tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3432382804917497650.post2234521362981093782..comments2023-12-30T15:23:47.095+00:00Comments on Is there a Plan B?: Five miles south (1)Harriethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975259590293860488noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3432382804917497650.post-68445990928030214072012-02-20T21:48:36.134+00:002012-02-20T21:48:36.134+00:00Being married to a Scot, I learned to bristle at t...Being married to a Scot, I learned to bristle at the England = Britain thing some time before we moved here (my mother is a prime culprit and I can see B's hackles rise in anticipation), but you're right, the holiday thing does feel strange. <br /><br />How odd. I wouldn't find going in holiday to Scotland (or indeed Wales or Ireland) odd, so why England? Perhaps somewhere linguistically visceral (and hitherto unavknowledged) I still haven't accepted that that's not where I live...Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11975259590293860488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3432382804917497650.post-63170979413451670852012-02-20T21:43:23.662+00:002012-02-20T21:43:23.662+00:00Who would've think it? Turns out Jack and the ...Who would've think it? Turns out Jack and the Beanstalk is an entire week's topic, and today we got onto grinding the bones of Englishmen....<br /><br />So I take it all back.<br /><br />Incidentally on the Burns vs Chinese thing, they did do Burns, just not calendarily (a new word) accurately. The Upper School however had a Burns reciting competition. My children currently have my accent - they don't stand a chance...Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11975259590293860488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3432382804917497650.post-43290334294865837832012-02-18T23:36:48.846+00:002012-02-18T23:36:48.846+00:00I was surprised by Father Christmas being Santa no...I was surprised by Father Christmas being Santa north of the border.<br /><br />I also remember being brought up short by several expressions that made me realise that we south-of-the-border people use the word 'English' to mean 'British'. One example I can remember was when someone said that when she was pregnant she could have "slept for Scotland", and I remember thinking "why did she say Scotland, not England?... oh... duuuuh... I'm in Scotland now".<br /><br />I also found it odd when people said they were going on holiday to England. Of course there was nothing odd about it at all, but it felt odd.Iota https://www.blogger.com/profile/08507184283437057648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3432382804917497650.post-24645769646007189142012-02-17T07:38:31.886+00:002012-02-17T07:38:31.886+00:00Chinese New Year is exotic! Burns Night is not. I ...Chinese New Year is exotic! Burns Night is not. I seem to know far more English people who make a fuss over Burns Night than I do Scots. <br /><br />Oh, and the version we got at school was the 'Englishman' version. Something tells me it has been universally sanitised for the modern generation. I'm looking forward to reading those Scottish stories in the link above though!fionahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13284847952437148628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3432382804917497650.post-8079423675203656182012-02-16T23:25:28.610+00:002012-02-16T23:25:28.610+00:00But then this is the school that made a much bigge...But then this is the school that made a much bigger deal of Chinese New Year then Burns' night....perhaps they decided drawing dragons was more fun than haggis (leg length issues aside).Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11975259590293860488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3432382804917497650.post-31041722277777474442012-02-16T22:16:57.768+00:002012-02-16T22:16:57.768+00:00surprised they are bothering to tell English fairy...surprised they are bothering to tell English fairy tales when there's ones like this to share 'Assipattle and the Mester Stoorworm' ('and before you could say Doom'!!!). I went and had a hunt and found some corkers at http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/stories/ you can even get them in French. French?! Didn't the Scottish stop speaking French about 1600?AGuidingLifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05823333742737762759noreply@blogger.com