Report

Returning safely to Akita after a very exciting vacation in UK, I feel I would like to share some of the events, which I enjoyed, during my stay.
ANA flights to and from UK were excellent and on time. The weather in England was temperate with not much rain so it was so nice to get out of Japan’s oven for a whole month.
During my visit I was able to attend the IWA meeting in Louth on Friday 1st September ‘11. It was attended by over 22 members, all of whom share an international background.
The speaker was Professor Richard Lance Keeble, Professor of Journalism and Acting Head of Lincoln School of Journalism at University of Lincoln. Professor Keeble is also a director of the Institute of Communication Ethics. Professor Keeble was born in Nottingham and has challenged many top level positions in journalism and came to Lincoln University in 2003. To his credit he has written and edited 20 books and has written extensively on practical newspaper reporting skills. His text ‘The Newspaper Handbook’ (now in the 4th edition and published in several languages) is registered as the seminal work in this area across the country. For further details please go to his web.
Professor Keeble’s talk was on ‘Orwell: Novelist, Journalist and Spy’. George Orwell, born 25th June 1903 to 21 January 1950, wrote such famous books as Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Coming Up For Air, Burmese Days, A Clergyman’s Daughter, Homage to Catalonia, and The Road to Wigan Pier to name but a few, for those who would like to look into his work in more detail.
Professor Keeble is an authority on the subject and delivered a wonderfully, enlightening description of the author and his life, in a short span. Professor Keeble drew attention to Orwell’s awareness of ‘social injustice’ and his opposition to ‘totalitarianism’ and his belief in a ‘democratic socialist state.’ Orwell’s real name was Eric Arthur Blair.
An interesting coincidence is that Professor Keeble’s partner is from France and is a member of the Louth IWA and they visited their son, whilst he was working and living in Japan…a small world isn’t it?
After the wonderful talk all members, along with Professor Keeble, enjoyed a delicious potluck supper and discussions on the subject continued.
It was a wonderful opportunity for me to meet friends I had not met for two years and also stretch my white cells into the bargain!
Moving on… I am so pleased to find all family and friends in robust health and it was so wonderful to catch up with everyone. This visit to UK was so wonderful as my husband joined me in going and meeting family and friends before attending two conferences, one in Amsterdam and the other in Birmingham…both of which were very successful for him and his field. On the down side…I think I put on weight as I really enjoyed eating such things as Pheasant, Duck, Rabbit Pie, Fish ‘n Chips with mushy peas, Kippers for breakfast and Pork Pie, to name but a few!
Shopping, needlesstosay, was absolutely wonderful and fortunately I was able to catch the summer sales!
May I add that all the IWA Louth members wanted me to tell Japan that they are remembering them in their thoughts and hope that normal lifestyles will return quickly.