This weekend was The Gathering 2009 in Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-burr-a). This is a part of an event called Homecoming 2009, where all people of Scottish heritage are invited to come home. The event launched in June and will finish at the end of November. The Gathering 2009 is just one of the events being held. For Saturday (today) and Sunday, the highland games are held in Edinburgh, along with Highland dancing, pipe bands, traditional food and a clan village. I visited the clan village and found the Stewarts, but was a little disappointed. There were no actual Scottish Stewarts at my tent, it was a bunch of people working for the Stewart Society. These people make the royal line of the Stewarts their life and manned the tent. No one was even wearing our tartan. The man I spoke to was very helpful when it came to tips in looking up the genealogy of my family. Do I actually descend from the royal Stewart line? Probably not. Stewart was a common name and my people were probably goat farmers for all I know. But the man, from Seattle no less, pointed me in the right direction if I ever wanted to really get serious about finding my roots.
We watched some of the highland dancing, but after a while it all looks the same. There isn't a whole lot of room for creativity in highland dancing. But I do have to say that I could never jump and kick the way these girls did. The Highland games was probably my favorite part. We only saw a few events, but they were the caber toss, weight throw, tug o war, and the stones of strength. The Caber toss is where a long log is to be picked up and thrown. And by long, I mean a telephone pole has to be picked up and thrown into the air. Weight throw is like the shot put, but not quite. A weight is attached to a handle and short chain, which is to be swung around a few times then thrown. Tug o war is pretty self explanatory. The stones of strength is not. Basically the way its set up is you have five whiskey barrels, which are about four feet high give or take, and then in front of them on the ground are huge round boulders. The task is to pick up the stones and carry them to the barrel and place it on top. The history behind this particular event is that in order for a boy to become a man of his clan he had to complete this task and then he would be given a feather to place in his cap signifying his manhood. Only a few of the competitors were able to complete all five stones. Most could only do four.
At the beginning of this week I will be writing papers, so nothing of interest there, but after Wednesday, it will be busy. I hope to keep updating regularly.
25 July 2009
24 July 2009
Glasgow and Field Trip 1
Thursday we took our second day trip to the largest city in Scotland, Glasgow. About 1.2 million people of the total 5 million in Scotland, live in Glasgow and the surrounding areas. I have to say that I was not impressed with the city. The buildings were pretty, but there is not a whole lot to do unless you love to shop and can afford to pay 65 pounds (a little more than $100) for a t-shirt, which I cannot. My friend and I walked all around the main street of Glasgow and found nothing to do. Others were luckier, but we were not. We ended up going to the West side of Glasgow and walking through the Botanical Gardens. It was nice, but nothing to write home about. Highlight: as we were leaving the Gardens through a side entrance we saw the BBC Scotland building. Took a picture of course. Unless I had a job in Glasgow, I couldn't live there. My personal opinion of course. Others in my group liked it, I didn't find anyone who LOVED it. *shrug*
Today I went on my excursion (field trip) for my Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland class. We went to the village of Dunning to see St. Serf's church, which holds one of the few remaining complete free-standing medieval crosses in Scotland. The Dupplin cross is from the 9th century and the drawings in the red sandstone are the only depictions of a named king in Scotland. Impressive. On the back, there was a blank slate, whereas its twin on the front held a drawing. There had been research done on this piece and come to find out that this blank piece actually the longest Roman alphabet inscription from early medieval Scotland. The drawing on the front is of Kind Constantine, by the way.
When we finished there we made our way to see Maggie Walls' memorial. Maggie Walls was, as the memorial says, "burnt as a witch in 1657". This is strange for several reasons. One, there is no record of a Maggie Walls existing, or being executed. If this so, its said that her execution was on the side without church approval, tsk tsk kind of stuff. Second reason, her memorial is topped with a crucifix. Witches were supposed to the devil's workers, and therefore against Christianity. So why the cross over this witches grave? Its speculated that the townspeople felt remorse for executing her after the fact and gave her a proper burial. Sorta. This woman was the only person in Scotland to have a monument erected for them after being murdered as a witch. So why go through all this trouble for this one woman? This is the mystery of Maggie Walls and the only known record of her.
