Briefly Back In Blighty

[robinturner]

Long holidays are one of the advantages of working in a university. As a lowly English teacher, I don't get the kind of holidays enjoyed by my tenured colleagues, which are so long that occasionally professors forget which university they were teaching in and turn up bemusedly at Oxford instead of Cambridge at the start of the Michaelmas term. Nevertheless, a six-week holiday is not bad; indeed it is the kind of holiday many people would accept a substantial pay cut for. Come to think of it, by electing to work in academia, that is pretty much what you are doing. However, I have only started to feel that I am really on holiday this week. As I said to Nalan, the word "holiday" is associated with two things: being somewhere else and relaxing, and most of the time I only achieved the former. My whistle-stop tour of Bodrum, Kos and Rhodes was certainly fun but not particularly relaxing, and introducing my parents-in-law to Britain was interesting and rewarding but only slightly less stressful than playing buzkashi with a bunch of Afghan tribesmen.



But now the Turkish half of the family have gone home, leaving me with all the creams and shampoos they couldn't get through airport security, and I am finally experiencing the relaxing side of holidaying. When no one is giving you stress, the oddest things can be relaxing - shopping at Sainsbury's, for example. Up and down the aisles we go, marveling at the twenty varieties of couscous and the Malaysian chardonnay. This compares favourably with my shopping experiences of the previous week, most of which involved shoes, and endless conversations about how hard it is to find comfortable shoes.

By the way, I may be up in Leeds on Saturday, if anyone can put me up for the night.

Comments

[dtlw.livejournal.com]

There is always a room at my place mate

[solri.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It looks like I'll be staying with Trev, but we should definitely meet up for lashings of ginger beer.

[solri.livejournal.com]

Hi Dave, e-mail me your phone number so I can get in touch.

[dtlw.livejournal.com]

I don't seem to have your e-mail address????

[dtlw.livejournal.com]

07841 4159? The last two numbers are Janets house number on the Methley's plus 6

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

It is almost impossible to find comfortable shoes, especially if a) you are a woman and b) you have narrow feet. I tend to buy Italian shoes if possible, as they always seem to be made rather narrower.

If you're passing through Sheffield on the way to Leeds, let me know and we could perhaps arrange coffee or something.

[alsoname.livejournal.com]

Throw in being vegetarian/vegan and wanting to avoid leather and you're in an even more fun world.

[solri.livejournal.com]

That sounds nice, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit it in - Sheffield is a bit of a detour.

[alsoname.livejournal.com]

Happy belated birthday, by the way.

[solri.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[vret.livejournal.com]

We would love to see you! We have a spare room, and can put you up. Is there anyone you want me to try and contact for you?

[solri.livejournal.com]

Great! Mail me your phone number so I can contact you nearer the time.

As for contacting people, I don't know who's still around from my era, other than dtlw. Are Dave and Claire still around?

[vret.livejournal.com]

I think they split up a long time ago, but I could be wrong. I've not seen either of them since the early 90s, when Tony took over running Id. I think they both moved away then. I can't remember what happened now, but I think Dave split off the wholesale side of Id as a separate business. I still spot Tony around Meanwood occasionally, but I haven't seen him to speak to for years.

I still see a lot of the gaming crowd, like Dave Cooper and Mike Throssell, for example. Keith Law lives just up the road from here, too.

I saw Guy a few times last year. I have a mobile number for him. Ran into Mark in a restaurant a couple of years ago, as well. I could probably find a work email for him (he's a lecturer at the Uni now), but I haven't seen anyone else in the band since the early 90s (apart from Andy, of course, but he lives in Scotland now).

[(Anonymous)]

They are indeed Turkish (shalvar). Quite common attire in villages, especially in the South and East of the country, but rarely seen in cities these days. A few braver souls (mainly female) are trying to restore their use among the urban elite.

[solri.livejournal.com]

Come and visit us in Turkey then ;-)