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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:34 am Post subject: Overweight British teachers in Turkey are embarrassing. |
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British teachers in Turkey now tend to be more overweight than their Canadian, U.S. and Aussi counterparts. The main reason, is because Britain has become much more sedentary over the last 10-15 years, and exercise and playing outside are no longer popular. British young people mostly spend time on computers, going to pubs and eating fast food (after drinking). It is shameful that Britons are now in the top three obese nations on the globe (with the U.S. still leading marginally, and Mexico - surprise - second most obese nation).
The Turkish Ministry of Education should check the BMI's of teachers, because reliable research shows that obese people are often disrespected in the classroom, causing problems, especially, when they teach k-12 grades in Turkish Private schools.
Check out this recent article:
Our lack of exercise is not just causing us to be rubbish at running - we can't dance anymore either!
BRITAIN'S GETTING FATTER AND LAZIER SAYS ACID-TONGUED DANCE JUDGE ARLENEBy Julie Mccaffrey 14/07/2007
HER caustic comments and poisonous put-downs have reduced Strictly Come Dancing's celebs to quivering wrecks.
But brace yourself... because for acid-tongued Arlene Phillips the bitching hasn't even started yet.
For BBC1's new talent show, DanceX, she and rival judge Bruno Tonioli scour the country to find the hottest new dancers in the nation.
And pity any hopeful who doesn't stand up to scrutiny in Spandex. Jelly-bellies, thunder thighs and blubbery bums need not apply.
"I have never seen so many overweight people exposing their flesh in the tiniest of clothes," says Arlene, 63. "It was overwhelmingly awful.
"Let's face it, Britain is getting fatter and lazier. When I hark back to my school days - which were a very long time ago - we were always skipping, playing netball, hockey, running around.
"Now everyone's so much more sedentary. And boy, it shows! They need to get up off the sofa and get moving.
"There were all these girls with hot pants, crop tops and big bellies hanging out. No muscle tone, just spare flesh all over the place. Ugh! I wanted to stand up and scream, 'Why did you let yourself go? You puddings should do something about it!'"
Arlene may shudder at the fatties who tried to wobble on to her show, but as someone who describes herself as "a natural size 14 struggling to be a size 10", she has some sympathy for those losing the battle of the bulge.
"I have a weakness for cheese and every time I indulge it shows," she says. "I wanted to tell the overweight people at the auditions, 'I know how hard it is to stay in shape. I know it's a daily struggle'.
"I was really good for about a year but last Christmas my willpower deserted me. Still, I'm always on the go, walking, dancing, swimming, and that helps. Like most people, though, I'm always wishing I was thinner."
Despite this, Arlene refused to water down her inflammatory remarks about contestants' size - despite pleas from her BBC bosses.
"Producers have rapped my knuckles about my comments," she admits. "But I can't help it. I'm very honest, passionate and politically incorrect. They'll have to gag me because I can't control or plan what I'm going to say, I just explode.
"And anyway, at the auditions I thought I was quite kind and gentle to people. Unless they were delusional loonies."
DanceX sees her working once more with her old pal Bruno, 51. Arlene taught him to dance when he first came to London from Italy in 1976. And he often helped with the routines for her 70s dance group Hot Gossip. But the two friends will be rivals when the final 14 contestants are split into Team Arlene and Team Bruno.
"I'm so competitive," she says. "I'm going to do everything it takes to beat Bruno.
"We're bound to have our ups and downs. But I hope I don't pull rank and remind him he was once my student."
Manchester-born Arlene - who has two daughters, Alana, 28, and Abi, 17 - now lives in North London with Angus Ion, her partner of 20 years.
For a woman in her 60s she looks remarkably youthful - something she attributes to plastering on lots of a US wrinkle-freezing cream called Fauxtox. But if any male contestants are hoping to flirt their way into her group, they are sadly mistaken.
"Some of the hot young guys tried to catch my eye by opening their shirts and winking at me," she says.
"They must have thought that because I eyed up Mark Ramprakash in Strictly Come Dancing I can be wooed.
"Forget it! I'm old enough to be their mother. Only talent will win through to the final stages - dance talent." And she knows all about that. Much of her career has been spent choreographing London's top West End shows. But although she was impressed by DanceX presenter Ben Shephard's "sexy" moves, she despaired at the general lack of toetapping talent in the UK auditions.
"I was tragically uninspired," she says. "I saw the same routine again and again - as if they'd watched a music video and thought copying each step would impress. It didn't.
"Then there were the idiots who thought they'd have a laugh and get on telly. Whenever someone turned up with a suitcase containing a costume, my heart sank.
"I'm here to find serious talent, not watch a loon in a robot costume clunking around. But every now and then we found a real jewel - someone who looked incredible and didn't have a professional background. That made it all worthwhile."
It was Arlene who persuaded Sir Elton John to dance for his I'm Still Standing video, choreographed Freddie Mercury for I Was Born To Love You and devised the moves for Robbie Williams's Rock DJ video. She can also spot the singers with two left feet.
"Most pop stars are useless dancers," she sneers. "They need professionals doing great things behind them so they look good.
"Only a few stand out because they are truly great dancers themselves - Madonna, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. But they are the exception. Most are terrible."
There's no doubt about it, the bitch is back.
DANCEX is on BBC1 tonight at 6.55pm.
[email protected]
Ghost in Korea (a country of thin people) |
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yaramaz

