Any other foreigners born and bred on GN?

P.s. I’m not attempting to turn it into a Brexit rant! ??

Varian, I am so sorry that your friend is being subjected to this dreadful racist abuse from narrow minded bigots. It makes me so sad and angry and ashamed that there are individuals out there that use any excuse to give vent to their prejudice. I hope that your friend will realise that the majority of us do not feel that way, and also that some of us are disappointed about - ( I hate the term) - brexit.

typo jpe = hope, go figure

Cantonese, and other Chinese languages, are notoriously difficult to learn because the (nine) tones are important quite apart from everything else. It is all too easy to say something innocuous which sounds like something obscene.

My Cantonese was pretty limited to answering the phone and bargaining in the market. I never learned how to take part in a meaningful conversation.

The most useful phrase I learned was "Ayee Yah!! Tie Gwah!! - which I think meant something like "Bloody Hell!! Too expensive!!"

Wish I spoke Cantonese.. what an opportunity my parents and all my old friends parents missed
What does jpe mean?

Just looked at the title, and jpe no-one was born and bred on GN ;)

cangran, I arrived in London more or less 48 years ago- Easter 1970- and met OH soon after.

I was never a flag waving Swiss, as a kid, and always looked to beyond and wanted to travel and experience other cultures. The intention was to spend 6 months in London, then 6 months in Germany- then go to Canada and spend next couple of year traveling down to South America ...

I feel very British, and very Swiss (French Swiss - a bit like a Scott would feel more Scottish than British perhaps- or even someone from Yorkshire or Devon ;) ) - but again, not in a flag waving way, at all. I try to see all the good things in both, but do not wear rose tinted glasses about either. I feel, European- and there you go - such a cliché and will probably be shot in flames, 'citizen of the world'. We have family and friends truly all over the world, and OH has a very mixed heritage - spanning Continents and cultures.

In a way- that can make you feel 'separate' - but mostly, it gives you massive freedom too- not to follow narrow rules or expectations. Speaking several languages is also truly door-opening.

We also stayed in the Merlin Hotel when we arrived in HK in the 1970s. One our children was born in HK and one of her children in Switzerland. I think that experience of living abroad gives us a much better understanding of our own country.

Jane -we stayed in the Merlin too after one leave, Then the Penn court next door. After that we were allowed to keep our flat whilst we were away.
Our first flat was Nairn House not too far from Kowloon Tong, we used to walk to the swing park up there. It is still there.
Have you been back?
Sorry folks if we’ve sort of hijacked this thread but, to be honest, I’d rather that than have it turned into another Brexit rant.
Cangran- I was born here but then left quite soon afterwards so although we always referred to the UK as home and came here every 2or3 years it never felt like I truly belonged. I do now though.
The downside of an expat life is that you lose the family connections. All my cousins etc. live in Lancashire and we aren’t close. Luckily I have lots of sisters.
Perhaps that’s why I am not bothered about Brexit( sorry, sorry, sorry) There’s a big wide world out there.

Any other Canucks here? I was born and grew up in rural Ontario; met an English post-grad when I was at university; married the day after I graduated and moved to England soon after where I've lived ever since, the first year in Grimsby, but then in London (for almost 49 years now).

I have dual citizenship, am very happy to be a Londoner, but still also feel very much Canadian even after all these years and not going back 'home' very often now.

I am interested to hear how others, having left their home countries as young adults to live in the UK, feel about their national identity.

Pamela We lived in the Merlin Hotel in Tsimshatsui when we first arrived, waiting to be allocated government quarters. Young couples without children were last on the list but eventually we got a flat in Ede Road in Kowloon Tong. Later we moved to an old bungalow on Cornwall St which had its own garden complete with a frangipani tree. It was bliss!
Another couple who also lived in the Merlin at the same time as us complained to the manager that they had seen a mouse in their room. The manager gave a Gallic shrug, so our friend bought a mouse trap and presented the corpse to him

Jane, I have, such evocative memories. We stayed in the same hotel as him when we arrived and I went to Kowloon junior school too. Such a shame he died so young.

oops back to Uni age 29 not 19.

That is such a pity varian. You will miss your friend and she will find it strange going back after all these years.
I am coming the other way, born in Germany bred in the uk but but looking into dual citizenship now. It’s a burocratic nightmare.

And the UK will lose a brilliant architect

You are all welcome and I hope you always will be.

Sadly my German friend, after living in the UK for more than twenty-five years, has decided she is no longer welcome in this country as she has been subjected to racist abuse since the EU referendum (which she had never encountered before in all her years in the UK). She has now decided to emigrate.

I will not just lose a friend but another regret about that ill-conceived referendum and all its appalling consequences

Pamela Have you read this book?
www.amazon.com/Gweilo-Memories-Hong-Kong-Childhood/dp/0553816721?tag=gransnetforum-21

I wasn't brought up in Hongkong but lived there in my late 20's & early 30's. Its a beautifully written, evocative book about growing up in HK in the 50's. Sadly Martin Booth died just before it was published or shortly afterwards.

I was bred abroad but born up near Newcastle. Was brought up in Nigeria and Hong Kong.
I don’t know what to say when asked where I come from!
Family is from Lancashire.