Compare British Games and Leisure Activities
Sean Pinckard
I interviewed a mother and her 8 year old son from London. The child said that he had been playing sports of varying kinds since he was 5. He announced, “I was a born midfielder” to which I nodded and moved on because I didn’t know what he was referring to (I think Football but I’m not positive). When asked what he likes about playing Football he responded that it’s fun and he gets to do it with his friends. The kid explained to me that he plays in a league much like the states little league but will also play with friends from school when they get done with classes. I then asked the mother how got started, she explained that when he was much younger, around 5, his dad would take him to the park and they would kick the ball around. I then asked the child if he liked to do any other activities like board games, he said he likes to play video games, and watch TV, he says he loves the Wii. I asked the child if his family ever did anything as a family, he said that they would sometimes go to the park together and have a picnic, and sometimes his mom or dad would come and play the Wii with him but this was rare.
This was pretty similar to the way I grew up and the way a few people I’ve known have grown up. I think that kids are just now being changed by technology here while back in the states it’s been happening for a decade or two now. A difference for me was I never had very many picnics with my family when I was younger but I also played board games with my family a lot so to each his own.
This was pretty similar to the way I grew up and the way a few people I’ve known have grown up. I think that kids are just now being changed by technology here while back in the states it’s been happening for a decade or two now. A difference for me was I never had very many picnics with my family when I was younger but I also played board games with my family a lot so to each his own.
Lauren Lyons
The young British girl was 11 years old. The games that she talked about was hockey and rugby. She wanted to try out for them at school. I think that it depends on the parents and the child to see what age their child starts sports. One of the most popular games right now is skipping although football is the most popular sport in England, skipping is mainly on the playground at school. This is includes doing double-dutch, and double skipping. There was also some others that I’m not familiar with such as pretzel, and the can-can. The things that they usually do as a family is to go and find family activities. They live in London where there is always something to do as a family. The parents work a lot and the daughter goes on the bus by herself after school. Chess is a popular British game, but they do not play a whole lot of family games together.
I think that there is a difference with how they grew up and I how I grew up, but there are also similarities. Another game that is played in their schools is duck, duck, goose. I played this game a lot in school. This was a game that was fun for the children, and I did not realize that it was used in Britain too. I also grew up doing gymnastics, and going on trips to watch my dad play softball. The sport that she likes is rugby. The United States also have this game, but it is not played in every school. I have never played rugby, and the children here have probably not played softball or baseball. I think that it is very interesting to see how they live, and what sports they play, because I think that they differ in the type of game, but they have just as much fun playing their games as we do our games.
I think that there is a difference with how they grew up and I how I grew up, but there are also similarities. Another game that is played in their schools is duck, duck, goose. I played this game a lot in school. This was a game that was fun for the children, and I did not realize that it was used in Britain too. I also grew up doing gymnastics, and going on trips to watch my dad play softball. The sport that she likes is rugby. The United States also have this game, but it is not played in every school. I have never played rugby, and the children here have probably not played softball or baseball. I think that it is very interesting to see how they live, and what sports they play, because I think that they differ in the type of game, but they have just as much fun playing their games as we do our games.
Chelsey Laurito
On the trip to Edinburg, Scotland I was on my way to the snack cart and saw a woman named Gracie with her son named Aiden sitting. I approached them and asked for permission to talk about sports and explained I was a student studying in London. They were more than happy to help, and found out that life for children in London was very similar to Americans.
Sports can start here at a very young age; except for this child he started playing football (soccer) when he was seven. He is now fourteen and still is involved with football. He got interested in it because his father is a huge football fan and they follow it religiously. I asked what else they liked to do, and they said as a family they enjoy traveling, going to games, and having family fun night where they play cards and board games. However, the kid kind of rolled his eyes when the mother talked about it, and when his mother saw she said he wasn’t a fan of those nights because he would rather play ball or hang with his friends. All is friends play football, and seems to be the most famous sport here. But the mother said they were biased to that question because it’s their favorite sport and likes to think everyone likes it. Yet, they get in a lot of family time depending on their schedules.
After my interview, I saw that life here was not different than life at home. Our family has a major influence on the things we enjoy, and like to do. Also, we got stuck doing family fun nights or trips even if we do not want to ha! That happened a lot with my family, and I used to hate traveling because of it. But, I’d say compared to how I grew up their information was similar. I started play sports at a young age and was influenced by my family. Also, I liked to have fun and just be a kid like him.
