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Document 875

Correspondence from Canada: Letter 27 - 16.01.82

Author(s): 852

Copyright holder(s): Name withheld

Text

The Maggie
Sat 16th Jan.

Dear Mum & Dad,

Back in the old routine... It was really good to hear your voices last Sunday. Good to hear you're keeping well. If you're planning to go on holiday, you'd probably be best going before September - unless I'm thrown out, it's extremely unlikely I'll be home before then. I doubt if I'll be thrown out though - I made a final mark of A- on my Can. Lit. course, so work-wise things are going well. I started my Chaucer course last week, and I'm trying to get things started on the thesis. We got another foot of snow dumped on us this week, though the termperature climbed back up to around zero. Roll on spring! I finally bought myself a pair of long johns, as February is usually the coldest time of year. Boy, do they feel strange!

I'm doing a few extracurricular activities to stimulate my flagging interest. I've joined the film society, which is showing some good old European & American films this term. I went to "The Tin Drum" last night - a German movie about the sexual adventures of a self-made midget during the Nazi era. As you can imagine, a strange film. Back to normality with "On the Waterfront" next week. I also went to "Taps" last week - a good drama with George C. Scott and Tim Hutton (the son in "Ordinary People"). I enjoyed that.

I'm also getting up a petition to keep the Maggie open over the summer. The official line is that it will close and remaining students will be shuffled up the hill to Macleod house - a barracks. So I'll be presenting the petition & our case to the Residence Committee in the near future, and giving them a touch of the Red Clydeside militancy, no doubt. I'll put on my best Uncle Nelson voice for the occasion!

And I'm now also the Maggie's unofficial librarian, with the task of sorting out and cataloguing the Maggie's 400-odd books. That should take care of my copious free time...

The big talking-point here just now is the earth tremors that have been shaking the eastern seaboard all week. I've only felt the big one, which woke me up last Saturday morning. The whole room was shaking, the mirror was banging against the wall, and the bed was shuddering. I assumed several tons of snow had fallen off the roof and went back to sleep. Only later did I hear that the tremor had been felt in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine, & Connecticut. Smaller tremors have been taking place too.

I got my U.S. photos developed and most came out. I can't get refills to fit my photo album, unfortunately, so I'll probably buy a cheap one here till I get home. I'll get a few pictures developed and send you them.

Well, I'm phoning Carole tomorrow to make the final arrangements for her arrival. Helen [CENSORED: surname], the mature English student, has invited us to her house across New Brunswick for a few days, so, weather permitting, we'll probably go. It'll give us both a chance to see more of the countryside, and it might stop Mrs. [CENSORED: surname] trying to persuade me to marry her daughter!

That's about all the news for this week. As usual, give my best to all, and take care in those blizzard conditions over there!

Love,
[CENSORED: forename]

P.S. Received your letter, OK, Dad. Sir Charles O'Halloran! It makes you weep... I've been keeping up with the Hillhead shennanigans via the Times & The Observer. I'd like to see Jenkins win, but as I remember, Hillhead is a fairly Conservative area.




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Correspondence from Canada: Letter 27 - 16.01.82. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 19 March 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=875.

MLA Style:

"Correspondence from Canada: Letter 27 - 16.01.82." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 19 March 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=875.

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Information about Document 875

Correspondence from Canada: Letter 27 - 16.01.82

Text

Text audience

Adults (18+)
Audience size 3-5
Writer knew intended audience

Text details

Method of composition Handwritten
Year of composition 1982
Word count 633

Text medium

Other airmail

Text publication details

Part of a longer series of texts
Name of series Correspondence from Canada

Text setting

Private/personal

Text type

Correspondence/letters

Author

Author details

Author id 852
Gender Male
Decade of birth 1950
Educational attainment University
Age left school 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism
Occupation University Lecturer
Place of birth Ayr
Region of birth S Ayr
Birthplace CSD dialect area Ayr
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Bridge of Weir
Region of residence Renfrew
Residence CSD dialect area Renfr
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Insurance Broker
Father's place of birth Auchinleck
Father's region of birth S Ayr
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Ayr
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Dental Receptionist
Mother's place of birth Ayr
Mother's region of birth S Ayr
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Ayr
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes In most everyday situations
Portuguese Yes No No Yes When trying to communicate with my in-laws
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes In domestic/activist circles; reading literature

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