The question most people ask me about my roots and the fact that I’m English, married to a French man and living in Paris, is undoubtedly: ‘What do you miss about England?’. The answer, after a few attempts at being original in the early days, has now become the standard “My friends and family”.
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However, if I’m being really honest to myself, although I love them all dearly, it’s not my friends that I have sent over in the post and I don’t buy pots full of sisters each time I go back. No, I have to say that the two major things I miss about England are Marmite and Baked Beans. For those of you who haven’t had the honour to taste these English delicacies then I have added a couple of links at the end so that you can find out all about them. Read, taste and spread the word.
Just to make sure that I wasn’t just being a sad, mad English woman I asked this question to some fellow English people here and came up with some interesting results. Marmite and Baked Beans came at the top of their list too. Cheese and onion crisps and sausages were runners up and close behind were pubs and the milkman. We live in a lazy society where we like our milk to be delivered to our door. While we were on the subject I decided to slightly distort the question to find out what they didn’t miss. The good old English weather was mentioned, the price of property was something that they could well do without and the whole of the transport system came in at a very strong third position. One person decided that after missing pubs she didn’t miss ‘the rest’ but I’m not sure we can take this as representing the views of all English people!
I then took my research elsewhere, into my advanced English classroom, to find out what a selection of French students thought of when given the word ‘England’. There was a strange mixture of famous figure heads such as Tony Blair, the late Lady Diana and Mr. Bean. Music was a popular choice with Robbie Williams, The Spice Girls and The Beatles getting special mentions. Finally, a reoccurring image that these particular French students had of England was ‘the disgusting food’. It’s difficult to judge whether this is purely a French view as they compare their own gastronomy to our grub, or whether people world-wide have actually tasted Shepherd’s Pie and Yorkshire Pudding and have collectively decided it’s all disgusting. As long as it isn’t based on Marmite and Baked Beans I don’t really mind. It hadn’t escaped my notice however, that most of the things English people miss about England have some connection with food and drink and yet not only are we not renowned for our food, we are actually criticised for it.
It also has to be said that there is so much more to England. We have some amazing landscapes ranging from vast seas, pebbled beaches, lush rolling hills in the Peak District, expansive bodies of water in the Lake District, immense, windswept open spaces in the Yorkshire Dales, to the most beautiful thatched cottages in the Cotswolds countryside. Our country villages are quaint and cosy while our major cities are bursting with life and excitement. It’s not fair to dwell on the vibrancy of London without mentioning the multicultural melting pot of Birmingham, where as a student I ate some of the best curries ever (food again!), or the enriching, evolving face of Manchester. Go to cities like Oxford and you will be taken aback at the intricate and impressive architecture. Go to towns like Stratford-Upon-Avon and not only will you step inside the wonderful world of Shakespeare, you will also feel enveloped by poetry as you feed the majestic, white swans and take a stroll along the canals.
Whatever your interests England has something for you. If you like beautiful, historic buildings you can visit the largest ruined castle in England; Kenilworth Castle or go and take in the breathtaking splendour of Blenheim Palace, although it is said to be haunted by the ghost of one of the Roundheads, the soldiers who supported Parliament during the 1640s English civil war. In fact England is shrouded in legend and myths. The actual Patron Saint of England, St. George, whose saint’s day we celebrate on April 23, is himself a man of mystery. He is said to have fought off and eventually killed a fierce dragon, thought by some to be the symbol of Satan, in order to save a beautiful princess, again thought by some to be the symbol of Christianity. Other mythical characters connected to England include the legendary Robin Hood who stole from the rich to feed the poor, and King Arthur with his honourable Knights of the Roundtable. The legends don’t stop with people as we have our internationally famous set of stones in Wiltshire: Stonehenge. This is a circle of stones which according to historians took 1,500 years to complete and was designed possibly for astronomy observations or even sacrificial purposes. It still remains today one of the most visited sites in England despite being situated on what has been described as little more than a round-a-about.
England is a well-visited country. My students thought the people to be welcoming and I hope that from a foreign visitor’s perspective this is actually the case. There are copious reasons to go, and go back there. I haven’t even touched upon the sports idols we have; the champion rugby players, the iconic Becks (of the Posh and Becks variety), the horse racing, the cricket. Television is an institution in itself. If you delve deep below the hundreds of ‘Make your house lovely’, ‘Learn DIY in two easy steps’, ‘Buy and sell a house in a week’, ‘Buy and sell a house abroad in a week’, type programmes, or the millions of cooking programmes, (we’re back to food once more), England produces some excellent drama and comedy that countries all over the world have bought.
If you haven’t yet been then you should. If you’ve been, then when are you going back to discover some more? And if you’ve already booked your next tickets over then could I possibly ask you to send me a couple of jars of Marmite as, to quote Old Mother Hubbard; the cupboard is bare!
Fabiana Hercheui writes “In my opinion, Jo Bertrand shows a very positive image of England. I live in England, London to be more specific, but I’m in Brazil at the moment. I already miss being there very much, but I don’t really care about Marmite and Baked Beans! There are uncountable things I miss about England and food is the last thing on my list.
I do love the country villages very much, it is very nice to go to places like this to take a break from the exaggerated excitement of the big city. The Cotswolds countryside is one of my favourite places to go to.
I agree with the author when she said she misses the TV programmes. I do miss them too. They are very good quality indeed. I don’t really watch the cooking or DIY programmes but I do love the BBC documentaries.
Most people in England are very friendly and welcoming. I never had a bad reception from anyone. The English have a very interesting and rich culture. It’s really worth knowing more about their history in my opinion.
I am counting the days to come back there! I am soon going to book my tickets!”
Parthiban from India writes “I think the author is trying to give a positive image about England by stressing its history both past and present, amazing people, beautiful countryside, impressive architecture, television programs and also the famous people from England. However she agrees or somewhat accepts that English foods are not so good compared to their European counterparts. In my opinion England is a great country to visit: as mentioned by the author London or a multicultural melting pot of Birmingham would be a great places to visit, as we get the opportunity to meet people from various parts of the globe. England would definitely be a favourite destination for any traveller.”
C. Meneses writes “Although, I'm South American, I think England is a wonderful country with so many things to visit and see that you need plenty of time to do it. Maybe the only problem here is the price of everything and to go around you may need a lot of money. Anyway when you have got the money and the time you can enjoy magnificent places.”
Sergio Rodrigues writes “The author gives the positive aspects of England life, trying to show that it is not only miserable weather and a place to eat disgusting food.”
Leeb Leebster writes “No offence, but baked beans and marmite are disgusting. The only thing worse than this black tar disguised as an edible substance is Vegemite. I don't think anyone besides the Brits and Australians can tolerate this stuff. Food is really just a question of culture and upbringing. When abroad, Americans miss things like Peanut Butter and ridiculously artificial candy like Twizzlers which are disgusting as well. I was surprised though, that (the author) didn't say that (she) misses Fish n' Chips.”
Dr. Yehonatan Sharabi writes "The author gives a positive image of England. It seems really beautiful and the food doesn't sound so special, though' it doesn't sound disgusting like the French students said. Exactly the opposite, French food is disgusting, well, it sounds disgusting- eating snails?!? Except for French toast and chips, and things like that. The article was good. It gave me a picture of what England looks like and gave me ideas where to visit. I'd especialy like to visit the stone walls that took them about 1500 years to build."
Does the author give a positive or negative image of England? What do you think of England? Send us your opinions.
Wikipedia: England
Visit England: official tourism site
Lonely Planet: England
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