Nationalism

It is terrifically easy to be incredibly astute about the manner in which other cultures conduct their business.

English people seem to have a higher percentage of astute persons with this skill set and it can be difficult to keep a civil tongue, although I think I am doing quite well. (It is this which makes me think it will not be possible for me to 'become' totally British, as even though I am incredibly astute, it is just not the 'done thing' to choose a topic of dinner conversation something that overtly mocks a dining companion. Although, this discussion is relative to the English -- the Welsh are mostly less offensive in their astuteness; have no experience with Scottish; and the Irish just seem to have better manners of them all.)

The discussion over dinner last evening tended toward the ridiculous nature of the American nationalistic mythology. Topics covered included the influence of Hollywood on this grand error, and how severely lacking Americans are in their skill with history. Now, in itself, these are not inaccurate notions. However, a general air of superiority and a hour of beating that dead horse over a couple of hours does not improve the courteous nature of the situation (also, mocked were king size beds -- ' who else are you expecting in the bed?'). Fortunately, a smile remained frozen on my face during the overhearing of this (since I wasn't part of the conversation, although it was provided by two professors for my benefit, no doubt. Oh, please -- do teach me, kind sirs!), and they continued marinating in their notion of the superiority of the English National Mythology. Much of their snootiness toward America (which is dismissive of the Canadian presence, but then many British are rarely concerned with anyone else at all anyway, unless it involves donating money to a charity far, far away -- in this way, they are quite similar to the French, n'est pas?) circled around our slavery issue (because we just came up with the custom on our own -- such clever monkeys we are). Perhaps, there will be a chance for me to bring up the topic of our Great Emancipator (this article, sadly also perpetuating several inaccuracies -- must finish reading When in the Course of Human Events, so as to have scathing facts to argue with history professors and other snooty persons) or maybe ask which of their monarchs they consider to be the most perfect.

English National Mythology, of course, focusses on 'The Finest Hour', conveniently omitting various issues such as the slaughter of their own people on various parts of their islands for several hundreds of years for reasons ranging from potatoes to religion. It is really fun to talk about American Imperialism, I know. But like mother, like daughter, you know.

I did make one comment (after I was brought into conversation once to topic swerved to how big everything is here) that king-sized beds are fairly common as many American men are quite a bit taller and therefore do not fit into queen size beds -- as well as the fact that our houses are quite a bit larger. The professorial retort to this was, 'well, can't they sleep diagonally? Are they too macho to sleep in a queen-sized bed?' I just laughed. Yes -- of course, the other person in the bed doesn't matter. How English.

Oh, one could go on, but one must get ready for a v. full day of international educators :)