U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2022
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • German - Beginners
      • Meditation
      • Russian Literature
      • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Col
    • A - COL
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Art Appreciation
    • Australian History
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • 'Precious Objects'
      • 'Failure'
      • Our Stories - by topic
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Col-G
    • COM - G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology
    • Enjoying the Internet
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Family Stories
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
  • I - R
    • I - R
    • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
    • Investment
    • Jane Austen Book Club
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder Group
  • S - Z
    • S -Z
    • Singing for Fun
    • Sky's the Limit
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Advice
    • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Talks
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
    • Wise Guys Book Group
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide 2023
    • Timetable - Month Overview
    • Full Timetable with Dates
    • New Courses 2023
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • March Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

'If Only I'd' .... studied French at School!

26/9/2021

 
​It wasn’t my father’s fault that I hadn't studied French at school.  He’d studied French at Grammar School in England, had interpreted for his officers in Beirut during WWII, and was a card-carrying member of Alliance Francaise.  He tried to create a little French speaking world around our kitchen table when I was at primary school, encouraging us all to say ‘Comment allez-vouz?’, ‘Tres bien, et vous?’ and more.  

Learning ballet expanded my French vocabulary, with words such as developpe, jete, petit jete, ports de bra and more responded to in ballet classes for many years.  

Sadly, as it happened, French was not on the curriculum 'menu' of the girls secondary school I attended in the early 1960's.

'I only I'd .... studied French at school" I exclaimed when not having a language precluded an Arts degree when choosing to go to University in 1966. 

'If only I'd ... studied French at school' I exclaimed a decade later when trying to learn Spanish while teaching English in Spain.  A romance language with similar conjugation of verbs, understanding French would have made learning Spanish so much easier.  . 


‘If only I’d ….studied French at school’ .. also brings back memories of an incident in Paris.

While living in London before teaching in Spain later in 1976, I shared a house in Wandsworth with a group of young Londoners, teachers and lawyers. We decided over dinner one evening that we’d all take time out to go to Paris for a week or so.  A roommate had been offered the use of a French apartment which wasn’t being used by one of her friends.  We crossed the channel to France and spent days walking the streets of Paris, visiting galleries and other sites, our lunch usually a picnic of French baguettes, pates and cheeses. 
​
I’d become accustomed to not eating much meat since leaving Australia, it was so expensive in London.  Our household was adept at making all sorts of meals out of mince – shepherd’s pie, moussaka, lasagne and many variations of pasta were invariably on the menu. 

However, I was quietly pining away for a piece of steak!  I kept my secret longing to myself as I knew the household kitty would not extend to steak.   When we decided that we would go our separate ways for a day in Paris, all I could think of was finding a French restaurant at lunch time and ordering a steak, whatever the cost! 


I chose a restaurant a little off the beaten tourist track, discovering after sitting down that the menu was only written in French,  The waiter (and as I found later the chef) didn’t speak any English at all. 

"If only I’d ... studied French at school!"  I couldn’t make sense of the menu, the only thing that sounded likely to be something I might like was ‘Steak Tartare’.  I ordered, waiting expectantly. 


I was somewhat overcome a little later when the waiter appeared with a plate replete with diced fillet steak – raw –with an uncooked egg yolk in the middle, small side dishes of chopped capers, chopped onion and gherkins, and a side dish of salad. 

I looked at it–quite bewildered—for some minutes, before beckoning the waiter.  Not understanding me, he proceeded to mix the egg into the meat, stir in the capers, and reshape it, smiling at me as he suggested in French, that I try it.   He’d been so helpful, I thought I should at least try to eat it.  I managed to eat a little before I decided I just couldn’t …‘stomach it’. 

Noticing I’d barely eaten anything, the waiter brought the chef out.  I tried to suggest, using sign language, that perhaps they could cook it a little, but they didn’t understand me, and I didn’t understand them!  (I suspect now it would have been sacrilegious for them to cook it.)

Exasperated, but still polite, I pushed the plate away, chose something from the dessert menu, which proved to be delicious, ordered a coffee.  I left the restaurant…sorely disappointed, still longing for a piece of steak, medium rare, perhaps with a mustard sauce. 

It was to be quite a long time before I would have a steak, 'medium rare', again.... 

If only I'd ...studied French at school!


​Bev Lee
​September 2021

'If Only!'

23/9/2019

 
If only I could write like Barry Dickins. 

This ‘If Only’ theme came to me yesterday reading a book of short stories by Australian authors found at an opp shop which contains a story by author Barry Dickins… Here’s a paragraph from a story titled…   ‘To the Beach Then, Eh?’

‘We’d stroll down (from the train station) to the foreshore, walking along the cool, painted lines in the middle of some sleepy beach backstreet in awe of the colour blue, the silent yachts, piss stained kiosks and the RSL.

We’d find a spot, though the finding of a spot is harder than it seems.  Wherever people flop, they have that righteous way of behaving as though they owned it, be it a bit of old sand near a wall, or a coin operated barbecue on the banks of the Yarra.

Mum’d put down a blanket and unpack the chooks and sun cream, …’

How evocative!  Barry is such a keen observer, he manages to so evocatively convey images through words, his writing is so … realistic.  Perhaps there is a genre for his work… something like ‘existential realism’ maybe?

