“I have the greatest respect for Oxford University and its 800 years of tireless intellectual toil, but I must confess that I’m not entirely clear what it’s for… See all these dons and scholars striding past, absorbed in deep discussions about the Leibniz-Clarke controversy or post-Kantian aesthetics and you think: Most impressive, but perhaps a… Continue reading The price of progress (Oxford and Gatwick)
Month: June 2015
Life among the Oxonians
Back in the south of England after some time spent up in Oxford, a place I once called home for a number of months over two decades ago, a place that still has a hold upon my heart, and happily a place where I still have friends. It was and remains one of the fastest… Continue reading Life among the Oxonians
The glory departed
Every time I read about English King Henry VIII I have great difficulty feeling sympathy towards the man, a lustful harsh egotistical king who married six times for the purpose of securing a male heir to the throne, severed England from the Roman Catholic Church and dissolved monasteries for financial gain. To be fair, there… Continue reading The glory departed
Canada Slim and the Dickensian Moment
Two days ago my hosts in England and I did a very English thing… We visited the Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum, at 393 Old Commercial Road, in Portsmouth. “He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His work enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Dickensian Moment
Blood, sweat, tears and toil
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, the largest seaborne invasion in history. 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, 277 minesweepers, 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel, 10,000 hit – 4,414 dead Allied soldiers, 1,000 German soldiers dead, over 3,000 civilian casualities. Southsea Beach and Portsmouth Harbour were vital embarkation points… Continue reading Blood, sweat, tears and toil
Gold and orange / triumph and tragedy
Day Three in England…a full day…a knife to the throat…the gold of victory…the first port of a legend… Last year, prior to my best pal’s wedding, we arranged to have a barbershop shave to ensure that no five-o’clock shadow faces would cloud the perfect nuptial day. Iain thought it might be a lark to have… Continue reading Gold and orange / triumph and tragedy
The Queen is dead, long live the Queen
Rule Two regarding life in England: The press is generally horrid. I have only been on English soil two days and already the press exasperates me. I rarely see people buy newspapers as they either subscribe online or they read the free newspapers found at any rail or Tube station. The free paper Metro, suitable… Continue reading The Queen is dead, long live the Queen
Skip to the loo
Day Two in England and I remain truly a stranger in a strange land. Today I travelled to Winchester…what a prize! First rule of travelling in England: People do NOT talk to strangers on the train, especially in the morning… Such a contrast to life in Montreal where there are bus drivers who spontaneously break… Continue reading Skip to the loo
Sounds and signs in discord
One of the greatest difficulties with English language teaching is trying to explain why English words with similar spellings can have such different sounds. Compare for example words like though(th-oh), through (thr-oo), thorough (thur-oh) and tough (tuff). Or why words with different spellings have the same sound, like to, too and two. And there are… Continue reading Sounds and signs in discord
Sympathy for the dialect
Every nation has its faux pas – things that you shouldn´t talk about or joke about…EVER. For example, don´t call a New Zealander “an envious Aussie”, or a Canadian “a wannabe American”, unless you like your tires flattened. Don´t call la Manche the English Channel when you are in Paris or call the French “brie-eating surrender… Continue reading Sympathy for the dialect