Leeds

Mi ddes i i Leeds ddoe i gymryd rhan mewn dathliad hanner can mlynedd o Astudiaethau Tsieinëeg a Dwyrain Asia ym Mhrifysgol Leeds. Mi wnes raddio o Brifysgol Leeds â gradd mewn Tsieinëeg a Siapaneg ugain mlynedd yn ôl, a dyma dim ond yr ail tro i mi mynd yn ôl i Leeds ers hynny.

Mae’r dinas a’r prifysgol yn dal i adnabyddadwy, ond mae cryn dipyn o newidiadau yma, yn cynnwys llawer o adeiladau newydd, a llawer o hen adeiladau wedi cael eu adnewyddu a dacluso, yn arbennig ar lannau’r afon, lle dw i’n aros mewn gwesty Holiday Inn.

Mi wnes i gadael Bangor bore ddoe tua deg o’r gloch, ac mi es i ar y trên i Leeds trwy Cyffordd Llandudo a Manceinion. Ro’n i’n yng nghanol grŵp o bobl o’r Almaen ar y trên i Manceinion, ac mi wnes i clustfeinio ar eu sgyrsiau wrth i mi darllen llyfr. Mi wnes deall bron popeth, pan ro’n i’n canolbwyntio arnynt.

Ar ôl i mi cyrraedd yn Leeds, mi es i i’r gwesty, ac yna mi wnes crwydro o gwmpas y dinas a champus y prifysgol am sbel. Yna mi es i dderbyniad ar gyfer myfyrwyr, athrawon, cynfyfyrwyr a chyn-athrawon yr Adran Astudiaethau Dwyrain Asia. Roedd dau cynfyfyrwr o’r un flwyddyn â fi, ac un cyn-chydweithwraig o Taiwan y ddaeth i Leeds dwy flynedd ar ôl fi. Roedd areithiau, a sgwrs, a bwyd a diod, ac mi wnes i cwrdd â phobl o bob math, yn cynnwys hogan sy’n gwneud doethuriaeth ym Mangor, ond sy’n byw yn Llundain.

Ar ôl y derbyniad mi es i i dafarn yn undeb y myfyrwyr efo rhwy bobl eraill, ac yna i dafarn arall ger y gyfnewidfa ŷd. Mi es i yn ôl i’r gwesty tua hanner wedi un-ar-ddeg.

I came to Leeds yesterday to take part in a celebration of 50 years of Chinese and East Asia Studies at Leeds University. I graduated from Leeds Uni with a degree in Chinese and Japanese 20 years ago, and this is only the second time I’ve been back since then.

The city is still recognizable, but there are quite a few changes here, including many new buildings, and many old buildings that have been renovated and done up, especially along the river, where I’m staying in a Holiday Inn.

I left Bangor yesterday morning at about 10am and went by train to Leeds via Llandudno Junction and Manchester. I was surrounded by a group of Germans on the train to Manchester, and I eavesdropped on their conversations while I was reading a book. I understood almost everything, when I concentrated on them.

After arriving in Leeds I went to the hotel, then wandered about the city and the university campus for a bit. Then I went to a reception for current and former students and staff of the Department of East Asia Studies. There were two former students from the same year as me, and a former colleague from Taiwan who come to Leeds two years after me. There were speeches, and chat, and food and drink, and I meet all sorts of people, including a lass who’s doing a PhD in Bangor but who lives in London.

After the reception I went to a bar in the student union with a few other people, and then to a pub near the corn exchange. I went back to the hotel at about half eleven.

