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'Little England' will you be watching?


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[quote user="sweet 17"]

Well, if the colonel doesn't put in another appearance, I'm going to let OH watch University Challenge which is on at the same time.

Perhaps Q will approve of that programme?[:P]

[/quote]

I like having a go at some of the questions, get some right but more wrong. I understand PPP doesn't watch it, finds it boring because he knows all the answers, what with having a degree and all. [;-)]

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[quote user="sueyh"]Did anyone watch on Monday. I could not believe what I was watching when they spoke to the pompous p**t. It's people like him who give us ex-pats a bad name.

Or is it just me that thought that.

Suey[/quote]

Oh I was shouting at him and Midge or whatever his lady friend was called... just glad he lives in the Lot-et-Garonne!  You're right Sweet - you could not invent him!  I could say so many things about him... but I think it's best to keep some things to yourself [Www]

I still love the sausage man and his family... and the alpaca man, he seemed a very nice chap too.  I could happily share a coffee with them but Lord what's-his-face... I'd be off in the other direction if I saw him coming I'm afraid [:$]

I am also still loving the scenery - there is some lovely footage.  How do you reckon they filmed the overhead stuff?

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[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="sweet 17"]

Well, if the colonel doesn't put in another appearance, I'm going to let OH watch University Challenge which is on at the same time.

Perhaps Q will approve of that programme?[:P]

[/quote]

I like having a go at some of the questions, get some right but more wrong. I understand PPP doesn't watch it, finds it boring because he knows all the answers, what with having a degree and all. [;-)]

[/quote]

Oh Dear me. here we go again more subtle sarcasm from my favourite moderator.

Not much point replying as it will just be pulled by another moderator.

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[quote user="Rose"][quote user="sueyh"]Did anyone watch on Monday. I could not believe what I was watching when they spoke to the pompous p**t. It's people like him who give us ex-pats a bad name.

Or is it just me that thought that.

Suey[/quote]

Oh I was shouting at him and Midge or whatever his lady friend was called... just glad he lives in the Lot-et-Garonne!  You're right Sweet - you could not invent him!  I could say so many things about him... but I think it's best to keep some things to yourself [Www]

I still love the sausage man and his family... and the alpaca man, he seemed a very nice chap too.  I could happily share a coffee with them but Lord what's-his-face... I'd be off in the other direction if I saw him coming I'm afraid [:$]

I am also still loving the scenery - there is some lovely footage.  How do you reckon they filmed the overhead stuff?

[/quote]

Easy to film from a microlight, I have seen shots like that many times, but my wife is too busy taking photos of hot air baloons to put the camera on video mode! Rose if you are between Bergerac and Perigueux, you must have seen us flying over many times.

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[quote user="pachapapa"][quote user="Quillan"][quote user="sweet 17"]

Well, if the colonel doesn't put in another appearance, I'm going to let OH watch University Challenge which is on at the same time.

Perhaps Q will approve of that programme?[:P]

[/quote]

I like having a go at some of the questions, get some right but more wrong. I understand PPP doesn't watch it, finds it boring because he knows all the answers, what with having a degree and all. [;-)]

[/quote]

Oh Dear me. here we go again more subtle sarcasm from my favourite moderator.

Not much point replying as it will just be pulled by another moderator.

[/quote]

Notice I put a Smiley at the end, its a bit of light leg pulling but then if the cap fits etc. By the way it should not be a full stop but something like a comma or a capital letter on 'here'. Punctuation is everything I read somewhere. [:D]

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I've watched a couple of these programmes and I've recorded the major but have yet to meet him, but I can imagine.  My mother - who is the world's greatest snob - is always telling me that any army rank under colonel shouldn't be used in civilian life - did you know that? - and gets very hot under the collar about retired majors who still use the rank.

I do think that these programmes are actually more important, Quillan, than you give them credit for, if only because they convey to those at which the programmes are actually aimed (UK audiences, since we in Europe can't get UK TV yet can we?[Www]) a perception of we expats/immigrants which is stereotypical and thus often false.  Thus people either come over here in search of a life which doesn't exist, or they pass judgement upon us from the UK and imagine us all living the high life in endless sunshine and comparative wealth.  This may seem insignificant, but it isn't altogether.  The UK government still has a lot of control over things like our healthcare (what happens if the UK ever leaves the EU and they decide we don't need to be a burden on the British exchequer, for example?), heating allowances, tax for those with government pensions etc, and programmes like this do influence the perception of voters and opinion formers who  can sometimes affect our lives.  Yes, the programmes are superficial (not to say rather dull) but their effects aren't always so.

