The 'bloody foreigners' thread.

[GruB]

I'm only 3 generations removed so I'm not that foreign. Only when we beat the English at cricket or rugby or whatever, is it an issue !!  Therefore that has not been an issue for a number of years 

Don't start

When in a position of weakness, I find it best to be open and honest before the other sort of sledging takes you down 

[Really Ancien]

I must admit to being fascinated by abroad; Denmark;..., was first to abolish slavery, ...
Damon.

Much as I might like that to be true, it isn't. Denmark made trading in slaves illegal before the UK, but didn't abolish slavery in the colonies until 1848, 15 years after the British Empire.

I love being able to look into all these odd crannies of history that that have only been vaguely heard of , The idea of the Swedes embarking on the East Indies trade was one that caught my eye.
Swedish East India Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Damon.

[Adrian]

I feel a bit left out in the other threads, so I started this one, for us from the them there foreign bits, you know the parts on the map that says "here be dragons".

What, Wales?

If you are talking foreign, would you all please bugger off back to Saxony, et al?

I think that we should heed the warning of Palestine before we start down that route.

[Andrij]

Live in the UK, born in the US, family from Ukraine (via Germany and Venezuela).  Yep, I qualify. 

[Ian H]

I'm off Spanish/Lancastrian extraction.

[Manotea]

I'm half Scot though hardly clinging to my scottish heritage. Normally I have to be paid to go north of the border. Discounting work trips I've only visited the auld country twice, the most recent being when I was a Sea Cadet! I guess LEL will make it three...

[bobb]

When helping my dad with the family tree a few years back, I was horrified to discover one of my great grandfathers was German. That was bad enough, but when I discovered another was Welsh I began to wonder if there was any point to life anymore 

[Wowbagger]

When helping my dad with the family tree a few years back, I was horrified to discover one of my great grandfathers was German. That was bad enough, but when I discovered another was Welsh I began to wonder if there was any point to life anymore 

Perhaps we should call you Bach?

[Ivo]

family from Ukraine

Galicia or more central Ukraine?

[Andrij]

family from Ukraine

Galicia or more central Ukraine?

Yes.
Galicia, Lemkovyna and Kyiv region.
 

[Ian H]

When helping my dad with the family tree a few years back...

You should have asked Rae to help.

[annie]

My family are from all over the place.  My maternal Grandfather was French.  My paternal Grandfather (Donovan) was Irish.  Lots of relatives in the North and still many in France although I haven't met them as yet.

[Rapples]

My paternal Grandfather (Donovan) was Irish.

I didn't realise he was Irish, but I like this song of his

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ohXsdbF-7jc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ohXsdbF-7jc&rel=1</a>

[Lotum]

Rest assured, you are a 'bloody foreigner'.

This thread is making me worry about how I will be treated on LEL. Maybe (to play it safe) I should bring an English bike and keep my mouth shut... except for the inevitable beans on toast.

[Ivo]

family from Ukraine

Galicia or more central Ukraine?

Yes.
Galicia, Lemkovyna and Kyiv region.
 

A report on last autumns cycling trip from Galicia to Kyiv is still on my to-do list

[Really Ancien]

Rest assured, you are a 'bloody foreigner'.

This thread is making me worry about how I will be treated on LEL. Maybe (to play it safe) I should bring an English bike and keep my mouth shut... except for the inevitable beans on toast.

We'll make some Hernekeitto just for you.
Woolypigs is a Dane, we're just finding out aoout regional rivalries, in England , the divide is between North and South.

Damon.

[toekneep]

Rest assured, you are a 'bloody foreigner'.

This thread is making me worry about how I will be treated on LEL. Maybe (to play it safe) I should bring an English bike and keep my mouth shut... except for the inevitable beans on toast.

We'll make some Hernekeitto just for you.
Woolypigs is a Dane, we're just finding out aoout regional rivalries, in England , the divide is between North and South.

Damon.

Careless talk costs lives. That's how wars start you know Damon. 

[Really Ancien]

in England , the divide is between North and South.

Damon.

Careless talk costs lives. That's how wars start you know Damon. 

I actually don't subscribe to the North/South divide, England is more defined by Caird's Line, the East/West divide between upland stock farming in the West and the flatter arable East. It's a bit complicated by Lowland Lancashire being able to grow grain, but it's more valid for someone who works in the countryside than the North/South model.

Damon.

[Frenchie]

Breton, educated in France and the UK (Scotland!), served in the armed forces in Northern Africa, married to a Brazilian, well travelled, with colleagues who are German, Italian, English, Scottish... My daughther is very influenced by our 3 cultures but a true citizen of the world already!

[gordon taylor]

Scottish, with a Scottish wife and ancestors AFAICT with one exception who was born in Ireland in 1795. Educated in Scotland; moved to England as part of PICT PLAN C to take over the world. (PLANS A and B failed in 1715 and 1745 respectively.) 

PLAN C isn't doing too well either.

[Andrij]

family from Ukraine

Galicia or more central Ukraine?

Yes.
Galicia, Lemkovyna and Kyiv region.
 

A report on last autumns cycling trip from Galicia to Kyiv is still on my to-do list

Ooh! This is a journey I've begun to contemplate.  I'd love to hear how you got along.

[Gus]

If I go long enough back in time I'm part German part Norwegian and part Danish highway robber 

[rogerzilla]

Don't get me started on the Cornish, a people almost wholly dependent on tourists whom they despise.  They even have a little Nationalist Party and their own language.  True tales of Cornishness:

- A Cornish "expat" couple living in Plymouth rush over the border to Liskeard when their child is due to be born, because they don't want an English baby.

- Secondhand cars advertised as "Cornish car" as if that's a selling point (it's a Datsun or something)

- Trago Mills, and the proprietor's weekly full page rant in the Plymouth Herald.

- The fact that Land's End is neither the most southerly or most westerly point, and has become a kind of theme park.

Any Cornishmen/women reading this should take into account that I used to live in Plymouth and am therefore conditioned to despise anything over the Tamar Bridge.  It's not personal 

[Ivo]

family from Ukraine

Galicia or more central Ukraine?

Yes.
Galicia, Lemkovyna and Kyiv region.
 

A report on last autumns cycling trip from Galicia to Kyiv is still on my to-do list

Ooh! This is a journey I've begun to contemplate.  I'd love to hear how you got along.

The photoseries is allready online (started my ride in Cracow though)
DDS Fotoalbum - ivo_m - krakau-zjitomir
DDS Fotoalbum - ivo_m - kiev

[Ivo]

(Mother born in Belgium, Father born in the Netherlands, Grandfather born in Germany[/sub])

That goes some way to explaining why you're such a cunning linguist.

That has probably more to do with my hometown, as demonstrated by these two musicians from Maastricht:

[ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/C7oFiVc8YkM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/C7oFiVc8YkM&rel=1</a>]