Cerddoriaeth a glaw

Mi wnes i gweithio bore ddoe, ac ar ôl cinio mi wnes canu rhyw alawon ar offer gwahanol. Mi wnes i parhau sgwenu fy nghân newydd hefyd, ac mae gen i pedwar pennill, mwy neu lai, erbyn hyn, ond dw i ddim yn siŵr am alaw eto. Mi wnaeth hi’n bwrw glaw trwn yn y prynhawn, ac gyda’r nos mi es i i’r tafarn Groegeg i ganu’r iwcwlili. Roedd dim mond dau ohonon ni yna, ac mi wnaethon ni penderfynu na fyddan ni’n cyfarfod ar nos Iau yr wythnos nesaf yn unig, heblaw mae pobl sy’n methu dod nos Iau a sy’n eisiau cyfarfod ar nos Lun.

I did some work yesterday morning, and after lunch I played some tunes on various instruments. I also continued writing my new song, and I now have four verses, more or less, though I’m not sure of a tune yet. It rained heavily in the afternoon, and in the evening I went to the Greek taverna to play the ukulele. There were only two of us there this week, and we decided that we’ll only meet on Thursday night next week, unless anybody can’t come on Thursday nights and want to meet on Monday nights.

Sgwrs a barddoniaeth

Mi ddaeth ffrind o’r côr cymuned i’r grŵp sgwrsio ddoe, ac ro’n ni’n siarad am ac yn yr Almaeneg yn bennaf. Dw i ‘di anghofio llawer o fy Almaeneg, ond mae’n dod yn ôl erbyn hyn. Ar ôl hyn mi es i adref am dipyn o fwyd, ac yna mi es i Caffi Blue Sky am noswaith o farddoniaeth a cherddoriaeth – rhan o wŷl barddoniaeth rhyngwladol. Mi wnaeth tri band lleol yn canu, ac mi wnaeth bardd o Wlad Pwyl yn adrodd ei gerddi yn y Bwyleg efo cyfeiliant un o’r bandiau. Roedd y band cyntaf yn uchel dros ben llestri efo gitâr trydan yn sgrechian, ond roedd y bandiau eraill yn well.

A friend from the community choir came to the conversation group yesterday, and we talked mainly about and in German. I’ve forgotten a lot of my German, but it’s starting to come back. After that I went home for a bit to eat, then went to the Blue Sky Café for an evening of music and poetry – part of an international festival of poetry. Three bands played, and a poetry from Poland recited with poetry in Polish with accompaniment from one of the bands. The first band were way too loud with an electric guitar screeching away, but the other bands were better.

Recordyddion

Bore ddoe mi es i i’r grŵp recordyddion, ond roedd dim ond dau ohonon ni yna – mi wnaeth un o’r aelodau angofio bod y grŵp yn cyfarfod ddoe – felly mi wnaethon ni penderfynu gohirio’r sesiwn hyd yr wythnos nesaf. Mi wnes i canu yn y côr MS yn y prynhawn, ac mi wnes i aros gatref gyda’r nos.

Yesterday morning I went to the recorder group, but there were only two of us there – one member of the group forget that we were meeting yesterday – so we decided to postpone the session until next week. I sang in the MS choir in the afternoon, and had a night in.

Ffrangeg a iwcwlilis

Roedd dim ond tri ohonon ni yn y grŵp sgwrsio Ffrangeg heno – wel tri a hanner, a dweud y gwir – roedd un arall sy’n medru deall Ffrangeg ac sy’n methu ei siarad. Ar ôl awr o Ffrangeg mi es i i’r clwb iwcwlili yn y tafarn Groegeg. Roedd llai ohonon ni yna na’r wythnos diwetha’ – tua deg, dw i’n meddwl, ond mae hyn yn lot mwy na’r tymor diwetha’. Heblaw’r caneuon arferol, mi wnes i canu rhyw ganeuon fy hunan hefyd, caneuon dw i ‘di sgwenu.

There were only three of us in the French conversation group tonight – well, three and a half actually – there was one who can understand French but doesn’t speak it. After an hour of French I went to the ukulele club in the Greek. There were fewer of us there than last week – about 10, I think, but that’s a lot more than last term. Apart from the usual songs, I also sang a few of my own songs, songs that I’ve written.

