I was watching the Wales/England match on Saturday, and really didn't know who I should have been supporting.
Luckily it was a superb game, so it was good to watch whoever won.
I think of myself as English, but having recently learned through (my sister's) DNA that we're 44% Welsh, it rather changes things. I've always felt a bit Welsh, and (if it's at all possible) I think I look a bit Welsh too.
On top of all that I'm only 27% English; the other bits I'd rather not talk about.
To make matters worse, I've spent more than half my life living in France (I don't feel French).
In case you missed the match, England won by 20 points to 10. I was very happy with the outcome, but I would have been just as happy if Wales had won.
My Welsh husband was not happy with the result or the way the team played.
ReplyDeleteI thought they both played very well. One lot simply played better than the other!
DeleteI suppose it is tongue-in-cheek but your heading is a trifle OTT. Who cares what some stupid DNA test says? You have always seemed pretty mixed up about your allegiances anyway.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that.
DeleteIf that is all your problem is you do not have much to worry about.
DeleteDepending on the teams involved, I worry for a whole 80 mins!
DeleteMy DNA is 100% Yorkshire but even so I always support England. It is a shame that Owen Farrell didn't have his kicking boots on - otherwise the scoreline would have been much more convincing.
ReplyDeleteHe missed a couple of 'tricky' ones; one by a matter of inches. He needs to have a word with his wingers to place the ball as near to the middle of the posts as possible.
DeleteYou don't look remotely Welsh!
ReplyDeleteHa ha.
DeleteWhat do we look like, Col?
ReplyDeleteYou wear pointy hats.
DeleteAnd have a Leek permanently between our teeth.
DeleteI know my Grandma was Irish. Maybe that's why I talk a lot, lol
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
The gift of the gab? (is that how you spell 'gab'?)
DeleteMy great grandmother was Welsh, my father's mother was born near London.
ReplyDeleteThe Welshness is on my mother's side. My father was Sussex, with links to Suffolk/Essex.
DeleteRachel makes the point perfectly. Where I'd write an essay she slams it on the page in shorthand.
ReplyDeleteGeography has a lot to answer for. When I look at where my mother's family originated from (just across Finland) for all I know Viking blood is cruising through my son's veins. It would account for his amazing long blond locks and blue eyes.. And then, who knows, one of my blood relatives may have had it off with a Russian just across the border, carrying the yet unborn child just before fleeing the Russian army advancing - eventually finding themselves either dead or in the South of German (of all places).
As to your assertion that you have lived in France like forever yet don't feel French: Of course not. Just as I am not English despite having living most my adult life in England and, to top it all, liking it here.
Identity is a strange thing. I am what I am which is why I never had the faintest interest in applying for British citizenship. More is the pity since it means I am not allowed to vote in England's general elections - despite the fact that the government of the day does affect my daily life as it affects any British one!
I won't roll out the old cliche but the fact remains: First and foremost I am human. Citizen of the world. Which doesn't stop me from conforming to one, two or several stereotypes of the motherland. My doorstep will be scrubbed - to schedule!
What I find really fascinating (and maybe so do you - if I understand your and Lady M's family set up correctly) how our children (yours and my son) metabolize being of, genuinely, two nationalities! Culturally. And since you bring balls into the game: Not that he is into football but during important games the Angel will cheer on - the one and only side. I won't give you a clue.
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I have known people who move abroad, and almost the next day start talking with an accent. My grandson Boo Boo lived in Miami for a while, and went to school there, and began to speak with an American accent; as did Lady M when at school in Washington DC.
DeleteI have no French accent.
Do you have an English accent?
DeleteMy upstairs neighbour tells me she has lived in Australia since 1995, yet her accent and her spoken English often make me wonder if she arrived just a few months ago, in spite of living upstairs almost four years now.
DeleteYou are a proud Englishman with some Welch. Regardless, life is good.
ReplyDeleteOf course I am. But we did discuss who I should be supporting during the match.
DeleteThere have been studies in Linguistics which show that a person learning another language for job opportunites will never master the new language in particular with regard to fluency and accent to the same extent as someone who is learning a new language who is enamoured with the culture.
ReplyDeleteI learnt French out of necessity. My schoolboy French was hopeless when it came to plumbing, farming, or drains.
DeleteWhat is interesting about DNA is siblings can have very different results. We get half of our DNA from each parent, which half? It's all a different soup for each child.
ReplyDeleteI'd imagined that because we have the same parents that it would be the same for both of us. In some respects you're giving me hope|!
DeleteI think sometimes it is good to just root for the best playing of the game no matter who it is.
ReplyDeleteYou'd be hard pushed to find many people who agree with that, especially when it comes to Rugby, or Cricket, or Football.
DeleteNever say that if you find yourself in Oz...root is slang for f..k!
DeleteWe always have someone nationality to cheer for. NZ first, then Greece or Australia or even England. As far as rugby goes it's the All Blacks all the way.
ReplyDeleteAs to nationality well I'm half Kiwi, half Greek and neither of them.
If the All Blacks were playing against Oz, I would certainly side with the AB's. I've admired them ever since I started playing.
DeleteYour sister and you may not share the same DNA results. My two daughters have different results and they both have the same parents, (me and K), but one is 58% English-6% Irish and Scottish, while the other is only 26% English with 24% Scottish. The rest of their DNA is a Scandinavian mix.
ReplyDeleteJag delar mitt personliga vittnesbörd för att hjälpa andra som kan gå igenom en liknande situation som jag. Jag heter Sarah Alexander och jag fick nyligen tillbaka min ex-kärlekspartner med hjälp av Dr. Oduduwa, en kraftfull trollformel.
ReplyDeleteJag och mitt ex hade varit i ett förhållande i nästan två år innan vi bröt upp på grund av vissa missförstånd och olikheter. Det var en svår tid för mig eftersom jag var djupt kär i honom, och jag kunde inte föreställa mig att leva utan honom. Jag försökte allt för att få tillbaka honom, men ingenting verkade fungera.
En dag när jag surfade på internet kom jag över Dr. Oduduwas hemsida och jag bestämde mig för att prova. Jag kontaktade honom via hans e-postadress, och han svarade snabbt. Han bad om lite information om mig och min ex-kärlekspartner, och han försäkrade mig att han kunde hjälpa mig att få tillbaka min ex-kärlekspartner.
Dr. Oduduwa kastade en kärleksförtrollning åt mig, och inom några dagar märkte jag några positiva förändringar i mitt exs beteende mot mig. Han började ringa och smsa mig regelbundet, och vi gick till och med ut på en dejt. Det var som om vi aldrig hade gjort slut. Jag var överlycklig och tacksam mot Dr Oduduwa för hans hjälp.
Nu är jag och min ex-kärlekspartner tillbaka tillsammans, och vårt förhållande är starkare än någonsin tidigare. Dr. Oduduwas kärleksförtrollning fungerade som magi, och jag är ett levande vittnesbörd om det. Jag rekommenderar starkt Dr. Oduduwa till alla som går igenom en liknande situation.
Hans e-postadress är dr.oduduwaspellcaster@gmail.com.
Jag är säker på att han kommer att kunna hjälpa dig också, precis som han hjälpte mig.