How I Became Welsh 🏴 … Part 3
Amanda and me on the red carpet at the 2022 Wales to the World Celebration in New York City
In recent years I have been returning to Wales to visit family, reconnect with friends and explore as much of the culture and land of my birth as possible. I wanted to become Welsh, to be Welsh, but I was too American for that to happen. Even though I was born in Wales, I thought of myself as almost Welsh or quasi Welsh or worse, faux Welsh. This didn’t please me.
What to do?
My daughter Amanda and I decided to hold writing getaways in Wales which gave me the opportunity not just to learn more, but to share my knowledge with others. In 2009 we launched Myth, Mountain and Imagination in Nantlle, a village at the foot of Mt. Snowden, the tallest mountain in Wales and England. We invited Welsh language poet Twm Morys to be our special guest. Wow! I learned a lot about the Welsh language and poetic forms from him.
The following year we held Vision, Valley and Revelation in the Wye Valley not far from Tintern Abbey, immortalized in Wordsworth’s famous poem. Gillian Clarke the national poet of Wales was our special guest. Fun Fact. Her husband David was an architect apprentice on the University of Cardiff Student Center in 1972 where I worked as a laborer under the alias, Garry Morgan. You can read more about this misadventure in my memoir, A Tipsy Fairy Tale.
In 2014 we hosted Dylan Thomas’ Wales in Swansea to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the bard’s birth. We even visited the house he was born and lived in for the first two decades of his short life. Special guests, Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Joanna Quinn and Les Mills, screened several of their short animated films and discussed their creative process with our writers.
I was feeling more Welsh than ever, but something was missing. I realized that all the Welsh people I knew were in Wales. I didn’t know any Welsh people in the United States. I figured that there had to be some Welsh people living here. I mean, look at all those Welsh sounding towns near Philadelphia: Bala Cynwyd, Berwyn, Gladwyne, Lower and Upper Gwynedd, Haverford, Narberth, Radnor and Tredyffrin.
So I did an online search and discovered the Welsh North American Association which was holding its annual meeting in Philadelphia over the 2022 Labor Day weekend. What the heck. I registered. In addition to meeting Welsh folks living in the States, I also wanted to double my Welsh vocabulary from three words (croeso = welcome; Cymru = Wales; and Iechyd Da = to your health) to six.
It worked. I met a lot of Welsh folks from all over the continent. I also discovered the Welsh Society of Philadelphia which has been promoting Welsh culture since 1729, decades before the United States was even a thing.
Somebody must have thought I was Welsh enough because I was invited to attend the Wales to the World Celebration at Sony Hall in New York, sponsored by the Welsh Government. Actor Ioan Gruffudd hosted the event which included opera star Sir Bryn Terfel and other Welsh celebrities.
Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) were feted for transforming the struggling Wrexham Dragons into a successful and profitable football (Soccer) team. The city of Wrexham has also been revitalized as fans of the documentary Welcome To Wrexham from around the world turned the struggling city into a tourist destination.
So, how am I doing? Am I feeling Welsh enough now?
Well, yeah! I was elected to the Board of Stewards for the Welsh Society of Philadelphia which is planning its 300th anniversary in just a few years. In addition to awarding scholarships to college students of Welsh descent in the Delaware Valley and Southern New Jersey, the society has cultural and social activities throughout the year.
Oh, I am proud to say that I have doubled my Welsh Vocabulary from three words to six (bora da = good morning; nos da = good night; and Shwmae = how are you?), and I’m no longer feeling like an imposter. My name is Peter, and I am American, and I am also Welsh.
