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but tell us what you really think
Apr. 21st, 2013 11:01 pmYesterday was all about being out in the sun. It came out; so like all good people of Britain, we go out and suck up every living bit of vitamin D.
We went to the library and the bakery to tend to the essentials of life. (books and bread)
Then we went walking about along the canal, and up upon the coastal path and then down onto the breakwater and the beach. Watching surfers, a giant boat in the distance, people fishing, and people walking across the sand because oh sweet mary the sun is out. We felt slightly hungry so we went to Widemouth and joined other folks in the rare and delicious task of dining outdoors. We watched more surfers in the distance, talked about places to travel to, made silly jokes, and discussed Doctor Who. The kids played in the playground afterward and then we came home to lounge about. Indoors and outdoors.
Today we went over to my in laws for Sunday lunch. It was a special occasion. It was my Father in law's birthday. (he loved all of his presents. We gave him a copy of Skyfall and a Coast book that has assorted paths. Both are in his wheelhouse of the sea, cars, and stuff blowing up.) Also my Mother in law's brother and his wife were visiting for the weekend. A nice load of folk. We had a pork roast, many vegetables, roasted potatoes, and lemon meringue pie. There was even a bowl filled with crackling for those that wanted it. I have always liked Mr. Jenner's Auntie L. She is from Denmark and I admit I don't always remember that. (woman doesn't have a hint of an accent. You would think she was from the home counties or something.) I always have this momentary moment of, "oh yes that is right" in my head. She will bring up stuff about her family there, yet as she pointed out today, she has lived here in England, longer than she ever lived there. She was asking me today how I like living in England and there was so much I wanted to say about it but sometimes it is hard to explain to a crowd of people; especially English people. I said, "I am enjoying myself. I have so many complicated feelings about it that it is hard to describe." And that is the truth. She came here when she was like 21 to study or something, she met Mr. Jenner's Uncle R. and then came back to marry him and live with him and that was that. All at the age of 23. We didn't get long too talk because they had to be on their way but when I see her again I would love to talk to her more about this strange little island. She mentioned how she can't become an English citizen because she is an EU citizen. So while she has reared two children here, pays taxes, and is a flipping NURSE, she can't vote for assorted gits in general elections. She doesn't vote in Danish elections since she doesn't really follow the politics there and as she said, she is essentially British at this point but she did say that at times she feels stateless. She isn't a citizen here, she doesn't feel so tied to the Danish culture (and she says it has changed in so many ways) and so she is in a state of limbo. She spoke of visiting her family and someone said something and she had to think, "what is that word again?"
I admit I remain kind of guarded with many people about my feelings when it comes to England. Like any other place on Earth there are the positives and the negatives. I don't always like to tear into the place (though I do get a bit snarky on occasion) because well who would like to hear potentially unkind things. Even I get annoyed when people get hacky with their comments about the US. Yes some criticism is valid about the culture and the politics, YET YET I do hope that people in the UK don't act so high and mighty because there are many comments one could make about the culture and politics. As I like to say, "the UK has plenty of assholes, bigots, and idiots too." Equally (like in the US) there are also some terrific people present.
Humanity, am I right?
Sometimes when outsiders encounter one another, we glance at one another and think, "indeed" as we look around the room. For there is a great deal of subtext in that glance.
We went to the library and the bakery to tend to the essentials of life. (books and bread)
Then we went walking about along the canal, and up upon the coastal path and then down onto the breakwater and the beach. Watching surfers, a giant boat in the distance, people fishing, and people walking across the sand because oh sweet mary the sun is out. We felt slightly hungry so we went to Widemouth and joined other folks in the rare and delicious task of dining outdoors. We watched more surfers in the distance, talked about places to travel to, made silly jokes, and discussed Doctor Who. The kids played in the playground afterward and then we came home to lounge about. Indoors and outdoors.
Today we went over to my in laws for Sunday lunch. It was a special occasion. It was my Father in law's birthday. (he loved all of his presents. We gave him a copy of Skyfall and a Coast book that has assorted paths. Both are in his wheelhouse of the sea, cars, and stuff blowing up.) Also my Mother in law's brother and his wife were visiting for the weekend. A nice load of folk. We had a pork roast, many vegetables, roasted potatoes, and lemon meringue pie. There was even a bowl filled with crackling for those that wanted it. I have always liked Mr. Jenner's Auntie L. She is from Denmark and I admit I don't always remember that. (woman doesn't have a hint of an accent. You would think she was from the home counties or something.) I always have this momentary moment of, "oh yes that is right" in my head. She will bring up stuff about her family there, yet as she pointed out today, she has lived here in England, longer than she ever lived there. She was asking me today how I like living in England and there was so much I wanted to say about it but sometimes it is hard to explain to a crowd of people; especially English people. I said, "I am enjoying myself. I have so many complicated feelings about it that it is hard to describe." And that is the truth. She came here when she was like 21 to study or something, she met Mr. Jenner's Uncle R. and then came back to marry him and live with him and that was that. All at the age of 23. We didn't get long too talk because they had to be on their way but when I see her again I would love to talk to her more about this strange little island. She mentioned how she can't become an English citizen because she is an EU citizen. So while she has reared two children here, pays taxes, and is a flipping NURSE, she can't vote for assorted gits in general elections. She doesn't vote in Danish elections since she doesn't really follow the politics there and as she said, she is essentially British at this point but she did say that at times she feels stateless. She isn't a citizen here, she doesn't feel so tied to the Danish culture (and she says it has changed in so many ways) and so she is in a state of limbo. She spoke of visiting her family and someone said something and she had to think, "what is that word again?"
I admit I remain kind of guarded with many people about my feelings when it comes to England. Like any other place on Earth there are the positives and the negatives. I don't always like to tear into the place (though I do get a bit snarky on occasion) because well who would like to hear potentially unkind things. Even I get annoyed when people get hacky with their comments about the US. Yes some criticism is valid about the culture and the politics, YET YET I do hope that people in the UK don't act so high and mighty because there are many comments one could make about the culture and politics. As I like to say, "the UK has plenty of assholes, bigots, and idiots too." Equally (like in the US) there are also some terrific people present.
Humanity, am I right?
Sometimes when outsiders encounter one another, we glance at one another and think, "indeed" as we look around the room. For there is a great deal of subtext in that glance.
