Personal Interests

I grew up on our family farm in Mud Lake, Idaho. My brothers and sister still live in the area. These pictures were taken in my sister's house where we are all partaking in the Idaho passion for foosball.

I played ice hockey at university and club level in my undergraduate days, and here is an oldie photo of me back in 1978. I continue to play in England and there are some pictures of me practicing and playing more recently. I played with the University of Nottingham ice hockey team from 2004-2006, and in 2006 we won the British Universities National Championship. Some teammates and I are showing off the Championship Plate. The second to last photo shows me lifting the Nottingham Recreation Championship Cup 2014. Mike Rodgers (now at Carleton University) was key in providing defense, and he was pretty excited about winning the cup too (last photo)!

I got my private pilot's license in 1980, and between 2002-2004 built a kit aircraft. It is a Europa XS tri-gear, registered as G-RMMT, and is decorated with decals of Grommit, from the Wallace and Grommit animation series. It is built of fiberglass, seats two, and cruises at about 120-130 miles per hour. We mainly fly around the UK, and have taken it onto the Continent several times to France, Germany, and Denmark. Now with retirement, we'll fly more because we can fly whenever the weather is good, even if it is the middle of the week.

Another hobby my wife Diane and I enjoy is international travel. Here are a number of pictures of us in various locations, including

in Sydney for New Years 2008 with Anne Burns, in Nottingham with Kathy Conklin, in Scotland for a Hogmanay New Year's street party, in Hawaii, New Zealand (where I did my first parachute skydive at the Bay of Islands), Iceland, Pisa, Malta, Zermatt and Colmar at Christmas, Strasbourg, Athens, Bernkastel, Abu Dhabi, Machu Picchu, Quebec City, the Grand Canyon, and Valparaiso. The last picture is me sitting on top of the giant Otter in Diane's hometown of Fergus Falls (home of the Ottertail County Otters).

Now with retirement, I will have more time to play music. I (try to) play a number of instruments. Besides guitars, here is a picture of one of the more unusual: Scottish bagpipes. Also a picture of me treating myself to a retirement present: a cherry Fender Jazz Bass guitar.

Norbert Schmitt

Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics

University of Nottingham

Personal Interests