Frydmania

Sunny Inverness, grey Gourock

November 27th, 2006

One feature of my job is that there can be a certain amount of travel around Scotland.  I could be meeting new foreign language assistants who have just arrived to teach their languages in Scotland; advertising the English language assistant programme at universities around Scotland, or again visiting the universities to interview some of the prospective English language assistants.

Two of my nicest trips this year: visiting Inverness for the first time at the start of September.  At that time of the year, my manager and I are usually out most days of the week for the first fortnight, meeting as many of the foreign language assistants as we can.  I hadn’t had the chance to meet assistants working in Highland region before, and it was one of the most beautiful autumn days, heading up on the train.

The train staff seem to know their passengers well.  Some passengers arrive on the platform by bike, and bring the bike on for the rest of their journey.  The buffet staff member greeted them by name and pretty much had their morning tea (or coffee) ready for them by the time they’d tied up the bike.  Who says we can’t manage service in the UK?

My visit to Gourock, along the Clyde, was sadly on a very wet and windy day in early November.  However, it was cheered by the chance to visit my aunt Catriona in the neighbouring town of Greenock the night before, and a hearty venison stew…In fact, both foreign language assistants whom I saw at work were having a great time, and were being well looked after by the teachers there. 

Despite the downpours, I still left with a big smile.  The only difficulty?  The assistants were not quite old enough to hire a car together so they can see more of Scotland.  However, they too had been to Inverness by the time I met them, and had plenty more plans for travelling Scotland before their year was up.

Entry Filed under: Out and about