Talk twenty three.
Sydney, 02nd January, 2012
- Why don’t we sum up our New Year’s Eve here in Sydney? What impressed you the most?
- You expect me to tell you that I liked those world famous fireworks, don’t you? Not at all. I’d seen quite many firework shows in my life. Those at our festival in Szczecin were even more interesting. Those here, were displayed on a huge sky area, though. Disappointingly, they lasted thirteen minutes only!
- They were announced in such a promising way! Twenty minutes or longer! On a New Year’s Eve’s late morning we went out to find a convenient observation point. The show mainly takes place over the Harbour bridge and the Opera House.
- After consulting with the locals we went in search for a vantage point.
- The most spectacular view appeared in front of us from Blue Point in North Sydney[2]. At 1 pm all the available places were taken! We were told that already by 5 pm the crowd was going to be very dense and from 7 pm the police were not going to allow anybody else to get to all the strategic places due to security reasons.
- There were whole families enjoying their picnics on the grass awaiting the midnight.
- As a result we were watching the show from one of the harbour piers getting to which it had taken us over an hour.
- We had to struggle through the crowds of onlookers who were looking for the best view point. We were doing the same.
- So, was there anything you liked?
- The organization of the event! No feeling of danger in spite of huge crowds in the streets.
- And a lot of young people „under the influence”. Although there was a bottle ban in the restricted area but somehow the majority of the people managed to have something hidden in plastic containers.
- I didn’t sense any aggression. It was cool.
- What I liked best was that warm night. However, some Australians told us that it was one of the coldest summers over the years.
- I had the impression that we were taking part in some national holiday in Australia.
- Australians are very proud of those annual fireworks.
- Happy Birthday to You!
- Why so suddenly it came to your mind?
- When I go up this morning, I looked out of the window and I heard a birdie chirping about your birthday today.
- What a nice surprise. How long have you been preparing the saying?
- The whole night.
- Thank you, dear.
- What was it like with those New Year’s Eve parties in the Galery? I want to make some order in my mind before we get to our meeting there on 31 December 1999.
- The first New Year’s Eve party happened by accident. As I was telling you earlier, we went with Andrzej, Jim and Tomek for a week rest to Świeradów Spa.
- I suggest you jump into another topic and tell me something more about that couple of Jim and Tomek.
- As you wish. It’s going to be quite a long story, at times disagreeable and at times sad.
- If it’s of any importance to you and it brings in something to the topic of taming your life…
- Unfortunately, it does. My acquaintance with Jim and Tomek alternately meant having nice moments with them in Szczecin at a difficult period of the formation of a new Poland, coping with their extremely difficult characters of them both, and putting up with the atmosphere of liabel and gossip formed around me due to their behaviour and conduct.
- Why don’t you start from the beginning?.
- OK. James or Jim applied at PROGRESS as a teacher of English. He showed up for the interview with Tomek as his companion to get some encouragement. Jim had already been in Poland for several months. Due to his origin in a American-German family he spoke fluently both languages. Tomek also had German roots. They would only speak German with each other. Tomek’s English was relatively poor. Jim learned Polish very quickly. He had extraordinary ability in the matter.
- Did you employ him?
- I considered him as a good asset for the school since he could teach two languages. Besides, I needed a teacher to teach American English.
- Did you guess they were gay?
- Yes, I did. After some minutes into the conversation everything was clear to me.
- And to them?
- Not at that moment. Jim agreed to commute to our branch in Stargard, for which I was grateful for him, since nobody else wanted to do it. After one-month work Jim evidently showed methodological difficulties, so I invited both of them to a meeting to discuss how we could help Jim in his work with students.
- When was it?
- I must’ve been in October before the New Year’s Eve in question. At the meeting I also told them about myself because I wanted to have things clear and I asked them not to demonstrate their being together since we didn’t want to have problems and expose ourselves to ill-natured comments.
- You didn’t have the courage to face so-called public opinion, did you?
- Not yet. Out of many reasons. I didn’t want to hear comments that I favoured Jim as a teacher in spite of the fact that he wasn’t doing well at work with his groups.
- Did you favour him?
- If so, it was subconsciously. At that stage of our acquaintance we’d meet socially the four of us. We became friends. Andrzej who was difficult to accept new acquaintances, liked them both.
- What for?
- I wouldn’t know that exactly, but in my opinion he had a soft spot for guys who’d skillfully flatter him. As a result we agreed to go to the mountains for Christmas.
