Being British

OK, OK, I appreciate I may have upset one or two Brits with my last post, suggesting that Cool Britannia was turning into chav central. As I was trying to spot kangaroos while driving down the road the other day, it occurred to me that I may have violated one of the rules of British humour: self deprecation. After all, if you're poking fun at the Motherland from a safe distance overseas, then the bottom line is you're just taking the p*ss. To a Brit, it's only really acceptable to do this if you're resident in the country and suffering like everyone else.

So let me say that I am proud to be British. I am even proud to say I'm from Blackpool... sometimes. Living abroad seems to focus the mind on what your nationality means to you. This might be due to the impression it makes on people you meet, or it could just be down to the everyday things you miss about home.

Whilst studying at an international campus, it has been interesting to observe the reactions of lecturers and fellow students on finding out I'm a pom. Instantly, they have a frame of reference; something they can talk to you about. Usually, the lecturers have spent time in the UK and in lectures they like to invite me to comment on issues from a UK perspective. But students will ask anything: From wanting to know if everywhere in Britain is like it is on Shameless, to asking if my parents live in a castle. Recently, a Japanese student asked me if the English really were proud of their well known hero, William Wallace (Braveheart)! My usual effort to make a connection with the other students is along the lines of, "So...er.. where exactly is Taiwan then?" Yes folks, it's good to be a Brit abroad.

One of the things I have missed while living overseas is the cultural references you have in common when chatting to other poms. Being British means different things to different people depending on their circumstances. But here's a not very definitive list from a thirty something, occasionally homesick pom - ette (?):

Terry Wogan in the mornings, Chris Evans on the way home, Jonathan Ross on Friday nights, frosty mornings, autumn trees, winter evenings next to a coal fire, being offered endless cups of tea, Sunday lunch in the local village pub, dinners in the curry house, sarcasm, good music, the Lake District, not having enough traffic police around to spoil my racing other cars down the A43 at Silverstone...oh, the list goes on....

It is of course a highly romanticised view which does not take into account rude shop assistants, horrid town centres, huge traffic jams and painfully overpriced petrol. But no doubt I'll be whinging happily about all that when I next visit Blighty in July. Bring on the bad weather and mediocre food (excepting curry of course) - I can't wait!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=564834&in_page_id=1770

A year in Australia

Yes - that's me snorkelling, having a whale of a time. Which is pretty appropriate given that I appear to have put on about a stone in weight since I've been in oz.

Today is the anniversary of my arrival in oz and somebody asked me to sum up my experience so far. Erm... it's a bit hard but the photo speaks volumes.

I was asked if the experience had lived up to my expectations. In truth, I didn't have any. I just hoped that going off for an adventure would open up some opportunities and make life a bit happier.

Having Diver Dave as my personal escort helped of course! No jokes about his welcome package, please. But life in Brisbane, where we started off, was fairly easy to settle into. Pleasant, tropical city with some fabulous restaurants. Apart from having a slight weeping malfunction after my first programming class, my course turned out to be fairly straight forward. Although I do have my suspicions about how my 'boat race' managed to get on the university's 'star' board for achieving top marks in one class, after having been a distinctly average student on previous university courses.

The opportunity to move to beautiful Noosa was too good to turn down and, although it meant me commuting back to Bris 3 days a week, I thought it was worth it - and it was. Life in Noosa is great; it's easier to get to know people and most people are pretty friendly and laid back. It's just a shame about the death defying roundabouts!

In lots of ways Australia is a few years behind the UK in terms of services, bureaucracy, technology and some aspects of education, for example. But that's not always such a bad thing. On the flip side of that there is courteousness and helpfulness in shops and restaurants which in the UK was probably easier to find 50 years ago.

In discussing this with other poms, the general opinion was that day to day life here isn't so much different from the UK, apart from the weather. Culturally, it's bound to be similar with all the poms settling here week after week. One area of Perth is even known as Little Britain. Australia isn't necessarily any more beautiful than the Motherland but the weather makes all the difference and it also enables more outdoor activites. So rather than being cooped up next to a fire, trying to keep warm in the UK (although I know climate change is making it warmer), everyone down under is in the sea trying to keep cool. And in Queensland, the daytime temperature rarely dips below 20 degrees in the winter. But, having said that, I would enjoy a few changes in seasons since it is always either hot or DANG hot.

What have I missed about Blighty? The important people know who they are but here's a definitive list of other stuff:
Hellman's mayonnaise, a bloody good curry, history, bisto, British telly, frosty mornings, autumn, British telly, cheap broadband, British telly and, most of all, my beloved little car.

Early last year I remember trying to describe to my bezzie mate back in the UK the notion of popping down to the beach to do a spot of snorkelling: I used to be a primary school teacher in Northampton. A good weekend might involve going out with friends or going shopping. Most of the time I was working or watching TV. Now I can go swimming with turtles and leopard sharks in the Pacific Ocean - it's 20 mins away.
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So that, as they say round here, is bonza.