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Re: "Parallel societies"

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Le 28/06/2026 à 12:08, Peter Moylan a écrit :
> On 28/06/26 15:11, Hibou wrote:
>>
>> Some migrants don't mix, it's true. This is true of some British
>> people on the Continent:
>>
>> "Many of those I spoke to felt that they managed quite well in French
>> on a 'need to know basis', relying on more competent acquaintances to
>>  translate documents and even accompany them to hospital
>> appointments. However, such dependency contradicts the idea of being
>> integrated.
> 
> I was partly guilty of this during the year in which I lived in the USA.
> My friends were mostly from British Commonwealth or former Commonwealth
> countries At times we used to sit around griping about the difficulty of
> understanding those crazy Americans. My mother-in-law often mailed us
> food parcels (although not on my request). I drove a Japanese car, which
> at the time was an Australian thing to do.
> 
> Still, I made some effort to integrate. I worked hard at learning to
> speak American. At Thanksgiving I ate pumpkin pie without grimacing. I
> spoke to people at bus stops. So I'll give myself a score of 50%.


There are temporary stays for work (I recall I was invited to go to 
Boulder for a while, but never did) and permanent migration by choice. I 
admit to being suspicious of those who move to a country for its 
prosperity, climate, freedom, democracy, or healthcare, while disdaining 
its culture. It feels somehow insulting.

Yet here I am in Scotland, after a wee migration a long time ago. What 
about the culture? Whisky, yes. Bagpipes, sometimes, when I'm in the 
mood. The kilt? No. Scotch pies? Not any more, at least not cheap ones; 
they're heart attacks on a plate. (I eat fruit and veg, which is a bit 
dodgy.) Jack Vettriano? Yes. Charles Rennie Mackintosh? No. I mix with 
the locals, though, married a Scotswoman, and we usually understand each 
other.

(Here's tae us! Wha's like us?
Gey few - an they're a' deid!

What a depressing toast!)

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"Parallel societies" occam <occam@nowhere.nix> - 2026-06-27 08:00 +0200
  Re: "Parallel societies" Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org> - 2026-06-28 11:07 +1000
    Re: "Parallel societies" Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-06-28 06:11 +0100
      Re: "Parallel societies" Bertel Lund Hansen <rundtosset@lundhansen.dk> - 2026-06-28 10:42 +0200
      Re: "Parallel societies" nospam@de-ster.demon.nl (J. J. Lodder) - 2026-06-28 11:01 +0200
      Re: "Parallel societies" Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org> - 2026-06-28 21:08 +1000
        Re: "Parallel societies" occam <occam@nowhere.nix> - 2026-06-28 13:41 +0200
          Re: "Parallel societies" Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org> - 2026-06-29 10:14 +1000
            Re: "Parallel societies" wollman@hergotha.csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) - 2026-06-29 00:55 +0000
            Re: "Parallel societies" athel.cb@gmail.com <user12588@newsgrouper.org.invalid> - 2026-06-29 15:04 +0000
        Re: "Parallel societies" Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-06-28 14:46 +0100
    Re: "Parallel societies" Bertel Lund Hansen <rundtosset@lundhansen.dk> - 2026-06-28 10:40 +0200
      Re: "Parallel societies" liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid (Liz Tuddenham) - 2026-06-28 15:32 +0100
        Re: "Parallel societies" Bertel Lund Hansen <rundtosset@lundhansen.dk> - 2026-06-28 17:24 +0200

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