Ethan T interviews Anna D, Poland

Anna left Poland to visit her grandmother when she was 21 years old. She was sent tickets to fly from Warsaw to New York, and arrived on September 5th, 1975. She planned to stay about four months. Her perspective of America was that it was the Wild West, with Cowboys and Indians. That’s how America was generally portrayed in Europe. Europeans didn’t share many good things about America, but when she was living in Campbell, Ohio, Anna saw that wasn’t true.

Anna’s mother was born in America, but she went back to Poland at the age of six because of the Great Depression that was occurring. Her mother said that she dreamed of coming back, and would walk here if she could. Anna was very curious about what America was like. Since Poland was Communist at that time, she had to say she was going on vacation so they would let her go. Anna’s Grandmothers’ brother sent the tickets for her to get here.

Since she wanted to stay in America, her uncle said she needed to learn how to speak English. She took English classes that she had to attend twice a week. While attending these classes, she was able to meet her husband. He was Croatian, and in Europe it was a tradition that the men supplied for the family so she herself never had a strong need for an income. Seven years after their marriage, they started a bar, which they still run, presently. They also share the Catholic religion. Anna prepares many Polish foods for her family for celebrations like Christmas and Easter. She makes different types of cheesecakes, pancakes or crepes, Polish donuts or paczki, and apple cake or szarlotka. Even at the bar that they run now, they feature Barbeque Lamb.

There were many things that Anna liked about America. She liked the widespread land and green grass compared to the houses in Poland that were fenced in the shape of squares which all looked the same. No one could go on each other’s property without going inside the fencing. She was surprised to see the open land, and that people took care of it. She was also amazed at the activities and sports that were available to everyone, even at their own houses. She saw basketball hoops and swimming pools that no one had over in Poland because no one could afford it. That was only dreamed about, along with the grocery stores that had an endless supply of foods available. In Poland, everyone did their shopping early in the morning, and only got the basic foods like milk, some fruit, and bread. The big streets and cars shocked her too, and she said that America had as many cars as Poland did bicycles.

Anna loved her home in Poland, but America was a unique place for her. She didn’t experience any racism other then the “stupid Polish jokes” she heard that didn’t make any sense. Nationality jokes were unheard of in Poland. The abundance of materials was much greater than Poland with homes having many different colors rather then just black and white and the malls larger and overstocked. Being shocked by everything is only what she could be because in Poland they only lived on necessities, but here in America, they live with more abundance and wealth than needed.