metro city? You'd be better off in the country me dear Cool? nah thats just Peace Phoenix, Island Dweller, Power_13, Me and Moonlightstars from Glastonbury this year! Make sure you do the summer festival circuit when you're here... you'll see the best of the UK there I promise Love Clairexxxx p.s. Us British are sarcastic f**kers! take it all with a big pinch of salt and give as good as you get!:sunglasse
History degree? IS there any history in america? It didn't even get going until the 16th century! Well I suppose a degree's a degree and if the worst comes to the worst you could always go into teaching. You could probably be a journalist (if you learn how to spell properly - none of this aluminum, color, center, civilization etc. nonsense - oh and learn what irony is). Plenty of jobs in supermarkets, clothes shops and factories and I believe there is still a lot of call for dustmen. Oh and CES are looking for people to train as stewards for football grounds *hem hem*. In all seriousness though - and I say this to all foreigners, not just the shermans - if you want to learn a language well, learn how to speak it correctly. If you want to know it really well, like a native, you need to learn how to speak it incorrectly the right way So if you want to live in london or a big city, well there's Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, which are all big cities as well. But I'd recommend London (as long as you find the nice areas of it) - you don't want to end up in Brixton or Barking, really! Or if you fancy something a bit different there's always Glasgow or Edinburgh north of the border, or Baadiff, to the west of the river Severn.
History degree? IS there any history in america? It didn't even get going until the 16th century! History does not pertain to any one nation, it involves all nations and the cultures within. Yes there is history in America. We wrote the Declaration of Indepence, The Constitution (which has been a framework for other democracies), and held Woodstock in 1969. Well I suppose a degree's a degree and if the worst comes to the worst you could always go into teaching. You could probably be a journalist (if you learn how to spell properly - none of this aluminum, color, center, civilization etc. nonsense - oh and learn what irony is). I don't want to teach anything below university level. I am planning on being a journalist. Plenty of jobs in supermarkets, clothes shops and factories and I believe there is still a lot of call for dustmen. Oh and CES are looking for people to train as stewards for football grounds *hem hem*. Those jobs aren't my cup of tea. In all seriousness though - and I say this to all foreigners, not just the shermans - if you want to learn a language well, learn how to speak it correctly. If you want to know it really well, like a native, you need to learn how to speak it incorrectly the right way ? What's a sherman? So if you want to live in london or a big city, well there's Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, which are all big cities as well. But I'd recommend London (as long as you find the nice areas of it) - you don't want to end up in Brixton or Barking, really! Well London is my plan. I love history and London is such a historic town. Or if you fancy something a bit different there's always Glasgow or Edinburgh north of the border, or Baadiff, to the west of the river Severn. Those are in Scotland, right?
Sherman as in Sherman Tank. Australians call them Seppos as in Septic Tank because in Australia, a Sherman Tank's a wank. (same think I suppose). Edinburgh is the Capital of Scotland. Glasgow is the other major city there. Baadiff is the Capital of Wales (hence Baa). Oh and US consitution framework of other democracies? Is it bollocks! From what I understand abotu American politics, you don't actually HAVE a democracy given that your electoral council can actually over-rule the vote of the people anyway. Democracy was invented in Athens in I think the 5th century BC. I'll tell you a funny story relating to Americans and Democracy. We had a guest conductor in County Youth Wind Orchestra named Frank Batisti - quite a big name in wind bands. He told us that we should all bring a "gift" for each other in that we've all prepared our parts and know them inside out before we come to the rehearsal so we can all rely on each other when it comes to putting it together. He said - "everyone puts in the same amount and everyone gets the same amount out - it's the perfect democracy!". I had to work really hard just to stop my self bursting out laughing and blurting out - "no it's not - you've just described communism!". had to immediately snigger across to the other bassoonists about what I really wanted to shout back at him just to contain myself. Of course I knew what might well happen should I accuse a sherman of having communist ideas.
