Our theme for the month of June is “snapshots.” Writers were asked to submit a piece with a cover photo that they took or created.
My three-year tenure with the post calvin so far aligns perfectly with my three years in Boston, Massachusetts—the latter of which is coming to an end this month, at least for the time being. My second-ever post for the site, “The Boons and Banes of Ignorance,” was, more or less, a reflection on my move. What follows is an earnest, hopefully not too vulnerable, scattered-brain, bullet-point list of thoughts regarding what I learned about myself in these three years in Boston.
- I don’t like driving and would much prefer to take public transit, even though it often takes longer.
- I need to learn more languages. On any given day, I can walk from my apartment (just off Ringer Park in Brighton) down Commonwealth Ave, toward Boston University, and hear a minimum of five languages. This is not an exaggeration: just last night I heard English, Spanish, Korean, Russian, Urdu or Hindi (my ignorant ears can’t tell the difference), Tagalog, Turkish, and Vietnamese. My walk was only 20 minutes long and every day it reminds me of the cosmopolitan and global makeup of our civilization—and I’m grateful for that. Boston’s, specifically Allston-Brighton’s, cultural diversity is what I will miss most about this city.
- There is no way around this: I just don’t like Boston cream donuts. I weirdly remember them tasting better in the Midwest?
- I’m disturbed by my own fundamental disturbance by the presence of rats. I would, instinctually, rather see a dead rodent than a living one. What does this say about me?
- I no longer (if I ever did?) believe in the promise of the American meritocracy. No, I will not elaborate.
Thank you for teaching me something, Boston.
Joshua Polanski (’20) is a freelance film and culture writer who writes regularly for the Boston Hassle and has contributed to the Bay Area Reporter, In Review Online, and Off Screen amongst other places. His interests include the technical elements of filmmaking and exhibition, slow and digital cinemas, cinematic sexuality, as well as Eastern and Northern European, East Asian, and Middle Eastern film.