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Well Coops to be truefull I have watched very little of this series as I have already said but the short bit I did watch did make my toes curl. Sadly life in never like the dream, things can happen which are out of our control as you know but then they would happen wherever you are. I guess my problem is rather similar to why I can't watch "The Office" because I have actually seen or met (very briefly) people like this Major or whatever he is and I run for the door. I met a chap a couple of months back, an ex copper, who was not too dissimilar from the chap in the program. He started to name English couples he knew in the area, all 26 couples, who regularly meet up for dinners etc. Your made to feel a bit of a looser because you don't mix in that circle and it is very clearly very clicky ( and a bit bitchy judging by what I heard). I can't really see the point in living in an English environment in a foreign country. Sure I can understand these groups when people are working like in one of the Arab states under contract etc but to effectively emigrate and join an English community, well whats the point or is it they really want England in the sun. In which case wouldn't Spain be a better bet being more set up for them.

I guess if it shows the good and the bad side, giving a balanced view it would be OK (does it?) but as I said I don't really know as I have not watched.

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[quote user="Bob T"]

Easy to film from a microlight, I have seen shots like that many times, but my wife is too busy taking photos of hot air baloons to put the camera on video mode! Rose if you are between Bergerac and Perigueux, you must have seen us flying over many times.
[/quote]

Bob, I was just going to explain to Rose that I've seen as good as, if not better than, those shots taken by Mrs Bob (LOL, won't call her Mrs T, for obvious reasons).

Whenever I see a microlight round our way, (a few times this summer), I feel an urge to wave, in case it's you!ide

Considered and balance post from Coops, as you'd expect.

I do think though that, considering many people on here have already said they ENJOY the programmes, I feel that Q is a bit insensitive to just rubbish them and call them Sh1t.

OK, Q, if you're looking for a fight, let's just go outside, right?

Notice I did say that "I feel" this is the case which is rather different from "Q is"....it's my opinion, for what it's worth and I don't often make personal remarks but sometimes it seems right to say it out loud.

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[quote user="EmilyA"]Actually Coops, I think he was a Lieutenant Colonel so that probably meets your Mother's standards![/quote]Thanks, yes - she's probably adore him then.  I shall look in later today!

To be fair, there have been one or two people on the programme who were rather different from said Lt Col (like the alpacca farmer and the photographer who was picking grapes, for instance) and if you haven't seen it all, Q, then of course you'd have missed them.  But it is certainly a long way from my little corner of France.  Yes, there is a small English-speaking clique which I join in with once a month during the summer when they have a quiz but it is certainly not the centre of my existence as some of the little groups featured in this programme (like the bowls club, for example) do appear to be for some.  Life is a rich mixture and lots of things, and many cultures.  The trap lies in writing off any single one based upon pre-conceived notions, which programmes like this can foster. 

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[quote user="Quillan"]

 I can't really see the point in living in an English environment in a foreign country. Sure I can understand these groups when people are working like in one of the Arab states under contract etc but to effectively emigrate and join an English community, well whats the point or is it they really want England in the sun. In which case wouldn't Spain be a better bet being more set up for them.

[/quote]

Isn't this an English community?  Some folks spend a great deal of time here (for many different reasons) learning and asking and chatting... mainly in English.  We have a book club and swap recipes and there is great deal of concern when a member becomes ill or is having difficulties.  We may not meet up for dinner once a fortnight but I think it is most certainly a community and not a typical local french one either. 

I have met a few folks from here as a direct result of the forum and I now consider them friends... there are also people I've not met who have helped me a great deal when I needed help and I also consider them friends (my mother in law described them as old fashioned pen-friends... which is a good description I guess).

I not a dinner party kind of girl and I too try and avoid that whole 'keeping up with the jones' set - we had them in the UK as well as here in France... but I do meet up with english friends and I very much enjoy the company of fellow ex-pats. 

Many of my friends have children my son's age.  All of the children could be taken for French - they speak perfect french, go to french schools and clubs and have a good group of french friends... but they all seem to very much enjoy the company of their english friends.  Oddly, they seem far more english than us (the adults) and have no split loyalty when it comes to things like the rugby.   They all seem to love their lives in France, all seem very happy and settled but they hold on to their British identity.  So maybe we all do in one way or another - given the opportunity... maybe we all just enjoy a good chat in our mother tongue? 

I used to worry about needing to find French friends and being sure I involved myself in the community - after all we're here to live the French life aren't we?  And we dont want to be like those other ex-pats in southern Spain... do we?  However, the years have mellowed me.  I enjoy the company of my french friends but I no longer feel that my ex-pat friends are a guilty secret.  I enjoy the company of all my friends here (British, Dutch, American, French and Turkish) - I now consider my life much richer for them being around and I count my blessings... it's a great feeling to no longer be restricted by the worries of people I dont know [:$]

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[quote user="cooperlola"]

But it is certainly a long way from my little corner of France.  Yes, there is a small English-speaking clique which I join in with once a month during the summer when they have a quiz but it is certainly not the centre of my existence as some of the little groups featured in this programme (like the bowls club, for example) do appear to be for some.  Life is a rich mixture and lots of things, and many cultures.  The trap lies in writing off any single one based upon pre-conceived notions, which programmes like this can foster. 

