The importance of being British.

I come from Wales , which for those of you who dont know ( Shame on you) is in the UK.
We are a small but proud nation and here are a few little known facts about Wales;

• The name, in English at least for the highest mountain in the world is named afer a Welsh man, Lord Everest.


• America may have taken its name from a Welshman


• Wales is not represented on the British Flag


• Welshmen invented two important mathematical symbols


• America's Oldest Ethnic Society is Welsh


• A Welshman founded The New York Times.


• There is an inscription halfway up the steps of the Washington Monument which reads Fy iaith, fy ngwlad, fy nghenedl Cymru - Cymru am byth! ("My language, my land, my nation of Wales - Wales for ever!")


• A Welshman was responsible for the mid-19th century US industrial might.


• The author of the Declaration of Independence, President Thomas Jefferson, was among those of Welsh descent, along with eight other American presidents.

and the list goes on.

I just thought I'd try and explain why the name of this blog is " The Importance of being British".

In Korea, Wales is not widely known ( to their detrement!) and they confuse England and Britain and, like may other nations assume the two are the same. They aren't.

I am British by default but when asked where I'm from I have always said that I am Welsh and not really British, we have a strong sense of identity which would be diluted if we just accepted this homeogenous tag of British and In Europe Wales is known widely.

Anyway, while I'm in Korea and there are a lot of Canadians and Americans around ( Many times more than Brits) I have to ease Koreans into the reality that Im not North American, I am in fact Welsh and the easiest way to do this is to get them to understand Britain first, then the explaniation of Wales is a little easier. So here it is important to stress the difference between America/Canada and the UK, hence the name.

Maybe the blog should have a subtitle but I'm sure there will be no doubt where Im from if you read a few entries.