STORY OF MY LIFE

I've divided things up into the following sections, for ease of reference:

Education
Living in Germany
Holidays
Employment

Education

OK, the basics: I took my O-levels at Rochester Mathematical School in Kent. I've lost touch with everyone from that era of my life now, for a variety of reasons; but if anyone who is reading this went to RMS, or remembers me from that time, I'd be dead pleased to hear from you.

I took A-levels in German, French, English and Religious Studies at Bournemouth School; I've lost touch with those people too, so anyone from hthat era is also very much invited to get in touch if they stumble across this site.

I went to the University of Reading to read Philosophy and German, and amazed myself, my family and my friends by achieving First Class Honours and being awarded the prize for German Studies; given the late nights, the parties and the fun that I had I still wonder how I managed it. I remember one nasty moment during my final year when I realised I had no notes at all for one course I was to be examined on, and had to get myself to the library sharpish. I did work hard for that last year, but there were a lot of laughs, too.

And I have an MPhil in the Philosophy of Religion from the University of Reading, too. That wasn't a great time of my life, and the least said about that, the better.

Living in Germany
Click on a thumbnail to see the picture

View from my flat in summer View from my flat in winter The Holstentor in Luebeck

I spent a fantastic year in Germany as the third year of my University course. I was an English Language Assistant at the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Schule in Neumuenster, which is between Hamburg and Kiel in the cold and windswept north of the country. Practically Denmark. I absolutely loved it, so much so that I chose to go back there for another year after completing my course, to the same school. This time I stayed in a small town called Bordesholm, and I can honestly say that that was the happiest time of my life. I knew most of the people in the place, I had friends dropping round all the time, I loved my job and I had a fantastic flat at a ridiculously low rent. I didn't miss England at all. I did wish I could see more of my family, but we were in touch very regularly (weekly letters and weekly telephone calls, would you believe), and it was just an ideal time. It was that wonderful year out, between university and work, where you have no pressures on you and no commitments, and that will never happen again. I still look back with real nostalgia to that time, and with a real affection for the place and its people. Coming home afterwards was a real wrench, and it took me a long time to get used to it. One day, maybe, I may go back and live in Germany again, because I do love the country and its people - and yes, even its language, whatever people say about it - but I am all too aware that it won't be the same.

Holidays

My best holidays are in the future rather than the past, I realise. I've had some great times, but I hope there are more to come.

The most adventurous I've been was when I went inter-railing with a German friend. We managed to get to Germany, Holland, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia and France. There were some nasty moments, including very early morning in Amsterdam (about 6 am) walking to the station and being threatened by someone with a knife (yes, it was scary, but not until afterwards;at the time all I could think of doing was keeping on walking and getting closer to the town centre, while my mate tried to have a conversation with him!). The nastiest moment was probably arriving in Ljubljana, now in Slovenia but then in Yugoslavia, well before the recent trouble, at 8pm with an address but no directions, no money, unable to speak the language, and not realising that it would be incredibly cold. Someone at the station managed to give me some general directions in broken English, so I set off and then realised I was being followed. So I turned round and challenged the bloke, on the grounds that if he was going to kill me, I'd rather he did it at once and I'd know where I stood, so to speak, and wouldn't have to carry on walking with footsteps right behind me. Turned out he was African, also spoke none of the language, was also lost, and had decided I looked like a visitor (rucksacks, T-shirts and fatigue obviously a bit of a clue) and was trying to pluck up the courage to ask me if I could help. Bit of a relief, that one. But Slovenia is the most beautiful place, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone. Go to the lake at Bled, and the caves in Postojna; seriously not to be missed. Also spent five glorious days in Dubrovnik, later on, which was fab.

The Irish coastline

I also had a great time in Ireland with a friend who took me on a sight-seeing tour. I adored Ireland. The people were so friendly and welcoming, and the scenery spectacular. It really is green, you know (because it always rains at least once a day). I spent one night in a tent overlooking Galway Bay, which would have been more fun had it not been wet and windy (!), and my favourite place of all was County Clare, which was so beautiful that I could have sat and admired the view for hours. I don't think I could live in Ireland, because I'd be bored before long, but another visit is a definite must before too long.

