Despite being in France, I managed to watch the Royal Wedding live at a friend's house (thanks, Manue!). I still remember watching Charles and Diana's wedding when I was nearly 5, and so when Simon asked if he could come with me, I said yes (as long as he promised to be good!). I don't know if he will have any memories of it, and it has to be said that the soldiers on horses and the policemen on motorbikes interested him more than the wedding itself, but I thought I should give him the chance.
It's hard to know where our boys will feel that they come from. I am English, Marc is French, and yet we live in Benin. Watching the British Royal Wedding with French commentary is quite a good example of what our life is like! And I do want to give our boys the opportunity to feel they have some roots, so keeping up with what is going on in our respective countries is important.
It's true too, that I never realised how English I was before I lived abroad. Or perhaps I never had to feel English as compared to someone else. Apart from the clichés (and I do love Marmite and tea), it's hard to define, and must vary for each English person, but you still recognise it when you meet someone else from your own country! I think it is possible to be proud of your origins without believing yourself better than someone from somewhere else ... and doesn't mean you don't recognise the negative side of your own country.
Here is the English flag flying from our balcony in France for the 2006 World Cup:
It's hard to know where our boys will feel that they come from. I am English, Marc is French, and yet we live in Benin. Watching the British Royal Wedding with French commentary is quite a good example of what our life is like! And I do want to give our boys the opportunity to feel they have some roots, so keeping up with what is going on in our respective countries is important.
It's true too, that I never realised how English I was before I lived abroad. Or perhaps I never had to feel English as compared to someone else. Apart from the clichés (and I do love Marmite and tea), it's hard to define, and must vary for each English person, but you still recognise it when you meet someone else from your own country! I think it is possible to be proud of your origins without believing yourself better than someone from somewhere else ... and doesn't mean you don't recognise the negative side of your own country.
Here is the English flag flying from our balcony in France for the 2006 World Cup:
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