Storm

For the last couple of months, I've been trying to get people to pronounce my name correctly. Some get the first bit right, but mess up on the second bit, some stick to the English pronunciation. I think I'll give up on trying to tell them it's Ah-vuh-lean.

Last Christmas, even after I wrote my name on all the cards, I got prezzies with my name spelled Evelyne, Avelyne, Everlyne and Everline, only Tye's one was correct. (He would not have survived if his wasn't..)

At one of the B3ta-bashes I've been to recently, someone asked me if I was 'The Dutch one,' and when I told him 'Yes, I am, nice to meet you,' he said he was disappointed that I don't sound Dutch.

On the forum, I'm often referred to as 'foreigner', and people somehow find it funny to write down every single typical Dutch thing they can think of. So I hear a lot about clogs, clog dances, windmills, legal drugs, prostitution and cheese.

When people talk about 'those bloody foreigners moving here and taking our jobs/men/women/houses', I simply cough and watch them struggle to apologize to me. 'I don't think of you as a foreigner' or 'But... I don't mean the Dutch' are the usual remarks.

When I'm being asked if 'they have this in my country', referring to anything from weather to how people live or act, I simply smile and explain, once again, that Holland is not that different from England.

Do any of these things make me feel discriminated against? Of course not!

I have no idea how not being able to pronounce someone's name or ask 'silly' questions about someone's country, background or even the what kind of house they live in could be considered racism. Take away the fact Shilpa is Indian and all you have left is two women rowing over stupid little things like oxo cubes. Not exactly new or shocking in the Big Brother house. If Tony Blair had actually watched the show before commenting on it, he would've known this.

I hope now that Jade is evicted this huge storm will die down.....