When we finished with Maggie, we moved on to Aberfoyle where we visited Robert Kirk's grave. Robert Kirk was a 17th century minister who was the seventh son of the seventh son. This is significant because the 7th of the 7th, son or daughter, was supposed to have special powers gifted to them. Robert Kirk's power was that he had the gift of sight, specifically he could see Faeries. He even wrote a book all about them, their homes, where to find them, what they look like, their powers, etc. This was a mistake. To speak of the faeries in this way and disrespect them was to pretty much piss them off. Now these faeries aren't like the Tinkerbell we have grown to love. No, these were human sized faeries that were mean, violent and only wanted humans to respect them. They would steal your children otherwise. So when Kirk disappeared by Doon Hill, or faerie hill, all the people believed that the Faeries had stole him because he gave away their secrets. A body was found and buried, but a few years later when they went to see if he was still there (why? I have no idea), his body was mysteriously missing. Now there is a grave stone at the Aberfoyle graveyard, but its believed that Robert Kirk's body belongs to the faeries in their realm.
We were able to trek up Doon Hill to visit a clearing at the top full of clootie trees. Clootie means cloth and the purpose of these trees is to tie a cloth with a note attached asking for a wish from the faeries and if they wanted, the faeries would grant your wish. BUT....this was in the days of natural fibers, like cotton and wool. The cloth was supposed to deteriorate. But now there are plastic bags and synthetic ribbons tied all around. My teacher isn't sure how she feels about this. I don't either. If you really wanted to respect the faeries, you would choose bio-degradable cloth. But maybe this is just a sign of the belief being integrated into the 21st century. Medieval belief evolving to fit the fast changing times. I don't know. All I do know is that the climb up to the clearing, isn't "a wee bit of a hike" like my teacher led us to believe. It is a freaking steep rock slide, with mud from the countless rainy days and tree roots sticking out at every angle. I was dying, needless to say my fitness level is not very high.
A few things I have noticed: To let= to lease. Half five=five thrity. I hate not having a car when I go to the groery store in town. The sun comes up at five and sets around ten. I am one of the few people here who can half understand people through their Scottish accents. Pubs with karoke are a blast. Side note: Screwdriver=vodka orange here. I still haven't had the guts to try haggis and I don't think I will, this time.
Today I went on my excursion (field trip) for my Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland class. We went to the village of Dunning to see St. Serf's church, which holds one of the few remaining complete free-standing medieval crosses in Scotland. The Dupplin cross is from the 9th century and the drawings in the red sandstone are the only depictions of a named king in Scotland. Impressive. On the back, there was a blank slate, whereas its twin on the front held a drawing. There had been research done on this piece and come to find out that this blank piece actually the longest Roman alphabet inscription from early medieval Scotland. The drawing on the front is of Kind Constantine, by the way.
When we finished there we made our way to see Maggie Walls' memorial. Maggie Walls was, as the memorial says, "burnt as a witch in 1657". This is strange for several reasons. One, there is no record of a Maggie Walls existing, or being executed. If this so, its said that her execution was on the side without church approval, tsk tsk kind of stuff. Second reason, her memorial is topped with a crucifix. Witches were supposed to the devil's workers, and therefore against Christianity. So why the cross over this witches grave? Its speculated that the townspeople felt remorse for executing her after the fact and gave her a proper burial. Sorta. This woman was the only person in Scotland to have a monument erected for them after being murdered as a witch. So why go through all this trouble for this one woman? This is the mystery of Maggie Walls and the only known record of her.
When we finished with Maggie, we moved on to Aberfoyle where we visited Robert Kirk's grave. Robert Kirk was a 17th century minister who was the seventh son of the seventh son. This is significant because the 7th of the 7th, son or daughter, was supposed to have special powers gifted to them. Robert Kirk's power was that he had the gift of sight, specifically he could see Faeries. He even wrote a book all about them, their homes, where to find them, what they look like, their powers, etc. This was a mistake. To speak of the faeries in this way and disrespect them was to pretty much piss them off. Now these faeries aren't like the Tinkerbell we have grown to love. No, these were human sized faeries that were mean, violent and only wanted humans to respect them. They would steal your children otherwise. So when Kirk disappeared by Doon Hill, or faerie hill, all the people believed that the Faeries had stole him because he gave away their secrets. A body was found and buried, but a few years later when they went to see if he was still there (why? I have no idea), his body was mysteriously missing. Now there is a grave stone at the Aberfoyle graveyard, but its believed that Robert Kirk's body belongs to the faeries in their realm.
