{"id":7741,"date":"2016-05-14T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-12T16:16:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T20:16:58","slug":"so-your-character-is-from-england-or","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victoriagracehowell.com\/staging\/6258\/so-your-character-is-from-england-or\/","title":{"rendered":"So Your Character is From England or Scotland … Featuring Mawa, Maria, & Emily"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/div>\n

\nIt’s
\n time for this month’s So Your Character is From Another Country! This
\nis a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers
\nfrom around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen
\n of their respective country. I’m hoping to encourage international
\ndiversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to
\nwrite a character from these different places on our planet. If you
\nhaven’t checked out last month’s So Your Character is From New Zealand …<\/a> be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!<\/p>\n

England and Scotland are two other locations I must go to! So many of my favorite things come from the British! Sherlock<\/i>, Lord of the Rings<\/i>, Merlin<\/i>, Doctor Who<\/i>, Narnia<\/i> … Can you tell I watch a lot of British telly? I must visit this country! It’s a dream of mine to sit in the same pub the Inklings did and write something.<\/p>\n

Let’s welcome Mawa, Maria, and Emily to the stage!<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:
\n The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these
\nposts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the
\ncultures of each of the interviewees.<\/span><\/span>
\n
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\n<\/p>\n

\nMaria is an artist and writer who is technically Danish, but has lived in England since she was two. She lived in a \u2018historical\u2019 town in Surrey for about thirteen years, took an apprenticeship of sorts in Windsor, and moved to a small town in Cumbria a couple of years ago. She\u2019s currently a part time art student in a college in Penrith.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\nBlog <\/a>\/\/ DeviantART<\/a> \/\/ Goodreads<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n


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\nI\u2019m Mawa Mahima from bustling and iconic
\nLondon. I\u2019m an avid reader, blogger and exam-crazed student. <\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe Controversy<\/span><\/a> | Blog Twitter<\/span><\/a> |
\n@mawamahima <\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a> | mawamahima <\/span>Tumblr<\/span><\/a> | thepeopleslife<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\nI\u2019m
\nEmily: reader, writer, dreamer, happiest with tea in one hand and a paperback
\nor notebook in the other. I am English, from a town called Burton-on-Trent in
\nthe East Midlands, but I\u2019ve lived just outside Glasgow for the past eleven
\nyears. I\u2019m seventeen, in my last year of school, and soon off to do an English
\nLit degree. I am a Christian, an artist, a lover of music, a peruser of
\nsecondhand shops and a tree devotee. I blog at Ink, Inc.,<\/span><\/a> about ink in all its forms: reading,
\nwriting, and art. You can also find me on Goodreads<\/span><\/a>, Pinterest<\/span><\/a>,
\nBloglovin<\/span><\/a> and Twitter<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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\nNB:
\nIn terms of nationality, I think of myself as \u201cEnglish Glaswegian\u201d, but for
\nthis post I\u2019ll probably answer broadly about Scotland. I will drop England in
\nthere, too, though; keep an eye out.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n
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\nWhat do you feel is unique to your country? Landmarks? Celebrations?<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nMawa:<\/b> We are talking about the UK aren\u2019t we? Well, there are lots and lots of local traditions in the UK. Every place has their own loyalties I guess. For example, tracing back to the War of the Roses which ended in 1485, there is slight antagonism whenever you mention Manchester to someone from York and vice versa. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nIn London we get all the good celebrations. For example on Good Friday, there was a procession showing Jesus carrying the giant cross while being led around by Roman soldiers. Especially around Trafalgar Square we get a lot of celebrations happening.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nMaria:<\/b> Well, the Royal Family seems to be kind of a big deal. Jubilees and important weddings get a lot of hype. There are a lot of castles and historical houses and so forth that get a lot of tourists.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nEmily: <\/b>I\u2019m writing this on January 26th, so yesterday in Scotland it was Burns Night, which celebrates Robert Burns and involves haggis-eating, kilt-wearing and the recitation of Burns\u2019 poetry. \u201cFair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!\u201d begins the traditional Address to the Haggis.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nAnother important day in Scotland is Hogmanay, that is New Year\u2019s Eve; New Year rather overshadows Christmas. Both the 1st and the 2nd of January are bank holidays.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nGuy Fawkes Night (November 5th) is very important in England as it marks the day Guy Fawkes tried and failed to blow up Parliament in 1605, hence the fireworks and bonfire.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nSome other celebrations I should mention are dancing. In Scotland ceilidh dancing is a staple of any child\u2019s education and we have ceilidhs frequently, at weddings and on other occasions. The English equivalent is probably Morris dancing. Look it up.<\/span><\/div>\n
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<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Guy Fawkes’s Night<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\nTell me about your country’s environment. What are some of your favourite places?<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nMawa:<\/b> Ah, this isn\u2019t that hard to answer. The United Kingdom is a beautiful country if you\u2019ve ever seen an aerial view of it. Green fields everywhere! In London, you have our distinctive cityscape. My favourite places have to include Waterloo which is right next to the river Thames. There\u2019s always something happening around Waterloo, and there\u2019s this huge book market right beside the river. I\u2019ve found a few treasures through that book market.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThen there\u2019s my area. Shoreditch, the hipster scene of all Londoners. I think I\u2019ve got the male fashion of Shoreditch down to a tee: you have your rolled up skinny jeans, your big (brown) boots, your tweed (or similar material) blazer and more often than not a silk cravat. It\u2019s either that, or you\u2019re dressed in jeans, a massive shirt, and a big untameable beard. There may be tattoos involved.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nAh, but the best part about Shoreditch is how beautiful the streets are. There\u2019s such a variety of shops, people, and things to do. You\u2019re bound to find a nook somewhere that you can call your own. <\/span><\/div>\n
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\nMaria:<\/b> England is practically famous for being cold and wet, which is somewhat true. It does rain a lot, (though not as often as people seem to think), and floods are pretty common. Winters are generally mild and Summers aren\u2019t particularly hot. Landscape wise, there are a lot of hills, of varying sizes. One of my favourite places would be the Lake District up north, which is beautiful.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nEmily: <\/b>Climate-wise, Britain is rainy and cold. Think of it as America-lite: we have much colder summers and fairly warmer winters. To see a British city under snow is not exactly rare but by no means happens every winter.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nIn terms of places, I really love Glasgow city centre. Glasgow is a very modern and vibrant city, in contrast to Edinburgh, which is more historical and \u201ccultured\u201d. It is Europe\u2019s murder capital, and also friendliest city. Glaswegians are characterised by humour and a certain roughness, whereas Edinburgh are more \u201crefined\u201d and more anglicised. In case you haven\u2019t picked up on my frosty tone, know that there is definite antipathy between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Think New York and New Jersey. Think US and Canada.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nI also love the Highlands, of course. Scotland has a massive amount of wild places still remaining, with glorious mountains, lochs, rivers and trees.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAlso the sea. If you\u2019re writing about Britain, bear in mind that it\u2019s an island nation and we have very strong connections to the sea. Right now, sitting at home, I\u2019m under twenty miles from the ocean. That\u2019s important.<\/span>
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British Coastline<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Scottish Highlands<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Shoreditch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Glasgow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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\n<\/p>\n
\nTell me about your country’s food. What are some of your favourite dishes?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n