Cerddoriaeth

Ar ôl brecwast y bore ‘ma mi wnes i taflu yr afalau olaf o’r afallen yn fy ngardd, ac yna mi es i i’r archfachnad. Roedd hi’n bwrw glaw mân ar y ffordd yna, ac ar y ffordd adref mi wnaeth hi’n dechrau treisio bwrw. Yn ffodus roedd gen i trywsus dal dŵr, felly do’n i ddim gor wlyb. Mi wnes i tipyn bach o waith cyn ac ar ôl cinio, ac mi wnes canu cerddoriaeth efo ffrindiau yn y prynhawn. Gyda’r nos mi wnes i canu yn y côr cymuned. Dan ni’n dysgu cân o’r ardal Megrelian yn Georgia ar hyn o bryd – mae’r geiriau yn anodd i ynganu ac i gofio, ond mae’r cytgordiau yn hyfryd.

After breakfast this morning I picked the last of the apples from the apple tree in my garden, and then went to the supermarket. It was drizzling on the way there, and on the way back it started to pour down. Fortunately I had my waterproof trouser, so I didn’t get too wet. I did a bit of work before and after lunch, and played music with friends in the afternoon. In the evening I went to the community choir. We are learning a song from the Megrelian region of Georgia at the moment – the words are difficult to pronounce and to remember, but the harmonies are lovely.

Sgwrsio

Heno mi wnaethon ni siarad am y Wyddeleg a llawer ieithoedd a phethau eraill yn y grŵp sgrwsio amlieithog. Yn Global Café ar ôl hyn mi wnes i cwrdd â myfyrwragedd o Gorea ac roedden nhw’n synnu i glywed fi yn dweud rhyw eiriau yn y Gorëeg – mi wnes i dysgu tipyn bach o Gorëeg efo ffrindiau o Gorea pan ro’n i’n dysgu Tsieinëeg yn Taiwan.

Tonight we talked about Irish and lots of other languages and other things in the polyglot conversation group. In Global Café after that I met some students from Korea who were very surprised that to hear me say a few words in Korean – I learnt a little bit of Korean from Korean friends when I was studying Chinese in Taiwan.

Clwb Iwcwlili

Roedd pedwar ohonon ni yn y clwb iwcwlili heno – tri myfyrwyr a fi. Mae myfyrwr, o Loegr, yn medru canu’r iwc yn dda, ac mae dau arall, o Tsieina, wedi dechrau canu’r iwc yr wythnos diwethaf. Mi wnaethon ni canu caneuon eithaf syml dan ni i gyd yn gwybod heb gormod o gordiau. Roedd y grŵp iwc yn cyfarfod un waith yr wythnos, ond mi wnes i awgrymu cyfarfod arall ar nos Lun ar gyfer y rhai sy methu dod ar nos Iau, ac ar gyfer y rhai sy’n eisiau canu iwcs dwy waith yr wythnos.

There were four of us in the ukulele club tonight – three students and me. One student, from England, can play the uke well, and two others, from China, started playing the uke last week. We played fairly simple songs that we all know without too many chords. The group was meeting once a week, but I suggested another meeting on Monday nights for those who can’t come on Thursday nights, and for those who want to play ukes twice a week.

Grawnwin Digofaint

Heddiw mi wnes tipyn bach o waith a mi wnes canu’r gitâr, y piano a’r chwiban tun. Heno mi wnes i i’r prifygsol i weld y fflim ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ o 1940. Dw i ddim ‘di darllen y llyfr, a dyma’r tro cyntaf i mi gweld y ffilm. Roedd yn ddiddorol ac yn drist, ac mae llawer o’r trafferion yn y stori yn dal i fodoli heddiw.

Today I did some work and played the guitar, piano and tin whistle. Tonight I went to the university to see the film ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ from 1940. I haven’t read the book, and this was the first time I’ve seen the film. It was interesting and sad, and many of the problems in the story are with us today.