Hey people,
There’s something about the euro that I’m never going to get used to. This is the second time I’ve lived in Spain for a significant amount of time (although, admittedly living in Toledo for a year does trump living in Barcelona for two months), and I’m yet to understand exactly what the coins are all about.
I’m English. I LOVE my currency. And that’s not even me being pretentious, I just really love using the pound. Quid, squid, pound, fiver, tenner, whatever you want to call it, I love it. I like how our coins are different shaped so you actually know what they hell they are. I know what a fifty-pence piece feels like, I know what is a pound coin, and the ever elusive two pound coin (still not very common I believe? Not in my experience anyway). The five pence, the penny, the two pence, they are all DIFFERENT. I like the queen on the back, I like the way her crown is different depending on what year coin you have. There have been a lot of discussions of the UK getting the Euro. Erm. ARE YOU CRAZY!? Sterling for me is part of the feeling of being British, English, whatever. I like it. As much as we’re a part of the Euro, I’m in the school of thought that we’re not properly Europeans, we are different, we’re not even on the same continent for god’s sake. We’re as much Europeans as the Turkish are.
I don’t know how common my opinion is on the European Union. I know when I speak to Erasmus students here (many of whom are from countries within the EU) they are quite shocked. But I don’t really see that we’re that European. When people ask me what I am, I am first of all, English. Then, I’m British, and very reluctantly I call myself European. I know we benefit from some parts of the EU, and I’m not going to go on a BNP rampage of, “We should get out of the EU and start kicking out anyone who wasn’t born in England and whose family is nothing other than English!” But I don’t feel that culturally, we gain that much from calling ourselves Europeans. Look at the way our Prime Ministers of late have bent over backwards for the Presidents of the US, I think that shows quite how much we feel part of the EU. We’re not even one of the bigger players. On paper, the UK rates quite high, but what power do we actually have? If France and Germany gang up against us on any kind of issue, that’s it for our opinion.
But anyway. The currency. There have been talks of introducing the Euro in England. Then there has been the consequent outrage. And I agree.
I, for one, would be screwed if they brought in the Euro. I shall tell you why.
I cannot get used to any of the coinage. Whenever I pay for anything, I still have to stare at the coins for about 5 minutes before I realise what it is, what it means, and how much I’m actually paying. There’s only so many times you can hand over a twenty euro note and hope that it covers it.
All the coins are the same shape- round. The two-euro is ever so slightly bigger than the one euro. Then the one cent, ok, it’s small. But the two cent and the five cent are basically the same size. The ten and the twenty cents are akin to the one and two cents prospectively. How am I supposed to live like this!?
That’s not even mentioning the paper money. They’re so bright and colourful I feel like I’m paying with monopoly money. Half the time when I pay for things I don’t even feel like I’m handing over money, it’s like I’m not actually paying anything. This could be dangerous. I’m not careless with money, but my gosh, I feel like I’m in a game! A game I’m very sure I’m going to lose....
:D
UPDATE: Apparently, my attitude towards the "England not being European" thing is a stereotypical English rant...oh well....I guess I'll have to be a stereotype for once!
No comments:
Post a Comment