Not the same, not identical but similar

I was very taken by these two reading  in the evening sun - one an e-reader and the other an archaic paper book - on the steps of a building that has supported readers for 400 years. The Clarendon Building was designed for Oxford University Press (by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of Christopher Wren) when its compositors get fed up with being told to stop their noisy printing in their previous home - the basement of the Sheldonian Theatre - each time it was needed for a ceremony. After 200 years in the Clarendon Building the press moved to bigger premises and the building became university offices,  and later part of the Bodleian Library. Books - publishing, lending, reading - there's not much that's better.

'Similar, the same and identical' was the theme of an English lesson I taught today. I last taught in a classroom 30 years ago - almost to the month - and I was a hopeless teacher. My only redemption was that I knew I had to stop. But in July I am doing an intensive training course I've wanted to do for ages to teach English as a Foreign Language. I reckon I've probably got  just enough time in my life to add one more new career to my several others and I love how language works - as you may have noticed. About three weeks ago I boldly applied for an EFL teaching job, despite not yet being qualified and was very surprised to get an interview. That went well and part of the selection process was to teach an observed class today. So yesterday I dedicated the whole day to obsessive preparation.

And guess what? It was fun! I think I must have learnt a thing or two in the last 30 years (I have done quite a bit of informal one-to-one and small group teaching in the meantime). My observer quite liked it too so I think I'm going to be offered some astonishingly badly paid work over the summer.