Why do I feel so strongly about being Welsh?

[tomenymur]

I was born and brought up in Wales. Whilst we spoke mainly English at home, with just my dad speaking Welsh to us, I am fluent in Welsh.
I went to university in England and have lived in London ever since.
But, why do I feel so strongly about being Welsh?
I absolutely LOVE Wales, but cant move back as my job and life is here.

If I go shopping and I see that a bag of carrots are from Wales, I would buy them even if I didn't really want carrots that week.
If I can buy specialist coffee or from a wine merchant, I'd favour a Welsh one over one down the road.

Does anyone else feel like this about their home country? I almost feel like it's a duty to do everything I can to support Wales... :o as ridiculous as that sounds

For all that you are living in London, do you not find that you are constantly reminded of the fact that you are Welsh and therefore different by other Londoners.

I was born in Scotland and lived there as a child, moved to England lived there for 20 years and now live in Wales and have done for a decade. I still work in England, so very close to the border. Just because I have a certain accent, I am continually told by people that I am from a certain country and not really part of their country even though I have lived in their country longest out of everywhere I've lived.

I class myself as British, because I have lived in all of Britain. IME, other people who class themselves think of Britain as England.

I’m from the valleys, left to go to uni at 18 and have lived in various places in England since.

I think there’s a fine line between patriotism and a quite nasty superiority thing and my experience is that the Welsh do slip over it quite frequently. Anti Englishness is a real thing among the less educated and travelled:

I’m welsh born and bred too, although live in England now. I probably won’t ever live in Wales again, and that makes me feel very sad. The welsh are a very patriotic lot.

It is quite a strong pull indeed. Two daughers born elsewhere lived in wales for 7 years - lived in other countries for longer but feel totally welsh. Would never say they were anything else. Dh is very pissed off! Especially during te 6 nations

What a heartwarming thread. I have lived in Wales for many years and it is a beautiful country. I didn’t realise that I also automatically buy Welsh butter and milk until someone mentioned it! Also Welsh cakes and the best flag are both ace.

That makes two of us @FthisS.
And thanks Megatron, I see us as ‘stronger together‘, and isn’t the idea of nations with common concerns working together a timeless one rather than a 1950’s concept?
My DH has Scottish roots, my DSis married a Welshman, my last employer was a company from Northern Ireland etc.etc. I think lots of us are ingrained in different ways in the different parts of Britain and are proud to be so.
Just thinking about it though, I could claim links to the Netherlands and the USA so maybe I am talking bollocks...

@TinklyLittleLaugh yy. Exh’s (lovely) family are from the valleys and while I don’t mind a bit of ‘banter’ if my English fam has come at his nationality like they used to mine at xmas etc he’d have upped and left.

Sadly I’ve moved onto an Irish guy and am doomed to know more about rugby than I ever wanted to...

Oh- and on a lighter hearted note yes, ExMil will go to great lengths to buy any groceries with a welsh flag on! We did tease her once asking if there wasnt any Welsh Orange Juice and she said she’d look harder next time

I had a Welsh father but grew up in England. Wales is my special place...and it's where my favourite gin is distilled.

My Dad is Welsh. His first language is Welsh. He has dementia and can understand English perfectly well, but if tired will only be able to reply in Welsh.

This is unfortunate as he’s lived in Scotland for the last 50 years, and I can’t speak Welsh (yet).

@TinklyLittleLaugh

I agree. When the Welsh make comments about the English it's 'banter' but when the English give it back it's 'nasty'.

My welsh family member always used to mimick my voice, I did it back once and she went mad!

I think it is fine to be proud but I find some of the Welsh to be really obsessed, covering everything in their flag and talking about it non-stop etc.

I went to a Welsh sporting event a few years ago and was very moved by everyone singing the anthem before the game started. I don't know why the anthem hadn't resonated before when hearing it on the telly, but something about being surrounded by Welsh families singing their hearts out together left me damp-eyed.

I'm about to exchange contracts on a house move that means I'll be living outside Swansea soon after 50 years in England. Bit nervous, but I'm hoping to experience that same community feeling.

