Increased interest in global issues and a more transient population has seen a great increase of emigration and immigration worldwide. Polish people are but one of many different peoples that now spans the world.
Europe, indeed, has its share of Polish visitors. Since the widening of the European Community boarders in 2004, some 750,000 east and central European immigrants arrived in Britain and it is estimated that two-thirds of the newcomers are Polish. Many plan to stay in the country indefinitely and in the region of 200,000 east Europeans were approved to work in Britain last year. While the tide may be turning and a large number of Poles are returning to enjoy better conditions in the home county, many Poles are choosing to stay.
Polish and British cultures contrast greatly so the question remains, can Poles be expected to integrate fully into society while the gaps between the cultures are so self-evident? Even when interests are shared - in the Roman Catholic Church for instance - there are difficulties in assimilation and there are gaps in communication. This divide was especially highlighted by the controversy caused in the UK by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, when in December last year, he urged the Polish community associated with his church to learn more English and to integrate into local parishes. The congregation were in uproar. How dare he hurt the Polish pride to such an extent and suggest that they should not pray in Polish! As with any statement, his words of encouragement were misconstrued as unreasonable demands. Besides, his pleas were offered from a pulpit during a sermon in a service in church - usually a highly appropriate place for advice.
For Polish people, learning English is not as easy as it is for those whose native tongue is based on similar Latin roots to English, like French, Spanish or Italian. The English and Polish languages are very different and thus more difficult to learn. The English alphabet of some 26 letters is a direct contrast to the Polish list of letters which total to 32. In the Polish script, there is a prevalence of "z"s and unusual signs and symbols change the pronunciation of words in ways native English people find difficult. Similarly, Polish speakers find pronouncing "th" and using "a" or "the" or prepositions (such as in, on ...) difficult if not impossible and sometimes not worth the effort. The script of the language is just the beginning - the contrasting grammatical structures and vast differences in customs and social etiquette also make learning difficult.
But such difficulties do not always present an impenetrable barrier and as with any mix of cultures there are those who choose not to adapt to their newly chosen environment and culture and there are those that do try to integrate. While many Polish visitors may gather in tightly-knit Polish communities others embrace the new culture and enjoy British life to the full as integrated members. A number of Polish workers have set up house together in a local village and their voices speaking a strange language loudly are enough to irritate the reserved neighbours who like their neighbourhood to be quiet and undisturbed. But then, the same people also find the noise from motorcycles and cars that race up and down their "quiet" roads just as irritating. The irritation is from something different, not just from one group of people.
As a child in Tasmania when I became a member of the Guides I was encouraged to make friends with a young Polish girl my age who had come to live in our little town. I can remember now, visiting this pretty girl's house with her parents looking kindly on. Our friendship did not take off - not because she was Polish, but because we found she was not interested in any of the things I was interested in. Our friendship cooled just as any friendship does when we find we have very little in common.
Jerzy, a 50 plus year old Polish man arrived in the UK in one of the first migrations from Eastern Europe. He was used to working in foreign lands and spent some time in the Lebanon. His knowledge of English was limited but sufficient to make himself understood. His living accommodation at first was very primitive: he shared a caravan with another Polish worker and had very few facilities - not even hot water or a shower. His employer, aware that Jerzy's conditions were unacceptable brought him to share a house with me in Cambridgeshire England. There is no doubting that his integration in the household has been a long and difficult struggle. It would be so easy to dismiss the difficulties as impenetrable cultural differences, but as with any household shared by different people, much of the difficulty lies in the contrasting personalities of the housemates not solely because of different cultural backgrounds.