We were able to trek up Doon Hill to visit a clearing at the top full of clootie trees. Clootie means cloth and the purpose of these trees is to tie a cloth with a note attached asking for a wish from the faeries and if they wanted, the faeries would grant your wish. BUT....this was in the days of natural fibers, like cotton and wool. The cloth was supposed to deteriorate. But now there are plastic bags and synthetic ribbons tied all around. My teacher isn't sure how she feels about this. I don't either. If you really wanted to respect the faeries, you would choose bio-degradable cloth. But maybe this is just a sign of the belief being integrated into the 21st century. Medieval belief evolving to fit the fast changing times. I don't know. All I do know is that the climb up to the clearing, isn't "a wee bit of a hike" like my teacher led us to believe. It is a freaking steep rock slide, with mud from the countless rainy days and tree roots sticking out at every angle. I was dying, needless to say my fitness level is not very high.
A few things I have noticed: To let= to lease. Half five=five thrity. I hate not having a car when I go to the groery store in town. The sun comes up at five and sets around ten. I am one of the few people here who can half understand people through their Scottish accents. Pubs with karoke are a blast. Side note: Screwdriver=vodka orange here. I still haven't had the guts to try haggis and I don't think I will, this time.
18 July 2009
The Open and The Highlands
On Friday, me and four other girls went to the west coast of Scotland to watch the 138th Open Championship. Getting there was bit more involved than I had assumed, but still everyone here is so helpful, it doesn't matter that you have no clue where you are or where you're going. To start, we took a bus from the university to the train station in town. From Stirling we went to Glasgow, where we had to take another bus to switch train stations. From the second Glasgow train station we went to Ayr. We had thought there was a shuttle in Ayr to the resort where the actual golfing was taking place. That was not the case. We had to take another train to Girvin, where we hopped on another bus which took us to the course. The Turnberry resort is beautiful, and I could have taken at least 300 pictures, if only you didn't have to check your cameras at the gate. I understand the reasoning behind it, but that still stop me from being royally pissed. The weather was so funny yesterday and from what I understand, is a typical Scottish day. It was sunny and in the 70's when we arrived. Once we picked a hole and found a spot to settle in the clouds had rolled in a bit and I needed to put on my sweatshirt. About twenty minutes after that it started to drizzle, so I put on my rain coat. After we saw Tiger Woods on one of his better shots of the day (and he didn't have many), the rain started to come down in buckets, so I pulled out the umbrella. Once we ate and moved to one of the last holes to watch Tiger again, the gale force freezing winds off the coast were at full effect. My face felt like it would freeze solid then fall off. It probably would've been less painful. Once we left the tournament we took two more buses, three more trains and a cab in order to get home about 13 hours after we left.
Two interesting things. We went to a Championship golf tournament where history was made. Tiger Woods hasn't been cut from a tournament since the death of his father three years ago, which happened a month before the tournament. Maybe we were bad luck, but I still believe someone else was. The second thing happened on the train from Girvin to Ayr. I was facing the back of the train when I saw two men grappling and trying to punch each other. The man doing the punching's wife intervened and tried to explain to the train a B.S. reason for why her husband was trying to beat up a man. The men continued to fight and when we stopped in Ayr, the police came and took statements from the key players. The things you see on the public transportation system.
Today I went on a twenty person tour of Loch Ness, Glencoe and The Highlands. Admittedly we were only at Loch Ness for an hour, and for half of that I was eating. But the loch is beautiful no matter how long you stay there. I recommend doing the Loch Ness boat tour. It was pretty busy when we were there, so unfortunately I didn't get to do it. Loch Ness is about 24 miles long, and is 750 feet deep, making it the largest loch in Scotland by volume. Because we couldn't go on the boat tour our guide took us to the sights of two places in Scotland where the Harry Potter films were shot. Because he did this when he wasn't supposed to, I won't name him or his company, but if you email me, I will personally recommend his service. I have done a fair share of tours and this man not only knew his home and the land, but also his history and he didn't bore me to death. I was very happy. So went to some Harry Potter sights then he took us to a waterfall in the Highlands where we climbed a path to get to them. While there we saw three young men cliff diving off of a thirty foot lip over the water. They didn't seem bothered that the air was in the 60's, probably making the water about ten or fifteen degrees colder if not more. Our tour guide is a man who loves mountaineering and asked that we spread out on the path away from the waterfall and take a moment of silence to enjoy the noises of the Scottish Highlands. It was great and very relaxing to just stop and listen. My life and most everyone else's is all about finishing one task in order to get a start on the next. We never just enjoy anymore. The sounds of the birds and of the rushing water were unexplainable. I can't even begin to explain what I was feeling standing in the rugged land of my ancestors. Its something that I'll never forget.
