old Song By Polish Consul General



Tony Johansen Artist Talk - The 600 Year Old Song - 600-letnia pieśń



Although I have Polish ancestry on my mother's side, it was 100 years ago and my mother and her mother did not think it important to preserve the language and heritage in their new country. I think that is a great shame as I would love to experience much more of Polish culture and heritage. However since using the forum here and the helpfulness of so many on the forum made me feel part of the wider Polish family again so there are many reasons to say thank you.

Tony

I would love for you to leave comments about the video here but it would also be really cool for someone to write a comment in Polish as well as English on YouTube. I have never received a Polish comment on any of my YouTube videos before. It must be time to happen :-)

History / Esperanto - an effort by a Pole ... [122]

I think it is wonderful that a man dreamed of bringing people together through a common language but I think he would be disappointed to see so few Esperanto speakers after such a long time. Estimates of the number of speakers are said by some to be as much as two million and others say as little as 10,000 but most do not accept either figure and the numbers are more likely between 50,000 and half a million. That is a lot for an artificial language but not enough to bring people together in any major way. It seems language thrives because of emotion and practical market forces rather than because of rational thinking.

History / If i could write European history i would unite Europe under Polish language [67]

By mixing the idea of history and language you raise an interesting point. All languages borrow a little bit from other languages but only one language is truly cannibalistic in the way it has absorbed and continues to absorb words and grammar from other languages, and that is English. The name English derives from the fact that it started life as the language of the Angles who were invaders from the north of the Netherlands and this is seen in the great similarity between Freisian words for weather with English. The language of the Angles, however was changed a great deal by the related language of the Saxons, the existing traditional Briton languages, and the small remains of Latin. Saxon words are commonly found in words for basic land structures, and other basic things like swearing, and resoluteness - thus Churchill's speech "We will fight them on the beaches, we will fight them on the landing fields... we will never surrender" has so many Anglo Saxon words in it that a real Anglo Saxon would possibly understand it.

English was added to by Norwegian and Danish when the Vikings invaded. This is especially true in the north of England and accounts for the great difference between English in the north, and English in the south of England.

English nearly became extinct when the Normans invaded and tried to force everyone to speak French but eventually English revived and absorbed French and today about a quarter of English is French words, especially words to do with food, shopping, and working. When the British and American colonization of North America began it started a huge influx of Spanish and Native American and the world wide extent of the British Empire lead to English adopting words from India, Malay, African languages and so on.

There is even some Polish words, or words that have been changed but originated with Polish. Words like 'horde', schmuck, gherkin, polonaise, mazurka, and so on.

The reason I make this summary of English like this is that of all the languages, English already incorporates the history of Europe in its structure. Other languages might be able to write about European history, but English is a living example of a language that includes parts of all European languages, plus Asian, African, Australian Aboriginal, and North and South American native cultures as well. It is not the language spoken by the most people (Chinese is and Spanish has almost the same number of speakers as English) but it is the only language that is a truly world language in the sense that it incorporates parts of almost every language. You realize how much this is so when you look at a small and far away culture like Innuit and see the large number of Innuit words we commonly use - anorak, kayak, moose, caribou, caucus, and so on.

It is interesting to have a look at the origins of words in an English sentence. It demonstrates how mixed up it is:

A (Anglo-Saxon) horde (Polish) of (Greco-Latin via Dutch) men (Sanskrit via Dutch) could (Greco-Latin) have (German) a (Anglo-Saxon) pow wow (Native American) whilst (German) eating (Greco-Latin via German) cake (Danish) and (German) smoking (German) a (Anglo-Saxon) pipe (French) under (Dutch) a (Anglo-Saxon) stormy (Dutch) sky (Norse) while (German) holding (Norse) umbrellas (Italian) and (German) dancing (French) a (Anglo-Saxon) mazurka (Polish). This (Anglo-Saxon) would (Anglo-Saxon) be (Latin) better (Dutch) than (Anglo-Saxon) holding (Norse) a (Anglo-Saxon) kangaroo (Australian Aboriginal) court (French).

So perhaps the spread of English is merely the language looking for all its lost roots :-) and maybe it is a more appropriate language for writing the history of the whole of of Europe. Like Polish it is a language rich in idioms that are good for telling the stories of real people.

