Barcelona. Las Ramblas - such a lovely wide boulevard, thronged with laughing, joyful holidaymakers, all mingling with each other along its cobbled thoroughfare. And now this. People despair and ask why is this happening in the world. But it's always happened. Man feels threatened unless he can 'protect' himself amongst his very own group, fighting off all those 'others'. However, centuries ago man only fought those who lived in the next village, unaware of what was happening in the rest of the world. Ironically today technology is at fault, opening up global vistas, showing how green it is the other side of the fence. Well, that was ever the reasoning. The difference today is that one group is fighting not to try to achieve what others have but with one aim only - to proselytise the rest of the world to their own 'group'. Pure tribalism but with a global, evil twist. Let us hope they are never successful.
Meantime, technology's better side: today I'm on fellow author Vanessa Couchman's blog, talking about the lighter side of cultural exchanges in Europe. Do pop over to www.vanessafrance.wordpress.com and read about my forthcoming release, Pensioners in Paradis: French Notes From A Broad. Thank you Vanessa.
13th August 2017
Immigrants....Years ago we were used to Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants. In France we'd read about EU immigration but not experienced it. Back in the UK the builders sent several workers to our new house. Couldn't quite place the first one's accent. Russian? No. Polish? No. Bulgarian! And when another builder came round, he sounded a bit similar. You must be Bulgarian, I said. No. Albanian! Oh the changes here post-war. From '48 to '62 the UK saw a wave of immigrants from Britain's imperial family. 500,000 arrived, mainly from the Caribbean, India and Pakistan. In Mirpur you earned 50p per week, in Wolverhampton £33. A no-brainer. Everyone thought they were here just temporarily, but it eventually turned the UK multicultural. And now the latest EU wave. After 2004 it was impossible for the government to control numbers, so Brexit was born. My conclusion? We must all learn how to deal with neighbours of a different culture.
...Hence the new published edition of my non-fiction book Pensioners in Paradis: French Notes from a Broad. How did Him indoors cope with dealing with a different culture? And how did the French cope with him? Now available for pre-order: click on the image on the right.
...Hence the new published edition of my non-fiction book Pensioners in Paradis: French Notes from a Broad. How did Him indoors cope with dealing with a different culture? And how did the French cope with him? Now available for pre-order: click on the image on the right.
6th August 2017
Now I'm back in England, my head's much clearer. Must be all that rain, washing away my confusion. 12 years ago I still viewed France in awe - full of sun, cobalt-blue skies and gourmet food. We all looked for the same thing: a natural-stone cottage in glorious countryside, surrounded by acres of your own land and perhaps metres from a shimmering lake. You're going to speak French and integrate. And all for a mere fraction of a UK house. But after say 10 years, reality sets in. You're not getting any younger and the essentials of life like supermarkets/banks/petrol stations/cash machines/doctors are miles away, so what to do if either your eyesight's failing or only one of you drives? Land maintenance is fine if you're fit, but will you still be in 10 years' time? And those living near a lake/river: wait for the flooding to start. French living costs, once cheap, are steadily rising. Ultimate question: do you want to die there? (I know, you don't want to die anywhere!). And me? TG back in reality land, no longer foreign (even though I speak good French), shops open 'til 11 pm, no lunchtime closing, everything easier, quicker and more friendly. I can tell you straight: the French do not like the English - they are 'ferme', closed to outsiders. TG I've at last come to my senses. The English living in France are still in a dream world, still in long-term HOLIDAY mode. England has its faults, but it's HOME.
