Bonne rentree

'Term had just begun. Professor Treece, head of the department of English, sat at his desk, his back to the window, with the cold, clear October light shining icily over his shoulders on the turbulent heaps of papers upon his desk, on to the pale young faces of his three new students. As the rain rattled against the panes behind him, and the students stared speculatively out at the last leaves falling damply from the trees, Professor Treece spoke sonorously ...'

That was how Malcolm Bradbury began his first novel, Eating People is Wrong, in 1959. October has become September, but the start of term (or the start of the semester, although I'm not sure we call it that any more either - I can't keep up) is still, if you work or study in a university, the turning of the year.

And I still get that stomach-tightening Sunday night feeling, like I haven't done my homework, even though I know I have. I feel I should be shining my shoes, filling my new pencil case and asking my mum to clean my PE kit.

Bonne rentrée scolaire, everyone ... and if you are about to start your first year at university and are currently watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on BBC3, please note that professors do not normally ride through university libraries on motorbikes.