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Document 886

Correspondence from Canada: Letter 38 - 14.04.82

Author(s): 852

Copyright holder(s): Name withheld

Text

The Maggie
14 April '82.

Dear Mum & Dad,

Carole's been here nearly two weeks now and term's crashing to a halt, so I haven't had much time to write. So much for apologies. We're having a good time despite the fact that last week brought over 20cm of snow to New Brunswick. Carole says it's a wilderness, and Fredericton is so empty it reminds her of East Berlin!

She arrived on the 2nd of April right on time, in the middle of the house dinner (at which I received the "Mr. Universe" award, by the way, to commemorate my efforts in the Stacy Campus body-building scheme). Mark drove me out to the airport, and when we arrived back there was a big "Welcome Carol" [sic] sign and she was assaulted by about 20 of the Maggie lunatics, which must have been quite intimidating after 23 hours of travel.

On Thursday we went with Helen [CENSORED: surname] to stay in Shediac for the weekend, and we had a great time with her and her family. On Good Friday we went cross-country skiing along the still frozen shore, by the still frozen sea, which stretched icily out towards Prince Edward Island. I felt like an extra in the more Siberian scenes from "Reds"! We saw the cows being milked at the [CENSORED: surname]'s farm and Mr. [CENSORED: surname] showed us around the fish and lobster processing plant which he also manages, and we ate very well. On Easter Sunday we all went to church, and then took a trip into the country to see maple sugar being made. That was interesting - the sap's collected from the trees and then boiled. It takes 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. The syrup is taken out and simply put onto the snow to make maple syrup candy, which tastes something like barley sugar.

We also went to see the new Julie Andrews film "Victor/Victoria" which was quite funny. Don't take Dad to it though, Mum - nearly everyone in it is "gay". It's basically a homosexual Pink Panther movie without Peter Sellers.

On Monday we returned to Fredericton and rather warmer weather. Most of the late snow has again vanished, but it's generally drab and brown. Tonight we took Helen out to dinner at a restaurant called "The Attic" across the river, and we enjoyed a good meal. We're eating well - Prof. [CENSORED: surname] has invited us out tomorrow!

Carole is really enjoying Germany now. She's improving her Arabic, preparing an edition of an Arabic astrology text of around the 8th or 9th century, and learning more about today's Middle East. Furthermore her German is getting much better and she can ski far better than I can. Which isn't saying much!

What do you think about the Falkland Islands crisis? I'm expecting my call-up papers any moment - in which case I'll be in the washroom. It seems rather hysterical from this distance. Well, I've got to go now. Carole's nibbling my ear. I'll write again soon.

Love,
[CENSORED: surname]

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APA Style:

Correspondence from Canada: Letter 38 - 14.04.82. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 19 March 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=886.

MLA Style:

"Correspondence from Canada: Letter 38 - 14.04.82." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 19 March 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=886.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Correspondence from Canada: Letter 38 - 14.04.82," accessed 19 March 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=886.

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The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2024. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.

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Information about Document 886

Correspondence from Canada: Letter 38 - 14.04.82

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 520

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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