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Document : 874
Title    : Correspondence from Canada: Letter 26 - 09.01.82
Author(s): 852

Copyright holder(s): Name withheld

Text

The Maggie
9th Jan '82.

Dear Mum & Dad,

Some of this news I'll probably repeat on the phone tomorrow, but no
matter: it's time I wrote again. I returned from Philly all right with just
a few "almost" disasters. One minor one was getting stuck in a traffic jam
on the way to Philly airport, which gave me a chance to hear how genuine
American CB-ers sound. Mrs. [CENSORED: surname] got a CB of her own for
Christmas - her nickname (or "handle" as Michael would say) is "Girl
Scout". Actually it seems a useful device for communicating information on
the highways, altho' some use it to give vent to frustration: 

- God damn, what's the hold-up here? 
- Pinto, what's the hold-up? (Pinto is the name of a truck going in the
opposite direction.)
- There's workers up ahead on the road. It's down to one lane. 
- God damn! I knew it! Either workers or the cops...
- Isn't this where that truck skidded off the road yesterday? 
- That was yesterday.
- Yup, it's still there. Went off the road and ended in the water. 
- Sure is one hell of a way to park your car. 
- God damn! Why didn't someone say something? If I'd knew this was gonna
happen, I'd I've taken a detour. 

Luckily we were in plenty of time and the hold-up for the crashed in truck
didn't delay us. Flying into Boston wasn't much fun - it was very windy and
turbulent. We were rattling about that plane like beans in a barrel for
about 10-15 minutes before touchdown and my stomach just wanted it to stop.
Flying Boston to Montreal was beautiful, though; it was a beautiful clear
night and the cities sparkled below us. I've never seen anything like it.
At Montreal I got into the greatest panic. I'd about 1½ hours to get thro'
customs, clear my baggage, and go from Delta to E.P.A. airlines. Plenty of
time, you would have thought. Unfortunately, because of icy ramps, my
suitcase took about 1¼ hours to come thro', and Montreal was a BIG
airport. You could fit about 7 or 10 Prestwicks into it! I was just on the
point of leaving to get my flight without my bag, when it popped out from
the conveyor belt. I dashed out and promptly got lost, ending up at the
Eastern desk looking for Eastern Provincial! Well, I made it to the EPA
desk, checked in my case, hurried to the ramp, gasped on board, and the
flight was delayed 45 mins due to luggage delays! At that point I didn't
care... We flew into Fredericton, again like a spitfire in a dogfight,
owing to the wind. Luckily Mrs [CENSORED: surname] & her daughter the
Overseas advisors who are always around when I need them, were meeting a
Zimbabwean off the same flight, so I got a lift home. That was the end of a
fabulous holiday. 

I came back to subzero temperatures and 62 cm of snow - some of it is
snowploughed higher than I am. So I've bought myself some huge ski-gloves
to supplement my Spanish gloves, and I'll invest in longjohns next week. I
spent most of Wednesday giving out reference forms, arranging transcripts,
and filling out forms for the AUC, so now that's over with. I'd to write a
page on "Why I Wish to Study at AUC" and did an excellent job on convincing
myself that I don't want to take literature further than the M.A. The Dept.
here isn't exactly inspiring, and I hear from a girl in Glasgow that,
ironically, there my 1st Eng. lit. tutor, [CENSORED: forename] [CENSORED:
surname], is suing Al's tutor, [CENSORED: forename] [CENSORED: surname],
for defamation of character! Do I want to end up like them? No. I've got
one of my essays back - American Lit. - and I got an A- so it isn't that
I'm doing badly. But the literature side of things has lost its charm, at
least for the moment. I'm reading a general book on the English language in
the Middle Ages and hope to do a good linguistic study of Dunbar for my
thesis. I'll be seeing my supervisor to start some real work on that soon.


I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the AUC - if that works out the training
I'll receive will at least be vocational. Quite a few of the courses
outlined sound really interesting. It's a slim possibility, however. If it
doesn't work out, I'm not sure what I'll do. I may go to Cairo and look for
work - Carole suggests I do that - but I'm naturally rather apprehensive.
I'll talk it over with her, and with some of the Egyptians here, and maybe
I'll write to the Egyptian embassy. I should know about the TEFL Fellowship
by the end of April. 

And I've started trying to get down to some Arabic, although pronouncing
the sounds is about as far as I've got so far! I've sent away for some text
books to go with the tapes they have here. 

Oh it's a funny world! We had a violent earth tremor this morning - it woke
me up, all the house was shaking. I remembered the one I slept through in
Edinburgh. It's the queerest feeling. And as I walked home tonight, 20°
below, wrapped in my ski jacket and gloves, boots, & "Scotland" hat, I
thought: "If my Mammy could see me now!" However disenchanted I become with
the subject, it's a great experience! And who knows, next Christmas maybe
it'll be fried camel by the pyramids... Life is full of strange surprises:
how did I ever get into all this?

Well that's about all. Glad you had an enjoyable Christmas, & that Mum's
feeling better. Thanks for the letters and G.U. report. Michael sounds like
he dresses & looks like a bouncer in a boutique. But as long as he's
happy...

Stay healthy, give my best to all, & I look forward to speaking to you
tomorrow.

Love, 
[CENSORED: forename]


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Information about document and author:

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: 1037

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