[/quote]

It's also certainly a long way of from the circles I move in as well. Yes there is a group in our next town and they have regular English quiz nights in one of the bars, owned by an Irish couple and I was invited once but it's not for me. I wouldn't do it in the UK so why do it here? I do have once slight confession in that I do sometimes watch a couple of French game shows like their version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire" because it's a format I have seen in the UK, the questions are on the screen and I believe it helps my French a bit.

There is a French club down town for 55's and over that arranges events, picnics, walking, day trips and once a year a coach holiday. I haven't been on the coach holiday but have attended some of the other events and they are really good fun and it forces me to speak French. There are about four of five English couples that go as well and I mix with them a little at these events just in the same way as I do with the French. If I make a friend and I have made one or two through the club then their nationality is a secondary issue. Likewise I play boules in the village, joined the local rugby club and go with them every other year to watch England v France in Paris have dinner at away days when our local team is playing. I guess I take the attitude with English people over here that if I wouldn't have them as a friend back in the UK then why make friends with them here, same with some of the French as well.

Likewise I come from a very big military family which has been involved in the army and Royal Marines for many generations and some are of the same rank or even higher than this fella but they are retired and they never use their rank. In fact it's difficult to remember who has what rank but then it's not that important anyway. I was also an officer but so what, it was a previous life and I doubt it would impress anyone. I therefore find it very strange that a person should feel the need in this day and age to remind everyone that they were in the army and still refer to themselves by rank, whats the point, unless you want to try and be a big fish in a small and captive pond. Back in the UK of course they would be a small fish in an ocean.

Coops, I only saw the bit about the girl training to be a chef and that she got an award, I thought that was fairly normal (good for her I thought) and you mentioned a couple of others but do you really consider it a balanced program based on your experience in France of how us English behave? Do you watch it because it's funny rather than 'real'? Does any of the characters make you cringe?

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[quote user="Rose"]

Isn't this an English community?  Some folks spend a great deal of time here (for many different reasons) learning and asking and chatting... mainly in English. 
[/quote]

A valid point and yes your right. I shall ask Mrs Q to give me a kick up the backside for being hypocritical. [:(]

 

 

Ouch! [:'(]

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[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="Rose"]

Isn't this an English community?  Some folks spend a great deal of time here (for many different reasons) learning and asking and chatting... mainly in English. 

[/quote]

A valid point and yes your right. I shall ask Mrs Q to give me a kick up the backside for being hypocritical. [:(]

 

 

Ouch! [:'(]

[/quote]

[:D]

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[quote user="Benjamin"]Rose wrote:

And we dont want to be like those other ex-pats in southern Spain... do we?

Is that from personal experience Rose or have you been watching those UK TV programmes again?  [Www]

[/quote]

Actually Benjamin - you're right... sorry [:$]

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[quote user="Quillan"]

Coops, I only saw the bit about the girl training to be a chef and that she got an award, I thought that was fairly normal (good for her I thought) and you mentioned a couple of others but do you really consider it a balanced program based on your experience in France of how us English behave? Do you watch it because it's funny rather than 'real'? Does any of the characters make you cringe?

[/quote]

The young chef was great wasn't she... I do sort of agree with you about the balance Q... the series is only part way through so maybe they will spend some time with a more mixed bag of people?  The lady working in the vines was a good example of someone working hard to earn a living - in fact I think most of the people featured have been working to support their lives in France.  They do seem to be showing people who have made a success of their lives in France.  Do you think they should include a few that have found it a struggle to settle or perhaps had to face illness or not been able to find work?  Maybe there is more to come?

I watch it mainly because it's the Dordogne/France.   I am curious to see how we're portrayed but if it was a programme like this but set in Spain or Australia or USA I most proabably wouldn't watch.  Not because I would think it was bad but simply because it wouldn't have the same interest.

The only character so far that made me really shout at the TV was the colonel chappie... I think most people would have found him a tad irratating

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I knew within weeks of moving to France that there was an 'english set' who met up regularly and did all sorts together. Years later I was reprimanded once at the ortho dentists by an english woman who wanted to know why we lived where we lived and why we were not members of certain things and why my kids didn't go to X schools. She told me that I didn't 'know' anybody and there was 'nobody' where I lived. In a village of approx 2000 I found rather a lot of somebody's.

 

I made a few english friends in France and still have them. None of us were members of these 'clubs' and we all lived a long way from one another meeting up two or three times a year or once every two or three years, it depended.

