In my early years, I believed speaking was only needed when there was something important to communicate/share. At the age of 20, I realized people find it awkward (or even rude) when someone does not speak, just is there. So I started practicing small talk - to show kind interest, care, and respect.
Some time ago, I came across an acquaintance while I was walking home. The person threw the usual, "How are you?" I did not know that someone much so I replied, "Fine, thank you. How are you?"
"Good. Thank you", I heard in response, and we both continued walking in the opposite directions.
"So we talked", I laughed to myself. Although, actually, we did not. I appreciated the person's friendly attitude - it did feel nice. On the other hand, we used so many words, but the result of it all was the same (or perhaps not?) as if we had exchanged:
- "Hello
- "Hello" only or - "Good morning" - "Good morning".
So why should we have bothered to say more than one or two words? I guess it is the older/younger me approach getting through here.
These days, after so many years of training, I do practice small talk while socializing and I got used to it. However, I still prefer mutual communicating than just talking/using the speech only to break the silence. After the customary "How are you?", following the purpose of saying those words, I am also still willing to listen to/hear how a person is actually doing (and I appreciate when somebody makes an effort to express that).
Another aspect of talking - words have their own energy. They can hurt really deep too. Regarding the fact that whatever we "send in the air" comes back to us in one way or another, let us be mindful what words we choose to say. For our own sake.
The Czech Music Museum of Texas is part of the open-air part of the Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange. The museum is situated in the house which used to belong to Jonathon and Peggy Kalich (Kalič). It was built in the 1890s, and much later was donated by the owners to the Heritage Center. In 2000 the building was moved to the current area from Schulenburg.
The exhibition in the Music Museum is displayed in four rooms dedicated to four music categories: sacral music, classical Czech composers, polka, and folk and dance Czech music.
By the way, not everybody knows that polka is a Czech dance which is also popular in other European countries, including Poland, Germany, and Austria. I mention this because I have heard so many times: "Poland? Ah yes, polka!". No, it is not a Polish national dance.
Talking about music and the museum, a good time to mention the tamburash and the Houston Tamburash Orchestra. Tamburash is a string instrument similar to the lute, from the same instrument group that originally come from the gusla. The latter is played with a bow and is traditionally used in the Balkans.
The Czech Tamburash Orchestra was organized by Josef Drozda in 1932 in Houston. Mato Gujranovic was the orchestra director. The man was a painter and a musician as well. He came to Houston from Galveston and taught music in the city.
The Tamburash Orchestra was a band of traditional Czech string instruments from the tamburash group such as bisernica, kontrashic, bracas (equivalents of violins and cellos), bugarias (similar to wood strings), and berda. The latter instrument is six feet and six inches high. All the instruments have four strings and some have them tuned on the same range or two different ones. The smallest piece in the orchestra was 18 inches long. A full tamburash orchestra has 32 instruments, the Texas Tamburash Orchestra had only 9.
However, they managed to play not only polka and other folk music, but also classical music pieces by Dvořak, Smetana, and some Russian composers as well. The youngest musician in the group was Miss Helen Vajčik, whose father was the orchestra coorganizer. The girl started playing with the band when she was 10.
Clipping source: Valcik, Stephen. Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 28, 1951, newspaper, November 28, 1951; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth626401/: accessed November 24, 2021), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.
PS
In the Museum, we did not see any tamburash, dulcimers only.
Source:
"The Czech Pioneers of the Southwest. The History of a People in the Development of a Nation", Henry R Maresh and Estelle Hudson, 1934, 1962, 1996.
"The Roots of Texas Music", Joe W Specht, Lawrence Clayton, Texas A&M University Press, 2005. Photos: Texas Czech Culture and Heritage Center, La Grange, TX
I have already mentioned Ingram and its annual Celtic Festival in one of my previous posts. Their stone circle (Stonehenge II), a copy of the one in England, was constructed in 2011.
It is situated in a pretty area, with the Guadalupe River and an open-air theater nearby. The Visual Art Center and a souvenir store are there as well.
Next year, on April 8, a total solar eclipse will be celebrated at Stonehenge II. The eclipse will be in the path of the stone circle, so you can observe the occurrence at the site. Be sure to bring special protective-type glasses (sunglasses are NO good for that) to keep your eyes safe.
The next Celtic Festival is going to be there on April 29. It used to be an all-weekend-long event. After the covid-time break, the festival was turned into a one-day affair. We preferred the previous version, though. You could see more during the three days and enjoy it more than just in one day. You are simply not able to watch everything at the same time.
On September 23/24, 2023, Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair takes place there.
When you come to visit the site, do not miss the copies of the Easter Island heads. You can find them at the parking lot, within walking distance from Stonehenge II.