Sports can start here at a very young age; except for this child he started playing football (soccer) when he was seven. He is now fourteen and still is involved with football. He got interested in it because his father is a huge football fan and they follow it religiously. I asked what else they liked to do, and they said as a family they enjoy traveling, going to games, and having family fun night where they play cards and board games. However, the kid kind of rolled his eyes when the mother talked about it, and when his mother saw she said he wasn’t a fan of those nights because he would rather play ball or hang with his friends. All is friends play football, and seems to be the most famous sport here. But the mother said they were biased to that question because it’s their favorite sport and likes to think everyone likes it. Yet, they get in a lot of family time depending on their schedules.
After my interview, I saw that life here was not different than life at home. Our family has a major influence on the things we enjoy, and like to do. Also, we got stuck doing family fun nights or trips even if we do not want to ha! That happened a lot with my family, and I used to hate traveling because of it. But, I’d say compared to how I grew up their information was similar. I started play sports at a young age and was influenced by my family. Also, I liked to have fun and just be a kid like him.
Laura Mulloy
I interviewed a man I met on the train ride to Brighton today. He was with his baby who was in a carriage, his wife was not present. I asked him what games he and/or his friends were brought up playing as children. He told me games that I had never heard of. This is what he said:
Haha. Okay. Try not to laugh! First one was “wally” where you find a wall and take turns kicking a ball against it. Aim is to kick it so that the next person can’t reach the wall. Sometimes it turned into another game called “washing machine” which was just the same but if you couldn’t reach the wall, you had to stand in the middle of everyone whilst they took turns kicking the ball at you. We were very refined as children, haha. Then there was “wounded solider” which is where you start at one end of the wall and walk to the other. Along the way the others take turns kicking the ball as hard as they can at you. If they hit you then you can’t use that body part anymore eg if they hit both your legs you had to crawl. I’m trying to think if we had any “nice” games, haha. Oh yeah, there was “30 seconds” where you and a team mate have to score a header or volley (ie ball doesn’t bounce) within 30 seconds, otherwise the last one to touch the ball goes in goal. Everything was football related!
He also called football, “footy” and he was referring to the game that we in the States would call soccer, not the National Football League, like automatically comes to mind when hearing “football.” He told me he thought it was “funny that my teacher was going to read what me and my ‘mates’ used to play.” He said, “it’s going to make Middlesbrough sound rough (which it is!)” He told me he has lived in London for the past six years for work but that he grew up in “the North” of England in a very small town called Middlesbrough. I told him I could relate to growing up in a smaller town and told him I was from Kentucky. He told me he thinks there is a Middlesboro, Kentucky. I know we have an Owensboro but I’m not sure about Middlesboro (he said he thinks it is spelled that way as well, differently than his home town.) He now lives in Camden town in London and he says it suits him much better. And his dream was always to move to the South of England. He also told me interestingly that just how the South is typically more traditional and conservative in America it is the opposite in England. He says that here the North is more of where conservatives live and the South is more liberal. But, back to the childhood games.
I could picture an image of the first two games being played in my head but I was a little unclear about the last game he described. I am a hopelessly shy person and I already felt awkward enough asking him about his childhood so I didn’t want to feel rude and tell him I didn’t understand the third game. I just nodded and smiled and I didn’t have to fake being surprised on my face when he described the games because I was shocked.
Hearing about Antony’s childhood games made me realize that the differences in our two cultures weren’t as prevalent in this life as the differences in our gender. I have an older brother and so although with my girlfriends I would play house and with American girl dolls and Barbies, I grew up being rough housed by my older brother, who always wanted to play with physical contact. I started thinking about childhood games and I realized that little girls and little boys grow up so very differently with the differences in the games that we play. I thought about whether I think if tradition has a role in the different objects and games being pushed onto little boys and girls or if it is more of the media, TV commercials specifically being played for certain toys for girls and certain toys for boys, also the differences in toys that were put in happy meals at McDonald’s when I was growing up. There was one toy specifically targeted for boys and one targeted for girls. But after visiting the Child’s Museum with our class and seeing the two games being brought out for show, the first being an object that involved physical force, speed and movement, using mechanical skills and the second being a doll that required care, attention and to be well kempt that came with clothes as if she were to be treated like a real human girl, it was obvious to me which game was played for each gender way back, many years ago before there was such thing as the media or the TV and certainly the happy meal so I have begun to form a theory that toys being gender specified have been based over the years on our DNA as well as tradition. There are many scientifically proven biological differences in boys and girls and girls have been proven over our species has evolved to be the more nurturing sex while boys have come out to show having a more mechanically programmed brain. We are just very different in the brain as two different sexes and I believe this perfectly explains why our two different forms of play have evolved and stayed the same over the last 10,000 years or longer.