Joined: 05 Mar 2003 Posts: 2384 Location: Not where I was before
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:16 am Post subject: |
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Actually, it seems more like overweight dancers on a British tv program are embarrassing to one particular dancer. I don't see the link to Turkey that you put in your headline. |
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Baba Alex

Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:31 am Post subject: Re: Overweight British teachers in Turkey are embarrassing. |
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ghost wrote: |
British teachers in Turkey now tend to be more overweight than their Canadian, U.S. and Aussi counterparts. The main reason, is because Britain has become much more sedentary over the last 10-15 years, and exercise and playing outside are no longer popular. British young people mostly spend time on computers, going to pubs and eating fast food (after drinking). It is shameful that Britons are now in the top three obese nations on the globe (with the U.S. still leading marginally, and Mexico - surprise - second most obese nation).
The Turkish Ministry of Education should check the BMI's of teachers, because reliable research shows that obese people are often disrespected in the classroom, causing problems, especially, when they teach k-12 grades in Turkish Private schools.
Check out this recent article:
Our lack of exercise is not just causing us to be rubbish at running - we can't dance anymore either!
BRITAIN'S GETTING FATTER AND LAZIER SAYS ACID-TONGUED DANCE JUDGE ARLENEBy Julie Mccaffrey 14/07/2007
HER caustic comments and poisonous put-downs have reduced Strictly Come Dancing's celebs to quivering wrecks.
But brace yourself... because for acid-tongued Arlene Phillips the *beep* hasn't even started yet.
For BBC1's new talent show, DanceX, she and rival judge Bruno Tonioli scour the country to find the hottest new dancers in the nation.
And pity any hopeful who doesn't stand up to scrutiny in Spandex. Jelly-bellies, thunder thighs and blubbery bums need not apply.
"I have never seen so many overweight people exposing their flesh in the tiniest of clothes," says Arlene, 63. "It was overwhelmingly awful.
"Let's face it, Britain is getting fatter and lazier. When I hark back to my school days - which were a very long time ago - we were always skipping, playing netball, hockey, running around.
"Now everyone's so much more sedentary. And boy, it shows! They need to get up off the sofa and get moving.
"There were all these girls with hot pants, crop tops and big bellies hanging out. No muscle tone, just spare flesh all over the place. Ugh! I wanted to stand up and scream, 'Why did you let yourself go? You puddings should do something about it!'"
Arlene may shudder at the fatties who tried to wobble on to her show, but as someone who describes herself as "a natural size 14 struggling to be a size 10", she has some sympathy for those losing the battle of the bulge.
"I have a weakness for cheese and every time I indulge it shows," she says. "I wanted to tell the overweight people at the auditions, 'I know how hard it is to stay in shape. I know it's a daily struggle'.
"I was really good for about a year but last Christmas my willpower deserted me. Still, I'm always on the go, walking, dancing, swimming, and that helps. Like most people, though, I'm always wishing I was thinner."
Despite this, Arlene refused to water down her inflammatory remarks about contestants' size - despite pleas from her BBC bosses.
