SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 875 Title : 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. This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. 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: 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: 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