Many people want to blame the media and say that it is our own fault that girls like pink and play with dolls and boys like blue and play with hot wheels but, in my opinion, every tradition has an origin and I do believe that toys were made for each gender and not phased out because that gender has liked that form of play and consistently liked to play that way throughout our existence as a race. If little boys were only “influenced” to choose sports when they choose to play than why would they choose to do it? I believe that they testosterone in males drives them to be more rough and physical than females. You could argue that not all women and men follow the norm of playing behavior including most gay men and lesbian women. I have many gay and lesbian friends and they have told me time and time again that they have more of the opposite sex’s brain than their physical sex’s brain. This makes sense to me and I’ve never tried to argue against biological reasons for gay and lesbian people. As a child, in comparison to Antony’s stories of play, I thought I “rough housed” with the boys sometimes but I realize that my rough house doesn’t come close to what he was describing. As a little girl, the games that he was describing would have been extremely frightening to me, as they still made me feel hearing them today. I was always a very gentle, non aggressive child. Although I was physical and liked to run around and be active rather than sit and play with a doll, I never took pleasure out of hurting others especially physically. Kids can be cruel. I always thought of boys liking to torture other boys physically and girls emotionally but I always felt distant from both sides in that matter. Humiliating someone else or taking pride in other’s misery has always made me feel ill inside. I don’t even like the idea of there being a winner meaning that someone has to lose. I guess that explains how I’ve grown up to love running with other people, working out and body building and doing yoga, as opposed to most of my friends who don’t choose to exercise their own bodies but rather to watch a football game and mentally get so tuned in to their “team” winning that they make it more of an emotional investment than any kind of physical activity.
I would like to say that I think there was some cultural difference in the games he described but I learned quite the opposite, that boys will be boys, anywhere in the world. I thought a lot more about gender today after my interview and I’ve come up with some new formed opinions on the subject matter rather than any cultural significant difference.
Haha. Okay. Try not to laugh! First one was “wally” where you find a wall and take turns kicking a ball against it. Aim is to kick it so that the next person can’t reach the wall. Sometimes it turned into another game called “washing machine” which was just the same but if you couldn’t reach the wall, you had to stand in the middle of everyone whilst they took turns kicking the ball at you. We were very refined as children, haha. Then there was “wounded solider” which is where you start at one end of the wall and walk to the other. Along the way the others take turns kicking the ball as hard as they can at you. If they hit you then you can’t use that body part anymore eg if they hit both your legs you had to crawl. I’m trying to think if we had any “nice” games, haha. Oh yeah, there was “30 seconds” where you and a team mate have to score a header or volley (ie ball doesn’t bounce) within 30 seconds, otherwise the last one to touch the ball goes in goal. Everything was football related!
He also called football, “footy” and he was referring to the game that we in the States would call soccer, not the National Football League, like automatically comes to mind when hearing “football.” He told me he thought it was “funny that my teacher was going to read what me and my ‘mates’ used to play.” He said, “it’s going to make Middlesbrough sound rough (which it is!)” He told me he has lived in London for the past six years for work but that he grew up in “the North” of England in a very small town called Middlesbrough. I told him I could relate to growing up in a smaller town and told him I was from Kentucky. He told me he thinks there is a Middlesboro, Kentucky. I know we have an Owensboro but I’m not sure about Middlesboro (he said he thinks it is spelled that way as well, differently than his home town.) He now lives in Camden town in London and he says it suits him much better. And his dream was always to move to the South of England. He also told me interestingly that just how the South is typically more traditional and conservative in America it is the opposite in England. He says that here the North is more of where conservatives live and the South is more liberal. But, back to the childhood games.
I could picture an image of the first two games being played in my head but I was a little unclear about the last game he described. I am a hopelessly shy person and I already felt awkward enough asking him about his childhood so I didn’t want to feel rude and tell him I didn’t understand the third game. I just nodded and smiled and I didn’t have to fake being surprised on my face when he described the games because I was shocked.
