My friend Phil spent his Xmas break in a location I haven’t thought about since 1982, Falkland Islands. I have no idea what goes on there–I imagine sheep and puffins shivering in some southern sleet–so I was excited when Phil returned to fill us all in:
Most of all it seems a very sociable place. No doubt social connections in any small town or village are pretty tight, but when it is as cut off from the outside world as Stanley, they must be stronger. It feels like everyone knows everyone else, particularly among those who grew up on the islands. As my dad said after visiting, at times it can be like being in the enclosed social world of a soap opera. On our last night we ate at the Brasserie and it seemed like the place was full of people we’d met over the previous fortnight, much like the limited social hubs (the Queen Vic, the Rovers Return) in any soap.