\n<\/span>
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\n
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\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMawa:<\/b> Bangers and mash is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about food from the UK. From my area we have a history of bubble and squeak, which the Jewish brought over all those years ago when they settled into Shoreditch. <\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\nBubble and squeak is some sort of potato-based concoction in which you have boiled potato, herbs, and some other things (it can vary from meat, to just fried onion). You mix the ingredients together, roll them up into balls, dip them in egg and fry them. The \u201cbubble and squeak\u201d noise the egg coating makes when its being fried is what gives the food the name. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMaria:<\/b> English food seems to mostly consist of meat, vegetables and pastry. We also have a tendency to stick currants, raisins, etc. into stuff like cakes and puddings, which children tend to dislike but adults love for some reason. My favourite food would have to be fish and chips though. Fish and chip shops are all over the place and I\u2019ve yet to visit a town which doesn\u2019t have at least a small one. Coastal towns have the best, of course, but you can get perfectly acceptable fish and chips in places like Surrey or London.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nEmily: <\/b>We really do eat haggis, neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) in Scotland, but mostly just on Burns Night and St Andrew\u2019s Day. Other delicacies include Irn Bru (vile fizzy drink, bright orange, look up the advert which is genius); tablet (which is like fudge but \u2026 different), Buckfast (disgusting cheap weak alcohol); deep fried Mars bar (this is a thing); macaroni pie (basically in Scotland we like to put pastry around anything. The more carbs it has, the better). Also, did you know that the curry Chicken Tikka Masala was invented not in India but in Glasgow?<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nRoast dinners are very British. There\u2019s a saying \u201cmeat-two-veg\u201d which means a stereotypical middle class Brit. Yorkshire puddings are basically the foundation of the country. The appropriate pudding for a roast dinner is something baked or steamed such as bread-and-butter pudding, rice pudding, syrup sponge, jam roly-poly or spotted dick (yes it is a thing). <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nFish and chips is very British. I published a story on my blog in the summer which mentioned queueing outside a chippie, and my American followers were both puzzled and amused by the idea. Apparently the States doesn\u2019t devote entire fast food shops to fish and chips?!<\/div>\n
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\nA British doughnut doesn\u2019t have a hole in the middle. It\u2019s full of jam or custard.<\/div>\n
\nAs for tea, we drink a lot. Think Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy. <\/div>\n
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Fish & Chips<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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\nTell me about any different speech patterns in your country. Slang? Idioms? Words for things such as \u201cbiscuits\u201d instead of \u201ccookies\u201d?<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMawa:<\/b> London slang is very rich, and teenage slang even more so. It\u2019s always changing, always transforming and so it keeps you on your toes.<\/div>\n
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