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.