Where are you from?

[Brian Atherton]

I see this thread, true to RFF form, is opening a can of worms!

By the way I’m from London. A city state in England, a small country situated on the edge of Europe. 🙂

 

[Scrambler]

Antipodean. I wonder why maps of the world are printed upside-down?

Look around a bit, Lynn. I have one that's the right way up.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

I see this thread, true to RFF form, is opening a can of worms!

By the way I’m from London. A city state in England, small country situated on the edge of Europe. 🙂

Quite right!! 🙂

I suspected, the minute I said "Im from England" and that I don't regard the British Isles as being "European" that this would cause some discussion and disagreement. Like I said, this is a personal opinion. However, it is a fact that I am from Stockport in England and I hold a British passport.

There's one chap further up the thread who's from Yorkshire and, as my dad was a Yorkshireman, I fully understand his comment. Most Yorkshiremen tend to believe either that Yorkshire is England or that Yorkshire is a country in its own right.

I'm fully aware of the collective nature of the descriptions used in the poll and yes, like many others, I have moved around a bit - having lived in Wales and Scotland as well as my native England. I don't deny for one second that economically and, increasingly, culturally, Great Britain and Ireland are becoming more and more "European" - but "Vive La Difference" as they say.......

Nevertheless, I don't see anything wrong in saying I am from England. I'm not saying it as a boast or a threat. The country of by birth is a pure fluke as I had no say whatsoever in who my parents were going to be or in which country they would be born / live.

If asked, over a beer (etc.), I suspect the overwhelming majority of people asked where they came from wouldn't say they were from Europe or South America, etc. I suspect they'd say I live in (insert name of town / province) but I'm from (name specific country) originally.

Nothing sinister or offensive intended in what I said earlier (or now) and I am genuinely not anti-European or a flag-waving Brit.

 

[oftheherd]

I was born in the Lebanon. I have English, Scottish, Armenian and Italian ancestors, therefore I am British.

Great! Thanks for the chuckle. 🙂

 

[kshapero]

3 miles from the Everglades and 8 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[oftheherd]

Born and raised in Missouri. Twenty-nine years in the US Army, lived in North Carolina, Okinawa, Virginia, Texas, Vietnam, Massachusetts, Vietnam, Colorado, Korea, Kentucky, Korea, Kentucky, Korea, and now in Northern Virginia these last 25 years. I may settle here. 😛

 

[Roger Hicks]

. . . Nevertheless, I don't see anything wrong in saying I am from England. . . .

Dear Paul,

Nor do I think anyone minds. It's just your idiosyncratic view of geography that pulls some people up short.

In which continent would you place Britain, if not Europe?

Cheers,

R.

 

[citizen99]

This is a fantasy distressingly often entertained by the English. It's a bit odd when you consider that England is surrounded by countries that mostly do think of themselves as part of Europe: Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, Channel Islands...

You can now rely on at least one Englishman spluttering that Cornwall isn't a country, mostly because they won the last Cornish-English war in 1549 -- http://www.cornwallinformation.co.uk/news/the-anglo-cornish-war-of-june-august-1549/ Nor were the English above a few massacres, verging on genocide.

On re-reading the information in the link given above, I note that the English used European mercenaries. So much for their claims not to be part of Europe!

Cheers,

R

How about a bit of terminological clarification in respect of 'continent' as against 'Europe' - I fondly remember the (possibly apocryphal) story of the headline in The Times in the 19th century :-

"Fog in the Channel - Continent isolated" 😀

 

[Tejasican]

Originally from deep deep South Texas.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I put it very precise under my avatar where I'm from. 🙂

In southern Ontario, similar common question is "where from originally"
My answer then - "I'm bloody Russian".

 

[filmtwit]

Biologically speaking - Mom + Dad = Me.
I'm technically Canadian-'Merikan, having been born to Merikans while they lived in Toronto.
None the less I've spent most of my life south of Canada.
These days I've mainly been a resident of the West Coast most of my life, so culturally I'm a Left Coaster.

 

[Fotohuis]

From the Netherlands and with family in Ukraine. From daughter Veronika and son Pavel in Mykolaiv condoleances for all passengers and crew from the Boeing 777 shot down in East Ukraine. We and they are in shock. On Saturday we had a short telephone conversation with our Dutch embassy in Kiev for help for interpreter in the crisis area if necessary. It is a Black day for the Netherlands and we can only hope the responsible persons will be brought to court.

 

[Anthony Harvey]

I've always taken it that we British are not part of Continental Europe but are part of Europe. In fact I wish we were far more European in culture and far less European in politics.

I remember that if someone were asked in the 1950s where they were going for their summer holidays they would quite often say on the continent than be more specific about exactly where in mainland Europe.

 

[--s]

I´m from the continent and I just love the Brits being so.... British!

 

[judsonzhao]

China, now live in US : ) Voted for Asia

 

[Roger Hicks]

China, now live in US : ) Voted for Asia

Precisely. The question wasn't "Where are you" but "where are you from".

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

How about a bit of terminological clarification in respect of 'continent' as against 'Europe' - I fondly remember the (possibly apocryphal) story of the headline in The Times in the 19th century :-

"Fog in the Channel - Continent isolated" 😀

I always thought it was "Continent cut off", but yes, I've always like that one too. Even so, I think it's quite hard to argue that the British Isles are in another continent than Europe. The example you (and I) like is the result of a conflation of "continent" (group of countries) and "continental" (part of a contiguous land mass, as in "the continental United States").

Cheers,

R.

 

[judsonzhao]

Precisely. The question wasn't "Where are you" but "where are you from".

Cheers,

R.

I think I can only be more precise to make it China P.R. to make it easier for someone to understand?

Go ahead quote everyone above stating where he/she is living now as an extra.

Thank you so much for the education though

 

[Roger Hicks]

I think I can only be more precise to make it China P.R. to make it easier for someone to understand?

Go ahead quote everyone above stating where he/she is living now as an extra.

Thank you so much for the education though

Sorry: I meant "you stated it precisely" not "please state it more precisely". I was agreeing, not disagreeing!

Though PRC is a big place, the more so if you include occupied countries such as Tibet and Uighurstan.

Cheers,

R.

 

[siracusa]

My mother is a New Zealander who has learned my father's ancient language.
My father describes himself as a citizen of the world first, and as Welsh second.
I describe myself as a European first. And second, I would not say "I am Welsh" but "dwi'n Gymro", because why not speak of that part of my identity in my own language?
As a European I spend a lot of my time in other countries that lie within our continent, particularly France, where I have spent the majority of my time over the past year. In an ideal world I would live there permanently.
But then, since I come from Europe, why not? The discussions in this thread about how Britain fits in relation to Europe are not representative of the Britain I know.