He's Not a Yank, He's a Brit

Having lived in the good old U.S.A for fifteen years, I have become very American in my ways. I celebrate all of its holidays including the anti-British one (July 4th). I eat apple pie and cheer on Americans in Olympic sports. My wife is American. My kids are American. I am American. I became a citizen back in 2007. I have a passport with an eagle on it and at sporting events I hold my hand up to my heart and loudly sing the Star Spangled Banner. I also behave like an American in that I am very patriotic about this country. My accent has developed a little twang and I say elevator instead of lift, and trunk and instead of boot.

This afternoon at 2.45 pm I will be completely English again as I am every time my beloved English Football team, Arsenal comes out of the changing room and runs onto the pitch to play a football ( yes real football-round ball) match. We ( Arsenal) are playing Barcelona in the Champions League. I am meeting several friends at a bar in midtown to stare at a large television screen and hurl lots of abuse. My behavior completely changes. This is my true passion. I was a season ticket holder for 18 years before I crossed the pond and I am still as fanatical about them now as I ever was in the past.

I am about to leave work. I am already extremely nervous about the game. My wife knows that if we lose, the mood swings can be quite dramatic. Many arrangement with friends have been canceled after an unexpected Arsenal defeat. My boss knows that I won't be around. I warned him well in advance of this date and secured a half day off. He is cheering for Barcelona just to annoy me. I will not reveal the name of the bar I will be watching the match at, but at 3.30pm, if you happen to be walking past a bar and see a lunatic jumping up and down, foaming at the mouth, screaming at the screen as if the players can actually hear him, walk on by.

If there is no blog tomorrow it can only be because of two reasons : If Arsenal have won handsomely, I will still be celebrating by tomorrow afternoon. If they lose badly, it is unlikely I will emerge from under the duvet for several days.