« Sent to Coventry | Main | Demonstrations again »
November 20, 2003
Catching up - slowly
What happened to yesterday? Well, it started out very early - I had to be in Coventry at 0830, which meant a trip up the M5, along the M42 and then onto the A45, some of it at the "rush hour" start up. So, left home at 0630 and actually beat the rush - which gave me half an hour to hang about. Ever tried to find an open coffee shop at that time of the morning? Not in Coventry I can tell you!
The award ceremony went off very well, except for a guy acting as MC whose job was to call out the names of the recipients and generally keep things moving. He made a hash of the name calling - especially as Coventry (like UNSW!) has a pretty good reputation among foreign students and attracts a lot of them from the Middle East, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Indian sub-continent. Some of these folk have some difficult names to get your tongue around, but one would have thought that a little forward planning would have given at least "an idiots guide" to pronouncing them.
The first few mangled attempts were quite amusing, but then it just got irritating and then downright embarassing. I hope that the students concerned took comfort from the fact that the rest of us were squirming in embarassment. At least we are all now duly capped and gowned.
For myself I have to say that it was great to have the day and to have the acknowledgement of having achieved the award. I guess that's my 15 seconds of fame as Warhol once put it.
Dare I suggest to any who contemplate visiting these shores (and those who live here but have never visited Coventry) that you add this Cathedral to your list of things to see. Spend a little time just contemplating what has been created here and what it represents. It certainly has something to say to us all.
Posted by The Gray Monk at November 20, 2003 12:29 PM
Comments
Even UNSW used to get some names wrong. I seem to remember the registrar having a lot of trouble with one of my wife's classmates. We all called him Beng (his surname) because his other names were snigger material. Unfortunately it was contagious (the sniggers) and that spoilt the graduation to some degree.
BTW Do you find graduations addictive?
Posted by: Ozguru at November 20, 2003 01:02 PM
Probably not - I didn't have the opportunity to attend the one for my Bachelor Degree and most of the Diplomas and Certificates have had the same problem. Mind you, life long learning and all that ..... A Doctorate perhaps? Hmmmmmm.......
Posted by: pgc at November 21, 2003 12:37 PM