One of the classes I'm taking is British Life and Culture, and so far it's turning out to be awesome. In the most recent class, we had a pub quiz (which is a legit thing, I actually looked it up because I actually thought the professor was making it up) about this reading that no one did. Maybe we should have though, because I'm sure all the questions could be easily answered by any British 7-year-old. Thankfully it wasn't for a grade and I actually really learned a lot.
For example, one of the questions was what elements make up the British flag (commonly known as Union Jack -- didn't know that!)?
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| English Flag + |
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| Scottish Flag |
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| Ireland's St. Patrick's Cross + |
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| = UK Flag! ...and poor Wales is left out. |
Apparently Ireland has been having problems, too. In just 1921 (which is relatively recent in history terms) Ireland was granted independence and only Northern Ireland is a part of the UK. The only thing I ever knew about Ireland's history was the potato famine (which I also learned they never really recovered from the population loss).
I learned about their government as well. It's made up of the House of Lords, Monarchy and House of Parliament. I learned about what they each do and how many people are in each and how they get appointed or elected. I also learned that the Queen is basically the PR person for the UK.
Also I learned all about the Royal Family and I may be obsessed. Apparently, William was just given the title Duke of Cambridge just because Kate (a commoner!) needed a title (Duchess of Cambridge) when they got married. And when queens get married their husbands don't become king, but rather stay a prince (but king's wives would become queen) because a king outranks a queen and that can't happen.
So much knowledge!!!
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