HaPpY NeW YeAr 2015
from MaRtIn!
Well another memorable year has sped past and here’s my annual newsletter.
In January I was the destinations lecturer on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, on the first leg of her world voyage to South Africa. The two days in Cape Town were as great as in the previous year when I was there including a memorable visit to Robben Island. This was my first time lecturing on a Cunard ship.
In February I was a dance host on Fred. Olsen’s Braemar going to the Cape Verde Islands and West Africa before the ebola outbreak.
In March I was a dance host on the lovely Saga Pearl 2 going to the Holy Land. Jerusalem was magnificent, but I was less impressed with Bethlehem and Nazareth! Luckily I went when I did as you can’t go back there now.
In April I had to do Jury Service for a second time. It was another petty burglary by an incompetent drug addict. These people need medical help not the criminal justice system. Give them methadone and stop them stealing I say!
In May I was the destinations lecturer on the Saga Sapphire going to Norway. This was my first time lecturing on a Saga ship.
In June I was the port lecturer on the Black Watch going around the UK and Ireland, with the irrepressible Margaret Jones on board.
In July, after an Open University stay in Milton Keynes and a fraternal stay in Harlow, I was a dance host on the lovely Saga Pearl 2 up and down the English Channel, which I also did on the Braemar in October too.
In August I was a port lecturer on the Balmoral going to St. Petersburg in Russia, which I also went to in September as a dance host on the lovely Saga Pearl 2.
In October I enrolled on the three year Associateship of King’s College (AKC) course by distance learning. It’s only one lecture on theology a week for six months of the year and one essay per year, so it’s not exactly taxing and I get three more letters after my name after three years for only 1500 quid! It’s heavily weighted to biblical studies from an Anglican point of view so it helps me in writing my enrichment lectures. My two Open University students both gave up so I had an easy year!
No cruises in November allowed me to catch up with my garden, my housework, my brother and sister-in-law and my port talks for next year when I will be doing four cruises plus four more as a dance host.
Over this coming Christmas I will be lecturing on board the lovely Saga Pearl 2 going to the Med again.
My visitors this year have included Mike from Southampton and Mark from Dulwich, the latter reciprocating the hospitality when we toured the Olympic park in London together.