Been there seen that
Welsh Nationalism. I was brought up in England, though my family has its roots in both Scotland and Wales. Lived in the principality for a few years and learnt to speak a bit of the local lingo.
It completely fuses people if I wander into a shop in a monoglot Welsh area and ask for something in Welsh with a broad brummie accent.
You can see the cogs whirring between "We need to encourage more Welsh speakers" and "An ENGLISHMAN? Speaking the language"

They all need to get out more
(Sir Tainley Barking Ezekiel 23:20, Sun 15 Nov 2009, 17:12, 1 reply)

^ This last line, x over 9000
My father has no interest in any of his living relatives, just the ones who are dead and have been for some time. He has never been able to understand why I tell him "I am not Welsh, Father!" as this sends him the colour of a beetroot and makes him yell even louder.
( Maladicta, Sun 15 Nov 2009, 17:52, closed)

Mate of mine in the Valleys
Still lives with his parents.
He's in his fifties FFS

I hear all the talk of big plans, and travel, but when it comes down to it he's still living in the village he was born in, in truth, He'll die and be buried there, and to be frank its a common scenario.

I moved to Wales for a Degree, and if there had been work there that paid more than minimum wage plus the bonus of a mars bar at Christmas I'd still be there. I like Wales, hell even married a Welsh Lass, but in her defence she moved out to England to get her education, 'cos as she said she wanted to see something of the outside world. I would say that out of all the lasses she went to school with, 98% haven't moved out of the area.
Heritage is important, but FFS live a little, experience other things, so if you choose to go back to your heritage, you will value it for what it is and what it means to you.
(Sir Tainley Barking Ezekiel 23:20, Sun 15 Nov 2009, 23:19, closed)

The reason I never went back is because I knew
once I was "home" I would never, ever, ever escape - simply because of the stagnated job/property market and because my father would always have made a fuss whenever I decided to leave. I've never been more sure of anything than I was the day I decided to stay here - as far from Wales as possible - if I'd had to go back I would be dead or sectioned by now, no question.
( Maladicta, Sun 15 Nov 2009, 23:55, closed)