Errrr…yes.
Quite agree Vero.
Don’t get me started on that subject !!!
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Totally agree with you Vero, makes me cringe and shrivel to hear them.
I wish that these rude, ignorant cretins would all stay together with their ‘little Britain’ mentality, preferably thousands of kilometres from anywhere/anyone half intelligent!
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I mentioned Sunderland and Swindon as having large car plants, industrial.
I did not challenge any of the other areas Peyer.
Nothing but arrogant gits.
Probably have second houses in Rock as well.
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Good 'eavens Vero, and you usually so calm and measured in your posts.
I totally agree of course, although are you sure they weren’t holidaymakers in which case you have to admit there’s a funny side to it. I don’t see any funny side when it’s people who supposedly live here. They have their carte vitales in their wallets and they’re happy to take once they’ve had it explained to them which forms to fill in, and criticise when they don’t think they’re being treated as they should, but how are they ever going to put anything back in when they don’t have a clue what’s going on around them and apparently don’t seem to feel any need to understand?
I finally got round to collecting my tds last week and sitting in the waiting room I was reading the posters explaining the obligatory integration programme that OFII organises for immigrants - language and culture classes, sessions to explain how French administration works - and I was thinking that Brexit might have one or two upsides after all.
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I don’t mind if expats speak bad french but I do expect the ones who have decided to reside in France to at least make an attempt at the language.
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Even those who are on holiday here can surely learn a few basic words ?
Excuse me, thank you, hello and goodbye are so simple. Common coutesy costs nothing!
I was lucky enough to have a holiday in Indonesia and Myamar many years ago. I learnt the usual greetings in Burmese, impossible to read signs! Indonesian was easy to learn and it made all the difference being able to communicate and learn what life was like !
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Quite. It is the complete lack of effort to be even elementarily polite that makes me cross.
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Exactly, how hard is it to learn apa kaba/ terima kasih/ selamat malam/ selamat makan etc
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Used to go to Rangoon in the '70s and it was run down then, nothing seemed to have been done to the city since the British left after the war, I expect it’s that much worse nowadays ?
Sadly, that is how a lot of people speak in the UK now. They stick out like a sore thumb here. There was a couple in our supermarket yesterday. He had an iPad with the shopping list on and they were busily buying most of the cheese counter. I felt like squashing a soft Camembert in his face.
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A military dictatorship masquerading as an elected government.
You just have to love how (some) English endear themselves to the locals, don’t you . OK, maybe not 
I would not think of going into a shop without saying Bonjour, asking for what I want in French and leaving with a Bonne journée - though usually it’s an “et à vous aussi” as the shopkeeper has said it already.
But, as others have said, are you sure they were residents, not tourists - it’s pretty poor form in either event but understandable (not excusable though) in the latter case.
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Yep, that’s exactly how it was.
The large pagoda is incredible but the poverty around it is criminal.
Fabulous pictures Ann !
I’m turning into a grumpy old woman. Although that doesn’t happen to us that much, as few of that type around here, I’ve taken to smiling very, very sweetly and asking if I can help them communicate since they seem completely incapable of so doing. And leaving them with an equally smiley explanation of basic politesse in France.
In my experience of flying the friendly skies for 23 years - I think you get ignorant t*ats everywhere of just about every nationality. I’ve witnessed appalling behaviour above the clouds and on the ground. I think it’s difficult to put people or nationalities in boxes. The thing is - people rarely stand up to them - mostly from fear of getting involved or even laid out! You’ll never change them - steer clear if you can.
I worked in Rangoon (now Yangon) a couple of years ago - just before the Rohingya crisis really attracted international attention, and certainly before it had any discernable effects as far south as Yangon. Burma (now Myanmar) was regarded then as having achieved some political stability and economic progress (indeed my own work was on spinning out self-financing, and therefore sustainable social enterprises from international aid projects as these withdrew funding, having judged that their emergency interventions should move on to more urgent cases).
There were still many pretty tatty areas in Yangon, and many people are very poor indeed, but nothing worse than some of Europe’s poorest countries - like Kosovo, where I was working last week.
This might interest you if you want to revisit: https://hladaymyanmar.org/blog/yangon-good-guide.
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