Am I multicultural?

Victoria, I do not know many people that have moved to Spain so I can't really comment. But I agree, if the English are moving to Spain and not making any concerted effort to integrate then they should be on the first aeroplane back. I can understand the Spanish getting peed off, it's not on. Spain is an amazing country - I could definitely get used to those siestas!!

How can anyone have the cheek to move to a country and not learn the lingo?? As you say, you miss so much. There is a new world right there waiting to be discovered, get involved.

I hope to visit Norway one day Victoria, the fjords look absolutely amazing (especially the Sognefjord). Only 8 miles from where I live, I can get a ferry that goes there. Maybe I'll get enough money one day to do it.

I am not familiar with the Sami language at all!!! I do like the music by Sigur Ros though!!! Arrgghh their from Iceland not Norway - so sorry!!

There is one huge difference between the immigrants pouring into Britain (especially the Eastern Europeans) and the Britons moving out of the UK to live in the sunnier climes of Southern Europe.

Firstly, the people moving in are, on average, very much younger than the Brits moving out - many of these older Brits are retired and hope to spend their golden years in golden sunshine, where the cost of living is one hell of a lot lower and their pensions and annuities or whatever go further and property prices much lower than back home here in the UK. Very importantly the pace of life and stresses of daily urban life in Britain don't exist to the same degree in these sunny lands of the "hasta manana"mentality. In fact, this Mediterranean mentality of "tomorrow will do...I may turn up...or on the other hand I may not" sort of spiel comes as a bit of a culture shock to them but these old fogies can't have everything...bloody hell, they've got the sunshine and cheap vino and cool shady haciendas..what else do they want? Anyway...these old geezers don't bother to learn Spanish to any great degree or application. They're British don't you know! The locals had better understand English..... :-(

On the other hand the migrants coming here are invariably very much younger.....many are students or just left colleges etc. They WANT to learn English. The UK is arrogant enough to require these foreigners to understand English when dealingwith everyday life here or else they can go and get lost....sort of thing. If you don't know our lingo, pal, then go and learn it........ So they do. And excedingly well, too. In the end they end up speaking English a bloody sight better than all those arrogant ignorant muppets who told them to push off and learn to speak "proper" English in the first place.

That's the difference I was banging on about.

And what's more - they work VERY hard indeed....often at basement level wage rates.....some actually below the legal level for ruthless employersdefying the law......they don't moan and whinge anything like as much as the Brits.....AND....they don't have ATTITUDE! I love the Poles......and the Czechs......and the Lithuanians...and the Estonians...and the Slovaks...and the Latvians.....but especially the Poles...I really like the Poles......I do....I like the Poles....very much....

"I love the Poles......and the Czechs......and the Lithuanians...and the Estonians...and the Slovaks...and the Latvians.....but especially the Poles...I really like the Poles......I do....I like the Poles....very much...."

Well they don't, made me laugh when in a documentary Eastern Europeans said that they didn't want to work for the scottish and didn't like working for a red headed Englishman because he was decended from the Scottish. But I guess these were illegals and weren't too intelligent. If you truly want our immigrants you are welcome to them.

I have no love for those who hate Britain but just want the money, they can bugger off and leave us with those that want to integrate, and don't cause a fuss. They can take those British who feel the same way too.

<<I love the Poles......and the Czechs......and the Lithuanians...and the Estonians...and the Slovaks...and the Latvians.....but especially the Poles...I really like the Poles......I do....I like the Poles....very much....>>

Hey Damian, what about Hungarians? :-)

/feels very very sad for being discriminated against/

We might have attitude, though...(weep) :-(

Liz: sweet lassie - surely you already knew how much I adore the Hungarians? I've told you that already have I not? Did you want me to say it again? I LOVE THE HUNGARIANS. Don't you remember when I told you I'd travelled right across Hungary in a coach with my school party.....stopping off at Budapest - that gem on the banks of the Danube. It's not all that blue is it? Lovely experience....

OK - here's my excuse - apparently there really don't seem to be as many Hungarians here in the UK as those people from the other countries I listed. I put that down to the widely held belief that Hungary is so pleasant a country in which to live that its people don't want to leave it.

Will that do, Liz? Best I can do..........I'd wish you "Goodnight!" in Hungarian if I could........but I can't! :-( Go on! - tell me what it is, pretty please....

