ME AND MY REGION.

First things first - Thank you TheLittleFlower over at WORLD OF CHANCES who sent me an Awesome Blogger Award. Go over and say hi but be warned her blog is accompanied by music. The first time I visited, the sudden playing of a song caught me unawares and gave me quite a start - well, I'd never before encountered a blog that automatically played music at me.

Anyway, one of the conditions of getting this award is I let you know seven things about me that you didn't already know, so here goes:

1. I could sit on my hair until I was 11 years old when I had it cut into a 'bob'.

2. I have DYSCALCULIA, a mathematical disability akin to DYSLEXIA.

3. As a child, I wanted a tortoise as a pet.

4. My favourite perfume is NINA - as well as the smell I love the bottle which is shaped like a red apple.

5. I'm afraid of the dark.

6. I have a teddy called Bear Necessity who goes everywhere with me.

7. I name all our plants - there's 'Yak', 'Yak Jnr', 'Lucky', 'Willy' and 'Prickles' to name but a few.

I suppose I could name an 8th and let you know I love living here in the North East of England but most of you already know that. But why do I love living here and why am I proud to be a 'Geordie lass' - come to that, what is a Geordie? Well ...........

A Geordie is a regional nickname for those living in certain areas of Tyneside (some would argue Newcastle) OR the name of the dialect spoken by it's inhabitants. Press HERE to view an amazing site that will translate many words and sentences from English into Geordie, just key in your word/sentence and let the translator do the rest.

There are many different theories as to where the word Geordie ORIGINATED. Some say it comes from a term of endearment for those called George, once the most popular name for eldest sons here in Tyneside. Whilst others argue the term went back to the 1745 Jacobean Rebellion when the 'natives of Newcastle' supported King George II. And yet another, 3rd explanation, claims that the name has connections with the 'Geordie' safety lamp which was used in our mines as opposed to the 'Davy' lamp.

Anyway, to go back to my original question - why do I love living here?

1. The people. Known to be the friendliest of the regions, we have an reputation of having a good sense of humour and apparently have an accent that, surveys have found, inspires trust in others.

2. The scenery and other ATTRACTIONS. In Newcastle City Centre itself we have so many great buildings of architectural interest, both old and new. Then there's the shopping, the nightlife and, I have to mention it, St. James Park where football fans go to 'worship' come match days. Then regionally, we have so much beautiful scenery, wonderful coastlines and rugged countryside with award winning museums and so many other things to see and do.

I could go on and on but won't - apart from to leave you with this piece from our local newspaper.

Geordie's are among the most generous and romantic folk in the country, a survey has revealed.

And Northerners spend 15% more on gifts than Southerners, the poll carried out by ParcelGenie found.

The online business for sending real gifts on Facebook has studied 10,000 small gift transactions across the UK, to see if regional, gender and age stereotypes hold true.

The survey revealed a distinct North/South divide, showing the most generous region, by number of gifts sent, was the North East, and the top three cities for romantic gifts were Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham. (Nottingham being in the Midlands as opposed to the North East.)

SOURCE: An edited version of an article as reported in the Evening Chronicle.