I’m back at my desk after a blissful week in Turkey.
Being a Brit abroad has always come with connotations.
We love a drink – nothing wrong with that, we love our football – likewise – and, of course, we expect everyone to know our language.
I’m just as bad as everyone else on that front – I try to learn the odd phrase here and there but by and large I result to random hand gestures and overzealous facial expressions.
And before this year I’d never really thought of it as a bad thing.
Like most people I’d shake my head in a self-depreciating way and guffaw: “Oh we’re so lazy in this country, aren’t we?!”
But bizarrely this summer I got some new perspective on it – namely because after a couple of days in the sun a lot of people seemed to think I was Turkish – or didn’t speak English, at least.
I took it as a compliment.
But it was really odd when other Brits started trying to mime words to me because they thought I couldn’t understand.
I was baffled when a friendly woman from Leeds tried to explain baked Alaska to me at two words a minute.
Not wanting to seem rude or cause her embarrassment, I just stood there while she mimed getting brain freeze and pulling her hands apart slowly – all while repeating the word “sticky”.
It was very kind of her to warn me about the viscosity of the dessert, but it did make me realise I might look a bit ridiculous sometimes too.
So next time I go away I’m going to try and learn maybe a bit more than “Hello” and “How much?”.
Maybe a “How are you?” would be appreciated, even if the response isn’t understood.
Britain has always benefited from how good English lessons are abroad. And that in turn has given us a safety net.
But the world is changing and at some point the amusement with our laziness might wear off.
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