A General Reflection

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As I sit here ready to leave work at 4.47pm on this sunny Thursday afternoon, with all classes done for the week but a lot of grading to do, a few thoughts are going through my head that I want to write on my blog.

I was speaking with a student earlier who was telling me that he has a friend in the UK, and I was asked questions that essentially amounted to "Is this true...or not...? etc"

I spent the next ten minutes explaining what are a lot of the current "negatives" in the UK, and I couldn't disagree when the student challenged me concerning social issues - namely:

Is it true that young girls are getting pregnant all the time?
Is it true that technologically we are falling behind?
Is it true that a lot of people are not working, and there are those who live directly off the government?

I found myself having to agree, but to clarify the points in more detail. I also reiterated strongly that despite clear issues that we currently face as a country, including drugs, the benefits culture, political correctness, teenage pregnancies and the effects of the economic crisis, (amongst others) that we do still have some wonderful things. Let's not forget that should we work hard and find a life purpose, that quality of life in general is good; that education standards despite political correctness is excellent, and who can doubt the beauty of the British countryside? There are still things to look towards!

I left the conversation and told my student to ask his friend "What does it mean to be English?" and "What are English traits as supposed to British ones?" I think these questions in the short-term future will present problems that currently exist but are underestimated.

All in all, upon coming back to the office I couldn't help but feel an overall sadness. What is going on in the UK? Am I just an eternal pessismist? I miss my family and my country, but there is little to feel patriotic for, whilst we face this collective political, economic and social mess. What kind of a future do we have as a society? Such great questions have no clear answer; however what is crystal clear is the feeling of sadness I have, as I contemplate certain realities that we cannot deny.
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