December 2010 The Expat Telegraph published an article I had written called Thoroughly Modern Expats.
For a number of years following I was a regular monthly columist for them.
Reading through the original articles that I submitted recently, I was taken by a) how relevant many of them still are today, and b) I had no online record of them of my own.
So I have added the original submissions to this blog, so if you want to read more of them just search for telegrapharticles, and while you are at it you may want to search for expatarticles as well to see other columns I wrote in the past for various newspapers in Spain.
One of the unexpected joys of living an expatriate lifestyle has been the diverse range of events and celebrations you have the opportunity to participate in. This range is obvious, in hindsight, as you tend to end up in a situation with some, if not all, of the following characteristics: new country, new language, small expat community, expat community made up of a wide range of nationalities and backgrounds, more spare time on your hands than ‘normal’, and a desperate need to ‘do something different’ whenever you can.
Basically you can easily find yourself mixing with a smaller, more diversified group of people on a far more regular basis than you ever did at home: the irony for many is that you can travel half way round the world to end up living in a small village-like environment.
For us this has meant that not only have we learnt not only more about the Spanish and their country, but also about people and places far closer to home, an unanticipated, and very welcome, benefit of living the expatriate lifestyle.
By way of example, as I wrote this column my Facebook page was full of updates from Welsh friends and expats sending each other messages to celebrate St David’s Day (1st March) and to share details and photographs of their day. In a true indication of the times we live in, a large number had changed their profile image to either a leek or a daffodil, the two symbols used to commemorate the day: with the leek being the original symbol from an occasion when a troop of Welsh were able to distinguish each other, from a troop of English enemy dressed in similar fashion, by wearing leeks.
Traditionally celebrated with marches, parades, concerts and of course a good drink there is much debate still about making the day a Bank Holiday, with a reported 87% of the people in Wales wanting it. As the National Assembly for Wales voted for one in 2000, only to have it vetoed by Tony Blair in 2007 it is, to put it mildly, somewhat of a passionate topic to engage in, as I found out recently when I was talking to some friends about this column.
I celebrated St David’s day once. It wasn’t planned, but I was in Cardiff at the old Arms Park to watch a Wales v England rugby match, and it coincided with St David’s day. It was brilliant: one big party spilling out from the pubs and onto the streets. Everyone having a good time, no trouble, a lot of passion and all visitors welcome as what seemed like the whole country attempted to show itself off.
Of course later this month it is St Patrick’s day (17th March), the one day of the year when everybody claims to have a ‘little Irish’ in them to paraphrase Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. Now this has been a Bank Holiday for many years, and I have been fortunate to celebrate it over the years in Dublin, New York, London and in recent times here in Spain, where it has undoubtably helped the Spanish to fall in love with the Irish. It is the same the world over: for one day at least the whole world loves the Irish, the Guinness, the green and white hats, the music, even the white pudding. If ever a day ‘showcased’ a country St Patrick’s day has to be the day, and that surely is what a National Day should be about: remembering your past, enjoying today, looking towards the future.
Scotland has St Andrew’s day (30th November) which is now a Bank Holiday as well, and of course the USA has Independence Day (4th July) which, when I lived in the US, people somewhat bizarrely asked if we celebrated it in the UK. I had to explain that if we celebrated all our losses in the UK we would pretty much always be on holiday! The Fourth of July is basically a brand in it’s own right now, and seems to have a whole weekend named after it: Fourth of July Weekend, which I think is a little excessive, but then again not hugely surprising given the country …………….
Here in Spain they celebrate Fiesta Nacional de España, generally known as Columbus Day (12th October) and it is a Public Holiday as you would expect from a country that can turn any event into a ‘fiesta’. Again though it is a day that showcases Spain to it’s best: families eating and celebrating together, friends enjoying each other’s companies, the (vast) consumption of the Jamon, Queso, Paella, and Vino Tinto that so defines the country. Noise, laughter, music, car horns, often at the same time, usually into the early hours of the morning. You can not help but feel swept along, to get involved, to share in their pride for the country and the traditions that they love so much.
All of which brings me to St George’s Day, which I have to confess I struggled to remember the date of (23rd April), and which to my certain knowledge I have never celebrated. Having happily celebrated St Patrick’s Day, Independence Day, Fiesta Nacional de España, St David’s Day and St Andrew’s day I admit it is embarrassing that I haven’t and I would be hard pushed to defend any comments about being unpatriotic. But the thing is, I want to celebrate it. The longer I live this expatriate lifestyle the more I appreciate the cultures and traditions of ‘home’. Maybe it is simply a fact of getting older, or having lived for so long now in a society that loves and respects it’s traditions, but I want to feel the same as my Spanish friends and the millions of expatriates around the world who celebrate ‘their day’. This is a big thing for me as I hate parties and large gatherings, avoid fancy dress events like the plague and find it hard to think of anything that I miss from our life in England (family and friends excepted of course), but I would happily paint my face white with a red cross on it, eat bangers and mash and drink warm beer, attend a street party and celebrate the day with my fellow English Expatriates.
And do you know why? Because I am an expatriate, that group of people that by definition have no permanent identity. It is funny as I have no desire for Friday’s Fish & Chips, or a Sunday Roast, much preferring a Paella or some sardines on the BBQ, after all why live in another country and not embrace it, but one day a year, a measly 24 hours, when we stop, take time out to remember the past, enjoy the present and look forward to the future is surely a good thing. I want a National Day to be proud of, that I want to participate in, which will make my fellow non English expatriates and Spanish friends sit up and take notice of just how proud we can be about our country as well.
So there you have it. We set out on our expatriate adventure fully intending to embrace the future opportunities that presented themselves, and to a large extent we have, but at the same time we have learnt to appreciate our past more, and that has been an extra very real benefit of the adventure so far.
To close, did you know that there are over 260 countries that have a National Day? I think I may have to head over and find out a little more about the Marshall Islands (1st May) at some stage, and if anybody can tell me why Cornwall (5th March) St Piran’s day has a national day I would very much appreciate it!
Please feel free to search on Google for the published versions of these columns.