As a Welsh lass, this resonates a lot given the countless times I've had to point out Wales on a map and explain that, no, it's not just another part of England.
It also reminded me of when I worked I the Civil Service in 2010 and a manager had the idea to have a day celebrating the cultural diversity across our office's 2000+ employees. It was a lovely thing, but there were a few faux pas by the staff organising it:
- A colleague from Northern Ireland (who regarded himself as British) was asked if he would like to help rep the Republic of Ireland. He said he would as long as he could wear a balaclava and strap an AK 47 across his chest.
- An Aussie friend of mine was asked if he could take charge on all things New Zealand. When he pointed out he's Aussie, not Kiwi, the response was 'Well, they are practically the same'.
- The manager who conceived the idea wanted to take the lead on repping Wales, though she was English by birth and that didn't go down to well in an office where over half the employees were Welsh. She doubled down on it when she opted to wear a Wales rugby jersey instead of our National Dress as it (our National Dress) 'isn't the best'. Granted, it's very old fashioned but it is an important part of our heritage and our past.
This was a delightful read, Rosie, thank you for sharing. I sometimes have people assume that I’m from Nigeria or South Africa (I’m from Zimbabwe), but I suspect it’s nowhere near how often you have to deal with it. You probably already know now that Cool Runnings is based on the Jamaican bobsled team’s journey to the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics. I likely only know that because I live in Calgary now 😅
This is gold. My daughter (age 13) found my old blogspot that I totally forgot about a few weeks ago. She presented it to me like I purposefully hid it.
It’s my old horror film review blog, where I was archiving reviews I wrote for other publications. Or was at least starting to archive them.
Honestly, my first introduction to NZ was Lucy Lawless. But it doesn’t surprise me that people are so clueless about geography let alone accents.
Oh, I'm looking forward to more of these--and the photos too!
I've spent my entire life correcting people that I am originally from Washington STATE, not Washington DC. Sigh. Why we didn't just change the name to Washington STATE (emphasis and all) is beyond me.
I once had the administrative assistant to a university chair insist that I had to resubmit a request for travel with a request for international travel. Destination? New Mexico. Oh dear...
As a Welsh lass, this resonates a lot given the countless times I've had to point out Wales on a map and explain that, no, it's not just another part of England.
It also reminded me of when I worked I the Civil Service in 2010 and a manager had the idea to have a day celebrating the cultural diversity across our office's 2000+ employees. It was a lovely thing, but there were a few faux pas by the staff organising it:
- A colleague from Northern Ireland (who regarded himself as British) was asked if he would like to help rep the Republic of Ireland. He said he would as long as he could wear a balaclava and strap an AK 47 across his chest.
- An Aussie friend of mine was asked if he could take charge on all things New Zealand. When he pointed out he's Aussie, not Kiwi, the response was 'Well, they are practically the same'.
- The manager who conceived the idea wanted to take the lead on repping Wales, though she was English by birth and that didn't go down to well in an office where over half the employees were Welsh. She doubled down on it when she opted to wear a Wales rugby jersey instead of our National Dress as it (our National Dress) 'isn't the best'. Granted, it's very old fashioned but it is an important part of our heritage and our past.
This was a delightful read, Rosie, thank you for sharing. I sometimes have people assume that I’m from Nigeria or South Africa (I’m from Zimbabwe), but I suspect it’s nowhere near how often you have to deal with it. You probably already know now that Cool Runnings is based on the Jamaican bobsled team’s journey to the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics. I likely only know that because I live in Calgary now 😅
This is gold. My daughter (age 13) found my old blogspot that I totally forgot about a few weeks ago. She presented it to me like I purposefully hid it.
It’s my old horror film review blog, where I was archiving reviews I wrote for other publications. Or was at least starting to archive them.
Honestly, my first introduction to NZ was Lucy Lawless. But it doesn’t surprise me that people are so clueless about geography let alone accents.
We visited NZ at Christmas and when telling people where we were going we got one ‘Is that in Europe?’ and one ‘is that in Australia?’
And when I went to live in the Falklands for 2 years with the RAF there were still people who thought it was ‘just off Scotland’ 😫
Oh, I'm looking forward to more of these--and the photos too!
I've spent my entire life correcting people that I am originally from Washington STATE, not Washington DC. Sigh. Why we didn't just change the name to Washington STATE (emphasis and all) is beyond me.
I once had the administrative assistant to a university chair insist that I had to resubmit a request for travel with a request for international travel. Destination? New Mexico. Oh dear...
The annoyance at people not recognising the country you’re from is something that really resonates with me too!
I’m Welsh, and the amount of times I’ve had to point that country out on a map while travelling and tell people ‘no, it’s not a part of England!’
A lot of my introductions are spent emphasising that I'm Canadian, not American 🫂
I still have my blogspot 🤭