30th July 2017
A whirlwind week! American daughter Julie and son-in-law Scott are now en route back to Maine after spending a lovely week with us in Birmingham.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Woulley/status/891398566400454656
We enjoyed a day out in Wales, wandering around the ruins of Raglan Castle. For the knitters amongst you, the shortened sleeve was named after the poor Duke who lost his arm in battle, necessitating the local women to devise a special raglan knitting pattern just for him. Nearer to home we tramped up nearby Lickey Hills nearly losing Bruno who, comme d'habitude, ignored completely our commands! But the highlight of the week was undoubtedly yesterday, where at the Joseph Cohen Hall we enjoyed a service in our honour followed by a fab party with our friends from the community and family. Wonderful food - including fried fish balls, fried aubergine salad, felafel, pickled herring, cheeses, fruit etc etc. We even had golden balloons. David Beckham eat your heart out. A special surprise for us was the composite picture below, which Julie had secretly arranged from some of our old wedding pics plus bottom left a vintage photo from 1930 where my late mother (frontrow, 4th left) won 1st prize as Miss Aston Villa. Now that's something you don't see every day. Thank you to all the lovely people who helped us celebrate our 50th in style. Here's to the next 50 years.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Woulley/status/891398566400454656
We enjoyed a day out in Wales, wandering around the ruins of Raglan Castle. For the knitters amongst you, the shortened sleeve was named after the poor Duke who lost his arm in battle, necessitating the local women to devise a special raglan knitting pattern just for him. Nearer to home we tramped up nearby Lickey Hills nearly losing Bruno who, comme d'habitude, ignored completely our commands! But the highlight of the week was undoubtedly yesterday, where at the Joseph Cohen Hall we enjoyed a service in our honour followed by a fab party with our friends from the community and family. Wonderful food - including fried fish balls, fried aubergine salad, felafel, pickled herring, cheeses, fruit etc etc. We even had golden balloons. David Beckham eat your heart out. A special surprise for us was the composite picture below, which Julie had secretly arranged from some of our old wedding pics plus bottom left a vintage photo from 1930 where my late mother (frontrow, 4th left) won 1st prize as Miss Aston Villa. Now that's something you don't see every day. Thank you to all the lovely people who helped us celebrate our 50th in style. Here's to the next 50 years.
23rd July 2017
50 years ago today Him indoors and I walked down the aisle together! Where did the time go? And now, here we are again in the same place. Below, en route to our honeymoon 23rd July 1967, standing in front of the Bham Hall of Memory on Broad Street. It was still the swinging sixties, flowered trouser suits all the rage - and that was just the men! So much has changed in the world over the last 50 years but some things remain the same: still power-hungry, land-grabbing male world leaders causing havoc to ordinary citizens, still hungry people craving the essentials in life, still 'tribalism' amongst certain groups seeking to kill others unless they proselytise the rest of us to their beliefs....the list goes on. I, personally, am a spiritual person, but here's my Golden Wedding message to the rest of the world: practise your religion by all means, but do it in private. Don't parade your beliefs or seek to proselytise others on the streets. Wear clothes normal for the country where you live and integrate into local society. That's what I've learned over the years, especially when living in other countries. Oh, and make sure you get on with your family - they're worth more than gold. Must dash to meet our precious daughter arriving from the US.and our precious son...enjoy your lives everyone. xx
16th July 2017
Why on Earth have you moved back to Bham from SW France...
First so much admin to deal with in an attempt to reverse what I did in 2005. So as a start I walked down the road to register with a GP and dentist, both conveniently in one building. As I walked in "Mr S. to Dr D. please" over a tannoy system. That was new to me. Next I applied for our 2 free travel passes, a real boon to me as both the bus into the city centre and the local train station are in walking distance from our new house. Then I applied to the DVLA to swap our French driving licences back to UK ones, which should reduce our exorbitant car insurance - mainly because Him indoors insisted on buying a used Freelander HSE 3.2! (I wanted a new, nippy, reliable, easy to park car but guess who won?)
....Did you see the film Castaway with Tom Hanks? He had all the sunshine, fish, coconuts and peace he could possibly want but what did he do at the first opportunity? Rushed back to civilisation with all its faults.
First so much admin to deal with in an attempt to reverse what I did in 2005. So as a start I walked down the road to register with a GP and dentist, both conveniently in one building. As I walked in "Mr S. to Dr D. please" over a tannoy system. That was new to me. Next I applied for our 2 free travel passes, a real boon to me as both the bus into the city centre and the local train station are in walking distance from our new house. Then I applied to the DVLA to swap our French driving licences back to UK ones, which should reduce our exorbitant car insurance - mainly because Him indoors insisted on buying a used Freelander HSE 3.2! (I wanted a new, nippy, reliable, easy to park car but guess who won?)
....Did you see the film Castaway with Tom Hanks? He had all the sunshine, fish, coconuts and peace he could possibly want but what did he do at the first opportunity? Rushed back to civilisation with all its faults.
9th July 2017
England. This green and pleasant land. Feel as if I've been in a coma for 12 years and just awakened. Familiar sights all around but new buildings plonked down overnight. New tech everywhere: every socket in our house has USB points and I'm trying to get to grips with Sky Q tv. How to play, pause and record whole series? No idea! At least I now have an old fashioned radio that simply plugs in so I can listen to BBC4. Joy unconfined after years of French tv babble. Shopping at Sainsburys surprisingly pleasant. Helpful assistants, long forgotten, familiar products and wide checkouts for ease of unloading. But, and there had to be a but, I hate online forms. They never have appropriate options, so I called a car insurance co. Disaster. They won't accept our French no claims, don't understand it and won't accept my translation. Ah the English. Some things never change.
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