Saturday November 18th 2007

Wojtek "Albert" Lukaszewicz
of the
Global Village School of English Language and Culture

University of Bialystok Students

A cold wind from Siberia blew into Bialystok today. It was cruelly cold today as I walked the Russian Market for the last time. I bought a few items as I made my way through the labyrinth that makes up the market. I said my goodbyes to a few of the merchants that I bought from regularly and listened to the Russian Accordion player as I walked back to the Academy. I brewed a warm cub of herbata and prepared for my final lecture which was to be about Broadway theatre. My students were all waiting for me as I entered the lecture hall. I always amazed by the things that my students teach me during the course of my lectures. At times I tend to be critical of the entire Broadway musical theatre movement, critical of its lack of serious dramatic material. These wonderfully eager and interested Polish students very gently reminded me that the American musical is exactly that…American. We previewed portions of West Side Story, A Chorus Line, and The Producers. As I listened to them react to the musicals, to their laughter at the scenes from The Producers, I began to realize the musical’s importance to the American Theatre and its message of joy and hope. As Mel Brooks once said “If you live in the Bronx nothing happens there but if you come to Broadway…Anything can happen!”

I finished my lecture and realized that my journey was almost over. My students from the University of Bialystok presented me with their Indeks, which are their official academic records. I signed each student’s official transcript giving each student credit for attending my course. They had attended each lecture and were sad to see the course end as was I. We took some photos together and said our farewells. That evening I had cappuccino and desert with my friend “Albert” Wojtek Lukaszewicz from the Global Village School. I did a bit of shopping and returned to my apartment at the Academy for the evening.