state by state speak your mind about oklahoma

[DURHAM D]

14. In the late 70s I traveled by car with two friends in Europe,

including Eastern Europe. At the East German border when they checked our passports they noticed that two of us were from Oklahoma. Several of the guards came over to the car (yes, they really do have German Shepherds) and they made motions like they were shooting a bow and arrow, raised two fingers behind their heads (feathers), made war hoops and danced. And then one of them sang "Oklahoma" as the others clapped and they laughed and laughed.

We were surprised but the best was yet to come.

Ten days later we drove into Poland. The border crossing process was slow. We handed over our passports and suddenly there was a lot of excitement among the guards as they all rushed to gather around our car. Even the guards in the shacks came out. We became very concerned about the activity...but then they burst into song. They sang a very spirited rendition of "Oklahoma" They knew every word. The guards closed the border for about an hour to talk to us. They had a million questions. (One of my traveling partners speaks Polish) The people in line got out of their cars to come forward and see what all the excitement was about. As they come up and were told we were from Oklahoma they too would start singing. It was truly amazing.

At every border we crossed a reference was made to Native Americans and to the musical. Until that trip I had not realized the reach of American musical theater and Oklahoma in particular.