A Foreigner ION BJ GLEBE etn re Ce UM MTT ta)\ Foreigner in Britain Ramé6n Ybarra Rubio and Fiona Smith B Burlington BooksA Foreigner in Britain by Ramén Ybarra Rubio and Fiona Smith Burlington Books P.O. Box 54411 Fai ter 1; Traditional London Burlington Books is an imprint of Danos Books Ltd, IBhapter 2: Cosmopolitan London 14 The publisher gratefully acknowledges the following for providing . 20 Photographs: © AP: page 11; © Image Bank / Getty Images: page 51; © Getty Images / Photo Disc: Page 67; © Shutterstock, Inc: Pages 6, 26 7,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, ter 4: Oxford 2235, 38, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, i 32 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 76, 77, iebapter 5: A Country Christmas 37 Chapter 6: Cardiff The publisher would like to thank the following people: Be 7 Cornwall 41 Castellano: Elena Terén Herranz Catala: Maria Esteve Serravifials Chapter 8: Manchester 2 Euskara: Joan Ignazio Bereziartua Iraola a Galego: Ramsn Nicols Rodriguez Chapter 9: Edinburgh A f Scotland ee, }: More of Sc All rights reserved by the publisher. No part of this publication may sabe peer. 10: Moy be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any F 65 form or by any means ~ electronic, mechanical, photocopying or Epilogue otherwise — without permission in writing from the publisher. 68 Glossary 76 ISBN 978-9963-51-025-2 porter Cueteaier Pome Copyright © 2013 Burlington Books Burlington Reader No. NB1.04 Oo. 8 Ol oad ese] 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 tsINTRODUCCION Antonio es un joven espafiol al que le encanta ir a Gran Bretaia con frecuencia porque tiene muchos amigos alli. En este relato le acompafiaremos en varios viajes para recorrer sus lugares preferidos de Inglaterra, Gales y Escocia, recopilados en un libro en el que descubriremos el mundo de las costumbres y tradiciones briténicas, Ademés, conoceremos a sus amigos y compartiremos con ellos divertidas experiencias de lo més variopintas: desde un partido de faitbol de primera hasta la tradicional celebracién de Nochevieja en Escocia. Este libro nos ofrece la posibilidad de adquirir una vision mas amplia de Gran Bretafia, especialmente de los briténicos, a los que conoceremos més a fondo. INTRODUCCIO 1’Antonio és un jove espanyol a qui li encanta anar sovint a la Gran Bretanya perqué alla té molts amics. En aquest relat 'acompanyarem en alguns viatges per rec6rrer els seus locs preferits d’Anglaterra, Galles i Escdcia, aplegats en un Ilibre en el qual descobrirem el mén dels costums i tradicions britanics. A més, coneixerem els seus amics i compartirem amb ells divertides experiéncies molt diverses. Des d'un partit de futbol de primera fins a la tradicional celebracié de la nit de cap d’any a Escdcia. Aquest llibre ens ofereix la possibilitat de tenir una visié més amplia de la Gran Bretanya, especialment dels britanics, els quals coneixerem més a fons, SARRERA Antonio espainiar gazte bat da, biziki gogoko duena Britainia Handira sarri joatea, han adiskide asko baititu. Kontakizun honetan zenbait bidaiatan lagunduko diogu, Ingalaterrako, Galesko eta Eskoziako Iekurik gogokoenetan barrena ibiltzeko. Leku horiek biltzen dituen liburu honetan, britainiar ohituren cta usadioen mundua ezagutuko dugu. Gainera, haren adiskideak cre ezagutuko ditugu, eta esperientzia dibertigarriak biziko ditugu haickin batera, arras askotarikoak: lehen mailako futbol-partida batetik hasi eta Eskozian Urtezahar gau tradizionala ospatzeraino. Liburu honek aukera emango digu Britainia Handiaz ikusmolde zabalagoa izateko, batez ere britainiarrez, sakonkiago ezagutuko baititugu. Limiar Antonio é un mozo espafiol a quen Ile engaiola ir a Gran Bretafia adoito porque ten moitos amigos alf. Neste relato acompafiarémolo en varias viaxes para percorrer os seus lugares preferidos en Inglaterra, Gales ¢ Escocia, recompilados nun libro no que descubriremos 0 mundo dos costumes e tradiciéns briténicas. Alén diso, cofeceremos 08 seus amigos e compartiremos con eles divertidas experiencias do mis diverso: desde un partido de fiitbol de primeira ata o tradicional festexo de Noitevella en Escocia. Este libro ofrécenos a posibilidade de adquirir unha visién mis ampla de Gran Bretafia, de xeito especial dos briténicos, aos que cofeceremos mais a fondo,1 Tick the things you think a foreigner in Britain might see. Antonio os PY ae a foreigner in Britain M. eae Cy>~- a : ENGLAND | WALES 2 Imagine someone is visiting your country. What things would you suggest he / she sees? Make a list and tell the class.iti My name’s Antonio and I’m Spanish, but my father is American. I've just finished my degree. I studied English at Salamanca University, probably the most popular Spanish university among foreign students. Sometimes, there were somany British people around me that I almost forgot that I was in Spain! I made some good British friends there and I love going to visit them in Britain. One day, I was sitting in a café in Madrid with my English friend, Mark. We were drinking cold drinks and eating tapas. “Britain’s a funny place,” I said. “what do you mean, funny?’ Mark asked. Well, it’s ... different,” I said. “There are so many contradictions about Britain — the British people, for example. Sometimes, they're cold and distant. When they sit on buses or trains, especially on the underground, they don’t usually look at anybody and nobody talks. But they like travelling to different countries and meeting different people. Also there’s their appearance — the young people have red or blue hair and some of their clothes are ... well ... strange!” “You're generalising,” said Mark. “Not all British people are reserved and not all young British people have red or blue hair! And are you talking about the British or the English? Because we're not all English, you know. It’s called Britain for a reason. It includes the Scots and the Welsh as well.” “Yes, I know, and I am generalising. But I've seen some strange things in Scotland and Wales as well,” 1 explained. “Antonio, what are you trying to say?” Mark asked, with a smile. “ym trying to say that Britain is a fascinating place. The Engli Scots and Welsh are fascinating people and Britain has a wonderful culture and history. Every time I go there, something surprises me.” “Well, you said you wanted to be a writer. Perhaps you should write about Britain,” laughed Mark. “Yes, pethaps I should. That's a good idea,” I answered. And that’s exactly what I did! I wrote about my impressions as a foreigner in Britain ~ the country, the people, the culture, the food and, of course, the weather! Here’s the book — I hope you enjoy it! CoN ie Traditional London I love visiting London. It’s one of the most exciting cities in the world. There’s something for everyone — a rich history, wonderful museums, great theatre, innovative music and an incredible variety of ethnic food. Recently, I visited London for the New Year with Pablo, a Spanish friend of mine. He had never been there before. At the end of our first day, we went toa pub. Like many pubs in Britain, it had a very relaxed atmosphere. There were comfortable chairs, a carpet on the floor, and the beers, which are usually served in pint glasses ~ a pint is approximately hting wasn’t very bright. It also had an enormous selection of half litre. We got a couple of pints of beer and sat down to talk, but the barman soon interrupted our conversation. “Sorry, gentlemen,” he said. “We're closing in 20 minutes. Can I get you anything else?’ 1 ordered two more pints and promised the barman that we would finish them before closing time. At the end of our first day, we went to a pub.Britain’s most distinctive tradition — afternoon tea “He's joking, isn’t he? It's only 10.40!" exclaimed Pablo, as the barman went to the bar to get our pints. “"No, he isn’t,” laughed. “That's what happens here.” “Then let’s finish our beers quickly and find another pub that doesn’t close so early,” said Pablo. “You don’t understand,” I explained. “Most of the pubs in Britain close at the same time - 11.00.” “That's crazy!” exclaimed Pablo. “There are bars in Spain that don’t open until 11.00!” “Well, maybe that’s the reason why British people drink so quickly!” I said. As we walked out of the pub, I asked Pablo what his first impressions of London were. His answer surprised me. “| think it’s a very traditional city,” he said. “The buildings, the way of life - even the time that the pubs close!” I had never thought of that before. He was right! London’s a very modern and cosmopolitan city, but itis also very traditional. “Well, Pablo,” I said. “Tomorrow, I'll take you for what I think is Britain’s most distinctive tradition ~ afternoon tea.” “But the British drink tea all the time. Why is drinking tea in the afternoon so distinctive?” asked Pablo. “You'll see tomorrow,” I said. “Trust me.” The next afternoon, I took Pablo to a good hotel in the centre of London. We sat at a table in a beautiful room enjoying the tea and the atmosphere. Everyone in the tearoom was nicely dressed. “Everything is so civilised here, isn’t it?” Pablo exclaimed. “Yes, it certainly is,” I replied, smiling. “You see, tea in Britain is a light meal, often eaten around 4 o'clock.” The tearoom was full of people sitting at tables, drinking tea and talking quietly. Many of the people were eating small cucumber sandwiches, cake and scones. Scones are a type of sweet bread that you eat with jam and cream. I don’t like cream, so I ate my scone just with jam. “It's difficult to believe that I'm in the largest capital city in Europe in the 21st century,” said Pablo. “It feels like I’m in one of those old British films!” On New Year's Eve, Pablo and I went to Trafalgar Square, which is the traditional place to celebrate New Year's Eve in London. It is an cnormous area quite near Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and there were more than 20,000 people in the square! Almost everyone was wearing funny hats and there was a very festive atmosphere. Midnight finally came and we waited to hear Big Ben announce the New Year. The countdown began. “Ten! Nine! Eight! ... Three! ‘Twol ...” Suddenly, people began to shout, “Happy New Year!” We couldn’t