Smitten by Britain: 10 British Things I Have Never Done

My offering for June is over on the fabulous Smitten by Britain website. This time I've put together ten things that I consider to be quite British which I never actually got round to doing or seeing before I left Britain to move to the Netherlands. Of course it doesn't mean I will never get to do them.... they are on my list, well the ones I actually want to do that is. Some British things I really never need to do...

"Before I reached my teenage years I had already had my fair share of house moves, so I got to know quite a few parts of England well. I have holidayed in many places across the British Isles and visited many sights on any serious tourist’s list. The Roman Baths in Bath, museums in London, the Lake District, the lush scenery of Cornwall and Devon, the Blackpool Tower and the beauty of Kent’s countryside are just some of the list that spring to mind. 

I have seen things that are on any sane person’s bucket list. For example, I have seen Evil Knievel perform death defying stunts at Brands Hatch......"

To read the rest head on over to Smitten by Britain: http://www.smittenbybritain.com/10-british-things-i-have-never-done/ 

 

Smitten By Britain: 10 Ways I am Still Very British Outside of Britain

Yes, it's that time again! My monthly post on Smitten by Britain is out into the blogosphere and it would appear that many Brits around the world can relate to 10 Ways I am Still Very British Outside of Britain.

I have loved reading the comments from expats that can relate to my British traits in the USA, Canada, Belgium, Australia, the Bahamas, Switzerland, France as well as from readers who believe they may well be British but who were most likely kidnapped and then raised in another country. So many around the world who are British at heart, even if not quite British born.

Anyhoo... if you haven't read it yet, here it is:

"I’ve been living in the Netherlands for almost fourteen years but I am still the proud owner of a British passport. However, the words “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” inscribed across the top of my passport are not what make me British.

If I surrendered my British passport tomorrow (which I have no intention of doing, but just humour me) I would still be British, in these ten ways at least:"

To read the rest go to: http://www.smittenbybritain.com/10-ways-im-still-very-british-outside-of-britain/

Smitten by Britain: England's Love for The Beautiful Game

Photo Credit: Ontanu Mihai

My latest article for the wonderful Smitten by Britain website is about football. The beautiful game of football. It's about the English psyche when it comes to football. It's about the upcoming World Cup. It's about the trip back to England my eldest son and I took in March for his initiation into English football.  It's about Harry the Hornet. It's about my personal trip down memory lane to my first live football match.

"We are a mere two months away from the start of the 2014 World Cup football tournament. Media pressure is already on the England team to beat Italy in their opening match. Grumblings from the fans that England won’t get past the first stage of this tournament have already started."

Head over to Smitten by Britain to read the rest and if you are a football lover take the time to make a comment and tell Carl James just how wrong he is.........

The British Art of Queuing on Smitten By Britain

The British know how to queue. Fact. However, from what I read, I fear it may be a dying art. Fact or fiction? You tell me. My latest article on this all important British cultural topic is over on Smitten by Britain.

"I arrived first at the bus stop and stood in the place I deemed logical to start the queue for the bus. Others arrived. They stood in random places: a businessman set down his briefcase and busied himself with a newspaper; an early shopper placed her bags on the ground and played with her telephone; a student stood a few feet away with headphones blaring a tinny noise, ignoring the world around him."

- See more at: http://www.smittenbybritain.com/the-british-art-of-queuing

Latest Smitten by Britain Post: A British Breakfast

Boiled eggs and toast. A harmless topic you would think. Alas not if you are a multicultural family it turns out.....

"Picture the scene: a typically Dutch dull, grey Sunday morning, sitting around the breakfast table with visitors from Britain. I chose this morning to soft boil some eggs, toast some bread and cut it up into strips as part of the morning feast."

Things were about to get messy and confusing..... Read the rest of my latest Smitten by Britain post to find out more.

Smitten by Britain: Eating Our Way to Britishness

A Nice Cup of Tea
Photo Credit: Magurka

Have you ever thought about the role food plays in a culture? It's huge, it really is. If you ask a foreigner what they associate with Britain more than likely the answer will involve fish and chips, cream tea or simply a 'nice cup of tea'.

If you ask an expat living here in the Netherlands about Dutch food most will report back on haring, pea soup, stamppot and snacks. Food is very closely linked to the culture of a country.

During our last family trip back to Britain over the Christmas period it struck me just how much of the British culture I shared with my children through food. So much of a traditional British Christmas is about food. A trip to the beach turns into a cultural lesson in British food as fish and chips are scoffed overlooking the sea. Cold, wet days are turned around with the comfort of hot tea and a scone or two.

So anyway, I wrote about how I shared my British culture with my children through food for Smitten by Britain.

"Having just spent Christmas in Cornwall, England, it dawned on me how big a role food plays in British culture. I wanted to make the festive period as ‘British’ as I could for my three Dutch children and what we ate turned out to be a big part of achieving this. I think mince pies were the main act as far as my sons were concerned, both shop bought and home made."

You can read the rest over at http://www.smittenbybritain.com/eating-our-way-to-britishness and whilst you are over there take a peek at Six British Foods with Strange Names - you'll never look at British food the same way.....

Smitten by Britain: Guest Posts about British Culture

Christmas, British style over on
Smitten by Britain

No matter how long I live in the Netherlands I will always be a Brit. By that I don't mean the obvious fact that I remain a British passport holder, or that my birth country obviously doesn't change. I mean that culturally I'll always be British. It's ingrained. The core of me is British and moving overseas doesn't change that. I can speak Dutch day in, day out but I'm British. I could even surrender my British nationality for a Dutch one but the reality would be that I would still be more British than I am Dutch.

I had decades of indoctrination before I moved to the Netherlands. So whilst I won't scream and shout about it (I am British after all) I am delighted to be able to write monthly for Smitten by Britain and share posts about British culture, as I see it now as an expat.

My latest post is about Christmas (what else at this stage in December?) and the relationship that the British have with the television during the festive period. It wasn't until I moved to the Netherlands that I realised Christmas specials and spending Christmas in front of the TV with a glass (or bottle) of alcohol in hand wasn't a worldwide thing. It's truly British. Head over to Smitten by Britain to find out why.

And if you missed last month's offering I explained why rain is so very British. In October I talked about being British in a lift…. it's harder than you could imagine as a non-Brit.