Onward to [fat] England...
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I've foolishly neglected doing any kind of research for my journey to England. It seems too obvious. Thankfully, Rough Guides does not make this mistake, and has updated their guide to England. The British-based Telegraph took note: "As a glance at the tabloid newspapers will confirm, England is a nation of overweight, binge-drinking reality TV addicts." says one part of the guide, "...It's a nation that prides itself on its patriotism – yet has a Scottish prime minister, an Italian football coach and a Greek royal consort." Thought it'd be interesting to share. ;) |
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They also have train stations named Picadilly Circus and Cockfosters. It is a strange little country.
Ha.
Once on a train, I read bits of one of England's more xenophobic tabloids over another passenger's shoulder. Two of the headlines (for realz):
"Bad Service in Restaurants? Blame Eastern Europe."
"England World's Only 'Democracy' Ruled by Foreigners."
I debated pointing out that "England" isn't technically speaking a country and that Gordon Brown (the foreigner being referred to) is in fact the Prime Minister of a country generally known as Great Britain, or more formally, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but figured doing so wouldn't get me anywhere...
I also enjoyed having my roommates smirk about North American obesity while chowing down on such local northern delights as "crisp sandwiches" (that'd be white bread stuffed with potato chips) and "bacon butties" (white bread stuffed with fries, and bacon).
Gotta love the place, though! Whereabouts are you headed?
As with any journey: anywhere our budget allows.
Realistically, Birmingham. I hope (cross fingers) to successfully complete the Tough Guy race in Wolverhampton.
Being a man with a light connection to the plight of the displaced Polacks in America, I find it interesting to now see an influx of Polish to England. The reaction is similar to the Latino influx to the U.S. More and more articles throughout GB seem to focus on them darn f're'ners ("Damn foreigners" in proper English).
I'm stoked to "discover" England, regardless. Its almost as if it's so obvious (read: english speaking and industrialized) as to be "new".
Yeah dude, the "blame eastern Europe" attitude sounds about right...
My friend Emma said that in London she could always point out the Poles because of their music (almost invariably techno) and sometimes a specific way of dress, or haircut. My friend Kamila, who's Polish, is working in Ireland now, and she says that the Polish communities there are so large that there's no need to speak English at all. I've read that the Irish aren't so happy about that either.
Agreed, it's an interesting "trend" to watch. The US/Mexico comparison is a pretty good one.
(Funnily enough, even the "we don't want you working here, but we want to take cheap vacations to your home country and get wasted and piss and vomit everywhere" comparison holds true... :P)