I got a request from my sister in law from a school on Sunday about whether I have anything that is quintessentially English. She let slip that she had an English sister in law when they were talking about a current project for the children and she let slip that she had an English sister in law, and of course I was asked if I could help.
The only thing is what do I have that is quintessentially English? I wear 50s pinup fashion that is more American than English, drive a Swedish car and live in The Netherlands.
I do eat some English food, but is that really going to be seen as quintessential? Would a young child know that a particular brand of tea is English? Or a brand of pickle? Probably not…
I have a library full of books. But, again, that is not much use to a young child.
What I did have at my office is a flag bought for a world food fair that IT out on a few years ago. And a red phone box cookie tin that I got to treat the office with when I lastwent back to the UK.
Put them together and you do get something very English :) I’ll see what the audience think when they see it next week :)
Do you not have a tea set? That and perhaps some scones to tick the necessary boxes.
ReplyDeleteOh, and queuing. Mustn't forget that. ;-)
A tea set... I think that is something that is missing from our house, as is a cake stand. I think that if we actually had a tea set I would break bits of it in a matter of minutes :)
DeleteActually, something else that is missing is a teapot. Our teas get made directly in the cup - we have had a few, but see above point :S I want another, but struggle to find one that is big enough for four giant cups of tea, looks good, and isn't going to get smashed by yours truly :)
As for queuing, I suppose I could get a few Duplo people from the little guy and line them up on a base plate :D
Stace
The phone box is definitely English. I was in London on the weekend and it was interesting watching tourists standing inside and outside red phone boxes and having their photos taken.
ReplyDelete:) They really are an icon aren't they? Going back too many years I can still remember being out on the street in the rain and trying to squeeze as many people as possible into one of these for shelter, and hoping that no one came that actually needed to make a call...
DeleteI would love to get a phone box for the garden, but the prices are just ridiculous!
Then again, do I want people traipsing in out of my garden for a picture :)
And if I am going to do that I think that a blue police box would have to come first :D
I know the flag is British rather than English, but I think that it will be good enough...
Stace