A Cambodian Tale

Am in Bedford now and spent the last ten minutes trying to think of positive and fascinating things to say about the place........nope,it's impossible.I suppose the park is well designed and it has some varied bird life(saw a huge heron diving for fish)but other than that I'm struggling.This is the place where John Bunyon wrote 'Pilgrim's Progress' for gods sake and where the great Ronnie Barker grew up trying to find a place that sold four candles.
The 'campus'that is the University of Bedfordshire is quaint,to put it politely and my room resembles a cell which if I turn in one direction can actually envelop me and swallow me whole.I won't even mention the food.......well yes I will actually.It is like stepping back in time when I was a mere youngling and was eating vile stuff such as swede and runner beans.I have even discovered butterscotch mousse here,possibly bought from the people who brought us 'Angel Delight'.It is safe to say that together with my running I will hopefully lose a few pounds on my sojourn here as my plate becomes increasingly emptier each evening as I decide on less and less of the fare on offer.
On the positive side ......no,it's still a thankless task trying to think of one.The town centre is a desparate place full of men who look like weasels,with a pallour to match walking around in shapeless tracksuits and an air of despondency everywhere.Why is it that all mid-size town centres look the same now?
If you are from Bedford I probably sound very disparaging about your town,but I can only write about what I see and think.Burgess Hill has never seemed so welcoming!!!

So here I am in Canterbury teaching 13-16 year olds from the far flung depths of Europe and beyond and loving every minute of it.It is quite amazing to see how well Serbians mix with Spanish students,how well Russian fraternise with Italian students.To be honest,as far as a lot of the students are concerned they could be from Mars as teenage hormones are flying around and the main object seems to be the pursuit of happiness if you know what I mean!
We visited Cambridge on Saturday with mainly Greek and Spanish students and yours truly conducted a walking tour!I suppose I volunteered as knowing that my voice has a certain boom like quality,I thought that it would be heard above the massed ranks of tourists.Consequently I amazed the students with my knowledge of Lord Byron and his bear(no cats and dogs allowed),the fine art of punting,the gothic architecture of Kings College and the fact that "Heffers" is the second biggest book shop in the UK(even though I would dispute that having been in)
It was gratifying to see that the students,being surrounded by fantastic architecture,seats of learning and graduates bedecked in their gowns and finery arrived back at the meeting point having bought "whoopee cushions" from a local joke shop.So it's not just the Brits then.
Not having spent a great deal of time in Cambridge before it was pleasant to wander round and take in the vibe,as they say.One thing did strike me however.....why do we seem to have no shame in placing a cheap,tacky "Bonne Marche" retail store directly opposite a 700 year old building or creating signage that does nothing for the historical integrity of the buildings in front of you.I noted numerous examples of this and just think it devalues our heritage,brings everything down to a cheap level and feel that if I was in a similarly historic town in say,Italy for example,the local town square or equivalent would not be festooned with bright neon and adverts that are aimed at the urban sub-class.... oh-oh I'm revealing my latent snobbery.
Another revealing sign of this is in Canterbury.It's Sunday I think to myself,so I'll take in the cathedral as I have the day off.Easy to locate,find the entrance and what do I see before my eyes? A branch of "Starbucks" adjoining the entrance of Britain's most important and venerated religious sites!!! Now,I am no soap box shouting,religious zealot but one of capitalism's most potent enterprises stuck next to the place where Thomas Becket was murdered..... I think not!
I wandered in and took in evensong,which to many of you reading this will be a surprise as you'll be thinking "when did he ever set foot in a church on a Sunday?"
Unfortunately,Dr.Rowan was away but the whole experience was really quite moving.Now before you start to wonder,I haven't just seen the light but will explain why I found it all so memorable.
Basically it was the music,and not the lessons that were read that grabbed me.Backed by the boys of the Canterbury choir who are apparently up their with the best,the organist was performing his last evensong before leaving and he really went for it!The music was soul enhancing,bewitching and incredibly powerful and the organist performed a solo at the end that matched any great individual musical performance that I've ever heard.For those of you who know Steve Vai,it was as if he was playing the organ himself.Lots of 'widdling' and dextrous finger work involved.A huge round of applause went up at the end and remember we were in the hallowed portals of Canterbury cathedral.Of course the acoustics are the absolute best and it's easy to see how people can get taken away to another place when experiencing this kind of thing.However I left feeling uplifted if not a little moved,went home,poured myself a glass of water,turned around only to find it had changed into a beautiful glass of wine!! Work it out for yourself.... as Frankie Howard used to say.."oh please yourselves".