Students again!

The political situation in the country just now is very volatile, with all sides fighting and shouting each other down. When James and I were enjoying a coffee on Tuesday in Café Gelato, it was clear that James is very sure of his views of the situation. It occurred to me that one of my ex-colleagues has diametrically opposite views to those of James, but that like him, he is absolutely certain that he is right. I quite envy them because I think that one of my problems, both politically and in fact in all aspects of my life, is that I can see both sides of most stories. This can be very uncomfortable because for me the world is never clear cut or easy. It occurred to me that despite their opposing views James and my ex-colleague have more in common than they do with me!
Today James and I became students! We have both signed up to do short courses at Glasgow University, from which we both graduated in the 1980s. We pass through the campus all the time but it feels strange to be sitting in a classroom there again. I really enjoyed my first French lesson. I had chosen a fairly easy level so I was very much in my comfort zone, however it was good to go over the basics again and I did learn some new vocabulary. Also I think that the course will progress quite fast. There are fourteen of us in the class and everyone seems friendly and supportive. Meanwhile James had his first Geology lecture, which was a much bigger class and quite lively and hands on from what he tells me.
We didn’t have time to hang about in the West End being students today, because we headed straight over to visit Grandma in hospital in East Kilbride. Then we picked up a curry on the way home, with the excuse that we will be in Kinlochewe tomorrow evening so will miss our usual curry night. I chose a film to watch while David and James and I were eating it: Wild Rose, which is about a Glaswegian country music singer, and it was enjoyed by Heather and Ewan when it was on cinema release. I thoroughly enjoyed the music, the Glaswegian scenery and two of the children were even wearing the uniforms of the boys’ old school Hutchie! I think that Jessie Buckley, who I have already admired in the film of the musical Les Miserables, and in a supporting part in the recent television series Chernobyl, is extremely talented at both singing and acting.
My only slight criticism is that the Glaswegian terminology and accents of some characters in the film, while admirably attempted, were just not quite right. And a few other things didn’t ring quite true, for example Rose’s surprise that her employer has made a fortune selling conservatories in rainy Glasgow, when in fact it’s well known that conservatories here are very popular. But that is me being quite nitpicking as a Scottish linguist; it’s still a great wee film.