Friend on the Prom

My good friend J is visiting Edinburgh before heading back to family in Poland for Christmas and New Year and paid a visit to Portobello. We had a walk along the Prom and listened to L and G doing their Christmas busking - they raised more than £60 for a local foodbank. After the three of us, J, L and I (that’s me, not someone whose initial is I!) went to Miros for lunch - three Cullen Skinks. Great to catch up with J and hear about her experiences in England. She first came to Scotland fifteen years ago (almost exactly) and we met not long after that, at a session for class reps in Stevenson College. We have been friends ever since. After years up here, studying and working, she went down south for work, where she found herself often pointing out the failings of ‘English default’ - just because things are a certain way in England it doesn’t mean that is the same for the whole of the UK. Too often England = UK, and if we point out the inaccuracy we get labelled as chippy Scots. People weren’t quite sure what to call J, originally from Poland but arguing for Scotland, in such circumstances! Post-Brexit she decided to get UK citizenship and now she has it she says she feels Scottish rather than British. In no small part to the welcome she felt from Scotland, not just from individuals but from the government too, with both statements of support from the FM and others and practical assistance. In contrast to a much less welcoming stance from the UK state - England once more trying to assert that England = UK. Of course there are xenophobes in Scotland too but I’m proud to live in a more welcoming country and hope that J might decide to move back here - we’d be proud to have her.
In the evening L and I went along to Musselburgh for a meal at L and P’s. P and I watched the football - England were unlucky to lose. It almost felt like an old-style Scottish World Cup disappointment - get to the final stages but miss out narrowly; as opposed to more recent years of simply not qualifying. But I guess it was down to a missed penalty in the end, so classic England too. And Morocco go on - Belgium, Spain and now Portugal all defeated. Can they beat France too and set up either a meeting with Messi or a rematch with Croatia, having drawn with them in the group stage?