Dear Dona,
I'm here again. Thanks for your letter; I really enjoyed reading it. Your young brother sounds like a typical eleven year old, or like most of them are over here. Jeremy showed me some photographs of you on Friday (31st). I soon recognized you. I couldn't remember what you looked like at first, although I knew the name well. Well, I've finished with exams for a couple of months. so I can relax for while. I've only got the results for my Maths so far, and I've only just passed, so I have a lot of hard work to do before June, as I want to get a good grade. We haven't got the Biology results yet. I heard on Friday that Jeremy got top marks in Art; even more than the people that are a year older than himself. I think he'll do very well in his 'A' levels.
Anyway, how about you? Are you keeping ok? I hope so and your family too.
It was my Dad's birthday yesterday and my brother and sister-in-law came over for the evening. I bought my dad a book, and some talc, and a packet of sweet cigarettes! Don't laugh -- I'm serious -- like (my mum and I) have been trying to stop him smoking so much, so I found an empty cigarette packet and filled it with sweet cigarettes; he thought it was quite funny. Anyway, we had a few drinks last night (I'm quite partial to Port and lemonade) and my brother and his wife stayed for the night, and I think they're stopping all day today. We always have good fun when they are home.
Jeremy told me about the T.A.P. It sounds quite interesting. I wish we could do that type of thing, but we don't have time. We tend to go deeply into a limited number of subjects, which often makes us quite depressed. Still, I haven't got long to go now; only until July this year. Then I leave and get a job. I want to work in a Bank when I leave, and I've already had one or two interviews with banks in Leeds. I would like to work at Lloyd's Bank, but I'll have to wait and see if I can be accepted. I wouldn't really like to teach children. I mean, I like children very much, but I don't think I'd have enough control over a large class of children. It also means going to college; and I think I've had enough school life already. I would rather go out to work now.
The boy I dance with, when I go for lessons, is leaving at the end of February, so I'll be without a dancing partner. He works for an agency, and moves around the country doing different jobs. He also part-owns a boarding house on the south coast of England, in Weymouth, and is trying to get work down there so he can go back to the house every week-end to get it ready for the guests.
We've booked our summer holidays this week-end. We're going to Paignton, at Torbay, again on the south coast. We've been going south for our holidays for about five years. We've really fallen in love with the southern countryside, with the big fields that stretch for miles, and the narrow roads that yo can only get one car down; if you meet a car coming the other way, one you you has to back up. There is plenty of night-life though in Torbay, which is a group of towns (Paignton being one of them) situated around a sheltered bay. It really looks picturesque. I can't wait to get there. My brother and his wife are coming too, so David can take over the driving occasionally to give my dad a rest. It's about 320 miles to Torbay, so you can see this is important. We can travel about half the distance on Motorway, which still has speed restrictions, but the rest of the journey will be interrupted by slow-moving traffic and traffic-jams. That's the penalty you pay for going near the height of the season. Most people take their holidays between June and August, and we're going at the beginning of July. Never mind, I'm sure we'll enjoy it all the same. I'll have to write off now, Dona, to wash my hair, so I hope I h ar from you soon. Bye for now.
Margaret
P.S. Course I don't mind you calling me Meg; but I get so used to signing as Margaret. Anyway, I like being called Meg. Thank you.
Note: The T.A.P. program was for high school students that were in danger of failing or dropping out but I chose it because I wanted to get a head start working with elementary-aged children since I planned on majoring in education in college and going on to teaching.
It is so apparent in these letters how more difficult and structured the British education system was over the education system in the US.
No comments:
Post a Comment