Tag Archives: university

Planning for University interviews by tandem (Rousse)

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Dreamaticus

When I’d promised that I would take my sister S to her university interviews I had not appreciated how hard it would be to organise transport. It was particularly difficult to work out travel plans around her afternoon appointment at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged car, driving, fare, interview, interviews, London, roads, sister, tandem, train, trains, UCL, university, University College London, winter | Leave a comment

How to speak French – again (Rousse)

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was back at the University of Birmingham under the care of Mr H. He questioned my motivation for joining the second year class. What was I doing here? Didn’t I already hold a first degree, as well as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Birmingham, Birmingham University, degree, doctorate, French, learn, Masters, PhD, speak, university, University of Birmingham | Leave a comment

Fried chicken and a saucy professor (Belle)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Dreamaticus

How many more times was I going to have to explain to my father that these were NOT the Lithuanian model factories he insisted they were? They were simply fried chicken restaurants on Lewisham High Street. They had however, had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bed, bookcase, Chaucer, dolls house, essay, factory, fried chicken, Lewisham, Lithuanian, London, university | Leave a comment

A mother’s secret career and further clues of the Baby Ted graveyard (Rousse)

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The party of external examiners included an elderly man from Sheffield University, a woman from Loughborough, and a dark-haired systems librarian called Mike Hirst. They all seemed friendly enough although none were interested enough to acknowledge (or perhaps question) who … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1975, academic, Baby Ted, bear, Blackberry, campus, career, colleague, e-mail, examiner, examiners, game, graveyard, handbag, internal, librarian, line, lines, Loughborough, mentor, mother, Muirhead Tower, mum, office, opera, PhD, phone, premium, professor, replica, roads, secret, Sheffield, sister, soap, soaps, Stockton-on-Tees, systems, teddy, telephone, television, tights, tower block, traffic, trek, TV, university, University of Birmingham, viva, walk, White House | Leave a comment

School reunions: beware the ex (Rousse)

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Dreamaticus

It was difficult to establish my role at this reunion. For example, when KP and I disappeared to the ladies for an hour we felt terribly guilty, believing that we would be missed. However, when we emerged again afterwards, nobody … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged auditorium, bathroom, Birmingham, Birmingham University, car, cashmere, classmate, classmates, driving, film, friend, Hoppings, house, jersey, jumper, ladies, movie, Newcastle, Oxford, pupil, pupils, reunion, school, sweater, teacher, teachers, Town Moor, TPR, university, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford | Leave a comment

Talents of a child “very advanced for his age” rub off on Rousse

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Dreamaticus

We’d barely known him an afternoon, yet bit by bit Gwen was already revealing himself to be one of the most fascinating people that we had ever met. When he invited us to his 40th birthday party that evening in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 40th, advanced for his age. dinner, baby, bird, birds, birthday, child, class, classes, cuckoo, cuckoos, cutlery, dirty, dishwater, dry, Edinburgh, ethical, ethics, fork, forks, fortieth, fun, games, guest, guests, kitchen, knowledge management, meal, module, modules, Northumbria, Omni Centre, ornithology, party, private, prodigy, psychologist., puffin, puffins, research, son, song thrush, song thrushes, spoons, study dishwasher, super powers, talk, university, Uri Geller, Virgin, Virgin Active, vocabulary, walk, wash, washing up | Leave a comment

A labrador, a poodle and a Yorkshire terrier (Rousse)

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The meeting took place at the dining room table of my grandmother’s house in Corbridge. Given that the location was so special to me, I thought that my colleagues could have been more patient when I interrupted the proceedings with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anecdotes, Bruntsfield, childhood, colleagues, Corbridge, customers, dining, dog, dogs, HR, human resources, labrador, meeting, poodle, qualifications, shop, sports, table, university, window, Yorkshire terrier | Leave a comment

Another Sunday in academia – with a hedgehog (Rousse)

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Dreamaticus

If you have ever wondered how the typical academic spends a Sunday, the answer is straightforward: either at work, or thinking about work. This Sunday was no different from most others. TPR was entertaining himself elsewhere when I set off … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1979, academia, academic, algebra, arm, art, assault, Australian, board room, boss, colleague, colleagues, conference, etymology, exhibition, favour, gap, gaps, hedgehog, installation, knee, lecturer, lecturers, library, math, mathematics, maths, PowerPoint, professor, room, seminar, staff development, staircase, stairs, Sunday, tower, TPR, university | Leave a comment

Rousse escapes the timetable but gets trapped by her past

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Dreamaticus

A timetabling mix-up meant that it was now up to me to entertain the final year students for two hours. I rummaged in the box of handouts that I had taken to the last class in the desperate hope that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged age, autumn, cables, car, class, company, driving, electricity, escape, exercise, hall of residence, kiss, lane, lanes, Looe, material, open-top, pain, poke, ribs, road, roads, snog, sports car, student, students, timetable, timetabling, university, West Sussex, young | Leave a comment

Security enforcement with Charlie Drake and sliding with Suggs (Belle)

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Thirty years after I did it the first time, I was now moving into my hall of residence. This time round I was at ‘a Northern University’ but had no idea which one. When I lay on my single bed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Berlin, boat, cab, Charlie Drake, hall of residence, ice-rink, Jamaica, kiss, marriage, nightclub, Olympics, pontoon, rum, sea, Suggs, university, Wikipedia | Leave a comment