In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I am first and firemost a Yorkshireman (which is where I was born and raised- not forgetting we Yorkshirefolk are very often "Campanilista!") and then I'm English.If you go by herirage I am (like a lot of people) a complete mongrel so give that a miss
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
As the youngest of eight sons of an Irish couple living in Coventry, I was brought up in an English environment and fel completely English until I reached my thirites. I then began to be more interested in my Irish background, and visited the country several times. Now, I'm not sure what I am. I feel odd if I tell people I'm English, though I'm happy to say I'm British, which means merely that I have a British passport. And I would feel a bit of a fraud saying I'm Irish. However, my older brothers, who were born in Belfast, seem not to have a problem with telling people they're Irish, even though they have never lived there.
So I don't know what I am.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I am a total mongrel, holding 3 passports and with a very diverse European ancestry, mainly Basque, Swiss, French, British and even a bit of Hungarian. Same thing with my husband, in his case Italian, Spanish, French-Basque and British. I feel at home in many places at the same time and I believe that extreme nationalism is negative. All countries have elements that you may be proud of and others not so good. Basically I feel a citizen of the country wherever I am currently living, hence my motto in my signature "Ubi bene, ibi patria", wherever I feel well, there is my homeland. Basically, I am a citizen of the world.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Reminds me of a time when a cabbie in Liverpool asked me where I came from. Not really having a "home town" as such, I said "Nowhere really". His response was "so - you an orphan then?"
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I am not completely certain of the common African ancestor. As they keep on finding older remains in the famous "Bone Pit" in Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) we may find that evolution did not happen the way we believed up to now. I saw a very interesting report on the Atapuerca findings which suggest that they have some surprises for us. Anyway, here is an interesting article:
[url=http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/gran.dolina.html]A New Species?[/url]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
If you read up on the notion of "most recent common ancestor", you will find that we can all trace our ancestry back to a merchant in the Shanghai area in about 1500 BC. :smile:
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor"]Most recent common ancestor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/URL]
In fact, it's estimated that all people with European ancestry have a common ancestor as recent as 1000 AD. That doesn't mean that we're all lineal descendants in one line from the same person. It's just that he's back there in all our family trees somewhere. (Call it 40 generations, or 1,000,000,000,000 great-great-great ancestors.)
It's a subject that I have to make a real effort to get my head round (don't forget to follow up all those references on Wikipedia) but I like the notion, because it confirms my prejudice that nationalism is all nonsense: we're all mongrels anyway, and if we happen to feel particularly at home in one place or another, then why not call it our home?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=gradese;109144]As the youngest of eight sons of an Irish couple living in Coventry, I was brought up in an English environment and fel completely English until I reached my thirites. I then began to be more interested in my Irish background, and visited the country several times. Now, I'm not sure what I am. I feel odd if I tell people I'm English, though I'm happy to say I'm British, which means merely that I have a British passport. And I would feel a bit of a fraud saying I'm Irish. However, my older brothers, who were born in Belfast, seem not to have a problem with telling people they're Irish, even though they have never lived there.
So I don't know what I am.[/quote]
Wouldn't that make you indecisive? :smile:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
you're probably right, but I can't make up my mind...
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Sardinian first and foremost (both parents sard and fiercely patriotic), occassionally Italian if I cannot be bothered to explain where Sardinia is and when the rugby is on Welsh. My other half is partly Irish when introducing himself (due to his name) Welsh when representing his country as he has done quite frequently and a teeny bit Sardinian/italian when telling people about our second home ....... please dont ask me about the children though.
