The pride of Poland
Mar 05, 2010
1 Comment
The pride of Poland. New column in the Krakow post — “Like the rest of the nation I am now an armchair cross-country skiing expert. Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk has won two Olympic gongs and is in the running for more. Veteran ski jumper Adam MaÅ‚ysz has also bagged two and re-ignited the nation’s passion for watching small moustachioed men hurl themselves down precipitous icy slopes into yawning space. Men with large stomachs and about as much first hand knowledge of ski slopes as they have of quantum mechanics earnestly discuss the finer points of Telemark landing techniques in pubs across the land. Poland’s glow of pride is visible from space.”
Read the rest on the Krakow Post website.
“This year is the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth and the country is going all out to make sure the world knows their Fryderyk was Polish. It won’t work of course.”
That’s weird. French and British encyclopedias mention that Chopin was a Polish composer. I remember watching a movie with Hugh Grant (starring as Chopin) that made that clear. Brochures attached to CDs state that clearly. A recent BBC Radio programme mentioned that as well. (I won’t even mention Wikipedia…) There’s a strong French aspect to Chopin, his father being a French immigrant to Poland (as a teenager) and him forming a relationship with George Sand, but the facts that he was born and raised in Poland, was inspired by local culture, cared deeply for the political situation of the country and never learnt to speak French fluently are not lost on opinionmakers. So I don’t think it’s a lost cause.
More to the point, as a Pole I hardly give a damn if Kowalczyk wins or loses. And I’m not the only one. But I guess we are less visible than the enthusiasts.