Hearing about Antony’s childhood games made me realize that the differences in our two cultures weren’t as prevalent in this life as the differences in our gender. I have an older brother and so although with my girlfriends I would play house and with American girl dolls and Barbies, I grew up being rough housed by my older brother, who always wanted to play with physical contact. I started thinking about childhood games and I realized that little girls and little boys grow up so very differently with the differences in the games that we play. I thought about whether I think if tradition has a role in the different objects and games being pushed onto little boys and girls or if it is more of the media, TV commercials specifically being played for certain toys for girls and certain toys for boys, also the differences in toys that were put in happy meals at McDonald’s when I was growing up. There was one toy specifically targeted for boys and one targeted for girls. But after visiting the Child’s Museum with our class and seeing the two games being brought out for show, the first being an object that involved physical force, speed and movement, using mechanical skills and the second being a doll that required care, attention and to be well kempt that came with clothes as if she were to be treated like a real human girl, it was obvious to me which game was played for each gender way back, many years ago before there was such thing as the media or the TV and certainly the happy meal so I have begun to form a theory that toys being gender specified have been based over the years on our DNA as well as tradition. There are many scientifically proven biological differences in boys and girls and girls have been proven over our species has evolved to be the more nurturing sex while boys have come out to show having a more mechanically programmed brain. We are just very different in the brain as two different sexes and I believe this perfectly explains why our two different forms of play have evolved and stayed the same over the last 10,000 years or longer.
Many people want to blame the media and say that it is our own fault that girls like pink and play with dolls and boys like blue and play with hot wheels but, in my opinion, every tradition has an origin and I do believe that toys were made for each gender and not phased out because that gender has liked that form of play and consistently liked to play that way throughout our existence as a race. If little boys were only “influenced” to choose sports when they choose to play than why would they choose to do it? I believe that they testosterone in males drives them to be more rough and physical than females. You could argue that not all women and men follow the norm of playing behavior including most gay men and lesbian women. I have many gay and lesbian friends and they have told me time and time again that they have more of the opposite sex’s brain than their physical sex’s brain. This makes sense to me and I’ve never tried to argue against biological reasons for gay and lesbian people. As a child, in comparison to Antony’s stories of play, I thought I “rough housed” with the boys sometimes but I realize that my rough house doesn’t come close to what he was describing. As a little girl, the games that he was describing would have been extremely frightening to me, as they still made me feel hearing them today. I was always a very gentle, non aggressive child. Although I was physical and liked to run around and be active rather than sit and play with a doll, I never took pleasure out of hurting others especially physically. Kids can be cruel. I always thought of boys liking to torture other boys physically and girls emotionally but I always felt distant from both sides in that matter. Humiliating someone else or taking pride in other’s misery has always made me feel ill inside. I don’t even like the idea of there being a winner meaning that someone has to lose. I guess that explains how I’ve grown up to love running with other people, working out and body building and doing yoga, as opposed to most of my friends who don’t choose to exercise their own bodies but rather to watch a football game and mentally get so tuned in to their “team” winning that they make it more of an emotional investment than any kind of physical activity.
I would like to say that I think there was some cultural difference in the games he described but I learned quite the opposite, that boys will be boys, anywhere in the world. I thought a lot more about gender today after my interview and I’ve come up with some new formed opinions on the subject matter rather than any cultural significant difference.
Sandy Navarro
On my way to the Victoria station on Saturday, I was able to interview a lady with her child in the underground station. With the permission of the mom I was also able to interview the daughter. The mom was 35 years old and her name was Sara, the daughters name was Kate and she was nine years old. Kate told me that she loves to draw and play with her dolls in a dollhouse that she has at home. She also participates in ballet and sometimes performs in events with other group of girls of her age. Sara told me that she started ballet when she was 9 years old and so she was new at it. Sara enrolled Kate in a ballet class where she does have to pay for the lessons and Sara said they enjoy watching her in the class and in some events that she participates in. Her family is able to go and watch Kate and have a family dinner after the event. She also said that her family is very close to each other and they are always going to parks and they enjoy going the zoo. Sara’s older sister also has children and so they are always getting together to play cards at home or read children books.
