Whilst on their jollies Emma and Gemma struck up a friendship with a lovely puerto rician family, the only downside was that they seemed to know more about their English heritage than they did, and they’re not even from England, the girls were utterly embarrassed and rightly so. We decided at LYYB that the splendid chaps needed to find out about this glorious country and start taking pride in it as sadly more recently many don’t. The Welsh are proud to be Welsh, the Irish are proud to be Irish and the Scottish the same, so why aren’t people patriotic about all things English? Is it because they’re afraid of being labelled BNP or racist? Well hang on a moment you English fools you should be proud, you’ve got a lot to be proud of.
Emma and Gemma are going to participate in a week long English loving, educational and fun packed adventure.
We’re SO excited, get out the bunting, dust off the Barbour jackets and make those scones!
Here is the itinerary for English week:
Sunday 15th-
- Make English Pack-ups for lunch: Ploughmans, Cucumber sandwich.
- Watch English films: The Queen, The Kings Speech and Made In Dagenham
- Eat Crumpets
Tuesday 17th-
- Pick up books about English History and read about the war, industrial revolution etc
- Look Into English arts, music, theatre and artists
- Make Toad in the Hole
Wednesday 18th-
- Fish and Chips with Gemma’s Nanna
- Ask Gemma’s Nanna about England
Thursday 19th-
- Make Full English Fry Up
- Read More History books
Friday 20th-
- Explore English Cultures
- Bangers and Mash
Saturday 21st-
- Afternoon Tea at the George
Sunday 22nd-
- Go For a walk in the woods
- Go to local pub for a local beer
- Roast Dinner
After the week is up are the girls converted into the way of the English or will they find it all a bit dull?
Emma’s quote: ‘I really value being English, even though my family background is a mixed bag of Welsh, Scottish and Irish I consider myself English (even though my surname would suggest otherwise). I truly valued this week and everything I’ve learnt. I think it’s a shame that English people are very often ashamed of their heritage, I worry that we’re worried about being branded bigots or racists just because we’re English but the truth is we have a wonderfully colourful history to be proud of. I think the highlight of the week for me was going for high tea at a truly splendid and grand hotel in Stamford which is about as picturesque as English towns can get, although the idea of some of these activities we participated in seem old fashioned they can be revived for the modern day Englishmen or women. I don’t think I could live on English food though, very stodgy but delicious! I really did enjoy eating English all week, it was also nice to do some proper cooking which people don’t do very often anymore. The traditions I’ll be keeping after all this are; going to high tea more often, continue to learn more about English history and be proud of our culture (even the shameful tacky parts).’
Gemma: ‘ The first thing I realised while participating in this week, was that we had so much to learn and it only captures a smidge of what our heritage/culture is actually about. I am really glad we did this challenge as it opened our eyes to things we take for granted. I learnt a lot during this week the first, was we don’t have to read big boring history books about our heritage. As a culture we have so much access to things such as the Internet, so why not take advantage of things and explore them. Watch great British films, Google dates in history, visit places, watch videos about Morris dancing on YouTube and talk to your elders and ask questions about the war and ration books, you will be amazed about what you will see and learn. People forget what they have so get out there and start appreciating! The second thing I learnt from this week is how us British love our food and its great importance in our culture!! ‘You cant beat a bit of home cooking!’ as my Nanna put it. Yes some the traditional dishes we pile into our mouths are rich in calories, but we should be proud and encourage more home cooking (maybe with some healthier alternatives). Over all the experience was eye opening and its made me egar to learn more. I think our British heritage is so rich with history and interesting cultural traits we should learn about them and take hold of them before they are lost. After this I can officially that I am proud to be British!
well done girls looks like you had a simply spiffing time! lol xx
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