World Wide Culture Swap

We have been quite busy over the last couple of weeks taking part in a world wide culture swap. Somebody posted details about it on a home ed page and after having a look I decided to sign us up.

Here is the link:

http://www.worldwidecultureswap.com/

Basically after you sign up Rachael the administrator of the site joins you up with 4 other families from around the world and you all agree a deadline for sending each other a parcel of items that will help the other families to learn a little about your culture. So in return for your 4 parcels, each family receives 4 parcels from around the world.

So, what we weren't expecting is how challenging it would be to find things to represent our English culture that were a) cheap and b) light to post.

Here's how we did. (Note, if you are one of our receiving families, please don't read on too carefully if you dont want to spoil the surprise!)

·        Twinings English Breakfast Tea

Here in England drinking “Afternoon Tea” isthe quintessentially English thing to do. In fact, we like to drink teamorning, noon and night! It’s even better when accompanied by cake or biscuits.

We’ve enclosed an English Breakfast Teabag for you to sampleand get a little taste of English culture.

To find out more about the history of tea in the UK here aresome great weblinks:

http://www.tea.co.uk/history-of-tea

http://www.history.uk.com/history/history-tea-britain/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_tea_culture

·        MiniCooper Car Magnet (attached to the crown craft paperwork)

The MiniCooper was recently voted the second most influential car of the 20th centurywhich is some achievement for a boxy two door that handles like a go-kart – andgreat testament to its enduring charm and iconic design.

The Minibegan life in 1957, when the head of the British Motor Corporation, LeonardLord, decided to design a true miniature car.

 It was rolledout in 1959, and sold very cheaply at cost price, with the only profits comingfrom deluxe models with optional accessories such as seat belts, door mirrors,and a radio. The Mini Mark I looked pretty odd for the time, and sold badly atfirst, but thanks to enthusiastic uptake among taste-makers and style iconssuch as Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon and the Beatles it was soon wildlypopular. But the most famous model was the souped-up Mini Cooper,introduced in 1961. This car really came into its own when models won the MonteCarlo Rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967. The Mini continued to sell well in the 70s but by the 80s,though still hugely popular in Britain, the car was looking increasinglyoutdated in the face of less pretty but more practical rivals such as the FordFiesta. Finally, even the Mini could not escape the decline and mismanagementthat characterized British industry in the late twentieth century, and thestruggling BMC was sold to Rover, which was itself later broken up. The lastproper Mini (a red Cooper Sport) was built on October 4, 2000.

Butthat’s not the end of the story: the iconic brand was bought by BMW whounleashed a new version: BMW’s MINI is technically unrelated to the old car butretains many of the original features – though it is a little bigger and a lotless minimal in its styling. With cartoony curves and outsize dials it seemsself-consciously cute, and has proved a great success as an icon of retro cool,particularly in Japan.

In the end more than five million Minis were sold, making it themost popular British car ever made. Now regarded as a timeless classic, itsappeal has endured and the older versions are collectors' items. As one of thefew big success stories of British manufacturing, recognisable all over theworld, the Mini deserves a proud place in the frontrow at the gathering of British style icons.

·        MarmiteSample

Love it or hate it,as the company slogan goes, Marmite is undeniably part of the UK’s heritage andone of the most unique British icons. The name of the world famous yeast spreadthat divides the UK when it comes to breakfast time, originally came in fromthe small earthenware pot it was served in - a French casserole dish called amarmite. We love it in our house, and often have it spread on toast with butterfor breakfast. I hope you love it as much as we do!

·        England’s Countryside and Towns

We are famous for our green and pleasant land here inEngland, and where we live we are surrounded by rollingcountryside and farmland. Our historic village is about 5 miles away from  a thriving market town, with great road and rail links to Londonand the rest of the country. 

Wehave included some laminated sheets from a fabulous website www.naturedectectives.org.uk of some of ourbeautiful British Birds and Trees. The website has some great ideas for outdoorfun, whichever country you live in! We have also put in some tourist brochuresabout  our town.

·        Cadbury’sChocolate

Cadburys chocolatein its brilliant purple wrapper is the favourite chocolate here in the UK. Thecompany have recently been taken over by Kraft (an American Company) but it’sstill the nation’s favourite. We’ve included some of the London 2012 Olympicsbars for you to enjoy.

Here’s a link tothe history of Cadburys:

http://www.cadbury.co.uk/the-story

·        UKcurrency & postage stamp

LocalNewspaper

Please don’t betoo influenced by the sensationalist headlines about crime and the like on thelocal newspaper we have included! Our town overall has a low crime rate and sowhen things like this do happen it makes VERY good news stories forjournalists! Don’t forget to check out the property pages to give you a flavourof the style of housing here and of course the prices! You will also find ajobs section to give you an idea of earning here in the UK.

Finally, there is some fun facts allabout typical British Culture on this website here:

http://www.you2uk.com/british-icons.html