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2,000 hamsters can't be wrong.

24 October 2004

15-Year-Anniversary 

These days I'm celebrating my 15-year-old anglophilia. It all started when I was watching the third episode of Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 Days on Swedish telly. Sounds weird, doesn't it, that I know exactly when it started? That happens to me a lot. Sometimes feelings come creeping up on me, but most of the time I recollect the exact time and place for the catalyst of any life-alterning emotion I've had. So that's how I became an anglophile. It hasn't been easy being an anglophile in Norway, although it seems like I've probably been luckier than most non-English. Our TV channels import a lot of British programmes. We don't dub anything other than children's films, and those are usually shown in the original version as well. We're situated pretty close to the British Isles, so even though it costs a bit to get there, Norwegians are often to be found wandering the streets of London and Manchester (the latter being due to the enormous interest of football among Norwegian neanderthals sport fanatics). It's very difficult to find a Norwegian who hasn't been to England at least once. This is why the blatant ignorance about English culture among Norwegians baffles me. Even those who consider themselves to know a lot about English daily life are surprisingly clueless when it comes to politics, current events, well-known TV presenters, stand-up comedians, writers, local dialects and traits and especially the (sometimes very weird) English customs. I had a dreadful English teacher in sixth form who thought she was very up-to-date on everything English. We fell out during the first month and were on unfriendly terms for two years, when I graduated. We were always quarreling and unfortunately she was one of those teachers that give you bad marks if they don't like you. (Luckily our final exams counted quite a lot and were graded by someone else, phew!) I decided that I did not want to become like her; a behind-the-desk globetrotter who still looked back on her travels during her early twenties as the most glorious time of her life. She was in her late fifties, early sixties when she taught us.

Fifteen years into my anglophilia and I feel like I've only just started. There's a lot to learn and discover about those Isles and their inhabitants. I won't ever reach the end of it, but at least I'm doing my best. Of course, it'd be a lot easier if I was actually living there, but at least I've got the Internet to help me out.

Current track: Queen - I Was Born to Love You

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Posted by: Ingaroo / 23:12
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