Mood:
chattyNow Playing: Bjork (Debut)
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Right...Monday is just about over. It was a beautiful day today...18 degrees...clear sky...high ceiling...low humidity...intermittently sunny...perfect.
Unfortunately I could not bike to work today because I was forced to leave my bicycle there over the weekend, so I could free my hands to bring home an electric drill. With that drill we installed our beautiful new curtains, which frankly make me feel like a new person. Those ugly mouldy, water-stained orange drapes were just weighing on my mind like a gorilla.
Stephen is playing D & D tonight, so I have some time to read "Watching the English" that he bought for me on his last day at work (see yesterday's entry). I finished THE AMBER SPYGLASS (the 3rd of the Philip Pullman Trilogy) and felt thoroughly satisfied. My eyes were not dry, but then I cry at most things emotional either happy or sad. Weird girly thing I'm pretty sure.
The key to this new book is in the second part of the title: the HIDDEN rules of English Behaviour.
Basically, Kate Fox is an English Anthropologist at a research school in Oxford. She is trained to identify the hidden codes and mores of cultures.
The very fact the Fox examines the rhymes and reasons of the English people is a taboo in itself. I almost feel ashamed to be reading the book on the train, in case some Nosy Parker glances at the cover and feels embarrassed that I'm reading about all their secrets. Because there are a lot of secrets.
For one, they pride their ability to master emotion, harness honesty, and guard their private lives while ripping everyone else's open.
What makes looking at English behaviour unique is that whereas most behaviours of any given culture are done unconsciously, such as wearing baseball caps or being friendly to strangers, the English are usually very aware of their behaviour at all times, but are simply unaware of how illogical it all is.
For instance, when meeting new people "...the English do not want to know your name, or tell you theirs, until a much greater degree of intimacy has been established..." And of course not all English people are this way, and if you feel you need to qualify how she defines "the English" read her introduction, because she makes a very strong argument based on her sound research that these rules apply to the majority of people living in England.
And most English therefore, subscribe to the unwritten rule that the weather is mentioned as a greeting, as an ice-breaker, and as conversational filler. With so many uses for weather-talk, it is also useful to know this rule: "Always agree" If someone says "Ooh it's chilly today" (and to a Canadian this couldn't be farther from the truth) and you disagree, even mildly, this "is a serious breach of etiquette." If you do, "you will find the atmosphere becomes rather tense and awkward, and possibly somewhat huffy." She goes on to point out that the English Weather is one of few things about which the English are unashamedly patriotic. They treat it like a member of their family...the English can moan about it, but outsiders certainly cannot! They don't take to comparison to other climates, as "Size...isn't everything, and the English weather requires an appreciation of subtle changes and understated nuances, rather than a vulgar obsession with mere volume and magnitude."
I.e.---the English are petty and unreasonable.
Now everything is starting to fall into place...why English people don't take too kindly to us Canadians here at Rexcats. We're vulgar, honest, and "gasp" we like to express ourselves freely!
Already today I tried the new etiquette techniques, and saw them working.
Doubtless there will be more quotes from this book as time goes on.
Happy End of Monday!