On the way back to the University, our guide told us stories about his country's history. He had told us stories throughout the day, but this story was supposed to be the one we remembered and listened to most aptly. The story was about why Great Britain is not so great. It was about the British effectively cleansing Scotland of the Scots, and this lasted until 1939. It was about the British making an example of the Scots by killing them, desecrating their bodies, raping the women, and sometimes the men, beating and killing the children. The reason they didn't kill all the women and "only" raped them was because they needed to breed the English in and the Scottish out. There were stories of brutality, vengence and such horrible things I almost started crying at one point. I knew there was no pretty history when it came to Scotland and England, but to hear all the details in the country, among the people versus a classroom across the ocean...that's a whole different experiece.
For the next three days I will be working on various things for my classes, doing nothing of interest until next Thursday, when we go to Glasgow. Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, but Edinburugh is the capital. Now I need to catch up on some much needed sleep.
Two interesting things. We went to a Championship golf tournament where history was made. Tiger Woods hasn't been cut from a tournament since the death of his father three years ago, which happened a month before the tournament. Maybe we were bad luck, but I still believe someone else was. The second thing happened on the train from Girvin to Ayr. I was facing the back of the train when I saw two men grappling and trying to punch each other. The man doing the punching's wife intervened and tried to explain to the train a B.S. reason for why her husband was trying to beat up a man. The men continued to fight and when we stopped in Ayr, the police came and took statements from the key players. The things you see on the public transportation system.
Today I went on a twenty person tour of Loch Ness, Glencoe and The Highlands. Admittedly we were only at Loch Ness for an hour, and for half of that I was eating. But the loch is beautiful no matter how long you stay there. I recommend doing the Loch Ness boat tour. It was pretty busy when we were there, so unfortunately I didn't get to do it. Loch Ness is about 24 miles long, and is 750 feet deep, making it the largest loch in Scotland by volume. Because we couldn't go on the boat tour our guide took us to the sights of two places in Scotland where the Harry Potter films were shot. Because he did this when he wasn't supposed to, I won't name him or his company, but if you email me, I will personally recommend his service. I have done a fair share of tours and this man not only knew his home and the land, but also his history and he didn't bore me to death. I was very happy. So went to some Harry Potter sights then he took us to a waterfall in the Highlands where we climbed a path to get to them. While there we saw three young men cliff diving off of a thirty foot lip over the water. They didn't seem bothered that the air was in the 60's, probably making the water about ten or fifteen degrees colder if not more. Our tour guide is a man who loves mountaineering and asked that we spread out on the path away from the waterfall and take a moment of silence to enjoy the noises of the Scottish Highlands. It was great and very relaxing to just stop and listen. My life and most everyone else's is all about finishing one task in order to get a start on the next. We never just enjoy anymore. The sounds of the birds and of the rushing water were unexplainable. I can't even begin to explain what I was feeling standing in the rugged land of my ancestors. Its something that I'll never forget.
On the way back to the University, our guide told us stories about his country's history. He had told us stories throughout the day, but this story was supposed to be the one we remembered and listened to most aptly. The story was about why Great Britain is not so great. It was about the British effectively cleansing Scotland of the Scots, and this lasted until 1939. It was about the British making an example of the Scots by killing them, desecrating their bodies, raping the women, and sometimes the men, beating and killing the children. The reason they didn't kill all the women and "only" raped them was because they needed to breed the English in and the Scottish out. There were stories of brutality, vengence and such horrible things I almost started crying at one point. I knew there was no pretty history when it came to Scotland and England, but to hear all the details in the country, among the people versus a classroom across the ocean...that's a whole different experiece.
For the next three days I will be working on various things for my classes, doing nothing of interest until next Thursday, when we go to Glasgow. Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, but Edinburugh is the capital. Now I need to catch up on some much needed sleep.
