Cultural Exchange: Britain

[Scarab]

AKA England, the United Kingdom, Blighty, That-Really-Wet-Island-With-All-The-Ducks, or whatever name takes your personal fancy. Feel free to ask whatever you'd like here about the country I grew up in, although be aware that pretty much half of what I'm about to tell you can probably be prefaced by either:

• 'I know right, isn't it awesome?' or...
• 'Uh... sorry .'

Either way rest assued that one trope is far from true.

[Tohrinha]

That-Really-Wet-Island-With-All-The-Ducks

. . . ducks?

[agoraoptera]

Is it true that, with the weather starting sunny, you can step outside and it begins raining, then when you go back in and get your raincoat and what-nots and step outside again, it can be sunny again?

[Scarab]

Is it true that, with the weather starting sunny, you can step outside and it begins raining, then when you go back in and get your raincoat and what-nots and step outside again, it can be sunny again?

Well... looking out my window at this very moment, we are under a foot of snow.

But no, our weather is not QUITE as varied as that in spite of what tv would have you believe

We ARE quite a wet country, though, so you'll find most people have discovered the utter uncoolness of tiny packaged anoraks - generally the months October through april are pretty damn wet and over the last few years flooding has become a serious problem in many areas where it hasn't been before. Our own river now swells and overflows a lot more than it used to when I was a kid... It's kind of worrying actually. Our summer season is generally accurate to fictional portrayal though: a few bright days of really strong sunshine, a week or two if we're really lucky, and then it cools off quite rapidly. We do get sunshine, though

That-Really-Wet-Island-With-All-The-Ducks

. . . ducks?

Yes, ducks. Oh so many ducks. And yes you can eat ducks. I have never eaten duck, though.

Also Pheasants are a regular occurence around here. The law states they're wild birds, too, so they only belong to you if they're on your land, like this lil' guy here who was, for about five minutes the other day, the property of our household. Then he flew away. We had a lot of females showing up over the next few days, make of that what you will.



Hey, who wants obscure photos of the local area? I think images could be a part of this Cultural Exchange thing...

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

tiny packaged anoraks

That's it... I've been assuming "rain jacket" for YEARS now, but I finally just have to ask: what EXACTLY is an anorak?

Also,

That-Really-Wet-Island-With-All-The-Ducks

. . . ducks?

...QUACK.

[Blurred_9L]

Hey, who wants obscure photos of the local area? I think images could be a part of this Cultural Exchange thing...

I wouldn't mind honestly, I, at least, would find it interesting

[Sicon112]

Is it true that, with the weather starting sunny, you can step outside and it begins raining, then when you go back in and get your raincoat and what-nots and step outside again, it can be sunny again?

Well, it sure as hell does that HERE! (Nebraska) I've done plenty of experimentation, and managed to correlate rain and whether or not I am carrying an umbrella with me on the paper route that day. As long as I carry an umbrella, no matter how bad the sky looks, nothing will rain. However, as soon as I get away from the car without one, it starts pouring until I reach the car again, at which point it promptly stops. Yes I hate the outside and it hates me, why do you ask?

[Victin]

Is it true that, with the weather starting sunny, you can step outside and it begins raining, then when you go back in and get your raincoat and what-nots and step outside again, it can be sunny again?

Well, it sure as hell does that HERE! (Nebraska) I've done plenty of experimentation, and managed to correlate rain and whether or not I am carrying an umbrella with me on the paper route that day. As long as I carry an umbrella, no matter how bad the sky looks, nothing will rain. However, as soon as I get away from the car without one, it starts pouring until I reach the car again, at which point it promptly stops. Yes I hate the outside and it hates me, why do you ask?

Actually frequently here it's raining on the front side of my building (that is, the parking lot) but not in my... Backyard?

There was that one time where there was a building party or something and it started a storm for real... Except in my backyard, which was sunny. And it was night O.o Or at least it seemed night, because the storm was pitch-black...

