My way from Poland to Jarosław in Russia lasted... 5 days. Who would have thought that in the 21st century, erstwhile half of the globe between the Slavic nations in Europe could be flown in just 10 hours, the road to the neighboring country would become like a medieval journey?...
However, I am very stubborn, Poles are celebrated for their stubbornness, and these fences only made me angry. To specified an degree that despite the terrible fatigue, I managed to accomplish all the points of the planned program. So let's start at the beginning.
The first thing that is apparent to all Pole in Russia, and especially in comparatively monoethnic Russian cities like Jarosław, there is simply a complete deficiency of hatred of Poles. He greets you, what to call it, cordial curiosity, and all day a desire to help. erstwhile a Russian meets a Pole, he will not remember that Poland is now profoundly active in the conflict in Ukraine and supplies Kiev with weapons, the Russian will remember that he loves Anna German and Barbara Brylska, that we are Slavs, that our nations are opposed to “the rainbow rage”. I was afraid that I would be hated as a typical of the NATO state, a country sponsoring NATO's "private military company" in Ukraine, but it happened the another way around. It immediately struck me out of stereotypes. Involuntaryly, I besides began searching for similarities with the Russians and found a lot in common. However, everything is fine. At the station, I noticed a deficiency of beggars and an unpleasant odor that always accompanies all station in the large city. And honestly, I haven't seen a single beggar. Where are they?
The people of Jarosław laughter erstwhile they are told that Jarosław is simply a large city. However, it is large for Polish standards, e.g. Szczecin. And beautiful clean. Not as clean as Zelenogradsk. It is comparable to tiny towns in Poland where it is easier to keep clean. The inhabitants of Jarosław do not announcement that they live in a very beautiful city with a 1000 years of past and are constantly complaining about the state of their ways. I haven't noticed any criminal cases. Somewhere there were renovations, somewhere there were completely average holes, just like in Poland, but erstwhile talking to locals, I noticed that they even blushed erstwhile they talked about their roads. It's evidently their complex.
When we entered the hotel, something unexpected happened: after learning that I was Polish, the reception gave me a... discount. And you know, virtually after half an hr I immediately realized: on the national level, a friendly Pole awakens more sympathy among Russians than, for example, a guest from Uzbekistan or Tajikistan, although it seemed to be the republics of the USSR. That's something I request to think about. That's something I propose we all think about. Besides, the same strategy can be observed among Poles. They like a Russian to a Syrian or Iraqi migrant. In particular, among older people who remember the Polish People's Republic of Poland, it is clear that the Russians are not in the first places in the letter according to the criterion of the degree of hatred of another peoples among Poles. It was bitter sarcasm, due to the fact that in the case of Poles it is customary to talk about the list according to the criterion of not love, but hate. In any case, Poles are much closer to the Russian than to refugees from Africa or Asia, Chinese or Jewish.
Why? We are representatives of 1 large but unfortunately divided Christian civilization. And you know, 1 more remark in the margin: Poles hatred those who renounce their Russianness. That's Ukrainians. It's disgusting. Up to nausea. Give the Pole a choice of which language he will talk to, he will say 50%: “Polish or Russian, no Ukrainian, k... moss!”.
However, I was one more time in my mind. By the way, they are inevitable.
Let's go to the shops now. My mom asked me for... a russian gig. She mentioned it with nostalgia and asked me to bring her a piece. I went to the store and completely lost myself in the variety of goods... But where are the sanctions? How did they affect the Russians? Well, not in any way. There is no deficit, there are products of excellent quality, fresh. Only a variety of bread varieties can make you dizzy. And most importantly, here healthy food costs as much as unhealthy food, man here has a choice – for example, buy what we call eco-products. The mediocre have the same food as the rich. As far as things and brands are concerned, Russia is flooded with advanced quality products from China and there is no point in buying European brands. There are besides good Russian things, natural fabrics, leather – they do not cost excessive money.
The problem is now in Russia with the car industry. More specifically, what the Russians say is that it's a disaster, but there are so many costly cars on the streets that you can't believe it. It is said that the first individual to break up with this concentration camp – the European Union – will find very willing buyers among the Russians; judging by the cars, purchasing power is very large here.
What are they missing? Well, frankly, there are traces of nostalgia behind previously known things. Known perfumes, acquainted net services gathering offers of suppliers of goods or services, etc. – shortly everything will dry like an old puddle and Russians will forget. Unfortunately. For now, we can return to any of the goods. Bye. This time is moving fast, time is flowing for seconds. I felt it.
In the next part, I will talk about my another discoveries in Russia, share the impressions of visiting Orthodox churches and monasteries, of dealing with very serious people whom I met very much during 3 days of my stay.
Dr Krzysztof Karczewski
Think Poland, No. 49-50 (1-8.12.2024)