Based on the information that Sara gave me, I thought it did not relate to my childhood when I was 9 years old. There was a big difference in my childhood to Kate’s childhood. When I was around nine years old, my parents were not able to spend a lot of time with me and my younger sister because they had to work about six hour shifts a day. Throughout the weekend when they did not work, we would have to do house work or go to the park or we would visit with other families. I definitely did not participate in any activity or sport when I was young, until I started school I was able to participate in school activities and clubs. I also loved to play with my dolls and Barbie houses. My childhood was very different compared to Kate’s childhood. I think it is great that she is involved in ballet and her family spends time together. This is something I would want to do with my children, when I have mine.
Based on the information that Sara gave me, I thought it did not relate to my childhood when I was 9 years old. There was a big difference in my childhood to Kate’s childhood. When I was around nine years old, my parents were not able to spend a lot of time with me and my younger sister because they had to work about six hour shifts a day. Throughout the weekend when they did not work, we would have to do house work or go to the park or we would visit with other families. I definitely did not participate in any activity or sport when I was young, until I started school I was able to participate in school activities and clubs. I also loved to play with my dolls and Barbie houses. My childhood was very different compared to Kate’s childhood. I think it is great that she is involved in ballet and her family spends time together. This is something I would want to do with my children, when I have mine.
Karen Montero
The interviewees were a couple from London and they were very friendly. I located them in Regents Park. The couple along with their children: a 3 year old female and a 6 year old male were walking along the beautiful sightseeing’s of Regents Park. I asked them a few questions regarding their children’s sports and activities.
· Children(s) ages: 3 and 6
· What age do children start participating in sports? Around the age of 6 or even younger.
· What is the most popular sport for children? Football for boys and tennis or ballet for girls.
· Is there a charge to participate? Depends on the type of sport the child participates in. The 6 year old is involved in football and for a 10 week course it is £ 39.50.
· What types of activities do you participate in as a family? Walk in the park, cycling, ball games, and art.
· How many days a week do you participate together as a family? About twice a week.
· What type of games do you play with your children? (Ex. Board games, cards, etc.). Puzzles, video games, operation (the board game) and other logical games.
According to the couple they do not spend as much time together due to their busy work schedules. This makes it difficult to spend time with the entire family together. Therefore, whenever they each get leisure time they take walks around their neighborhood or nearby parks. From my childhood I remember my family getting together every Sunday and spending time with each other. We would go out to eat as a family, sometimes we would attend church services, hiking at the park, we would go to nearby rivers or lakes, and visit other family together. Although there was one activity we all loved doing and we would do it almost every day and that was a lottery game. This lottery game has been passed down through my parents’ generation and eventually it will also be passed down to me and my siblings. This is not your typical gambling lottery ticket or anything of that sort. It is just a board game utilized for entertainment purposes only. Although there were times when we would play it for money, but never to the extent of gambling.
As far as participating in sports, I began playing sports when I was 10 years old. The first sport played was soccer when I was in 5th grade. That did not last very long because then I realized that I enjoyed playing basketball more. After my first year of soccer I engaged in basketball and did so until 8th grade and I haven’t been involved in that sport ever since. I have thought about becoming involved in basketball again we will see how that works out.
Overall the only difference is the age in becoming involved in a sport. For the family interviewed 6 was the age and for me it was 10. Also my family and I did not play very many board games and when we did it would just be my sisters and I. We did work on puzzles together and sometimes we would play card games. I enjoyed my childhood the reason being, I have wonderful parents.
· Children(s) ages: 3 and 6
· What age do children start participating in sports? Around the age of 6 or even younger.
· What is the most popular sport for children? Football for boys and tennis or ballet for girls.
· Is there a charge to participate? Depends on the type of sport the child participates in. The 6 year old is involved in football and for a 10 week course it is £ 39.50.
· What types of activities do you participate in as a family? Walk in the park, cycling, ball games, and art.
· How many days a week do you participate together as a family? About twice a week.
· What type of games do you play with your children? (Ex. Board games, cards, etc.). Puzzles, video games, operation (the board game) and other logical games.
