British Culture with Georgian Eyes

In April of this year the delegation of Anglican Church representatives from Newport consisting of Fr. Mark Soady (Minor Canon), Catherine Hayman (Warden) and Brian Cox (Cathedral Administrator)  visited Kutaisi. Levan Tkeshelashvili – a historian, a lecturer and head of Information Service at Gelati Theological Academy and I, Koba Lomidze - a translator had a pleasure to guide the honorable guests. As it was expected they were amazed with sights in Georgia and the Georgians. Little did we imagine then that in just five months Levan and I would be visiting our friends in Newport. However, the friendship between the two beautiful cities Kutaisi and Newport and the great effort of our British friends overcame all obstacles, and this made our visit possible.

On the 8^th of September we were accommodated in Brian Cox’s house. He and his wife Dianne made all the conditions for us to feel better than at home and we really did so. Our stay in this remarkable family made it possible for us to learn more about the British traditions and we began to love this marvelous country even more.  

The castles and cathedrals we saw in Wales amazed us with their antiquity and beauty. The stained glass windows featuring biblical scenes and important figures which are characteristic of Anglican churches made unforgettable impression on us. We have heard and read a lot about the British culture and the past, but what we saw on spot exceeded all our expectations.  

We visited the little town of Chepstow famous for its old castle which is in the Wye Valley.   At the Chepstow Museum we could see many interesting items including the ancient crucifixion figure. As Levan explained it belonged to the time when Christian Church was not divided into different denominations. This kind of expression of crucifixion is characteristic of Orthodox Christianity even today. The room where the typical British kitchen of the World War II is arranged and where one can hear the sounds of alarm and bombing grabbed our attention. Here we also saw a model of an underground room. People went down this kind of shelters after hearing the alarm to save their lives.
  

One more interesting site was Tintern Abbey. Although there are only remains of the once flourishing abbey it is still well kept. We contemplated the large windows, arcs and decorative details in amazement. Centuries ago Cistercian monks lived here and had their own farmlands. Brian invited us to the nearby pub. Near this ancient abbey even the food tasted different. 

St. Woolos Cathedral is in the central part of Newport and it is the centre of Monmouth Diocese. Father Mark showed us different parts of the cathedral explaining the meaning and function of different items and places. The Dean the Very Reverend Dr Richard Fenwick gave us a warm welcome. We saw how they ring bells in the tower as well as the office of our friends Catherine Hayman and Brian Cox.

Later Father Mark Soady took us to All Saints Church where he had recently moved. The church is a new building where modern and traditional is combined well.  

It was a great honor for us to visit the Rotary Club of Uskmouth. Many of our friends including Colin Mason, Mark Soady and Brian Cox are members of this club. The president of the club Mr. Lyn Oelman is also an old friend of Georgia. Talking with him we remembered old Kutaisians who were involved in the twinning years ago. Some of them including Mr. Archil Kostava unfortunately is no longer alive. We are very grateful to the Rotary Club for their support in difficult period for Georgia.

Father Mark allotted the whole day for us and showed us extraordinary places in Wales. We visited Brecon, St. David's Monastery and got interesting information about St. David who was consecrated by Bishop of Jerusalem as a priest. We liked St. Mary's Church in Tenby. This little town is a sea resort but a lot of rain constitutes a big problem for holiday makers.

The most important meeting of this visit was in the residence of the Bishop of Monmouth. The Bishop Dominic gave us a very warm welcome and invited us to dinner where food was cooked by him. The Bishop also served us during the meal which was very unusual for us. Bishop Dominic was interested in contemporary issues of the Georgian Orthodox Church. We exchanged opinions on different topics of current importance. We were delighted to see many interesting items, photos and paintings in the Bishop's residence.

The visit to Bristol was very impressive. Colin and Sylvia Masons who know this city very well and love it as they used to be students there, took us through the most important sights of the city. We enjoyed walking on the Suspension Bridge and its spectacular views very much . The Bristol Cathedral is distinguished with its beauty. We also visited the Bristol Museum and University. There was a Georgian flag in front of the Civic Centre in Bristol as Tbilisi and Bristol are twin cities.

Rosmary Butler led us to the capital of Wales, Cardiff. We started with the eco-friendly Welsh Assembly building. As Rosemary is a deputy presiding officer of the Assembly she could show us much and give plenty of information. We also visited the little church which was on a ship. After this Derek Butler took us to the Museum, where among many interesting exhibits we saw some paintings by famous artists. Cardiff castle where we went later was magnificent.

It is very difficult to make words express the great warmth and love we felt from our friends every minute. On one occasion we visited Steven Hunters family. He introduced his wife and children and later took us to a rugby match and then to watch Manchester vs. Liverpool match in the pub.

We met Mr. David Meurig Thomas and his wife. David took us to Big Pit museum in Bleanevon. We went down approximately 100 metres and could see with our own eyes the difficult conditions in which ordinary people worked to quarry coal in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. On the way back David told us many interesting stories from the life of the Welsh people.

