I'm ashamed to admit that "Dziekuje" is the only Polish I picked up after a week in this lovely country. It means "Thank You," and I am indeed grateful for the opportunity to visit this country. In defense of my linguistic failings, the quantity of z's, ck's, y's, & j's in written Polish make the language formidable to the average English speaker, and it feels almost foolhardy to even try mouthing the words, since the actual pronunciation seems to bear little resemblance to the way things are spelled. So let that be a disclaimer for my ignorance....Thank you Ola, Kasia, Nicola, Pawel, Tomasz, and everyone else who helped make this week so enjoyable. I didn't even scratch the surface of this magnificent country and I hope to have an opportunity to return in the future to see & learn more, without such a hectic work schedule interfering with my desire to be a stupid camera-wielding tourist. Your history is profound, your culture is beautiful, and your people are more gracious and welcoming to strangers than many nations I could name... I look forward to returning to Chicago and conversing with my Polish friends about this experience, and hopefully coming back here again... May the 21st century bring you all the peace, love, & prosperity that the 20th century obscured...
Now...I'm on my way to Hong Kong for another meeting... stay tuned...
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