Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Foreign Friends

You know, I have international readers. A little provincial blog like this. Imagine that. I guess people the world over need information on combating the zombie threat.

It’s not like I have a lot to offer international readers. A few cracks at England for its restrictions that even George Orwell saw the danger of. Orwell understood. Or maybe they like the spectacle of some Yank savaging the Mother Tongue. And there are a few cracks at France for being France. But that’s about it. Nothing about Canada or Australia, two nations with a similar genesis and sensibilities as ours, and arguably closer allies than even Britain on the national scene. Australia is the only country that has been our ally in every conflict we’ve engaged in in this century and the last (or we with them). Well, I don’t know about the Spanish American War. I better look that up. They were even singing Waltzing Matilda in Indochina in the unpleasantness there 40 years ago. Good scrappers and loyal friends, those Aussies. I still marvel at what they did to stem the tide at Port Moresby. As important if not moreso than our efforts at Guadalcanal and Midway.

But Brazil? Sweden? Russia? I’m sure there are English speakers there, but I’m amazed they would find me. But they do. Probably through their countries’ Google search engine.

Welcome, at any rate, whomever and wherever you are. Thanks for reading.

4 comments:

Bubblehead Les. said...

Do us Yankees count as Foreign Readers? ; )

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

I dunno. All my fambly was either fighting for the Union out of upstate New York or Michigan or still in Scandahoovia in 1860-5. What's that make me?

Maryland was iffy, but wasn't Consederate. And I was born in the District of Columbia. As was my father.

Ritchie said...

It's worth noting that folks in Canada and Great Britain also speak English of a sort, so we are 3 countries separated by a (sort of) common language. There is the appearance of common understanding, but that makes the differences in cultural assumptions less obvious.

Anonymous said...

did you know there are more people that speak English in China than in the US?