Fun facts

5 interesting facts about the UK

Continuing our series of fun facts from different countries, today we’re looking at the UK.

1. Many of us Brits use the terms ‘Great Britain’ and ‘United Kingdom’ interchangeably, but we are wrong to do so. Great Britain consists of three countries – England, Scotland and Wales, whereas the full definition of the UK is ‘The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’. So the UK includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The rest of Ireland is a separate country.

So when we talk about ‘Britain’ or ‘Great Britain’ we are including Scotland and Wales. Many English don’t mind whether they are referred to as British or English, but people from other parts of Britain feel differently. For example, Scottish people tend to consider themselves Scottish and not British. (Of course I cannot speak for the whole of Britain so please feel free to disagree in the comments!)

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5 interesting facts about Australia

1.  Australia is now the most obese country in the world, just pipping the US at the post with a 26% obesity rate to their 25%. Despite Australia being a sport loving nation there’s obviously a whole lot of armchair sport loving going on, with beer, soft drink or greasy takeaway in hand!

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The French and their bread…

As you most likely know, the French could not have a proper meal without bread! How would they eat their cheese, wipe off their plates or make the tartines they dunk in their café au lait?

Bread was discovered by our hunter-gatherer ancestors some 30,000 years ago! No need to tell you that we have had quite some time since to master our technique for producing perfect dough !

10,000 years ago, we domesticated wheat and barley in our green and fertile valleys and were producing a type of flat bread, a modern version of which is still baked in many Mediterranean cultures.

It was not before the Middle Ages that we adopted and institutionalised the art of producing leavened bread which had been “invented” many centuries earlier.

Why didn’t we adopt it earlier!? No one really knows…

Not only bread then became an indispensable part of our feeding habits, but we used large slices of stale bread as “plates” or trenchers. Once the meal finished we gave the trenchers to the poor… or to the dogs…and the beauty of it is that no dish-washing was involved!

Weren’t we generous and smart?!

The colour of our bread evolved with society. Until the late 20th century, wealthy people would not been seen dead buying and eating anything else than white bread, while the less well-off contented themselves with dark bread made from whole wheat flour.

The irony is that whole wheat flour is much healthier as it has superior nutritional values. It has now become the ‘thing to do” if you are health conscious as too many chemicals are added to obtain perfectly white flour!

The whole world thinks that French only eat Baguette…well, it is not entirely true! We keep it for the tourists as it is what they expect to see in our boulangeries… and we buy grey or dark bread for ourselves and eat it with immense pleasure in the privacy of our homes!

But don’t tell anyone….

5 interesting Facts about Malaysia

Curious to know more about Malaysia? Check out these 5 interesting facts about Malaysia, and you may feel amazed about it!

1. Malaysia Truly Asia!: Malaysia is populated with various ethnic groups:  about 55% of Malay, 25% of Chinese, 10% of Indian and others

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2. The tallest twin towers in the world! KLCC, Petronas Twin Towers! With 450 metres tall and 88 floors.

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3. The Best Diving site in the world: Sipadan Island

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4. The oldest rainforest in the world: Taman Negara National Park

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5. The First Formula 1 circuit in South-East Asia: Sepang International Circuit

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Hope you all enjoy knowing about Malaysia!

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Ceibo, Argentina’s national flower

With spring in full swing in the Southern Hemisphere, there is an abundance of flowers everywhere. This is the time when the ceibo -Erythrina crista-galli, also known as cockspur or coral tree- is in full bloom.

This fiery red flower was designated national flower of Argentina in 1942 for a variety of reasons. Some of the reasons are that the tree grows in many parts of the country; that it is mentioned in legends, folk songs and poems and that the national coat of arms bears its colour.

 

 

 

5 interesting things about Canada

1. The country was founded, in a large part, by a single company. The Hudson’s Bay Company started in 1670 as a fur trading business. It sent explorers and trappers across the land and settlers followed. They are responsible for starting settlements and ports, discovering water ways, and starting relations with the First Nations groups. The company still exists today as a retail store.

 

2. Our name “Canada” was established through miscommunication. “Kanada” was an aboriginal word for “village”. The Europeans mistook it to mean the entire nation.

 

3. Hockey is only one of our National Sports and was not until 1994. Popular opinion once named Lacrosse the national sport, in 1864, but nowadays, even Canadians need to be reminded of it.  Lacrosse is played on a field. Players each have a stick with a net on one end to catch and throw the ball.

 

4. Canada is still part of the British Commonwealth. Our Queen is the Queen of England. The position is a figurehead. While our laws and bills are passed in Parliament, everything must then be signed by the Queen’s appointed Governor General.

 

5. During the War of 1812 with our neighbours to the south, Canadian troops burned down the White House. Sorry!

 

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