It's Decision Time . . .

VOCABULARY

Next week, on Thursday June 23, all eyes will be on Britain as the British people make one of the greatest decisions in decades – a decision that will change England forever, and the rest of the world. We are voting whether to leave the European Union and try to go it alone ,orto remain as one of the 28 European states, with special conditions. I certainly hope that the latter wins but, like thousands of other British people who have chosen to leave the UK to live in another European country, and have been there for more than 15 years, I am not allowed to vote. We have been warned by the European Commission that if we vote to leave, there is no turning back. It is quite frightening, but exciting at the same time.

I went to England, last week, to try and suss out the situation and to speak to as many people as possible about which way they were going to vote. I was surprised at what I found out. While I was flying to London I started my mission and got into a conversation with a lovely couple who were sitting next to me. They, and many others on the plane, had flown to Salzburg for one night only to see Andre Rieu in concert – so they weren't your usual" run of the mill" tourists. Half way through the flight I asked them about the upcoming referendum. Unlike Austrians, many of whom don't like to share their political views (I mean, I don't know one person who admitted to voting for Norbert Hofer, but he still got over 49% of the votes) British people tell you immediately and give you their reasons why. The couple said they were definitely going to vote to leave the EU and suddenly all the people in the rows in front of me joined in our conversation. Unfortunately, all of them were of the same opinion. The reasons they gave me were varied.

Some believe that leaving the EU would give us better control of our borders and the migrant crisis, while others said we could send back EU citizens from Poland and Romania, who had just come to Britain to take advantage of our very generous welfare system and were on the dole. The lady sitting next to me said that we could keep the £350 million that we send to Brussels each month and instead spend it on our failing National Health System. None of my fellow passengers seemed to know what Britain got out of the EU for this money. They didn't want Brussels dictating to them anymore, about whether our bananas must be curved or our cucumbers straight – they had a point.

After the plane had landed, I turned to my fellow passengers and asked them to vote to remain in the EU. Living in Austria, I get a much wider view of how important it is to stay together to benefit financially and fight terrorism. However, they all smiled at me, the way that British people do, totally confident that they were making the right decision and Britain can go it alone. It made me wonder – if the Brits do vote to leave and are successful, how long will it be before other EU countries follow suit?

In England, I watched as many debates on television as I could. Although our prime minister, David Cameron, tried to convince us of how important it is to remain in the EU, Boris Johnson, the flamboyant, but popular exmayor of London is running a very successful campaign on why we should leave. They both started telling lies and I, along with thousands of others, was none the wiser. No one seems to be able to tell the British people what it would really be like if we voted to leave. I don't think that the politicians really know. People will vote according to what suits them best. The "Make Britain British" campaign is very strong. Almost everyone I spoke to said that they were voting out – I fear the worst. In six days time we will know. to leave – verlassen to try to go it alone – es allein versuchen to remain – bleiben the latter – das letztere chosen – gewählt no turning back – keine Umkehr frightening – beängstigend exciting – spannend to suss out – unter die Lupe nehmen lovely couple – nettes Paar run of the mill – gewöhnlich upcoming – bevorstehend unlike – im Unterschied zu to share – mitteilen political views – politische Ansichten to admit – zugeben immediately – sofort reasons – Gründe the rows – Sitzreihen to join in – mitreden of the same opinion – derselben Meinung borders – Grenzen to take advantage of – ausnützen generous – großzügig welfare system – Sozialsystem the dole – Arbeitslosengeld failing – mangelhaft fellow passengers – Mitpassagiere straight cucumbers – gerade Gurken have a point – nicht ganz unrecht haben confident – zuversichtlich to wonder – sich fragen to follow suit – dem Beispiel folgen to convince – überzeugen flamboyant – extravagant to tell lies – Lügen erzählen none the wiser – um nichts klüger what suits best – was besser passt to fear the worst – das Schlimmste fürchten