I spent a year living in an international dormitory inChina, with students from all over the world.

Birdsof a feather flock together”, as they say.

Of all thevarious categorisations that could be made based onthe way people formed their groups, the mostobvious collections were:我在中国住了一年留学生宿舍，那里有来自世界各地的学生。

人们常说：人以群分”，在各种小团体形成的分类方式中，最明显的分类是：Westerners - (European and American mainly)西方人(主要是欧美人)East Asians - (Thailand, Korea, Japan, Vietnam)东亚人(泰国、韩国、日本、越南)South Asians - (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan)南亚人(印度、巴基斯坦、尼泊尔、不丹)Middle-easterners/Arabic - (Iran, Yemen etc)中东/阿拉伯人(伊朗、也门等)Slavic/Central Asian - (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan etc)斯拉夫人/中亚人(俄罗斯、乌克兰、哈萨克斯坦等)People really do gravitate into groups based on ethnic and cultural identity.

At that time, Iknew more than ever that I was a European.

The way I as a Brit acted, thought was entirely intune with the Europeans I spent time with.

人们进入一些交际圈真的是因为种族和文化的区别。

那时我才第一次更明确地知道自己是欧洲人，作为英国人的我行为和思维方式都和身边的欧洲人一样。

I am definitely European.

当然我是欧洲人。

Before this experience, I’ll admit I wasn’t hugely aware of this.

留学之前，我承认自己没有真正意识到这一点。

As to why most Brits don’t feel European, I suspect it’s because of the rather large stretch ofwater that separates us from the mainland.

So Brits not identifying as European is quite astandard phenomenon, I believe.

至于为什么大多数英国人都不把自己当欧洲人，我怀疑是因为在我们和大陆之间有大片水域相隔，所以我认为英国人不把自己当欧洲人是很正常的现象。

Why do the British not feel European?

为什么英国人不觉得自己是欧洲人?

I am answering the question from a purely personal view.

First I regard myself as English” notBritish.

Secondly I do not feel European as Europe is abroad”.

I have been there, Germany, Austria, France, but not since 1961.

我要从很私人的角度来回答这个问题。

首先我把自己看作是英格兰人，而非英国人。

其次我不认为自己是欧洲人因为欧洲是外国”，我去过欧洲，到过德国、奥地利、法国，但1961年以后就再没去过。

However the question!

- Europe is other countries, other languages, other histories Interestingbut different.

I do not feel any connection with these other countries, and certainly do not feelpart of any group or association of other countries.

无论怎样，欧洲就是其他国家，说其他语言，有其他有趣但和我们不同的历史。

我不认为和这些其他国家”有任何关系，当然也不觉得自己是其他国家”任何小团体的一部分，或跟他们有任何关系。

Living a quiet life in a rural part of England, I do not have much contact with citizens of othercountries.

I do not dislike them or object to them, they simply do not impact on my life.

我在英格兰乡村过着安逸的生活，和其他国家的人没有多少交集。

我不是不喜欢他们或反对他们，只不过他们对我的生活一点影响都没有。

It is the same with Europe, I know it’s there, know a reasonable amount about it, but haveabsolutely no contact with it.

对欧洲也是如此，我知道它在那儿，关于欧洲我也适当了解一点，但跟它绝对一点关系都没有。

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