The final event was the visit to London. Here again our friends Brian Cox and Catherine Hayman were guiding us. As always London was full of tourists. In a short period of time we were able to see a lot. "Come to London and see the world", we once again made sure of the truthfulness of this expression being there.

We are very grateful to all our friends in Newport. This one more bright page in the history of friendship between the two cities is their merit.

Koba Lomidze
Kutaisi Newport International Association
Executive Committee Member

ლამაზი ფურცელი ქნია-ს ცხოვრებაში

ქუთაისი-ნიუპორტის საერთაშორისო ასოციაცია არ ღალატობს ტრადიციას და გულგრილი არასოდეს რჩება ასოციაციის წევრების პირადი თუ პროფესიული წინსვლის მიმართ. ალბათ უცხო ქვეყანასთან ასეთი ჭეშმარიტი მეგობრობის ხიდი ვერ გაიდებოდა რომ არსებობდეს ის დიდი სითბო და სიყვარული, ურთიერთთანადგომა, რაც ასოციაციის წევრებს აკავშირებთ ერთმანეთთან.

მორიგი შეკრებაც სიხარულის გაზიარებამ განაპირობა. ჩვენ გადავწყვიტეთ მოვფერებოდით მათ, ვინც ამჯერად (სხვადასხვა მიზეზთა გამო) კიდევ ერთხელ გვასახელა. ასოციაციის შეხვედრას ქუთაისი-ნიუპორტის საერთაშორიო ასოციაციის სხვადასხვა თაობის წარმომადგენლები ესწრებოდნენ. ამ დღეს უცხოეთიდან არავინ იყო. შეხვედრა იმითაც გამოირჩეოდა, რომ შედგა ასოციაციის თავმჯდომარის მოადგილის ნინო ნიჟარაძის დებიუტი, რომელიც ამ რანგში პირველად წარუძღვა ასოციაციის შეკრებას და ძალიან ხალისიანად წარუდგინა დამსწრე საზოგადოება საპატიო სტუმრები. დროა მათი ვინაობაც გაგიმჟღავნოთ. 

A good Tradition from the life of KNIA

Strong bonds of friendship, love and mutual understanding unite members of the Kutaisi-Newport Association. We can hardly imagine how our friendship with Newport would develop if it were not for these friendly relations and a group mentality which we have inside the Association.

We never remain indifferent to professional achievements and certain happy events in the lives of our members and have a good tradition of marking them.

One of the latest meetings of the KNIA attended by representatives of different generations was devoted to the three members our Association can be truly proud of.

Natia Sopromadze. A graduate of the University English Studies Department when it was headed by Prof. M. Megrelishvili. She is very successful at the very start of her teaching career. Last spring Natia was invited to cover online the 42nd Annual International Conference of IATFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language). She did her task perfectly and provided a lot of people interested in the conference with an opportunity to be involved in its work without attending it. Another important step in Natia’s career is winning a scholarship to study at Warwick University where Natia set off to pursue her Master degree. This was a joint project of Chevening Programme and Soros Foundation. We said good-bye to Natia and wished her every success on the way of achieving her goal.

Levan Sopromadze. Another person the Association can be proud of. He completed a course in Advanced English at the English Language Centre. He passed the exam for the First Cambridge Certificate in English (He was the first who did it in the Western Georgia). A bit later was admitted to Tbilisi Medical University. He was number one in the list of the best applicants for university entry in Georgia. We are happy that we contributed a small share to Levan’s success and sure that he will make a good doctor. He is clever, ambitious and hardworking.

დამეთანხმებით, პროფესიულ წარმატებას პირადი ბედნიერებაც თან უნდა ერთვოდეს. ასოციაცია განსაკუთრებით მოეფერა მის ერთ-ერთ საუკეთესო და გამორჩეულ წევრს, რომელიც დაარსებიდანაა ჩართული მის საქმიანობაში და თანაბრად საყვარელია როგორც ქარველი, ისე ნიუპორტელი მეგობრებისთვის.  

მეგობრები კი მზია გიორგაძემ, ინგლისური ენის დეპარტემენტის წევრმა გაახარა იმით, რომ შექმნა ლამაზი ქართული ოჯახი და ჩვენც დიდი ხნის მოლოდინი გაგვიმართლა. ყველანი დიდი სითბოთი და კეთილი სურვილებით ვუერთდებით ამ ლამაზ მილოცვას და ვუსურვებთ მზიას ბედნიერებას და შვილთა სიმრავლეს. 

ნათია ზვიადაძე
ასისტენტ პროფესორი
 

Mzia Giorgadze. Still another guest of honor at this meeting. Mzia is one of the oldest and very active members of the Association. She is a teacher of the English Department at the ATSU and a very good friend of ours. All of us were glad to learn that Mzia had got married and we couldn’t miss the opportunity to congratulate her on this happy occasion and wish her and her very nice husband a lot of happiness during their life together.

This very enjoyable, emotional and memorable meeting was brilliantly conducted by Nino Nizharadze for whom it was a debut in her new honorary role of the Deputy Chair of the Association.

Natia Zviadadze
Assistant Professor, ATSU