• British embassy stumped. Chicken coops, hungarian "I love you"s, good luck amongst foremost issues.
    14 replies, posted
[quote] British nationals are wasting embassy time with "ludicrous" inquiries about lost false teeth, runny jam and plastic surgery problems, William Hague said today. The Foreign Secretary urged expats and tourists not to stretch scarce consular resources by making "bizarre demands". Among the calls logged by overseas Foreign Office staff are requests for help erecting a chicken coop, advice on where to have Christmas lunch in Spain and a plea for assistance translating "I love you" into Hungarian. Mr Hague said: "It is not our job, for example, to book you restaurants while you are on holiday. "This is obvious, you may think. But nonetheless it came as a surprise to the caller in Spain who was having difficulty finding somewhere to have Christmas lunch. "If, like a man in Florida last year, you find ants in your holiday rental, we are not the people to ask for pest control advice. "If you are having difficulty erecting a new chicken coop in your garden in Greece as someone else was, I am afraid that we cannot help you. "Equally, I have to say that we are not the people to turn to if you can't find your false teeth, if your sat nav is broken and you need directions, if you are unhappy with your plastic surgery, if your jam won't set, if you are looking for a dog-minder while you are on holiday, if your livestock need checking on, if you would like advice about the weather, or if you want someone to throw a coin into the Trevi fountain for you because you forgot while you were on holiday and you want your marriage to succeed. "And our commitment to good relations with our neighbours does not, I am afraid, extend to translating 'I love you' into Hungarian, as we were asked to do by one love-struck British tourist. There are easier ways to find a translation." In the speech on strengthening Britain's consular diplomacy, Mr Hague said Britons make more than 55 million individual trips overseas every year and around six million live abroad for some of or all of the time. Around one in ten murders of Britons in the last two years took place overseas and around 6,000 nationals are arrested every year. Mr Hague said the figures showed the "immense demand" for the service. He added: "We ask British nationals to be responsible, to be self-reliant and to take sensible precautions." [I]PA[/I] [/quote] [url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/william-hague-warns-that-ludicrous-inquiries-are-wasting-british-embassy-time-7618910.html]Source (The Independent)[/url]
I don't know why, but this just feels like something hilariously British to do.
I can just imagine a British tourist hyperventilating and screaming "SOMEONE GIVE ME A PHONE, I NEED TO CALL MY EMBASSY!" when confronted with not knowing what number to call for a taxi
But they are stranded in outlandish places surrounded by barbarians, it's obvious they feel in danger and query for help.
Sometimes I dislike my country.
[QUOTE=HeavyGuy;35438638]Sometimes I dislike my country.[/QUOTE] You dislike it over a little thing like this? I think this makes our country seem quirky. Reading this article gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling for Britain :)
Help! I have nothing to use to warm my crumpets! And the Jam is too runny!
Help me, this Hungarian man keeps telling me he will not buy my record player, for it is scratched.
[QUOTE=Canary;35439152]Help! I have nothing to use to warm my crumpets! And the Jam is too runny![/QUOTE] Don't take the piss. Cold, soggy crumpets are a serious issue.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;35436154]I don't know why, but this just feels like something hilariously British to do.[/QUOTE] I don't know why either but it does feel like it. I once read of a story of a British tourist waving his passport around asking where the toilets for the British passport holders were. No idea if its true, but its funny none the less.
But, "szeretlek" is I love you in Hungarian. I'm Hungarian, I would know. I know it's a difficult language, but it's not that bad.
I love my fucking country. well parts of it, the rest of it is full of chavs and sluts
[QUOTE=That Ninja;35439646]But, "szeretlek" is I love you in Hungarian. I'm Hungarian, I would know. I know it's a difficult language, but it's not that bad.[/QUOTE] Still, the British embassy shouldn't be expected to translate things into our language for confused tourists :v
[QUOTE=David29;35439224]Don't take the piss. Cold, soggy crumpets are a serious issue.[/QUOTE] I usually stumble to the them in the morning and shove them all in the toaster and when they're warmed I put butter all over them.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.