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Ben Maddox

Stories from Ben Maddox

Being British Part III
To get to Europe, the British have to cross the Channel, and an even wider cultural divide
Ben Maddox
01/07/2009

But if you’ve been with me so far, you know that I am very clear that we British are different from the Continentals. I was brought up in Middle England, as I told you, under the strict rules of Purity, Piety and Hypocrisy (also half-arsed alliteration.) I was taught to treat anyone without a bowler hat and an umbrella with fear, suspicion and a sharpened bayonet.

Being British Part II
Naked truth in Austrian saunas haunts and taunts the English
Ben Maddox
15/04/2009

I’m not a regular at my local sauna; I don’t have my own peg and I’m not on a first-name basis with the attendant, although it’s probably Martin.  Still, I have from time to time ventured through the steamed glass door to the horrors that lie beyond. 
In an Austrian sauna, there are pine benches arranged in terraces, the hottest bench closest to the ceiling and the coolest (relatively speaking) at the bottom.

08 Being (too) British
Being (too) British: Pt. I
An Englishman overcomes his fear of continental laissez-faire
Ben Maddox
01/03/2009
To start with, I’m English; this means that I have a different attitude from Europeans. I was brought up in Middle England under the strict rules of Purity, Piety and Hypocrisy (also half-arsed alliteration.) I was taught to treat anyone without a bowler hat and an umbrella with fear, suspicion and a sharpened bayonet.

Anyone with even the slightest trace of a foreign twang wasn’t to be trusted.

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