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

Yeah, I once took a multi-bus trip across the city, wherein EVERY TIME I got off the bus and walked, it was raining. Whenever I got ON the bus for any length of time, the rain stopped.

[/derail]

What do you think of as "your country"? The United Kingdom, or just England proper? Does this question even make sense?

[H22]

tiny packaged anoraks

That's it... I've been assuming "rain jacket" for YEARS now, but I finally just have to ask: what EXACTLY is an anorak?

Also,

That-Really-Wet-Island-With-All-The-Ducks

. . . ducks?

...QUACK.

A) A ridiculously awful raincoat/mackintosh.

B) A ridiculous nerd in certain fields (e.g. Trainspotting.)

Is it true that, with the weather starting sunny, you can step outside and it begins raining, then when you go back in and get your raincoat and what-nots and step outside again, it can be sunny again?

Well, it sure as hell does that HERE! (Nebraska) I've done plenty of experimentation, and managed to correlate rain and whether or not I am carrying an umbrella with me on the paper route that day. As long as I carry an umbrella, no matter how bad the sky looks, nothing will rain. However, as soon as I get away from the car without one, it starts pouring until I reach the car again, at which point it promptly stops. Yes I hate the outside and it hates me, why do you ask?

Actually frequently here it's raining on the front side of my building (that is, the parking lot) but not in my... Backyard?

There was that one time where there was a building party or something and it started a storm for real... Except in my backyard, which was sunny. And it was night O.o Or at least it seemed night, because the storm was pitch-black...

I was once in a flat in France where it was snowing out front and not out back.

Is it true that, with the weather starting sunny, you can step outside and it begins raining, then when you go back in and get your raincoat and what-nots and step outside again, it can be sunny again?

Well... looking out my window at this very moment, we are under a foot of snow.

But no, our weather is not QUITE as varied as that in spite of what tv would have you believe

We ARE quite a wet country, though, so you'll find most people have discovered the utter uncoolness of tiny packaged anoraks - generally the months October through april are pretty damn wet and over the last few years flooding has become a serious problem in many areas where it hasn't been before. Our own river now swells and overflows a lot more than it used to when I was a kid... It's kind of worrying actually. Our summer season is generally accurate to fictional portrayal though: a few bright days of really strong sunshine, a week or two if we're really lucky, and then it cools off quite rapidly. We do get sunshine, though

That-Really-Wet-Island-With-All-The-Ducks

. . . ducks?

Yes, ducks. Oh so many ducks. And yes you can eat ducks. I have never eaten duck, though.

Also Pheasants are a regular occurence around here. The law states they're wild birds, too, so they only belong to you if they're on your land, like this lil' guy here who was, for about five minutes the other day, the property of our household. Then he flew away. We had a lot of females showing up over the next few days, make of that what you will.



Hey, who wants obscure photos of the local area? I think images could be a part of this Cultural Exchange thing...

Where I live, it's best just not to go out at some times for risk of pheasants, partridges, snipe, woodcocks, quails, wood pigeons and so on. The rest of the time, one shouldn't go out for risk of getting shot by people killing pheasants, partridges......

Oh, and duck tastes awesome. Cool restaurant in France which JUST does duck.

Is it true that, with the weather starting sunny, you can step outside and it begins raining, then when you go back in and get your raincoat and what-nots and step outside again, it can be sunny again?

Well, it sure as hell does that HERE! (Nebraska) I've done plenty of experimentation, and managed to correlate rain and whether or not I am carrying an umbrella with me on the paper route that day. As long as I carry an umbrella, no matter how bad the sky looks, nothing will rain. However, as soon as I get away from the car without one, it starts pouring until I reach the car again, at which point it promptly stops. Yes I hate the outside and it hates me, why do you ask?

Actually frequently here it's raining on the front side of my building (that is, the parking lot) but not in my... Backyard?

There was that one time where there was a building party or something and it started a storm for real... Except in my backyard, which was sunny. And it was night O.o Or at least it seemed night, because the storm was pitch-black...

