Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

Has it changed that drastically ? I still see people in the UK 'mucking in' its just in a more multicultural way. I have about three maybe four friends of the kind you think you could call at any time night and day in an emergency and one of them is a middle aged Bengali woman who I have been mates with for 15 plus years and her Irish husband. I don't see this weird segregated society you see. The costs of translating leaflets is peanuts with all the modern auto translators, I reckon the Spanish just can't be bothered to do it. A sort of general slackness and maybe an unconscious decision making process as well, to try and make things harder for what they still see as Foreigners. It wouldn't hurt to have things in more than one language expats bring a fair amount of money into the Country at the end of the day and one assumes the Spanish want people to comply with their laws and bureaucracy, it would make sense to assist if its a low cost option, would probably bring in more money long term after the initial investment.

Regarding kids being taken to a mosque before a Church, this is actually the parents fault.

It's a pity more so called Christians don't take their own religion seriously enough to bother to take their kids to a Church before they are five. If the parents can't be arised what has it got to do with a school? A school is about Education not about Religion. If the parents obviously can't be bothered to give a kid knowledge of the endemic religion of their own Country then why the heck should a school or society in general bother what way round a couple of school trips are organised. It was probably only logistics that made it fall that way and that the Mosque were more accommodating offering dates up than the Church.

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

having lived for many years in a multi-cultural society in a city with a large (and increasing) immigrant population I am speaking as i find. And yes I had friends there of various nationalities and found some of the Gurkha's to be great guys, whilst even they shuddered at the attitudes of some of their mates. I still have conversations with a Lithuanian who I mentored and assisted for work after he came into the country.

although my daughter was given the church experience by us perhaps you should be aware that organising a coach and taking a class 70miles to see the Hyde Park mosque is a little bit more than popping round the corner, which is where one of Britains cathedrals is situated.
(But then it could be my fault as when on a visit to London I took my daughter past that mosque at dusk, when it had all its lights on, as it is a very impressive sight. She told her teacher and Bingo - school trip!)

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

Good point Pete. That expression "confirmation bias". I've never heard it before but will certainly remember it. It also applies very well to another thread on this forum... Maybe many :D

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

How do you judge your tolerance levels? I changed from reading the Express to the Guardian many years ago, does that mean anything?

I try not to be rude to lookie-lookie men, hard though it is at times, and if I find a drunken expat lying in the gutter I try and help him up.

Only as recently as yesterday, I intervened when an elderly skinhead insulted a Spanish waitress. As we were walking away, my wife pointed out the knife sticking out of his back pocket. I should have kept my big mouth shut.

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

Auto translators are not always good at appropriate punctuations etc. For example, in Seville Airport we are advised "Drinking Water Only In Toilets"
Yuk! ;)

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

I often hear criticism of English pubs in Spain.. but somehow Irish Pubs seem to slip under the radar... they are everywhere all over the world. So are Pizza restaurants, I suspect actually Pizza resto's are the most widespread of them all - anywhere in the world.

Whats the big problem in a multicultural world of having a 'foreign' resto or pub? If it does business and stays open it means it is catering to the needs of the people. Great. We are in the EU after all.

I am DELIGHTED that Indian restos are everywhere in the UK... I can get a curry almost anywhere. One of my fave food groups. (HAppy also to see e.g Italian, Greek, American etc etc restos/bars in the UK)

Where we live in Spain (Ayamonte - mainly Spanish) there is an area we rarely go to as it has a high percentage of English resto's. Not out of snobbery, just because we prefer to hear/be around a mix of languages (i.e English and Spanish mainly... and French as we speak it.. and others). When England are playing in the Euro's or World Cup or other major sports/sporting events ... nowhere better to go for the atmosphere...! Thank goodness we have a choice to pick and choose... we were there a few weeks ago and had a great evening.

Ive been hit by snobbery on both sides, e.g once when I went into a local bar with just locals, and the Brits in the corner seemed to resent that.... when after saying hello - I returned to my friends.

Conversely I've met Brits who look down at their noses at people that haven't fully integrated, speak the language and haven't become 'quasi-local'.

Who cares as long as one has a choice and the freedom to take it. It's the snobbery that annoys me and 'those people' on both sides who believe they have some God-given right to criticise others who have chosen to live differently to them! They are the real prats IMHO!!

If expats want to create 'Little England' in the sun and go just to pubs and eat pie and mash etc, if they are happy - fine. Just don't go there if you don't like it.... and vice versa.

Jon

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

:)Brilliant; and all that can apply to Italy too.
'luego,
'o nonno

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

:)I've been an expat for 52 years. Yesterday was my turn to cook. So I made fish, chips, and peas. Does that mean I have not integrated properly?
ciao for now,
'o nonno

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Oh. Thank God it's not the Daily Mirror or the Sun!!!

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Brilliant, that is what all this integration malarky is all about snobery plain and simple.:thumbsup: And usually from other expats and not the locals.

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

Precisely.

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This is the core of the matter. Some people choose to live with Spanish people and not mix with Brits whilst others choose to live with Brits and not mix with the Spanish. I prefer the word mix rather than integration. If you prefer not to mix with criminals, drunks, drug users etc it is not frowned upon so why should it be frowned upon if you do not want to mix with certain people.

Rosemary

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

Is that the first time you've cooked in 52 years?:eek:

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

Seconded - good post.

Re: Do you, like me get peed off
 

The English (Scots, Welsh and N-Irish not so much) seem to have a curious level of self-loathing. Whether that's due to our anthem (most country's national songs celebrate how good the country is; England's just hopes someone won't die :) ), the idea we should all belong to some "class" or other, post-colonial guilt or merely The Daily Mail, I can't say. But it does seem to place us far away from nationals of most other countries - who are proud of where they were born and will talk it up, defend it (argumentatively, not militarily), let those around them know of its successes - and promote it when the opportunity presents itself.

I don't know whether it's England that brits "hate" (though hate is a too-strong term for it) or just other brits who don't fit into their "class". My current theory is that these "haters" see the brits around them as being a mirror of themselves and this doesn't fit in with their own self-image. It's the realisation that they are, essentially, the same as the individuals they scorn - if only acting a little differently - which is what bugs them.