- How did you find your way to the Galery?
- Tomek found information about a NewYears’s Eve party in the Galery in one of gay magazines. Some days before 31 December we went to Jelenia Góra at noon (not far from Świeradów) and with some difficulty we found the place on the route to Wrocław. We walked into an empty restaurant and ordered lunch. The waiter told us that we should contact the boss – Artur, the owner - by phone to talk about the party. An elderly lady, apparently a cloakroom and toilet attendant, overheard our conversation. After a while she approached us and warned: „But you, gentlemen, know that this a club for gois?”
- She had gays in mind, didn’t she?
- Sure. You see, the word gay was then completely alien in Poland.
- I wonder for how many people it is still alien?
- Maybe not alien but for sure pronounced with disgust.
- When I look at those full of hatred faces of some Polish politicians, I get the impression that every issue concerning developed societies is alien to them.
- I’m telling you now about the events twenty years old!
- Was the New Year’s Eve party successful?
- Excellent. For the first time in Poland I felt hope for our life getting closer to western standards and possibility for us to live according to our needs. Jim and Tomek were happy and even Andrzej would dance and enjoy the moment.
- Without alcohol?
- I think we all drank up to our needs. Andrzej must’ve drunken enough not to feel responsible for the whole situation which embarrassed him, anyway.
- What embarrassed him?
- Him, aware of his homosexuality ever, he couldn’t accustom himself to the sight of two guys dancing together, kissing, and behaving such naturally. It must’ve taken him some time before he took it to his complex consciousness and accepted it as standard which applied to himself, too.
-After the party there were photos together, letters, thank-yous, telephone conversations, and an accident which we talked about earlier, happened.
- First, it was an event and then it became an accident. The event was meeting Jarek in the Galery and establishing telephone contacts with him. The accident were all the consequences of the former.
- Did you fall in love?
- It was such a change after all my years with Andrzej! Joy of life, smiling faces, nice words that I hadn’t heard for a long time, and a general lightness of being in the company of Jarek’s.
- You got involved, didn’t you?
- So did he. After three months of travelling back and forth between Szczecin and Wrocław we decided to move in together in Szczecin. Besides other positive aspects of the decision, we needed an accountant at PROGRESS, and Jarek had some experience in the matter.
- What does it have to do with Jim and Tomek?
- Almost nothing to do with Jim, but Tomek comes into the play.
- What was the play about?
- I found the answer to this question only after many years. Now I’ll proceed with my story about that odd couple.
- Why odd?
- Wait a second. Our relationship went on after the New Year’s Eve, and Jim continued to teach at PROGRESS. It happened that one of my flats that I’d rent out to PROGRESS teachers, became vacant. On Tomek’s request I rented it out to them. I didn’t yet know then about Jim’s discipline problems at work. He’d miss classes, arrive late, and additionally, he’d recruit his private students from amongst PROGRESS customers. Tomek and Jarek became friends. Tomek exerted a pressure on Jarek, so that I wouldn’t fire Jim.
- Nothing strange. Everybody defends their business.
- Though unfair. Quite often would we meet in private and never would business matters grow between us. Sometimes those get-togethers were interesting but each time I was astonished with their way of talking with one another. They’d talk with a tone of full aggression, showing mutual ill-feelings and accusations. They’d give an impression of hating each other not loving. When asked why they were together, they’d both answer that they couldn’t live without one another.
- How long did it go for?
- They stayed together for six years. Two strong personalities destroying one another. At the second year of Jim’s employment at PROGRESS, serious complaints started to flow in. They all came from his students. His looking for private students in his PROGRERSS groups came to light. Suddenly, before Christmas Jim disappeared. I found out that he went home to the USA granting himself a leave. He notified his students but he forgot to talk about it to me.
- So you had the problem of firing him off your shoulders.
- The important part of all of this was that he had been employed on a limited time contract, so as the employer I had no commitment to him. For peace of my mind I sent to him a letter letting him know that he had no job at PROGRESS any longer.
- I guess, Tomek walked in here.
- He did. With a bang. He came to my office to let me know that under the American (!) law I have no right to dismiss Jim. If he will not be granted a job after his coming back from the USA, Jim’s parents (a twenty eight- years old guy’s) decide to allocate one hundred dollars to destroy me.
- You? Destroy? How?
- I’ve never learned this.
[1] Blue Point North Sydney