 

I love dinner parties, just my guests in France were usually french.

 

 

 

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[quote user="Quillan"]Coops, I only saw the bit about the girl training to be a chef and that she got an award, I thought that was fairly normal (good for her I thought) and you mentioned a couple of others but do you really consider it a balanced program based on your experience in France of how us English behave? Do you watch it because it's funny rather than 'real'? Does any of the characters make you cringe?[/quote]

 

I don't live in the Dordogne but in my very limited and unrepresentative time there, I did feel that it was far more Anglo-centric than the bit I'm used to and that lots of businesses still exist which appear to cater mostly to Brits.  Thus I imagine that there are still enclaves which do not really "integrate" (whatever that may mean) because otherwise I don't know how these enterprises survive in the current economic climate.  Certainly, there seemed to be lots of stuff in the English language (supermarket announcements and posters, a selection of UK mags and newspapers etc) which I'm not used to here except in June.

 

I watch it (eventually) because a) I do think that the view of expats/immigrants which is received back in the UK  is important for the reasons I have already stated.  We may be uninterested in it but we are certainly not disinterested.  The view which people get of us can affect many of us still, like it or not and b) I like the scenery.

 

I've met people like the couple who built the bowls club (OK, not on that scale but certainly those who set things up just for Brits with no intention of including any native French) and I saw in places like Eymet, loads of Brits sitting together drinking in little cliques and speaking English both to each other and those who were serving them so yes, they exist.  Are they funny?- no, not very.  Are they "real"? - well yes, I think they are.  Are we all like that? - No.  But then this is TV and it has to be a bit off centre to get the viewing figures which attract the advertisers, which pay for the programmes.  Sadly, we're stuck with that these days and (at least some of) the reality goes out of the window in the process.

 

 

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[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="pachapapa"][quote user="Quillan"][quote user="sweet 17"]

Well, if the colonel doesn't put in another appearance, I'm going to let OH watch University Challenge which is on at the same time.

Perhaps Q will approve of that programme?[:P]

[/quote]

I like having a go at some of the questions, get some right but more wrong. I understand PPP doesn't watch it, finds it boring because he knows all the answers, what with having a degree and all. [;-)]

[/quote]

Oh Dear me. here we go again more subtle sarcasm from my favourite moderator.

Not much point replying as it will just be pulled by another moderator.

[/quote]

Notice I put a Smiley at the end, its a bit of light leg pulling but then if the cap fits etc. By the way it should not be a full stop but something like a comma or a capital letter on 'here'. Punctuation is everything I read somewhere. [:D]

[/quote]

An exclamation mark was intended. But watching the exchanges between  holland and aubry on france 2 at that moment in time.

I believe your acolyte is confused with spelling and punctuation.

Oh! Yes! I do not have a dish pointed towards the " little englander" satellite and rarely use the Expat Shield as it is only installed on the netbook for reasons of security; if a Brit offers me something for free there must be a catch.

The netbook is only used whilst I am watching TV for integrated european residents; so it is rare that I try iplayer, perhaps once a month for football/soccer.

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[quote user="pachapapa"]

...and rarely use the Expat Shield as it is only installed on the netbook for reasons of security; if a Brit offers me something for free there must be a catch.

[/quote]

There is much in what you say. I believe the idea is that one's IP address is hidden behind a proxy server, the sort of thing much favoured by trolls, spammers and naughty people who want to steal one's personal details. These things aren't free to the person who sets them up, so how do they turn a crust? Advertising?

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[quote user="Rose"][quote user="Benjamin"]Rose wrote:

And we dont want to be like those other ex-pats in southern Spain... do we?

Is that from personal experience Rose or have you been watching those UK TV programmes again?  [Www]

[/quote]

Actually Benjamin - you're right... sorry [:$]

[/quote]

Interesting reply Rose. For those who have lived and have experience of other countries it's difficult to judge what effect these sort of programmes have on those back in Blighty (or back anywhere else for that matter). Your reply indicates to me that they do indeed have a profound influence on how those who have gone to live elsewhere are viewed. Rightly or wrongly, of course, but in my opinion mostly wrongly.

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[quote user="Benjamin"][. For those who have lived and have experience of other countries it's difficult to judge what effect these sort of programmes have on those back in

[/quote]Well, actually, it's not that difficult.  You only have to pay a visit to the UK and tell somebody you live in France and off they'll go.  And in my (albeit limited, as is everybody's) experience, these programmes really do affect our image back in the land in which many of us were born.  Sad, I know but then, when you watch a programme about something you know nothing about, do you dismiss it all as "just TV" or do you believe at least some of it?  I'm betting the latter but maybe others are even more cynical than I am .
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