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To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne, today, the UK enters a four-day long holiday, with daily celebrations centered on Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Including our streets, people outside London will hold street parties and other activities to celebrate this major British event.
While Britain is still shrouded in the Ukrainian war, it is expected to be front page for the next four days. The major British newspapers published today, with the exception of The Guardian, have almost all the front pages of the Queen. The BBC, as well as some other international television stations in other countries, have already broadcast the celebrations live from early in the morning.
I am the convener of our street party. My neighbours are all British and for some reason no one cares regarding it. As an immigrant, I’ve seen countless hilarious scenes on TV over the decades of British people throwing outdoor street parties in front of their homes, eating, drinking, and celebrating the Queen’s ascension to the throne. This game is played every ten years. It is estimated that it has been played since the tenth year of the Queen’s accession to the throne. This year must be the last time! (Eighty years of enthronement is unlikely, unless the Queen is alive ten years from now, when she will be 106).
I took the initiative to set up a neighborhood group last Saturday and asked four good neighbors who would like to have a street party, and all of them responded. Why don’t they organize? That is, why wait for me, the only immigrant in the street, to initiate it? One explanation is: Toni, the most organized and driven old Irish lady on the street, is going to see her son in the US today, and the others are not so passionate regarding the Queen’s love (compare those Queen fans interviewed on TV, some from Australia and the United States, they So excited), on the contrary, I, a new immigrant, learned and fell in love with the party form more than ten years ago. Later, party invitations were enlarged to the whole street, and almost everyone was willing to participate in the end. Today at 5pm, a few hours following this article is published, we will be having a street party.
Compared to having a party at your own home, the street party method is actually very easy, because the work is divided among each family.
The site is on a public street, because our street is close (similar to a dead end), all the residents are detached houses (similar to a two-story building, with front and rear gardens and garages), 11 households, there is only one way in and out, so there is no need to Apply to the government to close the road, and the neighbors collectively agree to it. We were all ready to park in our garage before the party started.
At 4:30 p.m., before the party starts, each family pulls tables and chairs to the center of the street, puts them together, and lays out white paper, which is the party scene. Camping has been popular in the UK for 60 years, and every family has tables, chairs and stoves for outdoor picnics. If not, there are basically outdoor tables and chairs in the back garden that are not afraid of the sun and rain, because barbecue, drinking tea or partying in the back garden in summer is also a popular entertainment method in the UK. In short, one of my big impressions of the UK is that this country has developed for many years, and the people are very good at playing. Catch the day of the Queen’s Celebration. Because everyone is very experienced and well-equipped, no special preparations are required.
Things that need special preparation are actually called bunting (a string of decorative flags), which can be triangular or square. Must be in a string, the longer the more imposing. The graphic is preferably the British Union Jack flag, other patterns are also acceptable. I went to the store to buy this item yesterday, but I went to five stores and they all said they were sold out!
The food is prepared by each family and shared with everyone. I went out and said to my neighbors, “Tomorrow’s street party, I will make Chinese fried dumplings and custard buns. If you haven’t heard of this delicacy, you are welcome to come and try it.” These British neighbors of mine probably eat it all. Conservative, not good at accepting new food, like most Cantonese people, they think that what is in their stomach is the best in the world; food in the eyes of others is not a thing. Just like most Chinese immigrants, their understanding of British cuisine is basically limited to a few foods such as fish and chips. British people regard themselves as national treasures, and many Chinese expats despise them. Similarly, the treasures in the eyes of the Chinese, such as dumplings, are likely to be invisible to the British (because they are not familiar with the appearance of dumplings, they are easy to miss). I’m curious how many neighbors will be willing to try dumplings and custard buns in the followingnoon?
Beverages are also brought. When the Chinese are partying, eating is the key; when the British are partying, drinking is the key. Therefore, British party food is often not very particular in the eyes of the Chinese, and it is too simple; and when British people go to Chinese parties, it is easy to feel that there is not enough wine. If the Chinese owner still enthusiastically went to Maotai, there are probably only a handful of British people who know how to appreciate it.
Others, such as saucers, knives and forks, wine glasses, paper towels, etc., are brought with you.
The party will be in 5 hours and I am now ready to start making dumplings and buns. so excited!
(Note: This article only represents the author’s personal views. The editor-in-charge email bo.liu@ftchinese.com)