hear the bells because there was so much noise. Aman turned round to wish us a Happy New Year and saw that we looked disappointed. “what's wrong?” he asked. “It’s New Year's Eve! It’s time to have fun!” “1 didn’t hear the bells,” I replied. “I thought that people came here to listen to Big Ben at midnight.” The man smiled and said, “Well, I've been here many times on New Year's Eve and I’ve never heard them. There are too many people here. You need to be next to Big Ben to hear it.” Pablo and I were completely confused. “Then, why do you come here?” asked Pablo. The man didn’t hesitate. “Because it’s tradition, mate,” he said. Trafalgar Square, LondonThe new Globe Theatre One of London’s greatest traditions is producing some of the best theatre in the world. I don’t think a visit to London is complete without going to the theatre. There are 60 theatres in London, most of them in the West End, London's theatre district. 1 try to go to the theatre at least once when I visit London. My most memorable theatrical experience in London was two years ago and it wasn’t in the West End. It was in an area called Southwark (pronounced “Suthark’) on the south bank of the River Thames, at the Globe Theatre. The original Globe Theatre was where most of Shakespeare’s plays were performed for the first time. It was built in 1599 but unfortunately, burned down in the middle of the 17th century and was destroyed again 30 years later. The new Globe Theatre was finished in 1997, only 300 years later! I had studied Shakespeare at university and was excited about seeing one of his plays in the theatre where they were originally performed. The Globe has the shape of an ‘O’ and plays are only performed from April until October because there isn’t a roof over the centre of the building. If it rains, you get wet — and it rains a lot in London! I went in August and it rained both before and after the performance, but fortunately not during! The theatre has seats for over 1,000 people and another 700 people can stand in the centre of the ‘0’, The people who stand are called ‘groundlings’. I had a fantastic time at the Globe. 1 bought a groundling ticket for the afternoon performance. Nearly everyone had an umbrella and the ground was wet and muddy from the rain. 1 was quite cold at the start of the play, but soon forgot about it because I was having a great time. The actors made some of their entrances and exits by pushing through the audience. I almost fell into the mud when one of the actors pushed me as he was leaving. Luckily, a young man behind stopped me falling. I took advantage of a five-minute break between acts to thank him. His name was Mike and he was a lighting designer from a theatre in the West End. “This is incredible,” I said. “Except for the fact that everyone is wearing modern clothes, I feel like I’m back in the early 1600s.” “Well, there are a few other differences,” said Mike. “Really? What are they?” I asked. “Well, one difference is that today, women play the female Toles,” Mike explained. “Women weren't allowed to be actresses in Shakespeare's time. The female roles were played by teenage boys.” “Yes, I know. I must admit that I prefer seeing real women on stage!” I said. “So do I, mate,” agreed Mike. “What are some of the other differences?” I asked. “Probably the biggest difference between Shakespeare’s time and now is that then the ‘groundlings’ ate, drank and talked during the performance,” he explained.“But then they'd be too distracted to watch the play, wouldn't they?” L asked “Believe me, they paid attention,” Mike assured me. “As a matter of fact, if they didn’t like an actor's performance, they shouted at him and even threw their food at him!” “It's a pity that modern audiences are much more polite. It would be fun to feel like a real groundling from Shakespeare's time,” I said with a laugh. “Listen, I've come to the Globe many times,” said Mike. “The audiences are more polite, but I've seen some strange things happen here.” Before I could ask him to give me some examples, the next act began and we both started to watch the performance. About ten minutes later, Mike whispered in my car, “Do you want to sce something strange?” “Of course,” I answered. “Then look to your right,” Mike said. I casually looked to my right and was completely surprised by what I saw, There was a girl standing a few metres away from me feeding a small dog she had under her arm! It was definitely the first and only time I’ve seen a dog in the audience at the theatre! Mike and I went for a coffee after the performance. He told me that he could get me free tickets to the theatre whenever I visited London. He's certainly a good person to know! Cosmopolitan London London's ethnic diversity makes it a very special city. People from almost every part of the world live here i + This was obvious to Pablo and me when we took the underground from the airport to the centre of the city. People of every nationality were travelling on ‘ the train and it was nice to see that everyone seemed accustomed to the great variety of races and religions in this city. We stared at an