16 July 2009
St. Andrews
Today we spent the day in the coastal golf town of St. Andrews. Of the five days I have been in Scotland so far, today was the second day it failed to rain. It was about 70 degrees with clear skies. It was beautiful. The town of St. Andrews is fairly small, everything within walking distance, no more than a half hour from one side of town to the other. I went on a walking tour of the town with my group from the International Summer School and the woman was very knowledgeable. Veronica, a woman in her early 70's probably, brought us first to St. Mary's College. The college, third only to Cambridge and Oxford, is one the oldest in the UK. St. Andrews has been teaching AND playing golf for over 600 years, according to Veronica. We got to see the hawthorn, or thorn tree, in the quad that was said to have been planted over 500 years ago by Mary Queen of Scots. We even got to see the house where she stayed on her many visits to St. Andrews. One thing I found interesting about the college was that one of the oldest wings of the building, the part that was once the seminary, was built using crushed seashells as a mortar. So when it rains in St. Andrews, that part of the building will sparkle.
After we finished at the college we made our way through town and ended up at the St. Andrews Cathedral. The building was in ruins, as most cathedrals are in the UK. You could see what was left of stone pillars that used to hold up the roof that is no longer there. There is also a well in the middle of the cathedral which leads historians to believe that the Scots hired French masons to help build the cathedral. They believe this because there is only one other cathedral in Europe that has a well like this one in it, and it is in France. The cathedral was beautiful, even with only a few walls left and no roofs. Speaking of walls, this cathedral has the longest medieval wall in the UK. Everything is wide open. The cathedral is right on the coast and when the tide is low (as it was today) the smell of the North Sea is very...pungent. Veronica told us a story about the White Lady who haunts a tower near the back of the cathedral. During the plague, the dead bodies and those who were close to death were bricked into this tower in order to protect the other people. Well a few hundred years later when they opened up the tower they found a mummified woman in a white dress, wearing white leather gloves with raven black hair. Instead of dying and decaying, this woman was the only one to become a mummy. She was also the only lady, all the others were peasants and part of the lower class. And the legend goes that sometimes you can see a black haired woman in all white passing back and forth behind the only window of the tower where she was found. Veronica believes its just the mist of the sea playing tricks off the fog lights of the cathedral. Interesting all the same.
The St. Andrews Castle is down the block from the cathedral and that was the next stop on our tour. We weren't able to go inside the castle because it was six pounds, but Veronica gave us an interesting history of the ruins. In the street in front of the castle you can see a circle where the bricks are different from the ones surrounding it. The different bricks spell out GW, standing for George Wishart, who had been burnt at the stake in front of the castle for preaching Protestantism. This was in the mid 1500's when Protestant's were seen as the enemy of the Scots and chaps with the English.
Once we were done at the castle we were left to do as we pleased until the bus left a few hours later. The two girls I was with and I ate lunch then did some shopping. When we were done in town, we walked to the West Sands beach and dipped our toes into the North Sea. Very cold, at least for five minutes until your feet go numb. The tide was very low today and I was surprised at how big of a difference there is between the high and low tide here. You could see where the water level would be if it were high tide and the difference was at least 800 feet. When the tide is low, you see these little piles all over the beach. The piles are sea worms who had washed up and died. They are really very disgusting and you couldn't walk two feet without having to maneuvering around them.
The golf courses in St. Andrews are beautiful, but different than the ones in the States. The ones back home are manicured and very carefully looked after. The greens here are a little bit more rugged, and definitely not as green. One of the girls from my group had seen George Lopez, the comedian, leaving the Old Course when she was making her way back to the bus. I have to admit I am jealous. The Old Course Resort and Hotel is the most exclusive in Scotland.
Tomorrow I am going to the Open Championship Golf Tournament. If only it were in St. Andrews this year, that would have been so great. But I am still very excited to go to Turnberry, where the championship is this year. I mean, how many people can say they went to a golf tournament in the country where golf was invented?
