Ronald Mackay a Scotsman Abroad: a Book of Memoirs 1967-1969
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A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969 Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. Edited by C. George Sandulescu and Lidia Vianu Press Release Friday 18 March 2016 Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. ISBN 978-606-760-045-2 Edited by C. George Sandulescu and Lidia Vianu. In the 1950’s, an agreement Începând de prin anii ’60, was reached: England was to send Catedra de Engleză a avut două teachers to Romania, within the tipuri de profesori: profesori care framework of a cultural exchange. erau de naţionalitate română şi They started coming to the profesori care erau trimişi din University of Bucharest in the Anglia, pe baza unui acord cultural early sixties. de schimb al cadrelor didactice, The book we are now iniţiat la sfârşitul anilor ’50. publishing is a book of memoirs Vă punem acum la dispoziţie written by Ronald Mackay, a una dintre cărţile de amintiri, scrisă young Scottish graduate who de Ronald Mackay, un profesor taught phonetics in the English scoţian care a predat fonetica la Department at the end of the Universitatea Bucureşti spre sixties. The book is captivating sfârşitul anilor ’60. Descrierile sunt and its author is gifted indeed. pitoreşti, iar autorul dă dovadă de We warmly recommend this mare talent. book to our readers: it will bring Vă recomandăm cu căldură back memories. The incindents să citiţi această carte, care o să vă related in it took place at a time trezească multe amintiri. Perioda when the darkest years of în care s-a aflat el în România a communism in Romania were reprezentat începutul celor mai only beginning. negri ani ai ocupaţiei comuniste. C. George Sandulescu and Lidia Vianu ISBN 978-606-760-045-2 © The University of Bucharest © Ronald Mackay Cover, Design and Overall Layout: Lidia Vianu Proofreading: Violeta Baroană, Cristian Vîjea. IT Expertise: Cristian Vîjea, Simona Sămulescu. PR Manager: Violeta Baroană. Publicity: Cristian Vîjea. Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. Edited by C. George Sandulescu and Lidia Vianu For Pearl Mackay, a mother who always encouraged, for my wife, Viviana Carmen Galleno Zolfi who suggested I write this memoir, and for my abiding friend, Dr Dino Sandulescu, for enduring. Acknowledgements Constructive feedback during the writing process itself is invaluable to any author. Knowing that my readers read and enjoyed the chapters of this memoir as they were written, contributed to the momentum that allowed me to complete it. My sincere thanks go to my wife, Viviana Galleno; my sister and brother-in- law Vivian and John East of Wilmslow, Cheshire; my brother Euan Lindsay-Smith of Brisbane, Queensland; Dr Palmer Acheson and his wife Lise of Lethbridge, Alberta; and Mae and Pete Cummins of Cheshire. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Dr Doina Lecca of Montreal, Quebec. As a native Romanian who lived in Bucharest and studied at the Department of English in the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures during those precise times, Doina enthusiastically recognized my account of ethos, characters, and events while not always coinciding with my analyses or the conclusions I draw. Ronald Mackay, Miraflores, Lima, Peru, March, 2016 Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. 1 Table of Contents Introduction p. 6 Begin near the beginning p. 10 Shortlisted for Bucharest p. 18 Interviewed p. 19 Terms of appointment p. 21 Aberdeen to Bucharest—by train p. 24 Arrival at Gara de Nord p. 27 First day in Bucharest p. 30 Admonitions from the Rectoria p. 35 The Prahova Valley p. 38 First visit p. 38 First solo trip to the Bucegi p. 39 The English Department p. 44 Madame Ana Cartianu p. 44 Ion Preda p. 46 Colleagues p. 49 Students p. 53 Classes Begin p. 53 Who’s Who? p. 55 Karen p. 55 Book presentation p. 64 Fresh milk p. 68 Getting to know you better p. 71 Basic shopping p. 75 Shortages p. 75 The Commissary p. 79 Paving the way for Pearl’s visit p. 82 Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. 