What does it mean to be European? This is the question my "Cultural Construction of European Identities" class confronts every Monday and Wednesday.
While studying the many identities - gender, ethnic, national, religious and so on - people construct, the professor examines the experience of emigrants, particularly Polish ones, who found themselves in the United States.
Polish emigrants, many of whom used to identify as Polish largely due to their Catholicism, found themselves surrounded by many people - Italians and Irish, among others - who shared their religious identity, but were most certainly not Polish.
As a result, Poles who immigrated to the States had to redefine their identities as Poles in the context of their new environment. Similarly, as a student studying far away from my home country, I am forced to examine and decide which elements of my personality form my identity as a U.S. citizen.
Abroad, there is a plethora of images of what it means to be American. On the main square in Krakow, there is a restaurant boasting the d?cor of the American West. Popcorn bags insist the product inside has an original, American flavor.
So what is this American identity that is plastered across labels? Other people here speak English, dress the same way my fellow students and I do and eat at McDonald's and Pizza Hut.
However, Poles expect that they have to carry cash all the time. They expect to be asked for exact change. They do not expect free refills or tap water.
At a store or restaurant, the customer is not always right, and it is not surprising that even large stores are closed after dinner or on Sundays.
Poles know that sometimes it is safer to cross the street in the middle than at a crosswalk. And, of course, cars park on sidewalks. It's only natural.
So perhaps here, my identity is not really founded on Americanism. My fundamental identity in Krakow is based far more on not being Polish than anything else.
I feel instantly bonded to foreign students here, whether they are American, Canadian, European or from a different place entirely. Each of us knows what it is to have the little things we take for granted in our lives pulled out from under us. Each of us knows what it is to redefine our daily routines and most subconscious thought processes.
Together, with other students in my program, I am able to see the humor in cashiers counting change as if it is the most arduous task in the world and cars speeding up as they approach crosswalks.
I am only one month into my study-abroad experience, and I am already used to carrying cash, counting change out before I'm asked, and darting across the street to avoid oncoming traffic. But I know that despite all the foreign things I will gradually adjust to, my identity will require constant contemplation, revision and redefinition as I continue to navigate what it means to be a non-Pole in Poland.