I am not going to write about the history and early beginnings of Fredericksburg here or what you can see in the town. I did that quite a few times in the posts written earlier. We do have our favorite spots in Fredericksburg and things we enjoy doing. Well, the town is changing and (in my opinion) gradually losing its original charm. More and more stores on Main Streets that have been there almost forever cease their existence, and more and more wine-tasting rooms and art galleries selling art pieces for N thousand dollars each come into being instead. The town is getting in the "all-about partying and drinking" direction more and more, becoming a weekend party gateway. Its traditional German spirit is, little by little, fading away.
Luckily, quite a lot of cultural events are still there. Most of them are run by the people of the older generations. Will the ones who are younger continue their work? Well, I am not sure. Enjoy till they last! I mean the events. Well, at least, we are going to.
Some things have already changed. For example, the lighting of the town's Christmas tree in December. It used to be a merry event with live music, hot chocolate, cookies, lots of cheer, and Christmas spirit. Not long ago, it all was replaced with a tape recording. You can listen to it daily at Christmastime. Now, it is as in any other city. You have heard the recording once, you do not need to listen to it again.
More and more people come to live in the town, bringing more and more traffic. My guess is that soon, Fredericksburg will become just like Gruene. It used to be a separate settlement, in the middle of nowhere. These days it is part of New Braunfels, with millions of cars around the place 24/7.
Well, we do like Fredericksburg a lot. We just wish we had lived there 20+ years ago.
During one of our visits to the town, some years ago
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More posts related to Fredericksburg, TX from the past:
A lady said to me not long ago: "You speak Polish and English, but you sing in German. I don't understand." I replied: "What don't you understand? If I had an opportunity to practice the other language which I learned at school, I would."
Well, I have done it before. Meaning signing in a foreign language not only to myself but in public as well.
The first time was in primary school when I was 14. Not that I volunteered to do that, oh no. I was part of the school choir then. Our music teacher, who was also the choir director, and the teacher of Russian, chose me to sing a song in Russian during a school assembly.
Poland was part of the Soviet block at that time, and every year, schools and bigger workplaces observed "the days of Soviet culture and science". The observance was mandatory and some state events related to those "days" were always reported on TV.
Anyhow, the song which I sang solo at that assembly was done to mark the above-mentioned observance in the school papers/report. Its lyrics were nothing political, though. The text (children appropriate) was about Cinderella and the ball she attended at the Prince's castle. The tune was nice, but the refrain part was full of high notes and difficult to sing. Luckily, the music teacher arranged it in a way that the school choir supported me in that. Being shy, I did not enjoy standing in front of the entire school and doing my solo part, but I did like the song.
The song was originally sang by Russian artist Ludmila Senchina, its
title was "Хоть поверьте хоть проверьте"/"Believe it or check it out."
A few years earlier, my first unofficial solo presentation took place. One day, an unexpected visitation occurred in our local youth club. Neighborhood kids (including myself) spent their after-school time in the club, doing various activities and playing games under the supervision of the club instructor. Quite out of the blue, a group of ladies, delegates from Siberia appeared in the club. My guess is that they had probably been sent there by some city officials. Certainly, it was not an accidental matter.
Anyway, the club instructor was told to entertain the ladies with the kids' performance. Since we had not worked on any program like that, it was quite a desperate situation. The counselor asked us (kids) whether anybody would want to/dare to sing/dance or do whatever proper in front of the visitors. I was one of very few who agreed. Well, I just felt how helpless the situation was. What I did - I sang some notes of a popular Russian song about gingerbread cookies. However, I knew only a few Russian words of the song, the rest was la, la, la. I also played one melody on the xylophone (I was part of the club xylophone group then). Since it was all without prior practice, to my horror, I happened to play out of tune as well.
To my surprise, my performance made a positive impression on the visitors. One lady asked me about my name and address as she wanted a Polish pen pal for her daughter, who was about my age. The girl's name was Lena and we later exchanged letters for some time.
Decades later, I was part of an international EU educational program. Then, we learned the traditional songs of all the project partners (in their native tongues). The languages were, English, German, Czech,
Tancuj, Tancuj = Dance, Dance
Slovenian,
Pobelelo Pole = The Field Turned White (with sheep)
Bulgarian,
Italian (Sardinian song),
and Cypriot.
The most important side of singing in a foreign language is the correct pronunciation of the song words. Naturally, understanding the text adds more sense to it as well. During the project, both the prior and the latter were provided by the project partners.
In quite a different program, we cooperated with an Israeli school. From time to time, the teacher and her class sent us some videos and we made some too. I taught my students an old song in Yiddish (of Polish or Russian roots). No, I do not know the language. Just found the song lyrics and their English translation. The rest meaning pronunciation came "by ear". The kids enjoyed singing the song and making the video.
Of course, it is not the video we made.
All in all, singing in German in Texas is not such a big deal. However, I admit it may be found very unexpected. Anyhow, I did learn some German in Poland. Nevertheless, a few years ago, I did not have the faintest idea I would sing in the language here. Mysterious are the ways...
