to want ^Typical English^ tourist spots to have English people serving you?

[IwantJoansbag]

I expect to get flamed for this and called all-sorts, but I don't care.
I'm genuinely curious.

We went out for the day yesterday and stopped off at 3 well-known English tourist spots.
Glastonbury, Cheddar and Wells. (with a little stop off at a pretty little 'supposedly' English market-garden type place - selling Strawberries, Plums, etc) plus we stopped off at an outlet village.

It just seemed wrong that at EVERY place we stopped we were served by Eastern Europeans. I didn't hear ONE English accent (except in the shops), but all the eateries and stalls.... foreign accents.

If I go to a Beer Festival in Germany, its nice to be served by somebody with a German Accent - it adds to the atmosphere.
If I were to go to New York and eat in China Town - its great if the majority of people are Chinese.
Stopping off in a typical Italian Pizza place and the people are mainly Italian! You expect a bit of authenticity.

So, is it too much to ask the same happens in England?
It must be disappointing for the tourists when they come here.

For the record:- I am ONLY talking about typical tourist spots and I've got nothing against people coming to our country to work, but I think that some places (tourist spots where you expect things to be traditional) they should have mainly English people dealing with the public.

Glastonbury isn't a representation of Somerset. It's full of crystals and witchcraft shite hawked by fake hippies.

Why would a seasonal foreign workers knowledge be less than an english persons although what knowledge of english history is needed to serrve scones is beyond me!

The guides are usually trained for the job anyway so i would assume this training would be extended to foreign staff.

Many of the guides are volunteers so would have personal interest. They may well be on gap years or holiday from university. Heres a news flash for you - itsnot only naice english people with plummy accents who go to university. In fact overseas students are positively encouraged because they pay more so im sorry happy your argument holds no water for me.

Surely, their knowledge of the place would be greater than anything a foreigner could have picked up for a 'seasonal' job

Depends. I'm a foreigner with a history PhD (not in British history nor completed in a British university). I tend to know a lot more English / British history than even quite educated English people. IME the English aren't particularly historically literate.

Whenever we go to Somerset I get mistaken for a local. I'm not, I'm from bloody Gloucester...the accent just travels well

And Glastonbury is the least authentic place in the known universe.

Only if you have never been to Gretna Green.

Best stay indoors permanently op. Ridiculous opinion. Can't be bothered to write a constructive reply to such crap. Thank you to others more patient who have gone to the effort to reply properly - though I fear your efforts will have been in vain.

Or Tintagel Andrewofgg

Totally agree with this statement!

Best stay indoors permanently op.

Ah, but are you sure you didn't ask for a 'laaa-tay' rather than an americano?

I'm laughing my arse off at authentic Spanish waiters etc in Barcelona! That'd be the Catalan Capital? Who just celebrated Catalan Day waving flags and glued to Twitter updates about the Scotland? Priceless.

I've never read so much xenophobic wank on here, fortunately.

Cant be bothered to write a constructive reply to such crap

. Catching up on the thread and I thought the same.. I am so pissed off though because Aston Villa are up 1-0 against Liverpool. WTF is that about... Really not happy...

Just adding that to the mix. strops off the watch Liverpool get beat

LittlePea, please don't get the OP started on football teams and the 'authenticity' of their members.

I was brought up near Stonehenge. I didn't know that was meant to give me some kind of weird instinctive understanding of neolithic archaeology, perhaps gained through drinking the water, which would make me intrinsically better suited to be a tour guide than any well educated and keen foreign student.

Well, you live and learn.

I have skimmed the thread.

I recently had a work trip to a big city in Germany and was expecting to mostly meet, well, Germans. I was slightly surprised when I realised that the majority of German-speakers I meant were obviously not from Germany (i.e. they spoke German hesitantly and with pronounced accents). The service I received was fine, I hasten to add.

I think to some extent I still assume that America is mostly full of people who sound American and grew up there, France is mainly full of people who sound French and grew up there, etc, etc. I shouldn't assume that at all (and indeed am reminded that it is not the case whenever I travel either in Britain or abroad) but I can understand the initial assumption. When I was a child, I was told that you found Americans in America and the French in France and so on. Old mental habits die hard I suppose.

I think I am trying to say that I get the op's initial surprise. I also think, however, that this is the modern world and she'd best get used to it!

Also skimmed the thread... sorry if someone has said this already. I run a hotel. Quite a big one and we offer a good salary plus benefits including a pension and gym membership. Could not get UK nationals to work with us...reasons ranged from I don't like shifts to this isnt my thing.... gave up after 6 months and employed Romanians. Believe me...its not the employers... :-(

crazy, I would quite like to work in a hotel. why won't anyone but Romania s apply.

Hey OP - those authentic NY Chinese restaurant workers you mentioned. They're not native New York Americans you know. Just sayin

Where to begin?

• The benefits culture means plenty of locals don't want to be bothered working, or at least not for longer than they need to in order to get tax credits (16 hours a week).

• The low pay, poor conditions and impossibility of any advancement in these jobs are pretty powerful disincentives to taking them.

• The foreigners who do the jobs are (i) learning/improving their English and (ii) learning about business. They have the advantage that they can return to their (usually less developed) country and make good use of these two things to run their own businesses whereas the native English can't (much higher start-up costs in England b/c of higher rents, more bureaucracy).

The English education system is, in general, relatively poor, especially for the mid to low ability range. I regularly meet 18-21 year olds from continental Europe who speak and write English better than many English 18-21 year olds.

You do know she's German, right?

The Queen is not German. She may have some German ancestors on her father's side but she, her parents and her paternal grandfather were born in the UK.(I'm not bonkers enough to check on all her grandparents so there might be more) Her mother, the late Queen Mother, had no connection with German ancestry on either side and is generally reckoned to be Scottish.

I'm not sure why I care but "the Queen is German is such a lazy comment.

The opening post is ridiculous.

Doughnuts is the correct spelling unless you are in Scotland where it is acceptable to call a ring doughnut a doughring.

So you expect to be served by a Chinese person in NYC's Chinatown for an 'authentic' experience?

Err you do realise that Chinese people are not indigenous to the United States of America don't you?

And that Chinese person in Chinatown may well have never set foot in China being fourth generation American?

The Queen's bloodline (sorry for the horse analogy) has hardly any 'English' in it- whatever being English is. It is all pretty meaningless anyway, the deeper into it you go. And that is how it should be.

But are you polite to these foreigners serving you ?