SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 886 Title : 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] 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: 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: 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