About being British

Do not let yourself fool by the title, I am not British. I'm half German, half Spanish and have no British relatives whatsoever. Still, inspired by something, Zelde wrote in her last post, I'm going to write something about being British- at heart.

In December I went to a You Me at Six concert here  in Cologne. with them was a band called Canterbury, they're not well known here at all but I think they are in England. After the concert I went to talk to their drummer because I was blown away by their performance. I told him how much I liked their band name because it reminds me of the Ghost of Canterbury which I love because i study English. After saying that he asked me if I came from Canterbury which seriously confused me. I thought maybe I hadn't spoken clearly enough or had made some grammar mistake but it turned out that he had assumed that I study English IN Canterbury. The conversation went kind of like that:

He: Do you study in Canterbury?

Me: Uhm, no, I study here. In Cologne.

He: Oh, are you studying abroad?

Me (really confused): No, I study here, I have always studied here.

He: But from where in england do you come?

Me: I was born here!

He: Seriouly? You sound really English!

I was seriously confused. And a little proud.

An extremly similar situation happened to me when I went to Canterbury's very first own concert in Germany in January (or was is Feb.? I'm not sure...), again in Cologne.

After the show I asked one of their guitarists , if he would sign my ticket.

Me: excuse me, would you mind signing this?

He (with a surprised expression): You are English!

Me: Uhm, no...

He: You sound English! How did you do that?

Me: I don't really know, I study English at university...

He: Great job on the accent!

I always knew I had a british accent but I never thought I could be mistaken for an English person. One of my professors who comes from England said that I "kind of sound like Lily Allen". I'm not really sure whether he meant it as a compliment or an insult.

I love Great Britain and Ireland, I love the countryside, the language, the various accents (my favourites being the London accent, RP and the Scottish accent spoken in Edinburgh. I might post a Youtube video of one of my favourite people on Youtube later, littleradge aka Liam, he has the most amazing accent! Also, he looks like David Tennant.), I drink tea like a mad person and to me London is the most beautiful place in the world.

Therefore I have decided that even though I am not officially British I am definately an Anglophile and British at heart. Maybe I'll be re-born as a British person...how awesome would that be?

What about you? Are you especially fond of a specific country or region? Why?

Again, have a lovely day,

The Countess