It was an exceptionally warm summer dawn in the late '90s when I flew off from Helsinki to London, then continued by bus towards Devon, in order to attend Exeter University's course on literary language and British lifestyle.
The campus was milling with students, tutors and professors from all over the world, some of them princes from the Middle East, some relatives of Olivia de Havilland – but of course most of us were ordinary professionals from various walks of life. I myself befriended some delightful personalities from Greece, Finland, France, and Italy – an engineer, a law student and two teachers, to mention just a few. All of them full of light and kindness! Neither shall I ever forget the unpretentious Japanese gentleman with whom I exchanged some interesting thoughts about both Shinto religion and tanka poetry.
Sadly, I also detected some native and/or academic arrogance. Another negative was that the lectures introduced only very basic linguistic concepts and grammar. Mind you that this pricey course had been advertised for pros in SKTL's (Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters) periodical...
I guess what I mostly got out of it all was the amusement of the English and Irish books I read, the plays we saw, and all the socializing – conversations, laughter and merry parties.
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| Conversation classes required a presentation. Mine tackled Finnish culture and nature. |
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| Windy pool parties and wild masquerades:-) ☮ & 💝! |
Besides taking very picturesque walks on the Dartmoor moores, we also took refreshing field trips. Like St Ives in Cornwall, one of the top ten British seaside towns, was an amazingly charming place to see! Small wonder that many artists have always loved to work there (one of them the world-famous Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck in the 1800s).
Exeter itself is a nice historical city in South West England. Situated on the River Exe, it boasts the magnificent Cathedral Church of St. Peter, imposing Roman wall plus beautiful Quayside, a lovely area where to enjoy cafes, pubs and shops. And being a university town, you can bet there's no shortage of great bookshops, either.
Last but not least, I need to mention the fabulously yummy meals our French chef with his talented staff prepared for us three times a day. At the farewell dinner they received a rumbling standing ovation from us all!
In case you got interested, click yourself from my yesterday's version to their today's revision! Yes, they are still offering the course, but I'm sure much has changed!
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| Graduated – clearly a fortnight well spent:-) |
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PS These pics, all taken in public places, are self-evidently from years ago, but I've also blurred the faces, so that everyone except me is unrecognizable. However, if you should have any issues regarding my photos, please be kind and drop me a line and/or your email address in the comments section below and I'll delete whatever you wish! (If only I had reached you all, but no such luck – none of the old contact info is valid anymore...)
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