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I vow to thee my country…

1st July 2013 by Helena 1 Comment  

It is a truth universally acknowledged that only a foreigner (like me) can have such a ridiculously romantic view of England. I am at my happiest when in England, especially now with Wimbledon in full swing, the sun shining and Pimm’s flowing. When I am away I yearn for her green fields, M and S and the Daily Telegraph. In Abu Dhabi I shop at a pale imitation of the real Waitrose even though it is at least twice as expensive as anywhere else because it makes me feel “at home”. IMG-20130608-00333
Despite being half Italian and half Swedish, home for me is England. The minute I land here I feel at ease. I remember when I first came here as a seven year old telling my mother how friendly everyone was. Amazingly I don’t think that has changed, even if a few other things have. The food for example, has got so much better. And pubs! I just LOVE pubs now. When I was growing up they were dark, dingy places full of people drinking lager and eating salt & vinegar crisps. Now they’re like wine bars only with Sky Sports.
When we decamped to France in the year 2000 my aunt told me I should be wary about leaving my culture behind. At the time I was more focused on moving from a small house opposite a car park to a glorious villa in the middle of nowhere with a swimming pool. But her words stayed at the back of my mind and although I don’t regret moving for a moment, we gave the children the very best start in life there, I knew there would come a time when we had to get back to our “culture”. You see unlike a lot of British expats, I really didn’t want my children growing up to be French and thinking Napoleon was a good bloke. I love hearing them speak French, they sound gorgeous, but actually before we left for Abu Dhabi (which of course has more in common with England than France) they were turning into little French people I was worried I would not be able to relate to.
Living in Abu Dhabi where English is spoken everywhere and most of our friends are English meant they got back in touch with their roots a little more. And then we took the monumental decision to send them back to England to school. Looking back on it, it was possibly slightly nutty. What would we have done if they had loathed it, called us up crying every five minutes and refused to learn anything at all?IMG-20130503-00252
Happily it could not have gone better. They are blissfully happy. Of course in my view they jolly well should be. I want to be at an English boarding school with its beautiful green acres, tennis courts and surrounding woods. They have already made really good friends, their reports vary from truly excellent to rather middling, but nothing disastrous.
The other day Rupert said jokingly to Leo; “Well, we may be able to afford the school fees next term, looks like your mother is going to do some work for once.” Leo did not find this amusing. His eyes filled with tears. “Can’t you pay the fees next term?”
They seem to have embraced the English way of life as only a foreigner can.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2013


Filed Under: Children, Life, blog --> Tagged With: country

One thought on I vow to thee my country...

  • Lloyd says:
    1st July 2013 at 5:03 am

    I always loved the Pubs.
    And It seemed to me you frequented them no matter what the atmosphere .

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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