After we finished at the college we made our way through town and ended up at the St. Andrews Cathedral. The building was in ruins, as most cathedrals are in the UK. You could see what was left of stone pillars that used to hold up the roof that is no longer there. There is also a well in the middle of the cathedral which leads historians to believe that the Scots hired French masons to help build the cathedral. They believe this because there is only one other cathedral in Europe that has a well like this one in it, and it is in France. The cathedral was beautiful, even with only a few walls left and no roofs. Speaking of walls, this cathedral has the longest medieval wall in the UK. Everything is wide open. The cathedral is right on the coast and when the tide is low (as it was today) the smell of the North Sea is very...pungent. Veronica told us a story about the White Lady who haunts a tower near the back of the cathedral. During the plague, the dead bodies and those who were close to death were bricked into this tower in order to protect the other people. Well a few hundred years later when they opened up the tower they found a mummified woman in a white dress, wearing white leather gloves with raven black hair. Instead of dying and decaying, this woman was the only one to become a mummy. She was also the only lady, all the others were peasants and part of the lower class. And the legend goes that sometimes you can see a black haired woman in all white passing back and forth behind the only window of the tower where she was found. Veronica believes its just the mist of the sea playing tricks off the fog lights of the cathedral. Interesting all the same.
The St. Andrews Castle is down the block from the cathedral and that was the next stop on our tour. We weren't able to go inside the castle because it was six pounds, but Veronica gave us an interesting history of the ruins. In the street in front of the castle you can see a circle where the bricks are different from the ones surrounding it. The different bricks spell out GW, standing for George Wishart, who had been burnt at the stake in front of the castle for preaching Protestantism. This was in the mid 1500's when Protestant's were seen as the enemy of the Scots and chaps with the English.
Once we were done at the castle we were left to do as we pleased until the bus left a few hours later. The two girls I was with and I ate lunch then did some shopping. When we were done in town, we walked to the West Sands beach and dipped our toes into the North Sea. Very cold, at least for five minutes until your feet go numb. The tide was very low today and I was surprised at how big of a difference there is between the high and low tide here. You could see where the water level would be if it were high tide and the difference was at least 800 feet. When the tide is low, you see these little piles all over the beach. The piles are sea worms who had washed up and died. They are really very disgusting and you couldn't walk two feet without having to maneuvering around them.
The golf courses in St. Andrews are beautiful, but different than the ones in the States. The ones back home are manicured and very carefully looked after. The greens here are a little bit more rugged, and definitely not as green. One of the girls from my group had seen George Lopez, the comedian, leaving the Old Course when she was making her way back to the bus. I have to admit I am jealous. The Old Course Resort and Hotel is the most exclusive in Scotland.
Tomorrow I am going to the Open Championship Golf Tournament. If only it were in St. Andrews this year, that would have been so great. But I am still very excited to go to Turnberry, where the championship is this year. I mean, how many people can say they went to a golf tournament in the country where golf was invented?
13 July 2009
Traveling
Today is mid day of my third day in Scotland. I should probably start with my day of traveling then update everyone with what I have been doing since I landed. The trip from Detroit Metro to Philadelphia was smooth. I forgot that I had a water bottle in my purse when I went throught security, so I had a little bit of a hold up there. When I got to Philadelphia, there were some problems. The flight I was on was over booked and over weight, so they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats. I was upset because the plane was late and then we were delayed because no one wanted to give up their seats. In the waiting area I met a nice guy, a soldier in the Army, who was headed back to Germany from being on leave. He's an infantry guy, I'm sorry to say I didn't catch his name. He was stationed in Germany after his second tour overseas and soon he would be going back for his third. He was just as upset as I was that we were being delayed so much, and all because the airline was looking to make a few bucks then ask if we would bother being inconvienced. After a young couple agreed to give up their seats the plane was refueled and we were headed for Newark, a 40 minute ride, if that. Unfortunately the plane we were on was a dinky propellor plane. The ride was torture for someone who gets motion sick (like me). The army guy sat next to me and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. Proof that miliatry guys can sleep through anything. When we landed in Newark I started my marathon walk around the entire airport. I had to switch terminals because I was switching from US Airways to Continental. After that I had to find the right ticket booth (not as simple as it seems) and go through security again. Once that was all done, I was tired and hungry at the gate.
The flight was about 6 1/2 hours and I didn't get any sleep. Once we landed we had to stand in a massive line for passport check, which was the extent of my customs experience. I was expecting a full interogation but the lady only asked a few questions and let me through. I found my corridinator's intern and waited with three other girls from the program. We had to wait for almost three hours for the other plane to land and pick up the rest of our group. We arrived at the school at about one or two in the afternoon and I immediately took a nap. We had a welcome reception at 5:30 where we mingled with some of the Block 1 students and other people from our program. There were a few talking points and then we were left on our own. I unpacked and fell asleep again.
