tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post3621254153154280220..comments2023-10-24T17:21:16.565+02:00Comments on Sounds in the Hickory Wind: An Englishman's TrousersThe Hickory Windhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02099970252405596982noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-6726654470557286632013-05-04T18:45:21.213+02:002013-05-04T18:45:21.213+02:00I am fairly sure that, on Monday, I shall buy thos...I am fairly sure that, on Monday, I shall buy those trousers. I feel that my Englishness will prevail.<br /><br />I have never understood the life of the ex-pat. I've seen many who seem to take a perverse pleasure in not understanding what is going on around them, and in deliberately missing out on the things that make it worth living where they have chosen to live. But despite making the most of life in the different parts of SPain I have lived in, and becoming, for practical purposes, one more Spaniard, I have never stopped being English.<br /><br />Those trousers will inevitably be bought.The Hickory Windhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02099970252405596982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-38848146966442718682013-05-04T14:00:44.616+02:002013-05-04T14:00:44.616+02:00Wonderful! I have sometimes feared that you had go...Wonderful! I have sometimes feared that you had gone native in the sense of sacrificing Englishness for the sake of camouflage, and merging seamlessly with your surroundings, as a self-effacing woman might buy dress material exactly matching her wallpaper.<br /><br />But by this you have demonstrated your credentials as an English gentleman of the deepest dye. Don’t forget, a subtle racism is needed: the inferior culture gives way to the superior. Thus, I came to these English shores as an uncouth Australian (of four years old). I cherish Englishness as no native could.<br /><br />In the same way an expat should discreetly fly the flag and show that our good manners are in no whit inferior to those of our hosts.<br /><br />So, you <i>will</i> buy those trousers tomorrow, won’t you? The honour of your country needs <i>You</i>!Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297306807695767580noreply@blogger.com