Re: Oops more heated questions. lol

I am Anglo Irish born in England but am torn in half by my genes. I was raised by my Uncle who was Irish till I was 9, and another saying " Give me a child till he's 7 and he is mine for life."

Re: Oops more heated questions. lol

I left the UK when I was 9 and have always felt that it was home. I find myself in economic exile because there is no way I could have the lifestyle I do if I lived in England, and like a dolphin that's been raised in captivity I would not be able to function if I returned to my natural habitat.
I readily admit to hypocrisy in using Canada to facilitate an easier more prosperous working life but there's nothing I can do to stop loving the UK.
I believe that leaving at such a young age has given me a somewhat romanticized unrealistic picture of Blighty but one has to believe in something and my heart belongs to that sceptred isle.

Re: Oops more heated questions. lol

I like living in the UK, I like the island of my birth but don't go overboard about either.

Re: Oops more heated questions. lol

I think it goes further than that. I'v lived and worked abroad in my younger years for quite some time and always felt like a foreigner. But further to this I consider myself a Yorkshire man. We all have a sense of self and belonging, and central to this is the place you were brought up. Allegiances change with respect to politics, religion etc but your place of birth remains. What amuses me is when I talk to Americans on the internet, a lot of them place great store on their ancestral homeland.especially the Irish and Scottish. Almost like a yearning for a sense of identity that is different from the place they live. I see something similar in Ex pat communities. A lot of the tradesmen from the town I live have moved to rural France for their retirement. When I visit, there is no doubt they are Ex pats, and they revel in the little differences that they keep alive. I've seen the same with the German ex pat community on the island of Madeira.