Category Archives: Half-English Observations
Just a Bit of Fun at the Expense of One English Social Stereotype*
We went to London last week, and stayed in Fulham, where I lived for several very happy years. For the information of non-Londoners, it’s an area in the South-West of the capital, a twenty-minute Tube ride from the West End … Continue reading
Posted in Half-English Observations
Tagged Fulham, humour, Hurray Henrys, katherine gregor, musings, scribe doll, Sloanes
5 Comments
Seven Quirks of British Restaurants
No.1 Is everything O.K.? Have you noticed how waiters wait for the exact moment when you have your mouth full, before they ask you that? I often try and cheat them by staging my forkfuls when they’re not around but, … Continue reading
Posted in Half-English Observations
14 Comments
Odds & Ends: Diamond Jubilee
All right, so I’m a spoilsport. I had planned to spend today hiding in my flat, and catching the River Pageant on the television news. I just have never been a fan of crowded, public celebrations of anything. I still … Continue reading
Odds & Ends: English Houses
English houses are an infuriating combination of the cosy and the absurd. There are few pleasures comparable to walking home down a street lined with traditional-looking English houses. Diminutive in height, sloped roofs as observation decks for modulating blackbirds and … Continue reading
Posted in Half-English Observations
Tagged architecture, english houses, katherine gregor, observations, scribe doll
2 Comments
Pet Hates: Ethnic Monitoring Forms
Join a library, apply for a job or submit a play for a competition. More often than not, you will have to fill one in. Apparently, their purpose is to guarantee an equal distribution of opportunities among ethnic backgrounds. Does … Continue reading
The Temple Church
As a rule, I feel uncomfortable at church services. It is not that I have an issue with God, or with churches per se. I believe in God, and like most churches built at least 500 years ago. It is … Continue reading
Double Standards: The Ravens in the Tower
I took one of my students to the Tower of London, last Friday. I confess that, in the seventeen years I have lived in London, I had never been there. Well, at least not in daytime. I was not looking … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Half-English Observations
Tagged animal cruelty, katherine gregor, monarchy, ravens, scribe doll, scribedoll, tower of london
11 Comments
Odds & Ends: The English Food Complex
Of course, not all the English are like this. “Is this all right, my dear, or is it too much?” The hostess looks in earnest. You stare at the minuscule mound before you, and resist the temptation of lifting your … Continue reading
Scribe Doll 