Hello, you various old things. Are you currently reading this Internationally? Are you within reaching distance of a bag, not a carton, of milk? Have you strong opinions about your country of origin’s relationship to Elizabeth II? Fantastic. We are holding, just for you, you special darlings, a Commonwealth Nations Day in the very near future.
The Commonwealth dates back to the late 19th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the member states as “free and equal”. The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth, a wholly symbolic position. Elizabeth II is also the head of state of 16 members of the Commonwealth, known as realms. The other members of the Commonwealth have their own heads of state: 32 members are republics and 5 members are monarchies.
Member states have no legal obligation one to another, instead they are united by language, history and culture, and their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.
Please fling your thoughts to [email protected]. Whether you have fond memories of growing up New Zealandish, or many opinions about postcolonial politics, or would like to explain something about the strange and backwards English, we would like very much to hear from you. We leave you with this:
Tags: australia, call for submissions, canada, commonwealth, creamy old england, international waters, new zealand, the sun never sets, united kingdom, what other countries are in the commonwealth
AKA the day I shall spend as I do all homesickness days, tearfully clutching my children and sob-singing My Island Home (the Christine Anu version).
Do the bergies understand what’s going on? Or do they just cower in fear?
ahahahaha. I haven’t had a real homesick attack since they were very tiny, but the last time I cried in front of them one of them ran up and gave me a hug, so.
Well we just elected a dude who is a cross between Putin and George W, so even though I actually live here it’s not the Island Home anymore and I may have downed an entire bottle of wine last night singlehandedly and had a homesickness attack, myself.
Haha! I haven’t seen much Oz news but yeah my Facebook feed was giving me the impression he’s pretty awful.
*hugs* at least there IS a public healthcare system for him to ruin?
FATHER’S HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL!
I once vacationed (went “on holiday” I guess you could say) in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and my electrical power is supplied by Commonwealth Edison so I am extremely qualified to have many strong opinions on this matter. I will be in touch. Thank you and God bless
I went to university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Ah, those were the days.
I have family in the Commonwealth of Virginia and occasionally visit! As noted in other places, I have many opinion about the organization of the roads in the northern part of the commonwealth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQf13B8epw
Basically sums it up. (I have used this as a teaching aid in many a first year history seminar)
He’s not pleased that you didn’t invite him.
The only thing I can explain about the English is their weird names for office supplies.
Co-worker: “Could you order some Tipp-Ex?”
Me: “I could…if I knew what that was.”
Co-worker: “You know…the liquid stuff you put on paper to get rid of marks.”
Me: “Oh! White-Out.”
Co-worker: “Is that what you call it? Hmm…I guess that makes sense.”
And sorry English friends, it is a SIDEWALK, not PAVEMENT.
Yeah, but “But the sidewalk always stayed beneath my feet before” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Haha, very true.
Related: When Adele started getting big in the U.S., my friend called me up and asked, “What’s that song you like called? ‘Pursuing Sidewalks’?”
The only Britishism that ever really got to me was people making no distinction between the “floor” and the “ground.”
Oh, I agree. I had a few arguments about that, but I think it’s more of a pan-European problem.
Oh and also my boss came in my office the other day and was like, “This is out of order!!” I internally freaked out but it was just a list of things that were literally not in the correct order.
It took me some time to realize the proper response to “All right?” was not “Yes, I’m fine, how are you?” but rather “Yeah, you all right?”
It’s a footpath. Unless you walk sideways, then you can call it a sidewalk if you like.
girl YES.
It is a WALK on the SIDE of the road. Both sensical and sensible.
In Australia we call it Liquid Paper, which makes sense, until you think about it.
It's a footpath. Unless you walk sideways, then you can call it a sidewalk if you like.
In Australia we call it Liquid Paper, which makes sense, until you think about it.
Pshaw! Twink is what ours was called and was so generised that all correction fluid, whatever brand, was called Twink. “Pass the twink,” someone’d say. “Oh dear, my Twink’s gone all hard,” someone else might moan. If your Twink came in a pen, some vigorous wristwork would ensure that the Twink would flow. If you had a bottle of Twink, you’d need to be careful to spread your Twink just right. Otherwise you’d get stuff all over your hands.
Happy days …
Twink? This is a thinly veiled Stefon reference, right? New York’s hottest club is PAVEMENT, and it has Twinks, Tipp-Ex, Liquid Paper, and White Out, which is that thing of when a hobo becomes a rich man, so he takes that big bubble bath.
Why, you must be from my neck of the woods!