Yesterday was our induction day, starting at nine am. We had a lecture on the program and a few notes on important things to remember. Then we headed for a walking tour of the campus. Afterwards we had lunch and were entertained by a piper (someone who plays the bagpipes). Ross was the piper and he looked to be about 17. He wore the full traditional getup which includes the hat, dress shirt, vest, tie, kilt, sporran, socks and shoes with the family knife tucked in the sock. After the piper we were given a presentation of the history of Stirling by my Jacobites teacher, Dr. MacAlister. Her class was the one I had this morning. When she was done we boarded a bus to do the tour of Stirling and surrounding areas.
First we drove by the bottom of the William Wallace Monument. The walk up to the monument itself is a bit hilly and then to the top is 246 steps. The next time its nice out my roomates and I are going to try to climb up. After that we drove to the field and heritage center of Bannockburn. The famous battle field where Robert the Bruce defeated the English Army. A little tidbit that upset me was that the actual battlefield is really across the street from the Heritage Center and is underneath the local high school. When we finished at Bannockburn we drove to the town of Dunblane and went inside the Dunblane Cathedral. Interesting fact about Dunblane is that it has its own micro climate there. Its only three miles away from Stirling but because it's behind a group of mountains, it could be a sunny day in Striling and be a blizzard in Dunblane. The cathedral was beautiful and old. There is a stone monumnent inside the cathedral because a few years ago a man walked into the cathedral, shot and killed 15 five year olds, then killed himself. The stone has an inscription that I wish I could remember, but it says something about dancing and laughing. It was beautiful.
After Dunblane, we drove to Stirling Castle. Because of time constraints we were unable to go inside the castle. But the view from outside was enough for me on my second day in Scotland. Before I leave though I will be visiting the castle again. When we returned to the university we had a sports centre induction and were given our member cards. My roomates and I went into Stirling afterwards to go to the local grocery store and buy food. The bus driver gave us directions when we got off but we ended up doing a full cirlce around the town and we arrived fifteen minutes later at the store. When we eventually got home we ordered Domino's and went to bed.
This morning one of my roomates and I headed for our first class. We were overloaded with information because it was only an hour long class and the teacher wanted to get us caught up before she went straight into information in tomorrow's classes. I live with three other girls and one boy. The boy we live with has a girlfriend in the house next to ours, so he is over there a lot. The three girls I live with all have one class with me and then one has both the same classes as me, which is nice. The place I am living is called a Chalet and is basically a cabin with five rooms, a common room which has a tv, table and chairs and a kitchen. There are two bathrooms, but only one has a toilet. The showers here are smaller than any closet I have ever seen. You bend over and hit your head. You reach up and knock your elbows. The sinks are also frustrating. Instead of one faucet with two temperatures, there is a faucet for each the hot and cold.
Tomorrow I have class from 9am-2pm straight with no breaks. That should be interesting. I'll keep updating everyday if I can.
The flight was about 6 1/2 hours and I didn't get any sleep. Once we landed we had to stand in a massive line for passport check, which was the extent of my customs experience. I was expecting a full interogation but the lady only asked a few questions and let me through. I found my corridinator's intern and waited with three other girls from the program. We had to wait for almost three hours for the other plane to land and pick up the rest of our group. We arrived at the school at about one or two in the afternoon and I immediately took a nap. We had a welcome reception at 5:30 where we mingled with some of the Block 1 students and other people from our program. There were a few talking points and then we were left on our own. I unpacked and fell asleep again.
Yesterday was our induction day, starting at nine am. We had a lecture on the program and a few notes on important things to remember. Then we headed for a walking tour of the campus. Afterwards we had lunch and were entertained by a piper (someone who plays the bagpipes). Ross was the piper and he looked to be about 17. He wore the full traditional getup which includes the hat, dress shirt, vest, tie, kilt, sporran, socks and shoes with the family knife tucked in the sock. After the piper we were given a presentation of the history of Stirling by my Jacobites teacher, Dr. MacAlister. Her class was the one I had this morning. When she was done we boarded a bus to do the tour of Stirling and surrounding areas.
