Paul Wiles' Essays


PAUL WILES Autobiogrophy (Me)

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attended St. Oswald's Primary School, Flamborough from 1963-70. I succeeded in passing my Eleven Plus examination, gaining a place at Bridlington Grammar School for Boys (comprehensive rough mixed 1971!). I hated science physics and games!
I also went to St. Oswald’s Church where I was a choirboy. Every year the whole village went to Scarborough for the Sunday-School outing which we all thoroughly enjoyed. My retired history teacher at Bridlington, M. J. A. Mortimore, wrote the book ‘Bridlington School: A History’.

Dave SpiritMy friend Dave Spirit, who went to Bridlington school with me, went to London University and became a scientist specializing in telecommunications and wrote the book, ‘High Capacity Optical Transmission Explained’. He now lives in Cambridge with his wife and two children. 

My diary entry when I was 17

Could this really be happening to me? ME!

Me thinking about the future in the same year...

Renowned for its sumptuous châteaux, the relics of royal days gone by, the glorious valley of the Loire is rich in both history and architecture. Like the river Loire, this vast region runs through the heart of French life. Its sophisticated cities, luxuriant landscape and magnificent food and wine add up to a bourgeois paradise.

York Minster CathedralI was in the Choir at St. Oswald’s Church, Flamborough. Once a month on a Wednesday the vicar of All Saints in Huntington, York, comes to give me communion at home. I sometimes go to the service at York Minister with Mum, this is a day I really enjoy. I like the opera (Mozart), choir (Purcell, Bach) and classical music.
(I will certainly remember my holiday for a long time to come. I went to see ”Don Giovanni” by Mozart- at The Grand Opera House in Vienna, it was brilliant and as I had a front seat I had such a good view. The Opera House is a magnificent place, I found it difficult to believe I was in Prague, Czech Republic watching Verdi, “Macbeth” and “La traviata” I am going to The Opera House in York to see La Traviata at by Verdi (April 2005)!
inside state opera Vienna
outside state opera house Vienna

 

 

 

 

Paul Wiles with Pauline Blanchard at State Opera House in Vienna

 

I gained seven O-Levels and three A-Levels: winning an achievement prize. A-Levels passed were French C, English Lit. B and History A. I could speak French. But since my accident (see CRASH) I have forgotten nearly all of it.

 

 

Cambridge University

relaxing
I chose to attend Selwyn College Cambridge after sitting and passing the Oxbridge entrance exam. I won a scholarship to attend. I studied graduated with friend Nick SamsonEnglish Lit. for which I attained II ii and received a Master of Arts 1984.

My English Literature tutors were Mrs Jean Chotia (Part 1977-76) and Mr Wil Saunders (Part 1978-80).

I also learned Karate in Cambridge. I managed to get to the standard of yellow belt, which is three lower than a black belt. I did not continue training in Japan as I was too busy learning to read and write Japanese!

I learnt to play the clarinet and recorder at home and continued at Cambridge. My tutor (retired) from Cambridge used to play in the Joe Loss Orchestra. (My Dad was brilliant and went to the Spa in Bridlington to hear them. It's been the Todd Miller band since the death of Joe Loss.)

While at CU I worked voluntarily for the (Samaritans) Link Line from 1978-80.

Tokyo
I went to Japan from 1980-82. I worked in Tokyo as a teacher of English to business men and adults (c. Nissan's, Minister of Finance). The appointment was made following an interview in London, it also meant that I learnt to speak Japanese.

I worked for a company called International Education Services in Tokyo. (Two Japanese people that worked for Gyson I.T. used to teach me basic Japanese. I found basic quite easy and it wasn't very hard to use my knowledge. (Mum studied English Lit., Language and calligraphy)

My girlfriend Hiroko Satoi joined me in 1981. She was a secretary and computer technician. We met at a business meeting. We lived together at our flat in Megureo.(Hiroko was also involved in the accident but was unhurt. She now lives in Los Angeles. Another woman was also involved in the accident. Mariko Osene, Hiroko and myself were all enjoying a day's holiday driving in Japan.

Paul 22nd birthday

When I met Hiroko we were visiting Mr. & Mrs. Ishizaki's home where Mrs Ishizaki performed a tea ceremony. About five months after arriving in Japan. We flew in a Boeing 767 about 100 miles to Atiko, north of Tokyo to Hiroko's father's house where I had to face him and various uncles like an interview panel of five

I went to midnight Christmas Nativity Dec. 25 1981, St Oswald Church, Flamborough with Hiroko, I played a joke and prank and told her that there are no stars because the ghosts come out at midnight, “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”.

In Japan, one main purpose of taking a bath is relaxation at the end of the day. The typical Japanese bathroom consists of two rooms, an entrance room where you undress and which is equipped with a sink, and the actual bathroom which is equipped with a shower and deep bath tub. The toilet is usually located in a completely separate room. When bathing Japanese style, you are supposed to first clean your body outside the bath tub with soap. Afterwards, you enter the tub, which is used for soaking only. Make sure that no soap gets into the bathing water! After leaving the tub, do not drain the water since all household members will use the same water. Modern bath tubs can be programmed to be automatically filled with water of a given temperature at a given time, or to heat up the water to a preferred temperature. The bath water is often quite hot for foreigners. If you barely can enter, try not to move much, since moving around will make the water seem even hotter. After taking hot baths for several days, you will get accustomed to the high temperatures and recognize that the hotter the water, the more relaxed one feels afterwards.
men! This was like Mr. Mainwairing in "Dad's Army"! They sent me out of the room while they held a discussion, but in the end they agreed that I was OK. Later on I brought Hiroko home to Flamborough, England, on holiday to meet my parents.

Back in Japan we went on trips together. I remember a weekend in June 1981 at a "ryoken" (traditional guest house) when the cherry blossom was in bloom. It was a beautiful sight. Outside work times I enjoyed having friends round to my flat to chat and going to Tokyo kabuki and noh plays. I had no formal Japanese lessons. I tried to improve my Japanese by getting out into the country to meet real people well away from Tokyo.This anecdote is taken Paul Wiles (me) teaching in Tokyofrom letter I wrote home to my Mum from Tokyo. The local people in Tokyo were not very tolerant of foreigners. One day their annoying ways got the better of me.I'm getting a bit sick of people talking about me. Something polite and funny; other times downright foreigners ("gaijin"), which happened on the train yesterday when two businessmen (they looked incredibly ugly!) got on the Underground. One of Gallery

Me Practicing my Japanese Calligraphy

Tokyo's sprawling mass

Mountains