Whispering Back by Adam Goodfellow

Author:Adam Goodfellow [Nicole Golding & Adam Goodfellow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
Published: 2003-06-03T04:00:00+00:00

Although my involvement with the riding club continued, it was time to leave the Japanese school.

It was sad to go because I felt I was making a real contribution to the lives of many young people. I particularly enjoyed teaching them about the war (which remains almost a taboo subject in Japan and has been deliberately misrepresented for years in official Japanese textbooks). It brought a sense of the reality and presence of history in our lives, to be teaching the granddaughters of Hiroshima victims. With Nori, I initiated visits by Second World War veterans, from both sides, involved in reconciliation efforts. These are truly remarkable men who have somehow managed to find it in their hearts to forgive, while making great efforts to ensure we do not forget. It was very moving to see the positive response of the students and several members of the Japanese staff. But there was no hope of survival for the school, which had been chronically mismanaged for years. Soon afterwards, many equally frustrated teachers also decided to leave. The school closed in 2002.

It was also becoming increasingly clear that we needed our own place. I was about to go on the Monty course at West Oxfordshire College, and just before the latest tour had begun, Nicole had been offered the assistant tutor’s job on the course. The hour-long drive each way, to do just two and a half hours’ teaching every afternoon, didn’t seem sensible. It was time to move on. We succeeded in renting facilities from MK Eventing Centre for the Japanese students, and I managed not to come to blows with Leslie, but it was far from convenient. As soon as Nicole got back from the tour, she had a meeting with Leslie and Karen. They were amicable enough, but the message was clear: We won’t turn you out on your ear tomorrow, but the sooner you can find another place, the better.

If life hadn’t been so hectic, we might have had time to dwell on the problem and feel really desperate. As it was, our lives were so complicated and fast, we were struggling to keep up almost every second of the day. Nicole’s job on the course came as a complete surprise, the departure of the previous assistant tutor being rather unexpected. Additionally, the course was scheduled to begin just two days after the end of a tour and started early every morning except Monday, when I would entertain the Japanese, but as Nicole was only teaching in the afternoons, we couldn’t even drive in together. So I had to buy another car and spent a few nights a week with some friends who live close to Witney, to cut down on travelling.

Back in MK, there were several horses in for training, and the usual endless mucking out, and with Julia also on the course, no one to help out. Jane had taken over the role as main tutor to the Japanese students, so she had her hands full.

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