I'm in the kids' office at church right now, and I've asked my fellow children's workers what they want Americans to know.
"Americans are always saying that we're quaint," Andy said. "It drives me insane because we're not. We're not as quaint as they think."
"Quaint is an inaccurate description. I'd say we're more metropolitan," agreed Ruth 1. "They have a picture of us still in the 1930s, drinking tea and saying stuff like 'Tallyho!'"
"Also, every film always shows London raining. It doesn't always rain," Andy said. "In fact, I was reading about how in New England when the sun comes out, they make the most of it. That's the same here, as well."
"That's when everyone goes outside in strappy tops and shorts and they act crazy," Ruth 1 said.
"Out come the flip flops," Andy said, "the barbecue grill is cleaned--"
"Or bought," added Ruth 2.
"And everyone heads for the parks," Andy finished. What Brits want us to know, he says, is that they do have sun and they do know how to enjoy themselves, as in this Bulmer's cider advert.
"Another favorite misconception of mine is that we all live in a suburb of London. I suppose America is ridiculously large compared to England and it does take about seven years to get from one city to another there. But it still takes about two hours to get to London from here in Nottingham," Andy said.
When I pointed out that it could take two hours to get from Chicago's south suburbs to the northwestern suburbs, Andy just blinked.
"There are countries that are smaller than that," he said.
Those countries, I suppose, could fairly be considered quaint.
Quaint - no we are not. Thats all a bit of a myth. Although the most quaint thing that as an english man I've always hated coming from an american is the classic line: 'I sure do love your accent. Are you french?' 'No. And I don't say dude or listen to a lot of Led Zep.'
By the way good old clotted cream has nothing to do with butter. One needs to find a better metaphor - its cream and its clotted.
Any how love this blog.
They may have quaint customs but their society seems very progressive. They use the metric system, they have universal healthcare, they don't have undue restrictions on abortion or stem cell research, they don't seem to be as homophobic as us, and they don't seem to have as much religious zealotry as we Americans have. I'd be much happier if Americans were as 'quaint' as the Brits.
They also have a sense of humor and a penchant for irony that most Americans are sorely lacking. I also enjoy their superior language skills - many Americans are barely intelligible.
Cool blog! Thanks for sharing.