According to the couple they do not spend as much time together due to their busy work schedules. This makes it difficult to spend time with the entire family together. Therefore, whenever they each get leisure time they take walks around their neighborhood or nearby parks. From my childhood I remember my family getting together every Sunday and spending time with each other. We would go out to eat as a family, sometimes we would attend church services, hiking at the park, we would go to nearby rivers or lakes, and visit other family together. Although there was one activity we all loved doing and we would do it almost every day and that was a lottery game. This lottery game has been passed down through my parents’ generation and eventually it will also be passed down to me and my siblings. This is not your typical gambling lottery ticket or anything of that sort. It is just a board game utilized for entertainment purposes only. Although there were times when we would play it for money, but never to the extent of gambling.
As far as participating in sports, I began playing sports when I was 10 years old. The first sport played was soccer when I was in 5th grade. That did not last very long because then I realized that I enjoyed playing basketball more. After my first year of soccer I engaged in basketball and did so until 8th grade and I haven’t been involved in that sport ever since. I have thought about becoming involved in basketball again we will see how that works out.
Overall the only difference is the age in becoming involved in a sport. For the family interviewed 6 was the age and for me it was 10. Also my family and I did not play very many board games and when we did it would just be my sisters and I. We did work on puzzles together and sometimes we would play card games. I enjoyed my childhood the reason being, I have wonderful parents.
Terrance Lewis
I caught up with a mother and son on the train on my way back from the Polo match on Saturday and their names were Julia and Josh. I figured I would use them as my interview because they both looked as if they had an act for sports. Julia is thirty years old and Josh is eight years old. I interviewed Josh with his mother’s permission and found out a little about him. He said that he felt like the most popular sport in London is tennis and football and that football was his favorite sport to play. Being that we are in London, I really wasn’t too surprised that his answer was soccer. Josh also told me that usually on the weekends his mom and dad would take him to the park and would kick around the soccer ball with him. He seemed to really enjoy the days that they head to the park. They usually go to Hyde Park or Regents about two to three times a week depending on his parent’s work schedule. At home Josh and his parents like to play board games like Monopoly and checkers. His parents are in the process of trying to teach him how to play chess. Julia also mentioned that she was signing Josh up for a summer football camp that started in August. She said it was roughly about 25 pounds for a 5 week program and 6 pounds just for each class. What really shocked me was that his parents were teaching him how to play chess because my parents never taught me how to play, let alone knew how to play their selves. Josh’s family was pretty similar to what my parents did with my sister and me. My mother had me in a different sport every season of the year to keep me active. When my sister and I would visit my father in the winter and summer he would play all type of board and card games with us to keep us entertained. So family sports seem to be pretty similar her in London as it would be back in the states.
Natalie Papini
After having talked to Marcia Finnie, mother of Aaron Finnie (age 15) I was able to get a detailed look at how children’s athletics are handled in the United Kingdom in comparison to how they are done in the United States. Unfortunately, because I met Marcia on the tube, I was unable to interview her son Aaron. However, Marcia answered most all of my questions and supplied me with her best educated guess on topics such as what the most popular participation sport across the United Kingdom is. Marcia explained that her son Aaron began noncompetitive activity when he was around age six. He took swimming lessons and played outside often. Aaron became weary of swimming, and began running recreationally. Aaron now competes in cross country for a local senior school. Because of the nature of the sport, Mrs. Finnie does not pay much for Aaron to compete.
Types of activities the Finnie family does include going to local parks as a family. Sometimes they will walk the dog together, and they regularly have sit down family meals every week. The number of times they do this each week was not specified. Marcia Finnie admitted that they do not play many board games. When asked about the most popular sport for children, Marcia Finnie said tennis and football were favored among most boys. Mrs. Finnie went on to say that girls favored lacrosse and gymnastics most.
When comparing the information gathered from Mrs. Finnie with the way I grew up there are definitely some noticeable differences. I began playing competitive sports at the age of five-my parents started me in competitive sports when I was still pretty young. Another difference I found was in family time- my family eats out together often, and we enjoy going to the movie theatre together. Board and card games we played growing up were: go fish, sorry, monopoly, uno, and “bologna sandwich.” Another major difference is that my parents paid a lot of money for me to participate in ASA fast pitch softball, AAU basketball, and club volleyball. Another variance between the two cultures is the popularity among children’s participation in sports- the U.S. is geared more towards football, basketball, and baseball while the United Kingdom is focused on football, tennis, and rugby. While there are similarities between the two nations, the disparities between them stand out most after interviewing local citizens of London.