It's not the same thing OP(although I am half Welsh!) but I feel the same way about Liverpool. I'm not from there, don't live there (yet) and can't move there, yet I love it, used to go there loads, and I don't feel happy if I don't have my Liverpool calendar every year(not the football club, general pictures of)

Cymro fan hyn!

My mum moved to London in her 20s and she felt the same way. I think it’s a tad of homesickness and longing (hiraeth just isn’t translatable!). I think it can also be tiring coming into contact with people who consider Wales a small, insignificant, dot that preaches about its dying language (or have little idea about its cultural relevance to Wales). Scotland gets a lot more coverage and praise in the U.K general news media, despite being only a little larger than Wales.

My son said his first Welsh word yesterday and I was over the moon, relieved, and so proud (he’s 16 months and has a good vocabulary in English).
My mum and I speak Welsh thanks to having a Welsh medium education. My great-grandparents preferred speaking Welsh over English. Sadly, my grandparents couldn’t speak Welsh due to the Welsh-not enforced in school and their parents believing it would be better for their careers to speak English (they could understand it but not speak it). So I’m very happy and proud that our language is being passed on to another generation, despite what happened to my grandparents. I think there’s still a very strong feeling of solidarity and a little bitterness amongst the Welsh population. We know we’ve been over-looked and treated unfairly for centuries. Even now, the Barnet formula is unfavourable to Wales.

Also, my dad was English so there’s no English bashing here from me. I haven’t come across any Welsh people who actually hate English people anyway- it seems like a bit of banter that the Welsh, Scots and Irish partake in. Nevertheless, it’s embarrassing when taken too far.

@Cherryblossomsnow

You and me both, sister! I'm a very staunch and proud New Zealander, I love my country warts and all. It's a great day in this household when the New Zealand lamb shipment hits the shops. . . if it has a Kiwi flag on it, we'll find a way to have to include an item in the shop!

I love Wales though, it's the second country of my heart. I have a Welsh name, and both our daughters have Welsh names.

The first time I went to Wales, I was on a teambuilding exercise with another Kiwi, who was almost literally bouncing up and down in his excitement and enthusiasm, telling me 'you're going to love it, it's so like New Zealand!' He was right, it was, and I did. And the Welsh were so kind and hospitable.

Oh, forgot to mention, strong Welsh heritage on both sides of both sides, both mother's maiden names were very Welsh.

I think it’s fine to feel patriotic about your own country. I’m English and would never refer to myself as British. I just love England, I feel relaxed and happy here. I’ve lived in other countries, which were a great experience, but I could never have imagined my DC being brought up anywhere other than England.
I’m the same as you OP about butter, I always ensure I buy English products over those from anywhere else.
I think it’s good to love your country.

When the Welsh make comments about the English it's 'banter' but when the English give it back it's 'nasty'. I’ve found the exact opposite. My DH is Welsh and gets a lot more grief here than I do for being English there. I love having a bit of banter with his family. It’s all good natured.

And fair play, your national anthem is spine tingling when you’ve got a stadium full of people singing it and your beaches are beautiful.

We went on a family holiday to Turkey a few years ago. One of the Turkish waiters asked where we were from. I said “Wales”. “What part of England is that?” He asked. I replied “Wales isn’t in England”. He looked confused. His Turkish Waiter mate came over and said “ You are Welsh! Rydw i’n siarad Cymraeg”. He couldn’t but I was well impressed! 😁

@Sn0tnose

Sounds like just bad experiences on my part then 😫

I'm Welsh and proud! I never say I from UK, always Wales.

Wherever in the World I travel I always meet, and make friends, with other Welsh people or people from Newcastle. Can any other Welsh people identify? I absolutely love People from Newcastle. We always seem to have so much in common 😁

@Sn0tnose if you live in England, surely there are more opportunities for your husband to get grief than the other way round.
I do find the Welsh a very patriotic bunch, they always have to shoehorn it in. You can even see this on TV shows like GBBO or other stuff, all Welsh contestants constantly work Wales into the theme. And I do mean all.
I don’t really like excessive patriotism, I just don’t see the point of it. It’s like bragging or being proud of something completely random.

It is great being Welsh OP.
I think Welsh people sometimes underestimate how foreign they can feel in England. I lived in England for some time, but I had to adjust my personality to fit .