First we drove by the bottom of the William Wallace Monument. The walk up to the monument itself is a bit hilly and then to the top is 246 steps. The next time its nice out my roomates and I are going to try to climb up. After that we drove to the field and heritage center of Bannockburn. The famous battle field where Robert the Bruce defeated the English Army. A little tidbit that upset me was that the actual battlefield is really across the street from the Heritage Center and is underneath the local high school. When we finished at Bannockburn we drove to the town of Dunblane and went inside the Dunblane Cathedral. Interesting fact about Dunblane is that it has its own micro climate there. Its only three miles away from Stirling but because it's behind a group of mountains, it could be a sunny day in Striling and be a blizzard in Dunblane. The cathedral was beautiful and old. There is a stone monumnent inside the cathedral because a few years ago a man walked into the cathedral, shot and killed 15 five year olds, then killed himself. The stone has an inscription that I wish I could remember, but it says something about dancing and laughing. It was beautiful.
After Dunblane, we drove to Stirling Castle. Because of time constraints we were unable to go inside the castle. But the view from outside was enough for me on my second day in Scotland. Before I leave though I will be visiting the castle again. When we returned to the university we had a sports centre induction and were given our member cards. My roomates and I went into Stirling afterwards to go to the local grocery store and buy food. The bus driver gave us directions when we got off but we ended up doing a full cirlce around the town and we arrived fifteen minutes later at the store. When we eventually got home we ordered Domino's and went to bed.
This morning one of my roomates and I headed for our first class. We were overloaded with information because it was only an hour long class and the teacher wanted to get us caught up before she went straight into information in tomorrow's classes. I live with three other girls and one boy. The boy we live with has a girlfriend in the house next to ours, so he is over there a lot. The three girls I live with all have one class with me and then one has both the same classes as me, which is nice. The place I am living is called a Chalet and is basically a cabin with five rooms, a common room which has a tv, table and chairs and a kitchen. There are two bathrooms, but only one has a toilet. The showers here are smaller than any closet I have ever seen. You bend over and hit your head. You reach up and knock your elbows. The sinks are also frustrating. Instead of one faucet with two temperatures, there is a faucet for each the hot and cold.
Tomorrow I have class from 9am-2pm straight with no breaks. That should be interesting. I'll keep updating everyday if I can.
09 July 2009
Leaving
Tomorrow I leave for Scotland. My bags are not even half packed and my stomach is fluttering so much I might take flight. I will be hopping flight to flight and up for over 24 hours before I land in Edinburgh. Thankfully I love flying and find airports fascinating, or else I might go nuts. I found out that I only have classes on Mondays and Tusedays which is nice. On Monday I only have one hour of class, but on Tuesday I have classes from 9 am-2 pm. That should be fun. I still can't believe I am leaving for one month. I will be comepletly alone, I have never met any of the people I will be living and studying with for a month. I will miss my family and friends more than I can say, but I so excited to have an adventure that I can call my own. Every trip I have ever taken has been with someone else and now I have something that is mine. Next time you hear from me, I will be among the luscious green hills of Scotland.
09 June 2009
Anticipation
One month from tomorrow I will be jumping from flight to flight headed for Scotland. To explain my feelings about this would be extremely difficult. I am excited to be in a different country,to meet new people. I am nervous as all hell for the same reasons. This will be my first time traveling by airplane by myself. I will admit stupidity when it comes to what to do when checking in. Going through security and customs, also nerve wracking. I definitely don't want there to be any problems arriving in Scotland because I am on a strict schedule with my host university and I would hate to be the girl who held everyone up because of random screenings.
I still have a lot, and I mean A LOT, of preparing to do before I go. I pretty much have nothing done, to be honest. I have no clue what to pack, what to pack it all in, what to bring with me and what to buy there. Will my phone work? Probably not, so that means I will have to buy one there. Should I bring my hair dryer or is it cheaper to buy one there? No clue. Once I figure it all out I will post again with tips and ideas. Just as soon as I get some.
I still have a lot, and I mean A LOT, of preparing to do before I go. I pretty much have nothing done, to be honest. I have no clue what to pack, what to pack it all in, what to bring with me and what to buy there. Will my phone work? Probably not, so that means I will have to buy one there. Should I bring my hair dryer or is it cheaper to buy one there? No clue. Once I figure it all out I will post again with tips and ideas. Just as soon as I get some.
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