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Pub Manners, Boxing Day All Part of Being British
Konstantin Volosov, from Moscow, said he would rather be working on his PhD than studying for citizenship test.
(By Mary Jordan -- The Washington Post)
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Sirokh, who has lived in London for 17 years, said he was eager to get citizenship because of the growing hassles of international travel. As a young man born in Morocco, he said he often fits the "profile of a terrorist" and is constantly chosen at airports for extra screening. He said he didn't mind taking the Britishness test, but doubted it would have much effect.
"This test is about knowledge," he said. "It's not going to help people integrate with one another."
A third test-taker, Rob Berrington Smith, 30, a motorcycle mechanic from South Africa, said he just wanted it to be over. He failed on his first attempt and had paid another $72 to try again.
All three showed up for the test Friday because they knew they wouldn't be finished with their citizenship applications by Tuesday, Nov. 1, when the test became a requirement.
As Volosov began looking at the questions, in a room full of computers in west London, one of the 90 approved test sites throughout Britain, he was trying to keep straight all the information from his booklet. The dialect in Liverpool is called Scouse. The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day because "servants, gardeners and other trades people used to receive money (a Christmas box) in appreciation for the work they had done throughout the year."
He was given 45 minutes to answer 24 multiple-choice questions and was warned not to discuss the questions afterward. A lot of people are going to be quizzed on the same information: More than 140,000 people were granted citizenship last year.
Volosov finished in less than 15 minutes, and after waiting outside the room for a few minutes, he got the good news: He passed. So did Sirokh and Berrington Smith, who had to run off to work. Volosov and Sirokh, who had never met before, went to celebrate at the Kiwi Kitchen, a New Zealand restaurant down the block.
There, Sirokh smiled and asked the London-born waitress: Do you know when St. George's Day is?
St. George's Day is the national day of England. The English waitress guessed April 12. Then she tried April 30. Sirokh smiled. He knew the correct answer was April 23.
