umpa umpa or oompa oompa?--whatever, I love polka!
I'm feeling a bit drained from the last two essays I wrote, so how about a little fluff?
I might have mentioned this before, but dude, did you know that I didn't realize that white people listened to polka until I was about ten?
Seriously.
I mean, I might have intellectually known that polka was originally Central/Eastern European and all that, but I hadn't connected that with all the accordions and umpa umpa music I grew up with, much less the rollicking dance...
For those of you who don't know, northern Mexico saw a significant influx of Poles, Czechs, and Bavarians in the 19th century. They brought with them their music, their cheese, and their beer, among other things. These disseminated throughout Mexico, becoming Mexican, just as they did, which is why most Mexican beer is Pilsner, why there are cheesemaking Mennonites in Chihuahua, and why there's a major love of accordions and brass in norteño and banda music.
Which caused my head to go more than slightly wonky when I heard polka music in a white context... say, when they taught us squaredancing and such in elementary school.
I was all like, "Hey! I know what this is! It's umpa umpa!"
(White) Teacher: "You mean oompa oompa."
Me: "Whatever, it's polka! It's Mexican!"
(W)T: "You mean Polish."
Me: "The hell?"
And thus, I learned more about the origins of the polka, and the teacher learned about Mexicans loving polka. (And redova, mazurka, chotís, and of course, vals.)
My people? We're made up of everybody. And polka still makes me happy, even though part of me still thinks it's weird (in a good way) that white people like it, too...
I might have mentioned this before, but dude, did you know that I didn't realize that white people listened to polka until I was about ten?
Seriously.
I mean, I might have intellectually known that polka was originally Central/Eastern European and all that, but I hadn't connected that with all the accordions and umpa umpa music I grew up with, much less the rollicking dance...
For those of you who don't know, northern Mexico saw a significant influx of Poles, Czechs, and Bavarians in the 19th century. They brought with them their music, their cheese, and their beer, among other things. These disseminated throughout Mexico, becoming Mexican, just as they did, which is why most Mexican beer is Pilsner, why there are cheesemaking Mennonites in Chihuahua, and why there's a major love of accordions and brass in norteño and banda music.
Which caused my head to go more than slightly wonky when I heard polka music in a white context... say, when they taught us squaredancing and such in elementary school.
I was all like, "Hey! I know what this is! It's umpa umpa!"
(White) Teacher: "You mean oompa oompa."
Me: "Whatever, it's polka! It's Mexican!"
(W)T: "You mean Polish."
Me: "The hell?"
And thus, I learned more about the origins of the polka, and the teacher learned about Mexicans loving polka. (And redova, mazurka, chotís, and of course, vals.)
My people? We're made up of everybody. And polka still makes me happy, even though part of me still thinks it's weird (in a good way) that white people like it, too...