Obsessed with countries, England in particular

Post Reply New Topic

I'll admit it, I am. At Christmas it gets worse. I live in the deep south in the southern USA. I want to experience Christmas in Medieval Britain. I would settle for experiencing it in Victorian, Edwardian, or even modern day England, if it meets my fantasy.

If it were modern day, I would like this'

A small cottage in the country, on a two lane road, but set well back. I want it to be made of stone and have a thatched roof. Nothing fancy, I would like it to be away from neighbors, with woods growing around and the view to be nothing but rolling hills. It should be two story, but simple. Nothing except what you need really, although built for possibly someone who worked for a titled person. Four bedrooms upstairs, all done in light colors and with high ceilings. The beds would be very old, passed down from the original owners of the house and feather and straw mattresses that are restuffed a few times a year.

I want an "old timey" kitchen. An old wood stove that heats most of the downstairs, even though there are fireplaces in every room. A huge porcelain sink with a real drainboard. No counter space, but a big wooden table in the middle of the room to cook on. An ice box that is really an ice box.

I want to wake up in that house in the morning and it's so cold, and have to go downstairs to get the kitchen fire going, and light fires in every fireplace, even the bedrooms, and maybe turn the coffee pot on to make. Then go back and get under my covers with my husband and cuddle up to get warm while the coffee is making and the house is heating. I would even switch to hot tea in the morning if need be.

Then I want to get up about 20 minutes later, after drifting in a semi dozing state and watching the mists fade away over the ground, and see in my livingroom a beautiful tall and full tree. I want it to be trimmed with bead garlands and glass ornaments in jewel tones. I want it to have clip on candle holders holding slim, white tapers made of real bees wax, on the branches, even though it would be dangerous to light them. I want collie dogs laying beside it. Two big, beautiful, red and white collie dogs, who are well trained.

I want to turn my radio on, which I will have by the coffee pot, or tea kettle pot if I have to switch to it, and hear "Carol Of The Bells". Or "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" or "Oh Holy Night". I want to be wearing a white cotton nightgown that brushes the floor, with a white cotton bathrobe over it. I want to sit at my table and watch out the window as the mists slowly lift and the sun peeks out between the clouds of an overcast midwinter day as I drink my coffee and wake up.

I know it's not like that, probably, for most people there, but that's what I think an English morning would be like. Does anyone else have any obsessions in detail of a country or time that they would truly like to live in? I have many more on other time periods, and they are a lot better too, but this one sounds heaven to me. Although what's odd is that I bet there is someone living over there, imagining life in the deep south in the USA to be particularly romantic and sensory pleasing as much as I imagine their life is.

So, tell me your country or time obsessions, with detail please

Frances

How I grieved my grandmother was developing a special interest in Finland. I had associated with Finnish-American and solidly grown up with that culture but it only became a special interest after her death.

However I have no fantasies like yours.

I also have a country and time obsession. I'd love to be living in England in the 1960s. The Mid 60s to be exact. I'd be living in a pad on Carnaby Street. I'd be hanging around Carnaby Street dressed in the latest unisex fashions with all the Mods and Swingers. I'd still look the way that I do now like Mick Avory did in 1964. I'd be around the age of 20 though. There would be Routemasters going up and down all of the streets of London along with Hackney Carriages. A Bobby would be standing on every street corner with a night stick in his hand. Every house in London would have an aluminium Christmas Tree. I would be wealthy enough to get backstage passes for every Kinks concert to go through London from 1964 to 1967 and see them on stage in living colour.

I've never been there, but I have an obsession with it. I want to go there because my thoughts of it make it feel like some "home" I've never been to.

I would love to go visit there one day, but I'm afraid that seeing how reality is different from my imagination may ruin it for me.

You said you are from there, how long has it been since you were there, and I'm assuming you moved away from there, not meant that you are still there, and do you think it would ruin your thoughts about it if you went back? If I misinterpreted your statement, disregard that question.

Frances

I moved to Canada when I was 1.

I am a HUGE Anglophile myself, although I have a pretty good idea of where my passion came from. I've always been a literature nerd, and the number of brilliant authors from the U.K. simply baffles the mind! I also like a lot of musicians originating from there (not that that is necessarily unique to me, as artists like Adele or, in a classic example, the Beatles, have a worldwide following). Don't even get me started on the many brilliant U.K. films and TV shows, or on the amazing variety of accents that can be found in just one city! I went to London for about 10 days several years ago, and that only inflamed my desire to spend more time there.

I don't think that my obsession is particularly time-specific, though. I'm quite alright with being in modern England.

I'm attracted to the druidic tradition, but living on old blighty would be too much like NZ

Tahiti was pure bliss for me, or somewhere remote like Sumatra

My special interest has always been Ireland. I have always wanted to live there. I have always over- romanticized Ireland. The history and the ancient Celtic people were very fascinating. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It has some of the best music,culture and literature.

One of my interests/obsessions is Antarctica. Does that count?

I have always been in love with Japan. My earliest memory of being a Japanophile was when I was 6. Our class was doing a musical about the different countries of the world, and we all got assigned different countries to represent, with costumes and everything. I was secretly sad that I didn't get Japan because I wanted to wear a kimono.

Then when I was 8, Japanese high school exchange students paid a visit to my classroom to teach us about Japanese culture. I remember that at one point, they all surrounded my desk and admired my hair because it's blonde. They were running their hands through it and saying "Her hair is golden!"

That experience, combined with the Pokemon craze that was going on at the time, really got me interested in Japan. I read a lot of library books about Japan, and around that time I started declaring that I would move to Japan when I grew up and that I would marry a Japanese man.

What really cemented my love of Japan though, was having a best friend who was originally from there. This friendship occurred between the ages of 11 and 14, and it was both the happiest (in the beginning/middle) and saddest (in the end) time in my life up to this point. My friend's mom in particular was very kind to me. She told me that she was happy that her daughter was friends with someone who loved Japan so much. At one point she even started addressing me with the "-chan" suffix. At this point in my life, there was no doubt in my mind that I would move to Japan when I turned 18 and I had a goal of becoming a famous manga artist, since I was very into anime.

In a perfect world, I would live in a traditional Japanese-style house in the countryside of Japan. I would be married to a Japanese man who would be just as much of an anime geek as I am. If he had any sisters, I would be friends with them. I would own a yukata and wear it to festivals with him. Any time we had days off from work, we would travel to Akihabara and check out all the latest gadgets and anime-related goodies. There would be the sound of cicadas in the summer, and cherry blossoms in the spring. I know this is an overly-romanticized version of Japan, and that's why I will probably never go there in real life. I would rather not have my hopes shattered when my expectations aren't met.

I've had a strong love of Italy for most of my life. I've visited half a dozen times, but the only major city I've been to is Verona. My lack of ability to converse in Italian is quite frustrating.

A few years ago, I had a bit of an obsession about Iceland. I saw an Icelandic movie recently. It was filmed in winter. The place looked stark and wondrous. All those thoughts I had came flooding back. I don't think I could ever pick up Icelandic. I've heard from a seasoned language learner that this is the hardest language he has ever tackled, it's near impossible.

But, I love Canada. My husband is more obsessed that I am. Had it not been for the fact that I would miss my parents too much, we would have emigrated by now. We've been 11 times and plan to go back next year. The scenery in September/ October in Ontario is usually spectacular. Unfortunately, we can't go then as our daughter is at school now. She has a week off in October, but a week isn't enough. So, we hope to go to Alberta instead, at the time of the Calgary Stampede, and see it for the first time.

England in either the 70s, 80's or early to mid 90's