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It Does not Always Rain in England,
Sometimes It Is Only Cloudy.......

On Nov. 8 we set off, six teachers and six students. The journey went to England and the EECC meeting of the year. Our expectations were high and the speculations about the cultural shock were gigantic. Were we going to have only fish & chips to eat? How to behave when the cars suddenly drive on the wrong side of the road? Most important of all, was it going to rain all the time we would be staying there…?

When we arrived in England we students were immediately dumped with a host family each. But we took it cheerfully and mostly looked upon it as a chance to really get a close approach to the English way of living (at least when we were not busy being scared to death…) Our teachers were not quite that brave, but were staying at a hotel during the whole stay. The difference between English life style and Swedish is sometimes enormous. We who have wooden floors in the houses, take off our shoes, but those who have fitted carpets almost always wear their shoes on.

The Difference Is Striking
The English school differs much from the Swedish, too. The greatest noticeable difference is the big gap between teachers and students. There are several areas in the school that are marked “Staff Only”, and therefore only meant for teachers. Here we keep running in and out of the staff-rooms as if it were nothing. Naturally this school was no exception as concerns school uniforms. In principle everybody wore clothes of exactly the same kind and in spite of the hard winter we saw girls wearing skirts. Food was different, too, especially lunch. Having a sandwich and a little bag of crisps for lunch really felt as far from Swedish school meals as only possible.

A Real Mayor
When you arrive at Chester which is an hour´s drive away from Nantwich, you will meet with a magnificent sight. The Town Hall and the Cathedral receive you with their majestic ornaments but in the Town Hall there is something still mightier: a real mayor in person! And don´t believe now that a mayor has the same status as the Head of our municipality, Elvy Söderström. In English the Mayor is called “Lord Mayor” which might give you a hint of how to behave… In the Town Hall we were received in a grand hall, and when everybody had pulled themselves together and come back to their senses, an assistant showed us the Mayor´s crown jewels! When we had recovered from that, we also had the opportunity to speak to the Mayor and his wife, and we can affirm that they were common people, in fact. Though common people with gigantic necklaces… To the teachers and the students from the English schools the meeting with the Mayor was immensely great. Meeting the Mayor is not something that happens every day!

Check up on that golden necklace, man…His assistant looks envious, doesn´t he?

The Invasion of England by the Plastic Flowers
On the arrival in England it was impossible not to notice all the artificial poppy flowers that almost everybody was wearing. The flowers were stuck in button holes, on hats, in jacket pockets and on sweaters. Our hosts were wearing them, their parents were wearing them, even the anchormen on TV were wearing them! Had we landed in the middle of some mysterious flower celebration? But that was not the case as we soon found out… On Nov. 11 every year England celebrates what is called Remembrance Day. During this day they remember and honour all the people who were killed in the wars during the 20th century. The artificial poppy flowers are a symbol to attract attention to Remembrance Day. During our stay in England we attended a memorial ceremony at the school and on the same day that we were taking the ferry to Liverpool they had a funeral ceremony on board the ship. As Sweden does not have a correspondent “celebration”, we left England being an experience richer. Or, actually, many experiences richer, because the rest of the days did not pass unnoticed either…

Remembrance Day

In Swedish “Hågkomstens dag”
“Celebrated” on Nov.11, the same day that World War I ended in 1918, and it was after World War I the custom was initiated.
It is observed primarily in Great Britain, Canada, South Africa and Australia.
In the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (when the Armistice started in 1918) two silent minutes are observed (one for each World War).
The great majority of people wear artificial poppy flowers which have a symbolic meaning. The poppies bloomed on the battlefields in the Flanders during World War I and the red colour of the poppy is a symbol of all the blood that was spilt.

The other Social Science students who joined us to England examine how many Swedes a telephone booth can hold.
	Two genuine English riding policemen were patrolling the streets of Liverpool. The horses were everybody´s favourites.