Types of activities the Finnie family does include going to local parks as a family. Sometimes they will walk the dog together, and they regularly have sit down family meals every week. The number of times they do this each week was not specified. Marcia Finnie admitted that they do not play many board games. When asked about the most popular sport for children, Marcia Finnie said tennis and football were favored among most boys. Mrs. Finnie went on to say that girls favored lacrosse and gymnastics most.
When comparing the information gathered from Mrs. Finnie with the way I grew up there are definitely some noticeable differences. I began playing competitive sports at the age of five-my parents started me in competitive sports when I was still pretty young. Another difference I found was in family time- my family eats out together often, and we enjoy going to the movie theatre together. Board and card games we played growing up were: go fish, sorry, monopoly, uno, and “bologna sandwich.” Another major difference is that my parents paid a lot of money for me to participate in ASA fast pitch softball, AAU basketball, and club volleyball. Another variance between the two cultures is the popularity among children’s participation in sports- the U.S. is geared more towards football, basketball, and baseball while the United Kingdom is focused on football, tennis, and rugby. While there are similarities between the two nations, the disparities between them stand out most after interviewing local citizens of London.
Bruce Morgan
I took the opportunity at the Portobello Market to look for a parent and child to interview.
I came across a father, son and dog sitting on a curb eating some food. Their names are Jean-
Claude, Erik and the dog is Dunkin. They live in Ladbroke England and just as I had assumed
the sport that Erik played was football. Jean-Claude said there was no cost involved in Erik’s
participation because he played with friends at school. He did say that if a family is rich they
might have their child tutored by a proper football coach but that was not usual practice. Jean-
Claude said Eric and others start usually around the age of three because it is so famous and
popular even at school because it is the most popular sport in the U.K. and Europe.
Erik said he loves to play football because all of his friends like to play and they have fun
playing together. He said they pretend they are famous players and all want to be football stars
when they grow up so they are rich and famous like David Beckham. Jean-Claude says he really
doesn’t play much football because Rugby is his sport of choice and he plays on a league.
The families main activity they participated in was cycling because Victoria (wife,
Mother) does not like physical sports like football and rugby. They cycle as a family two or three
times a week depending on the weather. When they go out to cycle they try to stay out for at
least two hours. They all ride separate bike and Jean-Claude has a cart behind his bike for
Dunkin who is the families English bulldog they rescued two years ago.
Jean-Claude and Victory have friends over to play gin rummy but it was too complicated
for Erik because he is only seven. Board games that the family will play from time to time are
Chess because Jean-Claude said Chess is a thinkers’ game and he believes thinking two or three
Morgan 2
steps ahead will help Erik to understand the same must be done in life.
I really don’t think I see any difference between Jean-Claude and Erick’s thinking
pattern than the way I grew up because everyone wants to belong in popular groups and have fun
times playing sports you enjoy with friends.
I came across a father, son and dog sitting on a curb eating some food. Their names are Jean-
Claude, Erik and the dog is Dunkin. They live in Ladbroke England and just as I had assumed
the sport that Erik played was football. Jean-Claude said there was no cost involved in Erik’s
participation because he played with friends at school. He did say that if a family is rich they
might have their child tutored by a proper football coach but that was not usual practice. Jean-
Claude said Eric and others start usually around the age of three because it is so famous and
popular even at school because it is the most popular sport in the U.K. and Europe.
Erik said he loves to play football because all of his friends like to play and they have fun
playing together. He said they pretend they are famous players and all want to be football stars
when they grow up so they are rich and famous like David Beckham. Jean-Claude says he really
doesn’t play much football because Rugby is his sport of choice and he plays on a league.
The families main activity they participated in was cycling because Victoria (wife,
Mother) does not like physical sports like football and rugby. They cycle as a family two or three
times a week depending on the weather. When they go out to cycle they try to stay out for at
least two hours. They all ride separate bike and Jean-Claude has a cart behind his bike for
Dunkin who is the families English bulldog they rescued two years ago.
Jean-Claude and Victory have friends over to play gin rummy but it was too complicated
for Erik because he is only seven. Board games that the family will play from time to time are
Chess because Jean-Claude said Chess is a thinkers’ game and he believes thinking two or three
Morgan 2
steps ahead will help Erik to understand the same must be done in life.
I really don’t think I see any difference between Jean-Claude and Erick’s thinking
pattern than the way I grew up because everyone wants to belong in popular groups and have fun
times playing sports you enjoy with friends.