Tag Archives: class

Hypnotic cat dancing routine reveals hidden skills (Rousse)

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I wandered around the crowded room and performed a little dance. I hoped that this would please my new friend and that she would agree that I had mastered the “dancing like a cat” routine. She observed my technique, then … Continue reading →

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Melvyn Bragg’s editor, boasts about the Sound of Music, and other distractions keep Rousse away from class

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Now that it was December I no longer objected to the Christmas displays in the shops. I was even becoming more tolerant of the members of the sect who queued up every day in their drab black uniforms for the … Continue reading →

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Rousse’s rubbish reunion

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Dreamaticus

This was the most peculiar of university reunions. First the woman across the table congratulated me on another successful event. “I didn’t organise this!” I responded. (I secretly added “Had I been in charge this would have amounted to far … Continue reading →

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Battle of Flodden commemorations preview (Rousse)

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Dreamaticus

We were stuck in an ill-equipped classroom several miles out of town away from the excellent resources of our main campus. Somehow I had to entertain this small class of postgrad students with no access to the online materials that … Continue reading →

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Bonding with Radcliffe and Maconie over the Farmer’s Boys and the BBC (Rousse)

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie enjoyed the Fringe so much that they decided to stay on in Edinburgh, at least until Christmas. By now I was their best friend and had persuaded them to help run my seminars. The students … Continue reading →

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Class-conscious Cotswolds offers mixed welcome (Rousse)

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Everyone* we knew had moved to the Cotswolds. We drove down to see if life there would suit us too. My sister J set up an introduction for us with the vicar’s wife, also newly arrived in the village. The … Continue reading →

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Bose headphones rescued in Montreal (Rousse)

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Dreamaticus

All eyes turned on me as I followed my Canadian cousin TT up to the back of the lecture hall. They must have all been wondering what he was doing in class with an old fogey like me. He was, … Continue reading →

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Weekends do not start on Thursday afternoons: official (Rousse)

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Dreamaticus

RK hesitated when I said that I would help the French student put his poster up on the wall at the back of the classroom. He asked if I would do this later. For the moment he wanted no distractions … Continue reading →

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Rousse avoids a rubbish job

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Back in 1982 I was doing all I could to avoid what I considered an inappropriate task for female first year undergraduates: picking up litter. They said that the boys would be there too, but I didn’t believe it. I’d … Continue reading →

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Become a personal trainer – but not on this course (Rousse)

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Completely fed up with work, I decided to ditch academia to train as a fitness instructor, and joined the same course as FM. The pace of the classes was incredibly slow, largely because the tutor took a 15 minute break … Continue reading →

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