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Back to school (and a brewery!)
Olari Secondary School has 250 pre 16 pupils and 350 sixth form students. It’s in Espoo and was the school that had been chosen by the conference organisers for a group of us to visit. If it is typical of schools in Finland, then it has much to teach those of us who are trying…
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Finland, Finland, Finland
There was a Monty Python song once that went something like, “Finland, Finland, Finland, the country where I want to be…”. I don’t remember the rest, though I have shared the sentiment since I was a teenager. And now, at last I’m here – and I have a week of conferencing ahead of me with…
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20 miles is a long way
After last week’s debacle, I was a bit worried about today’s long run – one of two I need to complete before the Berlin Marathon at the end of September. But I need not have worried. It was hard work, but actually quite fun. I ran the same route as a couple of weeks ago,…
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Kenwood – a great mix
Despite living in London on and off for all my life, I have never visited Kenwood House. I still haven’t actually, but I did join a group of friends in its grounds tonight for a wonderful ‘Last Night of the Proms’ concert and picnic. The weather was kind. The food was delicious. The PA announcements…
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I’m running away (part two)
And then, on my birthday, I ran away again, this time on the Standish Woodland Chase, a multi-terrain race of nearly ten miles through woods on the Cotswolds escarpment above Stroud and Stonehouse. It was hell. The first mile and a half was uphill. Not just uphill, but up a very steep hill. I never…
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I’m running away (part one)
“So what are you doing for your birthday weekend then, John?”, I was asked by someone at work earlier this week. Well, on the Saturday evening, oh reader, I ran away to the circus. I try to do this every year. It is not, of course, just any old circus. It is the magnificent and…
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Edinburgh Fringe
It is always good to see Joe and Trish in Edinburgh, but this year it was especially nice, because, of course, I could see my nephew too. I was able to see Joe performing on the High Street and in the Grassmarket. His show really is excellent now and was very well received by the…
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Sturminster Half Marathon
Three weeks of running in humid conditions meant that I was both well and ill prepared for today’s race. Well prepared because running in light drizzle was actually rather pleasurable. Ill prepared because I simply haven’t racked up enough miles recently to get round a half marathon easily. I reached the halfway point of a…
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Home run
Having done Disney, it was now time to do another great American export that Japan loves: Baseball. Tokyo’s ‘dome’ is enormous and it was pretty full for a very exciting match between the Giants and the Swallows. I managed to find myself sitting next to a group of students learning to speak Japanese – from…