ON MY MIND
THIS year the Advent candle refused to burn down sufficiently to welcome Christmas on the proper day and it was January 6 when it finally waxed lyrical.
Yet it would not have been inappropriate in some countries, where New Year is more festive.
In Spain, Kings Day, January 6, is special when the Three Kings bring presents to children, process on camels through the towns and throw sweets to those watching.
Many Brits, having voted to leave Europe, are desperate to get back to partying there. A Spanish friend of mine said he loved the Brits but didn’t really understand them. When celebrating in a foreign country they tended to experience a classical Pavlovian conditioning response which resulted in salivating, drinking lots of alcohol, getting drunk and falling over. One common feature of the British national psyche is queuing, a concept unintelligible to the European mind. This is why Brits abroad are often left confused in a queue of one when outflanked at the bus stop by grinning local residents. This very British act of decency and fair play is regarded as a mark of moral superiority in post-Brexit Britain.
There are other British customs that intrigue our European friends, including the barbecue in the garage when it rains, obsessive discussions about the weather, and warm beer. When Stephen Clarke wrote 1,000 Years of Annoying the French, he catalogued centuries of mistrust and misunderstanding from the so-called “French invasion” in 1066 – and we are still paying for the upkeep of those Norman castles. And did they not copy Blackpool Tower in Paris, use Sartre to cause moral collapse and spread musical chaos with the accordion?
Yet, satire apart, what we don’t need post-Brexit is further acrimony, economic and cultural isolation and cosying up to an increasingly dysfunctional USA.
Rob Biddulph, multi-awardwinning author and illustrator, has an inspiring drawing of the European nations as musical instruments playing the Ode to Joy, with the UK as a lone bugler looking on from the sidelines.
Unfortunately, nationalistic introspection and withdrawal can easily distract from the serious global issues confronting us.