Greetings Everyone!

Hello Everyone,

my name is Alexander and I'm currently in Los Angeles.  I just wanted to briefly introduce myself and say a few words.  I'm overly bashful and introspective by nature, but my desire to try to find my way to Poland compels me to face down my fears.

I'm of Dutch-Chinese ancestry, graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Religious Studies, and used to be an English teacher in the public school system.  Because of layoffs, I'm now getting by as a private tutor.  I've a state-certified teaching credential (Single Subject English).

Just a few short months ago, leaving my hometown and my buddies seemed highly improbable.  But to-day as I bear my heart it feels like there are forces in play beyond my understanding.

Believe it or not, it all started with a photograph of wild bisons (zubr) in a book about endangered animals.  I thought they were all gone, until I read the blurb explaining they still roam in the primeval forests of Poland.

The rest leads to this indexical moment, right now as we speak.  As a small boy I was utterly obsessive about two cultures: Ancient Egyptian, and Native American.  I guess I still kinda am.  After knowing the bisons still exist, I started reading, and listening: Polish history, self-help language books, Tomasz Stanko, Polish hip hop, Norwid, Rozewicz, Kochanowski, Stachura...

Next came movies ("Ashes & Diamonds" blew me away), and TV shows that I don't really understand but still I WAS INTO IT.

"But still I was into it," perhaps that's all I'd like to say.  I want to sit on the grass and watch the bisons, and maybe feel truly truly serene, through and through.  The last time was skipping pebbles across Walden Pond in Concord, Mass.

It's silly, right?  I too think I'm a bit bananas.  Growing up stateside I hear girlfriends and galfriends and ladyfriend say: "A girl can dream, right?"

How often do you hear a man say "Well, a guy's gotta dream, you know?"  I don't know, maybe you do quite frequently.  But not where I'm from.  So, I guess, to-day, on yet another sunny afternoon in California, I'm sayin' just THAT.