"Producers have rapped my knuckles about my comments," she admits. "But I can't help it. I'm very honest, passionate and politically incorrect. They'll have to gag me because I can't control or plan what I'm going to say, I just explode.
"And anyway, at the auditions I thought I was quite kind and gentle to people. Unless they were delusional loonies."
DanceX sees her working once more with her old pal Bruno, 51. Arlene taught him to dance when he first came to London from Italy in 1976. And he often helped with the routines for her 70s dance group Hot Gossip. But the two friends will be rivals when the final 14 contestants are split into Team Arlene and Team Bruno.
"I'm so competitive," she says. "I'm going to do everything it takes to beat Bruno.
"We're bound to have our ups and downs. But I hope I don't pull rank and remind him he was once my student."
Manchester-born Arlene - who has two daughters, Alana, 28, and Abi, 17 - now lives in North London with Angus Ion, her partner of 20 years.
For a woman in her 60s she looks remarkably youthful - something she attributes to plastering on lots of a US wrinkle-freezing cream called Fauxtox. But if any male contestants are hoping to flirt their way into her group, they are sadly mistaken.
"Some of the hot young guys tried to catch my eye by opening their shirts and winking at me," she says.
"They must have thought that because I eyed up Mark Ramprakash in Strictly Come Dancing I can be wooed.
"Forget it! I'm old enough to be their mother. Only talent will win through to the final stages - dance talent." And she knows all about that. Much of her career has been spent choreographing London's top West End shows. But although she was impressed by DanceX presenter Ben Shephard's "sexy" moves, she despaired at the general lack of toetapping talent in the UK auditions.
"I was tragically uninspired," she says. "I saw the same routine again and again - as if they'd watched a music video and thought copying each step would impress. It didn't.
"Then there were the idiots who thought they'd have a laugh and get on telly. Whenever someone turned up with a suitcase containing a costume, my heart sank.
"I'm here to find serious talent, not watch a loon in a robot costume clunking around. But every now and then we found a real jewel - someone who looked incredible and didn't have a professional background. That made it all worthwhile."
It was Arlene who persuaded Sir Elton John to dance for his I'm Still Standing video, choreographed Freddie Mercury for I Was Born To Love You and devised the moves for Robbie Williams's Rock DJ video. She can also spot the singers with two left feet.
"Most pop stars are useless dancers," she sneers. "They need professionals doing great things behind them so they look good.
"Only a few stand out because they are truly great dancers themselves - Madonna, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. But they are the exception. Most are terrible."
There's no doubt about it, the *beep* is back.
DANCEX is on BBC1 tonight at 6.55pm.
[email protected]
Ghost in Korea (a country of thin people) |
F.UCK YOU MAN I'M JUST BIG BONED
*massive arse* |
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Golightly

Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 877 Location: in the bar, next to the raki
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:33 am Post subject: |
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yes, yet another Ghostian non sequitur of a thread. Everyone knows that Brit TEFLers are skinny because they don't earn enough to eat, and what they do earn goes on booze and f4gs. |
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yaramaz