Altare della Patria, Rome

I went to Italy again more recently to visit friends, and had the chance to look around Rome with someone who knew the place and spoke Italian, which was a great advantage. I still can't get over the fact that the Coliseum is in the middle of a roundabout (vietato saltare del colosseo!). Just my luck that they were having the coldest April on record when I was there!

The sandcastle... in all its glory...

I have relatives on Guernsey, which I would strongly recommend to anyone; you're never more than a ten minute walk from a beach, wherever you go! The coastline is amazing, too, some parts are flat and other have spectacular cliffs. My favourite beaches are on Guernsey, I think; the photo here is from many years ago, when me, my mate and my cousins built a sandcastle (as if you couldn't tell). It looked more impressive in real life, mind.

L'Arc de Triomphe, Paris

I've also had a few days, including a weekend, in Paris, various other trips to Germany including Berlin, Munich and of course back to Bordesholm.

In addition, I've had lots of holidays around England and Wales, although never Scotland - on the list for the future.

Places I've always wanted to visit include Canada and New Zealand, and I would like to see parts of the USA. I'd also like to get to Scandanavia and some parts of the former Soviet Block like Prague. Basically, though, I like visiting other countries just to see them, to meet some of the people and to learn something new, so I would be happy enough to go almost anywhere.

Employment

Apart from the two years I spent as English Language Assistant in Germany, I have had several other jobs.

I worked for McDonalds for years, and really enjoyed it - and yes, I would still eat there, it was always clean and hygenic when I was there. They were good to me, and I was very grateful to them for the chance of some gainful summer employment.

I taught Philosophy to undergraduates at the University of Reading for four years, which was extremely challenging and fulfilling. Part-time hourly-paid lecturers are increasingly common in higher education, and they aren't paid all that much for the work they do (if they do it properly), which can't be a healthy state of affairs in the long run. Anyhow, I had a great time doing it, and was sorry when it came to an end.

I was Bar Manager for St Andrews Hall of Residence in Reading, too, for five years. It was something completely new and different; I started working there to help out a friend, and when the manager walked out one day I was sort of left in temporary charge, which lasted rather longer than any of us had suspected. It was great fun, and I was fortunate to have very good and dedicated staff. Unfortunately, the bar has now closed, so there won't be any reunions, but it was grand while it lasted. I don't think I was really cut out to be a Bar Manager, but I gave it the best I had and we didn't do badly, all things considered.

My first real break into the employment market was as an Admin Assistant in the Academic Registry at the University of Brighton. I found it strange at first, keeping regular hours and wearing a shirt and tie, but I got used to it and I absolutely loved the job. I only moved on because something seemingly far better came up at the University of East London, which represented a considerable step up in terms of both responsibility and salary. Unfortunately, it didn't work out quite the way it might have done. Matters weren't helped by the fact that the staff I was supposed to be responsible for supervising had been made redundant before I started, but generally things conspired against me. I didn't settle in the area, my life was a bit of a mess and the job didn't quite work out as I'd hoped; perhaps if one of the other things had been going better, I would have lasted longer. The best thing to come out of it was that I learned how to use html from a colleague, and put the University's regulations onto the website; my handiwork has now partly disappeared, as the site has been reorganised and a lot of the code rewritten (and not very well, in my opinion), but my name is still there as the main contact…

I was incredibly fortunate to land my current post as Regulations Officer back at the University of Brighton. It sounds dry and dull, but honestly it isn't; it's all the things I enjoyed doing before, plus some other interesting bits, and without any of the things I found tedious or repetitive. I could not be happier in my work, and actively look forward to going into the office. Now there's not many people who could say that… The management is excellent, my colleagues are hard-working, my job is interesting and I'm not getting a bonus for saying so. I am one lucky boy.

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Written by Jon Renyard
Last updated 25 August 1999