Long ago, in Poland, I learned the Ballroom Dance. Somehow, probably due to the instructor's preferences, we did mostly the cha-cha dance then. At that time, I did not have the faintest idea that in the future, I would dance Polish folk dances in Texas.
A few years ago, we were part of a Texas Polish-American folk dance group. We enjoyed performing the State Fair and other local events.
Plano International Festival 2014
When the ensemble was dissolved, we started learning to dance quite different European dances. We joined the Scottish traditional dance enthusiasts. Later, it was also a Contredance and traditional English dance group and old-styled English dances. Once a week, we met other dancers and simply had fun spinning to live music.
Since we have not found any folk dance ensemble in the Hill Country, these days we do the line dance. It is a light and quite an easy form of exercising and a pleasant socializing time as well. On the other hand, there is little space for self-expression/creativity in a line dance, if there is any at all. Everybody stays in the same place and does the same. Do not get me wrong, I appreciate line dancing, but in one way or another, it makes me think of the times when Poland was a socialist country. Life had so many limitations then and censorship was present everywhere. It was like a constant line dance - you were told what to do and not to do. Stepping out of the line was risky and, needless to say, often dangerous. In the 50s, people were penalized - politically and socially humiliated, shamed, and outcasted - even for looking different (having an American fashion type of hairstyle or wearing such clothes).
In the place where we practiced Scottish dances
After a six-day workweek (Saturdays were not off then), from time to time on Sundays, there was a so-called "social deed". It meant that if you were a student you had to go with your school group (being an adult - together with your workplace people) to a given place and do a given work for free. In case of kids, it was always something lighter such as raking leaves or picking up litter for example. If you were a grown-up, it could have been any manual labor up to digging ditches. Saying just "no, I don't feel like doing that on Sunday" or not coming for a "deed" was not an option at all. Absence brought unpleasant and inconvenient repercussions both at school and in one's workplace as it was seen as politically suspicious/antisocial.
School handbooks (including history books) presented the content according to the ruling (Soviet government-related) socialist party. Some high school history teachers dared to teach history and facts which were omitted/changed in the handbooks. Not often it happened, though. Why? Such teachers were arrested shortly after a daring class and that was the end of their teaching careers.
All in all, life was as it was. Of course, there were positives as well, and despite the fact that many goods were hard to come by*, we did try to enjoy the lives we had as much as people in other places in the world. However, perhaps all those limitations/circumstances of the time were a reason why line dance never got popular in Poland.
Dallas International Festival, some years ago
* Including white plain T-shirts which parents had to get for their kids
for the school sports gear - no, schools did not provide that. By the
way, I am thinking of writing more about the school system in Poland
which is different from the one in the US. Well, in case you are
interested.
At the time when I lived in Europe, I did not an opportunity to visit Prague in the Czech Republic or earlier, when it was Czechoslovakia. However, last summer, we did go to Praha in Texas.
The St. Mary's of the Assumption church is our most favorite one of all the painted churches we have seen so far.
It was built in 1895, painted by Gottfried Flury, who was an artist of Swiss origin.
Just to let you see some of the church interior.
The St. Mary's was the third painted church we visited on that day. Outside the church, there is a lovely little place dedicated to Holy Mary.
After the visit and the spiritual and esthetic experience we also visited the ones who were buried at the local cemetery.
Then, it was finally time to play in the church yard!
After that, we went to see the Texas Czech Culture and Heritage Place in La Grange. However, more about that another time, in a different post.
In 1897, the SPJST (Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas) came into being and Lodge 19 in the Velehrad Community, Lavaca County, was established.
The lodge hall was built there in August 1895. The building served as a community lodge meeting place. Business and social gatherings, dances, and funerals took place in the hall as well. When there were more children in the area than there was room in the nearby school, the lodge building was also used as a school.
After WWII, many of the community residents left Velehrad, and it started deteriorating. The last meeting of the members of the SPJST Lodge 19 in Velehrad took place on 16 February 1999.
On 9 November 2017, the lodge hall was moved from Velehrad to the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange, where you can see it/visit nowadays.
Source: leaflet issued by TCHCC
Photos from our visit to the Czech Heritage and Cultural Center - on a very hot summer day in August 2021.
The
double doors were used when a funeral ceremony was held in the
building. A coffin was brought in (and out) through those doors.
In August, we visited some of the so-called "painted churches" in Texas.
The first one was St. John the Baptist Church in Ammansville. The church structure was built in 1919. The two previous ones were destroyed by a hurricane and fire.
The pretty pink church interior was decorated by Fred Donecker and Sons.
The settlement of Ammansville, situated 9 miles from San Antonio, was founded by Czech (mainly from Moravia) and German immigrants in the 1870s. The first man who made his home there was Mr. Andrew Amman. He came to the area on 12 March 1870.
Normally, we do not wear shorts when we go to church. That day was an exception - a whole day trip on a very hot Texas day. No Sunday type clothes were possible.
Pretty, isn't it?
Not many people live in Ammansville theses days but it is quite a charming place.
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