Australia / Your new PM, A question for Aussies, and anyone living there. [20]

There is a lot more to dislike about Gillard than her voice but like her voice it is to do with her origins. She is a trade union organizer and as such is anti business and as far as climate change goes she will bleat about impracticalities like solar but never tackle the unions over restricting the coal industry or question coal fired power stations and re-examine nuclear power in light of reducing greenhouse gases. Besides she came to power in one of those back room coups in which she smiled at her predecessor right up to the minute she stuck the knife in.

There is a lot to dislike about her and the voice is a long way from the worst.

Language / Is My Painting Title Correct In Polish? [23]


Thank you. I am usually not compared to Benton but rather to Lautrec but then a lot of my work is in jazz clubs and bars with live music and so has acid greens and reds that are more Lautrec-like I guess, while this one with the theme of integrating the music with landscape has more muted colors at this stage. In another week there will be more mauves and violets to balance the sienna oranges of the violins so it might look less Bentonesque then.

Currently I am painting in the music sheets. I found Polish versions so while the notes are universal some of the other wording is different.

Language / Is My Painting Title Correct In Polish? [23]


Okay, except that the intention was not so much to specify a particular type of song or music, but rather to be all encompassing so that the title includes the long folk tradition as well as the bigger more artistic pieces such as Chopin's Piano Concerto. Does 'pieśń' capture that broader and perhaps more humble world? On the other hand if we went with piosenka does that exclude the orchestra?

Language / Is My Painting Title Correct In Polish? [23]

Thank you. So far the reaction from Polish people who have seen it is very positive. A group of Polish women came to see the painting a short while ago. They love the painting and felt proud of all the Polish culture in the picture. When people see it they just stand in front of it unable to take their eyes off it. I think they get lost in the dreamy foreverness of the music and landscape together.

A reporter asked me when is it finished because she is thinking of doing a newspaper story about it and the story of the painting born in Sydney going half way around the world to Poland. I tell people about Nowowieski writing the music for Rota and inspiring this wonderful orchestra. I show them the castle and tell them that in that castle Copernicus wrote the first chapter of his book revealing that the sun is at the center of the universe. I tell them about Chopin and how his second piano concerto was actually his first, and how at the end of it he tells the violinists to play col legno. There is such a rich story here in the elements of this painting.

This is the words I used to describe the painting when sending a progress report to Olsztyn recently. I have to figure out how to say these words in Polish so that they have words to go with the painting when it is on their wall and these words seem about right:

Nowowiejski is conducting the orchestra. They are playing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2. Nowowiejski is pulling the whole world out of the musicians, the clouds arise from the instruments and the audience becomes the forest around Olsztyn Castle and there is no division between forest and people and clouds and sky. This signifies how the music and the people and the city and their whole world live in the heart of that culture that continues on through time. The city and its people and its musicians and their hearts are all indivisible. For more than 600 years the people have danced and made music around that castle. With your new music center you look to carrying that long history into the future.

We have the impression that we are looking at the scene through the eyes of one of the violinists. The viewer of the painting is invited to feel part of the whole experience. The whole painting is about movement - how the music and the visual world grow from the rhythms of life.

Language / Is My Painting Title Correct In Polish? [23]


No. It is for the Warmińsko-Mazurska Filharmonia im. Felixa Nowowiejskiego w Olsztynie.
The have a new music center nearing completion and the music director. The Marshall of Warmia/Mazury wrote asking me to provide an artwork but I think it was the musical director Janusz Bogdan Lewandowski who knew of my work I do paintings with musicians and bars and jazz clubs etc). They were not offering any money but I wanted to do it because of my own Polish heritage. So I have worked full time on it from September to now and it is nearly finished. This is it:

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  The_600_Year_Old_Son.jpg
  

Language / Is My Painting Title Correct In Polish? [23]

Thank you Paulina. It is good that I asked because the literal translation is obviously not correct.


This brings up an interesting cultural difference. I am aware that Polish names change according to context and I always found that confusing (not always certain different versions are actually the same person) but seeing my own name changed like that gives me an emotional reaction since it no longer looks like my name as an English speaker. Silly I know, but one has to live with ones inner world and feelings and they are conditioned by childhood experience. I guess I better start getting used to it.

Again, thank you.