Regards
JoJo
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=gradese;109263]you're probably right, but I can't make up my mind...[/quote]
But at least you made up your mind to get out of Covvy. That must have been a good thing.:yes: I used to trudge a lonely pilgrimage to Highfield Road, so I guess that just makes me plain masochistic (spelling?) Ah nostalgia, it ain't what it used to be:smile:
[B]Back on thread[/B] - I'm English, complete with tattoo of Cross of St George intertwined with the national flag of my OH. Whilst I'm English I'm proud to have "traded up" to an Italian style life. da vero:yes:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
When I wear my shades, I am Italian
When I park my car, I am Italian
When I survive all morning on a pastry and cappuccino, I am Italian
When I queue at The Poste Italiane, I am English
When I have a hangover, I have been English
When the Carabinieri stop me (in the car), I am very English (infact I suddenly don’t speak any Italian at all)
When I am shopping in Lidl, I am Polish (gherkins and rye bread)
When I talk to my mother, I am Latvian (small Baltic state, won the Eurovision in 2002)
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Ciao Tutti (I'm going to language school:winki:)
Like most Brits, I'm a British 'mutt', grandparents on my mother's side Welsh/Irish and my father's Suffolk/Cambridgeshire. I was brought up in Suffolk and always felt that was home...until I visited a place outside Esjberg in Denmark where I discovered an archeological site - an early iron age settlement... It was just there.... and I had such a strong sense of belonging to this place. I guess that my Suffolk (Anglosaxon 'South Folk')ancestors came from there. It was the most amazing feeling - no doubt whatsoever - it felt like I had found my home.
HOWEVER, and it is a big however, I am now so comfortable with my life here in Italy where I am treated with warmth and kindness. Just today, my dear old saab, decided not to start after we had parked it outside the electric gates - the battery had died. Just to make it even more amusing this was the day that ENEL had told us that the electricity would be off for 4 hours while they fitted some new equipment. So no power in the car and we cannot open the main gates. However, all was well, ENEL turned us back on, we charged up the battery and took the car down to our local garage where the owner dropped what he was doing and immediately tested, changed and the tested the new battery for almost nothing more than the cost of a battery. That's what I call service!
Would I have had, or can I remember anything like that in England - No!
And following on from Persephone's points, my daughter paid me quite a 'compliment' when I was driving in the UK recently. "Mum, didn't you see that woman waiting at the crossing" my reply "Yes, but she wasn't on it!!" Almost Italiana!
Also with the carabinieri/polizia - I never speak English and when we were stopped at a random check and asked for the driver's/OH's patenza (sp) driving licence - (He didn't have his documenti with him) so I produced my blockbusters video card, my supermarket card etc. etc. and after a few minutes of this they decided to let us go. Thank god it was almost lunchtime!
Nationality is also a legal term but I would suggest that Home really is where the Heart Is, for me, this is now Italy as I feel a tourist when I go back to England.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Ghianda;109290]But at least you made up your mind to get out of Covvy. That must have been a good thing.:yes: I used to trudge a lonely pilgrimage to Highfield Road, so I guess that just makes me plain masochistic (spelling?) Ah nostalgia, it ain't what it used to be:smile:
[B]Back on thread[/B] - I'm English, complete with tattoo of Cross of St George intertwined with the national flag of my OH. Whilst I'm English I'm proud to have "traded up" to an Italian style life. da vero:yes:[/quote]
One visit to Hhighfield Road was enough for me: a no-score draw against Peterborough in about 1965. Maybe if I'd been born in a more charismatic place than Coventry I might have felt allegiance to my home town, rather than the country. And that's also a noticeable thing about Italy: people identify with the local village, town or area far more than with the country at large.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=gradese;109480]One visit to Hhighfield Road was enough for me: a no-score draw against Peterborough in about 1965. Maybe if I'd been born in a more charismatic place than Coventry I might have felt allegiance to my home town, rather than the country. And that's also a noticeable thing about Italy: people identify with the local village, town or area far more than with the country at large.[/quote]
Vero, vero, eh, eh, eh. That's what they call campanilismo, and i love it here. No matter what they are talking about, an Italian will somehow let you know where they are from. A bit like at a party Q) how will you know who the pilot is? A) they will tell you
[URL="http://www.floria-publications.com/italy/italian_culture/campanilismo.htm"]Campanilismo[/URL]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Persephone;109294]When I wear my shades, I am Italian
When I park my car, I am Italian
When I survive all morning on a pastry and cappuccino, I am Italian
When I queue at The Poste Italiane, I am English
When I have a hangover, I have been English
When the Carabinieri stop me (in the car), I am very English (infact I suddenly don’t speak any Italian at all)
When I am shopping in Lidl, I am Polish (gherkins and rye bread)
When I talk to my mother, I am Latvian (small Baltic state, won the Eurovision in 2002)[/quote]
And when you cross the road, I bet you stop the traffic:yes: :yes::yes::yes:
I'm a loiner through and through. Born in Leeds, brought up in Leeds, lived in Leeds all my life. My greatest wish is to live in Italy and I will one day but I will still be a loiner till the day I die.