Everything you should know about the small country to the left of England

Let's set the sheep shagging straight

I can't deny it. It's probably happened somewhere in Welsh history but it's not happening anymore and honestly, we're a bit sick of being known for it. Whoever the person was that either did it or saw it ruined our reputation for years to come and there is no forgiveness from the Welsh nation. It would be impossible to speak for every Welsh person, but there is no major sheep shagging fetish circulating in our blood as a sign of our patriotic status.

But we do have a lot of sheep. And not much else

Yes, I live an hour and a half away from the closest Cineworld. Yes, I'd never had Dominos before going to Uni. No, there is no local food delivery service. No, I can't just pop to the shops. Basically, unless you're living in one of Wales' six cities there is no chance of quickly doing anything. Though, it's likely there will be plenty of sheep to spot on the drive to anything further than your local newsagents.

Everyone knows everything, and everyone

This is a given. If everything is far away and you're stuck in your rural town in the heart of Wales' farmland, you're going to know who shagged who and what they had to say about it. There isn't much to do aside from going to the pub, where everyone will know each other and suddenly you're all smashed due to the depression of realising there is nothing else to do.

The pub is sacred, and always busy when rugby is on

It's a shithole, but you have to love it. It's all the town has. It's probably dead until Boxing Day or February when the six nations comes on and suddenly every tweet or instagram story revolves around a Saturday watching Wales with a pint. Realistically, rugby (and now football thanks to Gareth Bale) is all we have going for us, so we have to support them in the hope that Wales will someday get some recognition from somewhere.

Only a slight queue to get in anywhere…

A Welsh motif is necessary or don't even bother

If the rugby is on, get your Wales shirt out that you wear five times a year. If it's St. David's Day you might take a picture of a daffodil. There's probably a Welsh flag hanging somewhere in your room, or a dragon teddy that you got at a castle somewhere when you were six. Whatever it is, it is solid, legal proof that Wales exists and has some sort of proud population.

Wales actually has some history

Once, when we weren't just sucked in as being part of the English crown we had some things going for us. Sure, Wales hasn't really moved past any sort of agricultural economy or got immersed into global capitalism but we did have some cool stuff once upon a time. There were some princes, a few Welsh fables and maybe a dragon. Oh, and a whole language deemed way to difficult and pointless for anyone to learn outside of Wales.

Harlech Castle in North Wales

Yeah, the language is ridiculous

It may be pointless to learn and any dyslexic person's nightmare, but it's pretty cool to be able to speak more than one language, even if only 3 other people can speak it back to you. But, even if a Welsh person does actually speak Welsh, they probably don't want you to ask how to say Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch (Llanfair P.G for short).

But, it is taught in schools, exams are taken in Welsh, and there's a nationwide annual competition revolving around the language, Welsh music and poems called the Eisteddfod that's a pretty big deal.

Taken from the Mirror Online.

Wales also has a north-south divide

Just like England's battle between the north and south, Wales has the same. The south are known for their partying in the valleys, a pretty decent capital city and a very questionable accent. But, the north are the true winners, the real representation of the Welsh culture and overall just better. *Only slight bias*.

"You don't sound Welsh"

Just like the north-south divide where anyone who lives above Coventry should sound like they're from York, not everyone in Wales has to have the "whose coat is that jacket" accent. Plenty of Welsh people don't have much of an accent at all, yet can still speak Welsh. Also, without the Gavin and Stacey accent, there's the added benefit of people believing you when you say you don't shag sheep or that you take part in mysterious fishing trips…

Wales doesn't have much going for it, but is still better than England

Let the Welsh, Irish and Scots unite in a distaste for England. We all realise we're dependent on England as we all vacate our countries for English universities and jobs, but we'll still be our home nations before we're British and would appreciate some recognition every once in a while.

Basically, we want to be able to go abroad and tell people we come from Wales and have them actually know where it is.