I know that the first democracy was in Greece many years ago. They had a direct democracy. Today's democracy is not a direct democracy but is one according to the definition. The people rule the country, isn't that what a democracy is? Here's what my encyclopedia says about democracy. Democracy (Greek demos,”the people”; kratein, “to rule”), political system in which the people of a country rule through any form of government they choose to establish. In modern democracies, supreme authority is exercised for the most part by representatives elected by popular suffrage. The representatives may be supplanted by the electorate according to the legal procedures of recall and referendum, and they are, at least in principle, responsible to the electorate. In many democracies, such as the United States, both the executive head of government and the legislature are elected. In typical constitutional monarchies such as the United Kingdom and Norway, only the legislators are elected, and from their ranks a cabinet and a prime minister are chosen. Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2005 © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. [/QUOTE]
Yes. On the other hand, I believe in America - it's always one party or the other that has more or less full control. In Britain, we vote for a member of Parliament for our region. So if you believe in Tory policies, you can still have a Tory MP for your area even if Labour is in charge over all. Our elections are really based on a local level. The Prime minster and Cabinet comes from the party that has the most MPs, but the cabinet can't really do much without going through Parliament, and technically the monarch has the right to override any decisions made, although the monarch Never does. they have an understanding that the monarch is allowed the right to do that, provided that he/she never does. Also, there're always more than just the main two parties involved. There are plenty of other parties who aren't as powerful as the main two who will never get elected into government, but will have MPs that have support from their constituencies. There are also independent candidates who don't belong to a party, but who will be voted in if they have the support of their constituency. What happens in America if it gets to your presidential election and BOTH candidates are unappealing? You still have to have one or the other don't you? Yet people say this is a good thing because it stops the REAL bastards getting anywhere near. I don't think you should put up with the likes of George Bush, just because it could be worse. You should still be hoping for better than that.
Well one of the tiny reasons I am moving to the U.K. is because I'm tired of this government. I hope its better there. Is it?
Well... it will be after the next election. no-one's going to forgive Blair for going along with Gee Dubya into a pointless war that's got loads of people killed and cost a fortune that could have gone on education and health. Unfortunately this means voting Tory which not many of us are prepared to do, because they're just not good for the country. When blair was voted in about 7 years ago we all thought we'd see some good changes under a new labour government (after 13 years of Thatcher who WAS NOT A GREAT PRIME MINISTER, although all you countries who've never had a woman in charge assume she must have been good to get in as a woman - we're not THAT sexist, and another 5 years of John Major). Unfortunately New Labour is just moved further right wing and is not that far off what the Conservatives were before - in fact they've gone a bit more left, as they felt they needed to fill the gap left by Labour in order to compete with them - it's all gone a bit silly. The Lib Dems are the same as ever, but they're always known as the nice softy party and people are worried about whether they're capable of actually making any decisions. But from those of us who are fed up with Blair and not ready to give the Tories another chance, I think Lib Dems might be getting a fair few votes next election.
Voting changes things all right. The trouble is you never know what changes you've voted for until they've been made!
Okay. I have a question. Can you explain british currency to me? What is a quid? What's a pound? etc.
OK. The British currency is based on Pounds, Shillings and Pence or L.S.D. (from the latin) 2 farthings in a ha'penny 2 ha'pennies in a penny 6 pennies is sixpence or 6d 12 pence is a shilling (also known as a bob). 2 shillings and sixpence is a half crown. 20 shillings is a pound (or a quid). 21 shillings is a guinea. I think that's all you need to know
American money is easy. 1 penny is one cent 1 nickel is five cents 1 dime is ten cents 1 quarter is twenty five cents 1 half dollar piece is fifty cents 1 dollar is 100 cents 5 dollars is 500 cents 10 dollars is 1000 cents etc. Basically we have pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars.
OK, I'd better let you in on a little secret. Pounds, Shillings and Pence went out about 30 years ago and we now have 100 new pence in a pound and that's it. We still use the names 'twopence' (pronounced tuppence) for two new pence, and 'quid' for pound, but that's it. Six isn't a round number and thanks to inflation you can't buy much with six pence these days anyway.
