England is a funny place where thongs and pants are underwear, chips are only ever hot, and beer is either drunk warm or with cider or lemonade.  But its also a place full of people who are just as passionate about their country, sport, and their country's main sports, as us Aussies are.

When I first arrived in England, I was worried that I would face a barrage of "you're a descendant of the convicts!", "what's with this republic thing? and "why do you call us Poms", and to be honest, I was right to be worried. Particularly because I have no idea why we call them Poms.

But I also found the English to be very excited and curious about 'the land down under', as many of them have never ventured outside the United Kingdom.  Unfortunately however, most English are severely misled regarding our wide brown land.  When at the hairdressers one day in Oxford, I exclaimed that I'd never worn a gown like the ones they provided, that tied up at the front like a dressing gown and had long sleeves.  The hairdresser exclaimed "oh well you wouldn't because its so hot in Australia!".  She was a little surprised when I told her we had a pretty great ski season in Australia each winter and we even host a leg of the World Aerial Skiing Championships. 

It was refreshing every now and then, to meet other young people like myself, who had done 'the backpacking thing' in reverse, and had spent their gap year in Australia and New Zealand, "just like Prince William".  The only problem was that all they ever wanted to talk about was Australia and all they wanted to do was introduce me to other Australian people.  Unfortunately I'm not one of those people who sells their car and gets a sizeable bank loan, to travel half way across the world, to meet 'myself'.  So I tried my best to smile and laugh and then quietly slip away to find myself a nice normal Pom who's never been anywhere except a trip on the train to London or the Costwolds.

I must admit however, for all of my claims to be one of those 'culturally immersive' people, by the end of my year in England I had played for the uni netball team, seduced the president of the 'football' team and spent countless hours in nightclubs and pubs getting pissed.  Just like being at home really!