Yeah, I once took a multi-bus trip across the city, wherein EVERY TIME I got off the bus and walked, it was raining. Whenever I got ON the bus for any length of time, the rain stopped.

[/derail]

What do you think of as "your country"? The United Kingdom, or just England proper? Does this question even make sense?

This is veering dangerously close to Rule 6 (English Democrats etc.) but I kind if think of myself as British. However, I've never been to Scotland or Northern Ireland, so I suppose I privately think of myself as English-Welsh. Then again, I also am a bit Continental European, so there's that too.

[Scarab]

Guys, seriously, enough with the quotes already, I'm getting confused

What do you think of as "your country"? The United Kingdom, or just England proper? Does this question even make sense?

That's... a difficult question to answer. I honestly don't think I know for sure what I think. All I know is that people trying to figure that out has caused more than enough arguements as it is I guess if I HAD to say I'f think of myself as English but I guess we're the United Kingdom, so long as we want to be, and of course everyone has different ideas on what they'd like. Mostly I always called us England but thats just because... wel I like the sound of the word England, basically.

Where I live, it's best just not to go out at some times for risk of pheasants, partridges, snipe, woodcocks, quails, wood pigeons and so on. The rest of the time, one shouldn't go out for risk of getting shot by people killing pheasants, partridges.......

I remember being kids hanging around the edge of the farmers field when we knew shooting was going on, daring one another to run into the fields. Fun times... But yeah there's all kinds of wild fowl around here, too.

[Victin]

Is the English pontuality true? To which degree is it? How does it affects everyone's lives?

[Scarab]

Is the English pontuality true? To which degree is it? How does it affects everyone's lives?

...Uh, the English what now? I'm sorry I don't know what pontuality means and google gives me nothing. (Which POSSIBLY answers your question as well as anything else.)

[Victin]

Is the English pontuality true? To which degree is it? How does it affects everyone's lives?

...Uh, the English what now? I'm sorry I don't know what pontuality means and google gives me nothing.

punctuality* I was too lazy to check if I was right. Shane on me.

[Scarab]

punctuality* I was too lazy to check if I was right. Shane on me.

I'd be a fine one to complain about spelling

Ah riiight. Well I don't think I can speak for the rest of the country, honestly, I think it depends on the person, right? We do like to make a big show of things (oh but the olympic organization looked like so much FUN ) but our ways of keeping to schedule are probably just as unpredictable as any other country in the world.

[Victin]

punctuality* I was too lazy to check if I was right. Shane on me.

I'd be a fine one to complain about spelling

Ah riiight. Well I don't think I can speak for the rest of the country, honestly, I think it depends on the person, right? We do like to make a big show of things (oh but the olympic organization looked like so much FUN ) but our ways of keeping to schedule are probably just as unpredictable as any other country in the world.

Oh, well... At least in Brazil, we have the steriotype that Bristish are all about crazy punctuality. It also helped that my brother said that London was like an utopia, everything was so perfect that he almost got hit by a car after he went to Paris.

[Scarab]

Oh, well... At least in Brazil, we have the steriotype that Bristish are all about crazy punctuality. It also helped that my brother said that London was like an utopia, everything was so perfect that he almost got hit by a car after he went to aris.

I repeat my earlier assertation that I have no idea which part of London your brother was in, but it sure as heck wasn't the same part I visited (possibly because the last time I was in london, I went via Victoria station opens into a much less picturesque part of the city than I think other stations do, maybe? I don't know, most of the main london area is connected by the underground network, which is pretty cool, and is seperate from the stations

But yeah that's a stereotype I'm not familiar with, to be honest The stereotype of us being quite formal and proper is similar, though, and simialrly inaccurate. (Hell, you guys have heard me talk).

[Guyshane]

Forget hearing you talk we've seen you type

[Scarab]

Forget hearing you talk we've seen you type

Now, imagine if I TALKED like I type...