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<\/p>\nAt the end of this week I am taking the Life in the UK citizenship test as part of my bid to secure indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. So I spent much of this weekend cramming from the official book. Although many of the facts and figures were pretty basic (“On Christmas, people usually spend the day at home and eat a special meal, which often includes turkey”, or “Libraries are places that encourage children to read”), I did find a surprising amount that was new to me. <\/p>\n
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\nTesting times<\/strong> It had a beginning, a middle and an end, but not much of a narrative arc<\/p>\n \nIn my previous post<\/a> on this topic, a number of people expressed curiosity about the required content of the exam. So by popular demand, herewith just a few of the more exotic specimens – feel free to play along at home.<\/p>\n \n– Although Northern Ireland is part of the UK, the term “Great Britain” does not refer to Northern Ireland, as opposed to the term “British”, which does includes the Northern Irish. The term “Briton”, however, is usually only used to refer to Brits abroad, especially by the press.<\/p>\n \n– Oliver Cromwell was a serious badass. In 1649, he had Charles the First executed and England was governed without a monarchy for nine years. And here I was thinking that New Model Army<\/a> was just a great band<\/a>. (Disclaimer: I have no doubt I learned about all of this at one point, but blame my apoptotic neurons, not my god fearin’ American education.)<\/p>\n \n– Almost three quarters of British women with school-aged children are in paid work.<\/p>\n \n– It is illegal to be drunk in public. (Anyone who frequents the streets and public transport after eleven might be as surprised as I was to find this out.)<\/p>\n \n– Hereditary peers no longer have the automatic right to attend the House of Lords, though they are allowed to elect a few of their number to represent them.<\/p>\n \n– Blind people still have to pay 50% of the TV license! (I’m sorry, but this strikes me as seriously unfair. Is the dialogue of most British television programs really<\/em> that sparkling?)<\/p>\n \n– 45% of all the ethnic minorities in the UK reside in London. (8% of all British are non-white, according to the last census, which was taken in 2005; half of this fraction is of Asian descent).<\/p>\n \n– In England, refusal to have children is grounds for divorce.<\/p>\n \n– Men are entitled to two weeks of paid paternity leave regardless of how long they have worked for a company, whereas although women are entitled to 26 weeks of maternity leave, they are not entitled by to be paid for any of it! (What’s going on there?)<\/p>\n \n– Children are specifically not allowed to deliver milk or work behind the counter of a chip shop.<\/p>\n \nAnd finally, it’s not in the book, but I feel I should memorize the lyrics to the national anthem before I show up in Great Portland Street with my \u00a335 on Friday. After all, it doesn’t seem right to just mumble “God save our gracious queen” line after line like most of my British mates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the end of this week I am taking the Life in the UK citizenship test as part of my bid to secure indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. So I spent much of this weekend cramming from … Continue reading