2 Taking stock in preparation p. 82 Land Rover p. 87 Land Rover repaired p. 90 A revolution? p. 92 Pearl arrives p. 96 Bucharest p. 96 Braşov & Cluj, Transylvania & Jaşi, Moldavia p. 102 The painted churches of Bucovina p. 110 Driving back to Bucharest p. 116 Year One draws to an end p. 122 Head of Mission p. 122 The end of Year One p. 128 Summer of ‘68 in Bournemouth p. 136 Anglo-Continental School of English p. 136 Unanticipated security matters p. 141 Lincolnshire p. 141 Inconvenient for Ron Walker p. 141 The “Terriers”! p. 142 Bletchley Park p. 143 Strike command, RAF Waddington p. 145 Second Year begins p. 149 Return to Bucharest p. 149 My blunder p. 149 Resolutions p. 151 American counterparts p. 154 Failed romance and white wine p. 156 Doina p. 156 Serious students p. 158 Outstanding students p. 160 Trips to a Lipoveni community and Murfatlar p. 161 Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. 3 Making Friends p. 164 Dino Sandulescu p. 166 Harald Mesch p. 169 Domnul Zamfirescu p. 171 Making more friends p. 176 Dudu Popescu p. 176 ‘M’ p. 181 Romance p. 182 ‘M’ and ‘D’ p. 182 ‘M’ and ‘D’ p. 189 Quality of life p. 189 Apprehension p. 191 Skiing at Sinaia p. 194 A very special villa p. 195 Scholarships p. 198 My task p. 198 Astrid p. 200 Petru p. 203 Lunch with Petru’s family p. 206 Scholarship candidates p. 209 Alexandru from Alexandria p. 212 The People’s University p. 212 A busy autumn/winter semester p. 215 The Moscow express to Sofia p. 215 A troop of tanks p. 229 More travels with Pearl p. 244 Cap de Crap p. 244 Horezu Convent p. 247 The Danube Delta p. 251 Tulcea and more p. 251 Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. 4 Cargo cult: all I really want is... p. 260 Siebenbürgen p. 263 Kronstadt p. 263 Harald’s wife Liesl and his in-laws p. 270 Shepherds watching over their flocks p. 271 Passings p. 274 The organ recital p. 274 Ivan Deneş p. 276 Meeting Ivan p. 276 ‘C’ and the Writers’ Union p. 279 The editor of the Times Literary Supplement p. 282 Belu p. 286 More about Ivan p. 288 Duck-hunt on Lake Snagov p. 290 An invitation p. 290 Tibi Stoian p. 299 Tibi p. 299 What plans? p. 303 Pulling up stakes p. 303 I’m flying... I’m flying away p. 306 British living standards p. 306 How to say goodbye? p. 308 End of Year Two p. 311 British living standards p. 311 I’m flying... I’m flying away p. 312 Goodbye p. 313 TAROM’s BAC One-Elevens p. 313 Take off p. 314 Summer ‘69 p. 315 Petty France p. 315 Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. 5 ‘M’ arrives in the UK p. 321 Alexandru from Alexandria—Here we are p. 323 again! Edinburgh p. 324 Romanian fallout p. 325 Tibi reappears p. 325 Suspicion reappears p. 332 Information about the author p. 334 Ronald Mackay A Scotsman Abroad: A Book of Memoirs 1967-1969. Spicuiri din istoria Catedrei de Engleză a Universităţii Bucureşti. 6 Introduction Groove-billed anis, long-tailed mocking birds and blue-grey tanagers exchange urgent pre-dawn warnings so loud they might be sitting on the open windowsill but they’re out there, in the still-scented night jasmine or the thicket of dark bougainvillea or perched in the palm trees in the empty street. Pale mother-of-pearl light seeps through the blinds. Five-fifteen, my best time. Aiming for silence I slip out of bed but the ancient spring mattress complains at the hour. Viviana sleeps on. I plant both feet firmly on the parquet and collect the shorts and tee-shirt laid purposely close last night. I’m grateful for the parquet’s unyielding silence and close the bedroom door. Now I’m in a central sitting room that serves our bedroom and the two empty bedrooms on the second floor. My laptop sits closed on the glass surface of a round rattan table its cable plugged into a power-bar plugged into an adapter plugged into the two-pronged wall socket. This is the house Viviana grew up in and the wiring is sixty years old. Once you plug a cable in, it’s best to leave it alone or risk sparks and splutters. I hold my breath and switch the power bar on. No fireworks. The orange light comes on, stays on. Good for at least another day. The screen on my old laptop flickers into life and my eyes rise to the faded white stucco wall. Four children gaze down at me, faintly amused. Two brothers; two sisters; between 6 and 10. Viviana— my wife—and Patricia are non-identical twins. Pepe died at 49, ten years ago. Enzo, the fourth, has lived in Los Angeles for more than 30 years. He and I have met three times.