I grew up in a parallel universe to Barry Dickins, but forty or so kilometres away, on the other side of Melbourne, across the Yarra.   Like Barry’s family our family didn’t have a car.  Reservoir was almost as far from Clayton as Sydney as far as we were concerned.  My family also caught the train to beachside suburbs such as Aspendale, Sandringham and Mordialloc, the latter for the Department of Army’s Christmas Party.  My father worked for the Department of Army and each year an ‘army duck’, complete with Father Christmas, would come into view and on to the shore at Mordialloc, opening up to take excited children for a trip on the bay where presents would be distributed.

I can so easily relate to the memories of growing up Barry recounts in many of his stories, they titillate my brain cells, help to retrieve old memories and lead to dreaming and reflection.  

I became a loyal follower of Barry’s work in the mid-eighties after reading a story about a visit to a fish and chip shop in Oakleigh in ‘What the Dickins’, published in 1985.  This story represented a turning point for me.  It made me laugh, made me reflect on fish and chip shops I had known, brought home that the skilful writing about everyday sorts of memories, realities could indeed be very engaging.  

Every now and again the paths in our parallel universes have crossed.   In the early 1980’s, living in Melbourne, I followed poetry events in Melbourne pubs.   Barry would often be there, sometimes with his brother, Robbo.  Usually somewhat inebriated and in deep conversation with Robbo, he would always rise to the occasion when invited to read poetry.  Artist friends from Daylesford knew Barry, and we would see him at Carlton pubs when we visited Melbourne.  We were thrilled when he married and had a son, however worried that his drinking might become a problem.

Later in the eighties I found we had a friend in common, the writer John Hepworth, and I would hear about Barry occasionally from John. 

Moving to Benalla in the late 90’s, it seemed my Oakleigh High School friend Ivan Durrant was also a friend of Barry’s.  Barry opened Ivan’s exhibitions at the Benalla Art Gallery for a number of years and engaged as an artist himself in an enormously successful community exhibition at the Benalla Art Gallery not long after I arrived. 

A year or so ago Barry gave a writer’s session at the Benalla Library.  Seeing another opportunity to connect to Barry’s world again, not being sure what the ravages of ill health, a failed marriage, depression and periods of heavy drinking might have had on him, I ‘booked in’.  I’m so glad I did.  Whatever the ravages of time may have been, he was still the wonderfully spirited, comedic, authentic Barry Dickins of old, still able to engage and entertain his audience throughout. 

Barry seemed at a loss as the audience departed, having a few hours to spare before taking the train back to Melbourne.  I introduced myself and suggested perhaps taking him for a drive to fill in the time.  I drove him out to Molyullah to my sister’s farm, as being out ‘in the bush’ would be such a change; called in to see his friend Simon Klose, who had been director at the Gallery when Barry opened Ivan’s exhibitions and participated in the community exhibition.  We happily filled in time, chatting about mutual friends until it was time for him to catch the train back to Melbourne and on to Reservoir.  

I’ve lost touch again but hope he’s well and that he’s still writing… of course I know he will be.
 
Struggling over words when writing this piece for our writing group today my question remains…
​
’If only I could write like Barry Dickins!’… memoire writer extraordinaire!
 
Beverley Lee
September 2019
 
​
    'Our Stories'
    Picture

    Bev's stories

    As I look through the stories I've written since setting up the memoir writing group some years ago, it seems quite a number of  my stories reflect on my experience of aging! 

    Stories

    All
    2020'
    A Bed Time Story - 'The Little Wallaby'
    'A Childhood Memory'
    'Advice'
    A Friendship Tested
    Alexander Theatre
    'A Love Letter To Travel'
    'A Test Of Courage'
    'Aunts And Uncles'
    'Car Stories'
    'Car Story
    'Causes'
    Claire Bowditch
    'Cockles And Mussels'
    'Community'
    "Cringe"
    'Dear Unfinished Business'
    'Deja Vu'
    'Election Day 2022'
    'Experiencing The Unexplained'
    'Faking It'
    Family Ritual
    'Family Treasures'
    'Fear Of Failure
    'Fiesta Of Festivities'
    'Fish Out Of Water'
    'For Better For Worse'
    Gliding
    Grandparents
    'How I Came Here'
    'I Broke It'
    'If Only!'
    'I Grew Up In...'
    'I Quit'
    'I Was There'
    Jack Manuel
    'Lost And Found'
    Lost In Music
    'Making Waves'
    'Memoir Review'
    Molyullah Sports
    'Monash Modern Dance Group
    Monash University
    'New In Town'
    'Once'
    'On The Job'
    'Paulie Stewart'
    'Peter And The Wolf'
    'Precious Objects'
    'Rebellion'
    'Right Here
    Right Now'
    'Rise And Shine - Waking Up To Milk Arrowroot Biscuits)
    'Running With Scissors'
    'Shaped By Childhood'
    'Stock And Land'
    'The Music Of My Madrid'
    'The Separator Room'
    'The Sky's The Limit'
    TheSydney Tunnels
    'Things I've Left Behind'
    'This (...) Life'
    'This (Time Travelling) Life'
    'Three Wise Monkeys'
    Time
    'Too Hard Basket'
    'Travel Tales'
    'Trees'
    'Trigger'
    'What Happens In Vegas'
    'What I Was Wearing'

    Twitter ....

    @Lee_Bev

    Links

    Coping with Criticism (ie editing!)

    Hannie Rayson memoir interview video link

    The subconscious mind and the creative writing process

    Writing Historical Fiction

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Attribution:

    Image--copyright Mary Leunig; owned by Beverley Lee; permission to use Mary Leunig.
We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2023
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2023
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2023
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2023
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria