tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post4136913848963659266..comments2023-05-29T14:49:26.349+02:00Comments on Travels without my spaniel: The Communist Pentathlonpinolonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00473418753213565601noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-52824496775253445392008-10-20T14:50:00.000+02:002008-10-20T14:50:00.000+02:00Military training at school in the UK in generally...Military training at school in the UK in generally confined to independent schools. The one I attended had a Combined Cadet Force, so we spent Monday afternoons from S4 to S6 (that's Scottish for Years 11-13, of fifth and sixth form in old money), marching round the playground, painting camoflage cream on each other, taking apart SA80 assault rifles in the school hall and doing shooting practce. Once a year we went to camp, ours was former POW Camp in the Highlands, and did fomration attacks while firing blanks etc etc. Some of us were very keen and did interschool competitions and national, just like our communist opposite numbers.<BR/><BR/>Of couse, only about 7% of the populartion went to independent schools, though most towns also have the ACF, Sea or Air Cadets (like Scouts but with guns)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-82453208923261922102008-10-20T01:51:00.000+02:002008-10-20T01:51:00.000+02:00Shooting exams used to be big here, until very rec...Shooting exams used to be big here, until very recently (maybe they still are). I've heard many stories about lasses secretly punching holes in targets with a biro. I can't imagine this in a British school, it would turn into an instant massacre.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-60543647471656023052008-10-19T20:34:00.000+02:002008-10-19T20:34:00.000+02:00Umm... and apologies for casually floating the ide...Umm... and apologies for casually floating the idea of attacking Central Europe during the Cold War. It came out slightly differently to that actually - we were talking about the American friend and, well... Sorry... I love Poland really... Forgive me?pinolonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473418753213565601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-22102606808875204372008-10-19T15:25:00.000+02:002008-10-19T15:25:00.000+02:00Thanks! Unfortunately I'm back in Siedem Dębów (w ...Thanks! Unfortunately I'm back in Siedem Dębów (w siódmym Dębie? or is that the seventh oak??) for a little while now - staying put at least until the new year (don't stop reading!). My extended summer of wandering is sadly finally over. <BR/><BR/>Cheese tasting in the museum of Palaeontology, now there's an idea for a Saturday afternoon...pinolonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473418753213565601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-54737932593411323932008-10-15T22:01:00.000+02:002008-10-15T22:01:00.000+02:00Hey Pinolona, since you left Siedem Dębów your pos...Hey Pinolona, since you left Siedem Dębów your posts have acquired a surreal, dreamlike quality, jumping from subject to city. Cool! Left Field! Keep it up, like the Rodzina Królewska, never complain, never explain.<BR/><BR/>Tomorrow: Pinolona, accompanied by a Bulgarian violoncellist, visits Vilnius zoo and attends a cheese-tasting at the Museum of Paleontology.Michael Dembinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05657728002439035765noreply@blogger.com