One of the downsides about it taking so long to learn polish, is that I have arrived in Poland during the month of the 25th anniversity of Solidarnosc ('Solidarity'). Every day there is a channel of Polish tv devoted to the events of that particular date, 25 years ago; so far I'm not really able to understand more than a few names, and the connections between what I know of the history and the pictures I see on tv. In a way, it's a bit like being transplanted to Russia around the October Revolution, and not being able to speak Russian.
It's possible to see Solidarnosc everywhere in Gorzow. In the streets of the old town there are polish flags everywhere with the Solidarnosc logo emblasoned across it. It would be impossible to not find a reference to it on at least one of the channels at any given time of the day. On the other hand, as with all anniversaries of important events, it doesn't seem to effect daily lives at all. Nobody is wearing ribbons, or Solidarnosc badges; and the people I've talked to seem to focus more on the difference between the ideals of the movement, and todays government. It seems doubly ironic in a way, because apparently a lot of members of Solidarnosc went into government in the end, and seemed to have become rather like the pigs in '1984'. Falling as it does in an election year, the anniversary would be expected to increase the hope for for future, but the atmosphere seems more apathetic than hopeful.