Joined: 05 Mar 2003 Posts: 2384 Location: Not where I was before
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
British teachers in Turkey now tend to be more overweight than their Canadian, U.S. and Aussi counterparts. The main reason, is because Britain has become much more sedentary over the last 10-15 years, and exercise and playing outside are no longer popular. British young people mostly spend time on computers, going to pubs and eating fast food (after drinking). It is shameful that Britons are now in the top three obese nations on the globe (with the U.S. still leading marginally, and Mexico - surprise - second most obese nation). |
These facts are about Brits in Britain. The British teachers I know here are quite...average if not totally skinny (some are). There are no big huge scary types like I remember from when I lived in the UK. There's a lot more of an active culture here, not so sedentary. It's hard to be lazy when there are so many hills to climb and not much of a car culture (in Istanbul at least). Oh, and all the crappy pre-prepared food you find in British supermarkets doesn't exist here. |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject: you are rude |
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Quote: |
F.UCK YOU MAN I'M JUST BIG BONED |
No need to be rude.
The reality is that the difference between 'big bones' and normal bones is about 350 grams. That is less than half a kilo.
Any doctor will confirm this.
So don't use that excuse to explain your morbidly obese frame.
If you need an exercise and diet plan, do not hesitate to contact us.
Ghost in Korea |
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tarte tatin

Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Posts: 247 Location: Istanbul
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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Well I will jump in here as a Brit who is overweight but certainly not morbidly obese.
Firstly, I always find it strange when people obsess over other people's weight and actually it is more of a female trait normally and I am guessing Ghost is male.
Obsess over your own weight all you wish but I have never found a few extra pounds has made much difference to my health, social life or love life and certainly not my teaching. After I left Korea (as Ghost knows a slim society) I continued getting fond e-mails from students and my empoyer.
I will admit however, that my weight increases as soon as I hit British soil and seems to decrease as soon as I leave. Perhaps the air in the UK is full of calories! I will also admit to feeling slightly shocked at the high level of genuine obesity in the UK, particularly blubbery sun-burned women walking around with their thighs wobbling in shorts. Not attractive, but hardly criminal. Live and let live..... |
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yaramaz

Joined: 05 Mar 2003 Posts: 2384 Location: Not where I was before
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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Baba, have you put on weight since I last knocked you over with a feather?. |
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tarte tatin

Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Posts: 247 Location: Istanbul
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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I should also ask why Ghost has singled out Brits as in Korea he is surrounded by weighty whiteys of all nationalities. Also why has he not posted this on the Korean forum?
Perhaps unlike Ghost, I am familiar with Arlene and her spiky comments on TV - good for ratings but her opinions are hardly worth agonising over. |
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Golightly

Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 877 Location: in the bar, next to the raki
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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almost everyone coming to Britain gets fatter - most of my students complain of putting on at least a few kilos |
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Baba Alex

Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:07 pm Post subject: Re: you are rude |
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ghost wrote: |
Quote: |
F.UCK YOU MAN I'M JUST BIG BONED |
No need to be rude.
The reality is that the difference between 'big bones' and normal bones is about 350 grams. That is less than half a kilo.
Any doctor will confirm this.
So don't use that excuse to explain your morbidly obese frame.
If you need an exercise and diet plan, do not hesitate to contact us.
Ghost in Korea |
What do you think? Do I look overweight?
 |
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Golightly

Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 877 Location: in the bar, next to the raki
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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Ghost in Korea:
English teachers enjoying some footy at the JJ:
where would you rather be? |
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billybuzz
Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 219 Location: turkey
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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Well just for the record Im a fat *beep* and I don't give a tinkers cuss what ghost or anyone else said I 'm blessed with a personality and because of it and the fact I have a flash motor and wads of dosh (don't work in a deshane see) I get to pull and stuff a lot more tarts than I used to back in blighty. So there ghost bolloxx to ya ! |
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Baba Alex

Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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billybuzz wrote: |
Well just for the record Im a fat *beep* and I don't give a tinkers cuss what ghost or anyone else said I 'm blessed with a personality and because of it and the fact I have a flash motor and wads of dosh (don't work in a deshane see) I get to pull and stuff a lot more tarts than I used to back in blighty. So there ghost bolloxx to ya ! |
and what a personality! |
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