I lost control of my class completely. Instead of discussing the latest research in knowledge management, the students watched repeats of Match of the Day in class each Wednesday afternoon. There were some who objected to this – including PhD student LK – but they were powerless to win over the majority (who appeared to be happy to waste their education).

Eventually a South African student declared that he had had enough. He and two friends (one of whom was a football fan) took me on a road trip to the north of England. We ended up on Holy Island at Easter. The minister mistook us for pilgrims and invited us all to join the celebrations.