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Didcot–Meylan Twinning Association |
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Didcot–Meylan Twinning Association |
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Newsletter no.6, January 2002
Editorial
After all that careful planning for the November visit from Meylan,
we were disappointed when they felt compelled to cancel. The decision to
cancel was not taken lightly. It was really a case of all or none and so
none came. Although we understood their reluctance to travel given the
September 11th tragedy, we would have liked to have been informed
of their decision a little earlier and thereby causing less inconvenience
to our members and suppliers. However, the good news is that both an unofficial
visit in March and a more official group visit, perhaps 30 plus, in April
has now been agreed.
Once again, we are compiling a list of volunteer
host families and putting together a programme of events for April. If
you have any suggestions for the programme do pass them on to the committee.
The now familiar form for host families is included with this newsletter
and we would welcome all offers of hospitality. If you sent your details
as a host family in October and these are still current a phone call to
confirming your interest will be fine.
In the past we have applied to the EU for funding
for a visit for our twinning partners, but this will not be possible on
this occasion due to the short time span available to us. We have written
to our previous sponsors and the Didcot Town Council to ask for grants
and donations and hope that we can demonstrate our hospitality to what
is likely to be a new group of friends from Meylan.
If you have any comments about this newsletter,
please email the Editor.
From the Chair
At long last I have some good news. After the disappointments of the
cancelled visits, in 2001, by our friends in Meylan, we have now agreed
two visits during March and April. We have been discussing with our Meylan
friends in recent weeks the possibility of a short visit by members of
their Twinning Committee to Didcot in order that we might discuss the way
forward for our twinning arrangements. As a result, two members of their
Committee are due to visit on 1st March and return on 3rd
March. A large part of this visit will be focussed on the future of our
friendships and how to take that forward, as well as the practical arrangements
for the official visit in April.
The official visit is also now agreed for around
12-16 April, although there may be some movements on the actual arrival
and departure dates. We anticipate the visitors to comprise of councillors
and ordinary citizens of Meylan.
In relation to these visits, particularly the one
in April, we will again be looking to our members to volunteer to host
our friends. Please respond to the appeal elsewhere in this newsletter.
Additionally, if you have any comments or suggestions to make about the
plans for these visits, please do let me know.
You will be aware that we are approaching our AGM
in June. The actual date of the AGM has yet to be decided, but you might
like to think about the nominations that you might put forward for all
posts in the Committee. If you would like to make any nominations, please
send those to me either by letter or by email at cheng.lee@didcottwinning.org.uk.
At the start of 2002, I hope that we can count on
your continuing support in this important phase of our twinning relationship
with Meylan. Our wish is that the friendship goes from strength to strength.
Finally, may I wish you a belated Happy and Prosperous
2002.
Yours sincerely, Cheng Lee
l’Euro est arrivee … one tourist’s experience
I have always rather liked using the French Franc because the exchange
rate in recent years (about ten to the pound) has made quick calculations
very simple. However the Franc is no more and a trip to France in January
gave us our first taste of using the Euro (about 1.6 to the pound).
First impressions are always to do with the look
and feel of the notes and coins. The 1- and 2-Euro coins look and feel
handsome: both are made from two metals like the old 10-Franc piece, the
1-Euro coin has a brass ring and a nickel centre and the 2-Euro coin is
the reverse. The smaller coins – for 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents – are
coloured gold and copper. They are lightweight, similar in size and hard
to tell apart. Each coin has a standard face, but the back is specific
to the country where it was made. The notes are completely standard designs.
They are slightly smaller than we are used to – £5 rather than £10
size – and blandly printed in a single colour. They made little impression
on me. Maybe it’s because the most common note (5 Euro) is grey, or perhaps
because they resemble many of the other notes produced in Western Europe
over the last few decades.
Using the new currency is a slow process as every
cashier in every shop spends twice the usual time checking the change!
This was still my experience in Ireland in February – it is quite mind-boggling
to imagine 288 million people in 12 countries having exactly the same difficulties.
The attitudes I have seen are very matter-of-fact (one said: “It’s still
money, what matters is how much you’ve got, not what it looks like”) mixed
with some nostalgia for the old currencies. The Franc was occasionally
used from 1360 and has been the French currency since 1795, but it had
a bad period after the Second World War and was nearly abolished in the
1950s. The other vanishing currencies are all newer, although some – notably
the Greek drachma and the Dutch guilder – have ancient roots. People’s
response to the change now reminds me of the feeling you have when a new
building goes up on the site of a once-familiar landmark.
Things don’t change too fast though – prices in
shops are still shown in both Euros and Francs and some restaurant menus
are still entirely in Francs. All bills have to be in Euros but many still
print Francs underneath, which is reassuring given the number of scare
stories about businesses illegally rounding prices up.
One interesting side effect has occurred where stronger
currencies had abolished small change. A Dutch friend told me that the
Netherlands had done away with their smallest coins and priced everything
to the nearest five cents. Since 1st January the Netherlands
has regained pricing to the nearest cent.
If you want to see the new currency on the Internet
(to practise for the summer holiday?) – the Treasury website is useful:
http://www.euro.gov.uk.
Susie & Peter Northfield
International Day at Didcot Girls School
On Wednesday 6th February Didcot Girls School hosted an
International Day to which 9 Primary Schools and St Birinus were represented.
Each school held workshops and put up displays for different countries.
Children were encouraged to make passports, which were then stamped at
each country visited. All the visiting children were put into groups and
given a ticket with an itinerary telling them which countries and at what
times their flights were (imaginary of course)! Girls from DGS acted as
couriers and the whole day was exciting, lively and exhausting. The day
is captured in photographs and some of these are shown below.
Boys from St Birinus teaching cooking in French |
Making Venetian masks |
Stephen Freeman school |
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DGS and Ms Zhou teaching Chinese calligraphy |
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Indonesian drums and Manor School |
Host Families
We are expecting a visit by a delegation of about 30 persons from Meylan
between 12th and 16th April 2002. We expect the visit to last 4 days (i.e.
from 12-15 April or from 13-16 April) and are currently trying to finalise
these details. In the meantime, we would be grateful if you could let us
know, by email, if you
are able to host one or two of the Meylan delegation. It would be useful
if you could supply the information listed below in your email. This will
help us to place a suitable delegate with you. Thank you for your help.
