off topic: being a brit

On Being a Little Bit British

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Citizens of the UK are known as the British

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Britain’s Kinda Small…

• Area: ~245,000 sq. km or ~94,500 sq. miles• Or… slightly smaller than Oregon• Population: 61 million (2008)

– USA: 304 million (2008)

Britain’s Kinda Small…

• Area: ~245,000 sq. km or ~94,500 sq. miles• Or… slightly smaller than Oregon• Population: 61 million (2008)

– USA: 304 million (2008)

Britain’s Kinda Small…• Area: ~245,000 sq. km or ~94,500 sq. miles• Or… slightly smaller than Oregon• Population: 61 million (2008)

– USA: 304 million (2008)

So while you live here:

Most Britons Live Here…

Your house and yard are larger than anything most Britons can ever dream of living in.

Cool things about the UK!

Funky Taxis!

Fish and Chips!

Royalty!

Palaces! Parades!

Dr. Who!

The Beatles!

Cucumber Sandwiches!

Britain has lots of really, really, really old stuff…

• Buildings survive because most buildings and houses are built of stone or brick.

• History and tradition is everywhere - there are hundreds, possibly thousands of old castles, palaces, cathedrals and ruins.

• Many buildings and institutions are hundreds of years older than the USA itself.– I went to a college that was founded in 1342

• 150 years before Columbus.• Over 400 years before the US Declaration of Independence.

Stonehenge!

York Minster

There has been a church on this site since the year 627 AD – nearly one thousand, four hundred years ago. Parts of the current building date from 1215. It took ~250 years to build.

Castles!

Windsor CastleLeeds Castle

Ludlow Castle

Ruins!

When I was your age…

• There were only THREE TV stations!– They we all like PBS– There were no shows before school

• School uniforms…– Yes, jacket and tie and

caps for boys– No long pants at primary

school– The school I went to was

founded in 1495

Money was really complicated

• The dollar is really simple:– 100 cents is one dollar.

• Since 1971, the pound has been simple too:– 100 pennies (pence) is one pound.

• But when I was a little kid….– One pound was 20 shillings.– 1 shilling was 12 pence.– We had ha’pennies (half a penny) and farthings (quarter

pennies).

• So a price might be £2 3s 6d (or £2 3/6)– Read as “Two pounds, three and six”– Or: 480 + 36 + 6 = 522 pence.

• No wonder it was changed!!!

So what’s this called, and why?

It seemed like everyone was on strike

• A strike is when a group of workers stops working as a form of protest.

• We’d have power cuts because the power workers would go on strike.

• The buses and trains often wouldn’t run.

• The firemen went on strike for a long time – the army was used put out fires.

Where I went to College

What I had to wear to take university exams

Some Brits you might have heard of…

• Queen Elizabeth II• Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham.• King Canute.• King Arthur.• Sir Isaac Newton.• Sir Francis Drake.• Lord Nelson.• Charles Darwin.• William Shakespeare.• John Lennon.• Simon Cowell.

Name That Sport - 1

My Team:Nottingham Forest

They’re not doing very well this season

Name That Sport - 2

Fun Fact: International games called “Test Matches” can last five days!

Name That Sport - 3

Things you might find odd about the UK

• Until the last 15 years or so there were only 4 channels on TV and no cable.

• We drive on the left.• Cars are usually a lot smaller.

– but we drive them a lot faster!• Gas is about $9 a gallon.• There is a constitution - but it isn’t written down

anywhere.• There is no national “UK Day” holiday equivalent to

Independence Day / July 4th.

• The Queen has immense power but no real power.• There’s no Supreme Court and there’s no President.

Wordly Weirdness(or, Two Nations Divided by a Common Language)

• Soccer is Football.• Elevators are Lifts.• Pants are Trousers.• Sidewalks are

Pavements.• Gas is Petrol.• Railroads are Railways.• Aluminum is Aluminium.• Apartments are Flats. • Trucks are Lorries.• Mobile homes are

Caravans.

• Chips are Crisps• Fries are Chips• Movies are Films.• Cars are Cars, but never

automobiles.• Sailboats are Yachts (or

sometimes Dinghys).• Sports is / are simply

Sport.• Hockey is Ice Hockey • Field Hockey is Hockey.• The Subway is the

Underground.