orthodox Muslim woman who was sitting opposite us. Only her eyes were uncovered and we couldn't stop looking at her because we don’t often see a woman dressed this way. No one else paid any attention to her. If you're a person who likes eating different types of food, London is the place to go. I've eaten food from many parts of the world here and most of it has been excellent. Indian food is especially popular. When we arrived back at our hotel on the afternoon of our second day in London, I asked the lady at reception to recommend a few good restaurants in the area. She said that there was a very good Indian restaurant close to the hotel. Pablo shook his head. “No, Twant to eat something that’s typically British,” he said. The lady laughed. “You don’t understand,” she said. “Indian food is typically British.” “Oh, I see,” replied Pablo. When we got into the lift, he looked at me and said, surprised, “Perhaps London isn’t as traditional as I thought.” I laughed and decided to take him to places that showed London’s ethnic diversity, like Chinatown. A parade in ChinatownChinatown is in the middle of the theatre district and it feels wonderful to cross a street and enter a completely different culture. There are lots of excellent Chinese restaurants there, as well as many Asian supermarkets. We especially liked walking through the Chinese fruit markets. “Look at this!” exclaimed Pablo. “Look at what?” I asked, “This fruit,” he said. “I've never seen most of this fruit before. It’s so exotic.” “There are lots of exotic things in London if you know where to "I told him. “Like what?” Pablo asked. “Well, London has a Caribbean carnival. It’s a huge annual carnival and it takes place towards the end of August, in an area of London called Notting Hill. My friend Mike took me to the carnival a couple of weeks after I met him at the Globe,” I explained. London’s Caribbean carnival “That sounds interesting. What happens during the carnival?” asked Pablo. “Well, Notting Hill has a big West Indian population and thousands of people go to the carnival to eat West Indian food and dance to Caribbean music. Mike and I walked through the streets and there were people of all cultures celebrating together. At one point, I closed my eyes and it felt like I was in the Caribbean instead of London! I was surrounded by West Indian accents, music and smells.” “It sounds fantastic!” exclaimed Pablo. “It was ... oh, and I remember another interesting thing that happened that afternoon,” I told him. “What was that?” he asked. “Well, from the carnival, we went to Mike's flat in one of London’s famous black taxis. After a few minutes, the driver began to talk to us. He was speaking English but I couldn’t understand him! He was using Cockney rhyming slang!” “What's that?” Pablo interrupted. “Luckily, Mike explained it to me. He told me that the driver was a Cockney and that Cockneys are traditionally from the East End of London. They have a very strange way of talking, called Cockney rhyming slang. For example, “When my friend called me on the ‘dog and bone’ (phone) last night, I ran down the ‘apples and pears’ (stairs) to answer it.” “That's incredible! surprises!” exclaimed Pablo. “London is full ofACTIVITIES PROLOGUE & CHAPTERS 1 Circle the correct word in the sentences below. 1. The stage / shape was ready for the play. 2. The building burnt down / surrounded to the ground. 3, The girl was uncovering / feeding the dog some meat. 4, There are a couple of / wonderful weeks in August when I can visit you. 5. We didn’t enjoy the play because it was a terrible square / performance. 6. On New Year’s Eve, there is a fun atmosphere / appearance in the streets of London. 2 Match the word closest in meaning to the bolded word in each sentence. The city of London was founded by the Romans, who invaded Britain in 43 AD and then built a bridge across the River Thames. The Romans decided it was a good place to build a port, so merchants built a town by the bridge in 50 AD, and that's how London was born. 3 Match A to B to form true sentences about the story. Antonio loves visiting Britain . At the pub, Pablo was surprised . On New Year’s Eve, people go to Trafalgar Square . There are no performances in winter at the Globe Theatre . Antonio couldn’t understand the taxi driver . Antonio nearly fell in the theatre AavpWNE smu. it closed so early. b. there isn’t a roof. .¢. itis the tradition. vw, he was a Cockney. ¢. he likes seeing his British friends. f, an actor pushed him. 4. A stereotype is a fixed idea of what a person or thing belonging to a certain group is like. What stereotypes did Pablo have about the British? Which did he find were wrong? Write the answers in your notebook. 5 Answer the questions. Write the answers in your notebook. Where did Antonio meet his British friends? What did Antonio and Pablo haye for afternoon tea? What happened to the original Globe Theatre? What differences are there between today’s Globe Theatre performances and performances in the 1600s? . Why do you think there is a Caribbean carnival in Notting Hill? BR ‘www. burlingtonbooks.es/actread aN