On being dual nationality in England.

Hello bloggers and people of the internet... bit of a controversial topic today, but I want to cover it because it's something I have lived with my whole life, and something that I will live with as long as I live in this country. Most people reading this will probably think, "you're European, how bad can it be?" and this is not a pity post in any way, nor is it propaganda of any sort. I just want to share my experiences as a non Englishman in England in the west country, which obviously differs from other parts.

To add a bit of context to this post, I am a dual national of both England and Sweden. I was born in England, but have never felt like I belonged here. This is for a multiple of reasons, some personal and others I think a lot of people experience throughout their lives. But one of the main reasons for this is despite half of my heritage being English (my mother's family), it is almost impossible for me to do any kind of banking, signing up to anything, etc. My Student Finance University application was made immeasurably difficult due to my father's Swedish nationality. Where most people from my school simply had to get their parents to sign and help them through their application, I had to translate several documents of tax papers and prove my identity and home address (despite having lived here since I was four years old) twice as much as my fellow students.

To contribute to that problem, opening a bank account was equally if not more difficult. Having a Swedish passport has done me no favours in this country, not only does it receive a slight frown on arrival in the country but it is automatically dismissed by banks as valid id without THREE different documents for proof of address. I ask you, is that necessary for somebody who has lived here over 15 years, even having gone through the English education system? I don't think so.

But these are problems that have occurred in the later part of my life. I don't think I have met many people who haven't at least at one point asked me if I like Swedish meatballs or if I can say something to them in Swedish. This isn't much of a problem for me, I am incredibly proud of my heritage - on both sides - but this does grow to be very tiresome. Understandably, people are curious. They want to know things. But what DOES annoy me, and sadly this happens a lot, is when people are blatantly ignorant. A great deal of people I know couldn't even point out Sweden on a map yet manage to berate me on how high the suicide rate is there - which FYI is a myth, and has been proved wrong because of the differing legal opinions on what constitutes suicide but that's another story.

Another more comical "side effect" if you like of being Swedish is that the minute people know, they quite often start singing Abba. As if that's the best thing to come out of Sweden. But again, ignorantly, many people have no idea that a plethora of everyday things are in fact Swedish inventions, such as the seatbelt, Celsius, dynamite, TetraPak, and the list goes on...

So just to sum up, being a dual national is not always the most enjoyable experience in England. When you aren't being made fun of you're often trying hard to prove you aren't trying to blight England with your presence... but ultimately,  I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm very proud to be both English and Swedish, and identify more as a Swede - yes I can be reserved, like the cold and definitely like meatballs. But just as a side note, no my house is not made from Ikea items. I wish.