<<Liz: sweet lassie - surely you already knew how much I adore the Hungarians? I've told you that already have I not? Did you want me to say it again? I LOVE THE HUNGARIANS. Don't you remember when I told you I'd travelled right across Hungary in a coach with my school party.....stopping off at Budapest - that gem on the banks of the Danube. It's not all that blue is it? Lovely experience....>>

How could I forget that? :-)
The Danube is greyish, greenish, so we all are blue except for the Danube because of that. :-(

<<OK - here's my excuse - apparently there really don't seem to be as many Hungarians here in the UK as those people from the other countries I listed. I put that down to the widely held belief that Hungary is so pleasant a country in which to live that its people don't want to leave it.>>

A few years ago London (for example) was brimming with Hungarian au-pair girls, sometimes boys (!), but they seem to have been replaced by the Poles. I've recently been skimming a forum on which Hungarian au-pairs were having a chat about life in Britain. They were indignant because the Poles were allegedly taking over (sic!) Britain! Some of the "wiser" ones had the following suggestion in hope of calming down the others: "Let's not be angry with them...Britain isn't ours after all." LOL! :-)

<<Will that do, Liz? Best I can do..........I'd wish you "Goodnight!" in Hungarian if I could........but I can't! :-( Go on! - tell me what it is, pretty please....>>

You are exonerated from your deadly crime. :-)
So, JÓ ÉJSZAKÁT...however, it isn't too late now... :-)

>>If our parents are both of the same culture/ethnic origin (as mine are) then we belong to that culture alone. <<

What about the children of immigrants? I know Europe treats that question differently than we do in America, but how many generations till the descendants of an immigrant in the UK get to call themselves British? (or English, Scottish, etc). Do you guys make a distinction between ethnicity and culture for the children of immigrants?

Lee Miro that depends more on the children themselves, I'm first generation English (hate British). The others who can't see past skin colour and ethnicity, don't really deserve an opinion.

However I'm slightly incredulous towards others, as in the media a lot is made of being Black/Asian British rather than English, Scottish, etc. however once I know their more than just British I tend to welcome them with open arms (meteorically speaking, I'm reserved not to mention English). For example when Ian Wright displays open patriotism about being English, I can only think of him in positive terms.

Mark, So you're saying that some people reserve the term "English" for those of English descent and throw you "British" as a bone? Well I'm glad to hear you don't concede to that.

I so often hear about other nations (namely the French and Dutch, though to very different effect) undergoing a difficult transition, brought on by an influx of immigrants, to a more heterogenous culture. And while from time to time I see their point (that immigrants should, for example, learn the language of their nation in order to be participants) usually I just scratch my head. I don't get why national culture is seen as something holy that needs preservation.

I wonder what you see in England? That is, not just in the labels, but in the practice of allowing non-native cultures to be incorporated into the national culture. Maybe, given the nation's long record of allowing immigration from former colonies, they have a less bumpy road today?

Chingué a muchas chicas de varios países, significa esto que soy multicultural?

Andale!
Andale!
YEEHAH!!!

"So you're saying that some people reserve the term "English" for those of English descent and throw you "British" as a bone? Well I'm glad to hear you don't concede to that."

Not just that, but I believe that they do it to themselves and the media just highlights this, (hate the media, very divisive), British doesn't really mean anything to me, as ethnic minorities also just use it as a "bone".

Have more respect for Welsh and Scottish (even those who hate the English) for being Welsh and Scottish than for people who say they are British; although I was raised by a Welsh father and so see and feel the differences acutely.

« What about the children of immigrants? I know Europe treats that question differently than we do in America, but how many generations till the descendants of an immigrant in the UK get to call themselves British? »

Essentially, anyone with British citizenship is 'British' — and that includes first generation immigrants.

Although I'm English at the moment, I'm moving to Scotland in September, as far as the government's concerned I will become 'Scottish' the moment I register my address in Scotland as my primary address on the electoral roll.

Basically, there are official government answers to the question you've asked, there are the (widely varying) personal choices made by people regarding their identity, and then there are the (also widely varying) perceptions of other people.

So in my case, for example:
The government will essentially consider me to be Scottish when I start living in Scotland, because I'm already a British citizen. Once I've moved there, I might choose to identify myself more with Scotland than with England, and thus consider myself to be 'Scottish' — because that's the country that I'll be living in for the indefinite future, and I'd want to make the most of it. Moving on to the perceptions of others — some people (both in Scotland and England) might accept that, whilst others might not.

<<Chingué a muchas chicas de varios países, significa esto que soy multicultural? >>

Only in the laboratory sense.

What's the laboratory sense?