True Brit,A trouble maker or a lost child

As British Person myself and now a British Expatriate in Finland,I have become rather adept at spotting other British people when they are around me.It is not so much the language,but the certain peculiarities they pertray to the rest of the world and those about them.

This can be seen as a negative/positive post,depending on the readers personal attitude to being British.

How to spot and recognise a British person abroad

Union Jack

A couple of weeks ago a British Football team must have been playing a local Finnish Team,These events happen usually a couple of times in the Finnish months,The British football league has finished in the UK at this time of year,so it allows some team members from British Clubs to visit Finland and give some form of training and experience for Finnish football players

So there I was in downtown Helsinki,when all at once I was surrounded with Brits in The railway station.

They were getting annoyed with station staff and the general public.There were around 30 of them and all had cans of Lapin Kulta beer in thier hands and over a period of 20 minutes of observing them,I could see them becoming more and more temperamental and verbally aggressive.

Suffice to say there were many F*** words being flung around.It appeared that  they were aggrieved  because no-one seemed to speak English,For all intents and purposes they had forgotten that they were in a Foreign country.It makes me angry and ashamed to be British when I am forced to watch and listen to this behaviour

Their Simple Bolshy attitude

These and many other British I have seen when abroad,on those occasions,there were scenes sof the Brit`s getting annoyed.A true Brit abroad sees no reason why they should have to learn a single word of the host countries language in order to be polite and be able to get around.Their attitude is that everyone should speak their language,English and cater for their needs.Britain is no longer in the day`s of the old Imperial India and some British people just cannot seem to accept that Britain is only a small island and most of it`s former terrortries have become independant

Wher is the local beer pubs?

Nearly every City,Town,Village in the UK  has pubs that serve local ale on draught.T tell the truth I miss a good pint of local ale today.Many establishments in Britain still today brew there own real ales.Theres a campaign in the UK called CAMRA(Campaign For Real Ale)

Then when a true Brit does find a bar they are likely to complain vocally because they will have to suffice with a Dutch,German,Finnish, or whatever countries beer/lager that is specific to the country they are visiting.Personally,if I vist a new country I am eager to dive in and try the local food,beer and wnes.I must add that it enriches a persons experience of the local region and widens your horizons

“We are the Champs”!

OK,England won the World Cup way back in 1966.However this does not appear to stop True Brit`s from labouring on,that they are the true Champions.

Over the last 30 years many Brits are banned still today from visiting international football events.The one good thing that British police in association with other countries law enforcement agencies,was to build a database of British Football Hooligan`s.Thankfully this has put a stop to most of the more traggic events witnessed in the past.Though today Football violence can still be found in Britain. It has merely moved from the football stadium terraces to the streets outside,surrounding the stadium.I myself am a British Birmingham man,born and bread.Many tears ago I used to know friends and work colleagues who were active members of the ZULU,Birmingham army .I believe they are still active today

So back to the Brits in The Helsinki Railway Station

I eventually approached were they wre sitting and began a conversation in English with my Irish friend,also an Expat living in Finland.It took all of 10 minutes to get heard and noticed by the ealier mentioned crowd of Brit`s.After listening to their complaints and how bad this place was,i founde out that they needed to get to a hotel in Tikkurila,for a rest before the next day`s flight back to the UK.

I had thoughts of putting them on the wrong train and sending them to the other side of Helsiki,but then I thought of the menace they would cause when they realised that they were lost.So I found the correct train for them and bid them farewell.

I personally hope they never return to Finland until they have grown up and stop behaving like a pack of lost school children!