Before mobile phones made everything so easy, the public telephone box was an important focus for community life. People of all types and classes would form an orderly queue outside its red iron door, clutching their pennies and waiting patiently for their turn to be linked up to the great wide world. For a shy people like the British it was an opportunity to meet and exchange news and gossip with neighbours and to get some fresh air. And what's more, once you were inside that box everything you said was private. Everybody uses mobiles nowadays, but talking loudly in public places with unseen faces, about personal feelings or secret dealings...well it's not something our true Brit feels comfortable about! Now there's a new generation of phone boxes which can link you up to the Internet, receive e-mails, take payment by phone card or credit card. Impressive, perhaps, but where is the romance?

You can see the visitors arriving at British airports, their wide eyes and flushed faces expressing the mingled wonder and apprehension they feel. They've made it! They're actually here, in this fairy tale land of knights and wizards, princes and pop idols, the birthplace of the industrial revolution, computers, human rights, pork scratchings, evolution, lawn tennis, parliament and punk. Some of the new arrivals look a bit disorientated and confused, which is only natural as everything here is so different and, well, so much better! But life here can take a bit of getting used to: driving on the left, being ruled by a Queen, pouring gravy or custard over everything and of course getting around in English the whole time! One thing the visitor soon discovers: although Brits come in many different shapes and sizes we are united by one very important characteristic: we are all waiting for the weather to 'buck up'.

How do you do? Pleased to meet you. If you are a visitor to our country I expect by now you have realized why we call it Great Britain: our long and glorious history; the unspoilt beauty of our landscape; the rich variety of our weather, not to mention our unrivalled achievements in cricket and football. Then there are our cherished traditions: afternoon tea at four, roast beef on Sunday, and warm beer until 11pm. And there's us, with our old-world courtesy and tolerance. Oh, and our sense of humour. I mustn't forget that. We do like a good laugh!