I'm Welsh, haven't got any connections to England whatsoever. I've never even been to London in all my life, and I'm 21! So I don't look at myself as 'British'. I recently read a quote by a top MP which he stated that 'British' is a way of extending English culture over England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - which I do agree with. But bare with me now!
I didn't have high expectations at all for the opening ceremony, most of people I know also felt the same, "oh England will make a fool of themselves cause they think they're 'special' when they're not." Anyway, that aside, when I watched it, I was STUNNED at how fantastic and epic the ceremony was.
I didn't expect people with different skin colors would be used. What I've been taught all my life is that the English are very stubborn and don't accept other cultures into their society. Heck, here's a fun fact for you to know while I'm at it, your English government banned the Welsh language from being spoken anywhere in Wales around a century ago. It was the Welsh Not period. Children would be punished if they said a word of Welsh in schools, and would have to wear a plank of wood around their neck with the words Welsh Not engraved into it. It was also banned from being spoken at homes, and this lasted many years. I still wonder everyday now and then how on earth am I still speaking the language on a daily basis.
Click to enlargeI just couldn't believe the fact that one of your themes was multiculturalism, that alone as changed the way I feel about England a lot. The industrial age history lesson sent shivers down my back, the soundtrack was top class, your Bond and Queen parachute scene was hilarious, and the the Mr Bean bit was genius for me. For the first time in my life, I would be happy to call myself a British person. And also for the first time, I can feel patriotism watching the games.
If my great great grandparents were alive today, they would never believe they're eyes watching the ceremony just down to the fact that it was multiculturalism. And I do understand why some of you are p****d off because the claim of multiculturalism was planned in order to boost the economy or something like that (sorry if I'm wrong, I don't understand politics that well). But anyway, that alone is what makes Britain special today in my opinion, is that we accept other cultures and do not feel threatened by them. Heck, I'm sure in a few decades the world will unite as one and will have one culture, and that's what will stop wars and reduce the differences between us all.
Sorry if this thread didn't have any structure or anything!