So Many Essays, So Little Time

After I got back from my wonderful and fantastic trip to the Isle of Skye on March 10th, I had to sit down and get some work done.  I had three essays due in the next three weeks - two of them at 2,000 words long, the other at 3,000, and all of them needing at least five or six sources to be credible.  It was daunting, but at least they were due in a fairly neat order - my first one for my Scottish Literature class due March 18th, the second for my Celtic Civilization class due March 20th, and the third (the 3,000 word essay) for my Visualizing Scotland class due March 26th.  I sucked it up, said goodbye to my friends, turned off the wireless on my laptop (unless necessary for work), and commenced living in the library for three straight weeks.

I tackled my first essay with solid determination.  I went to my lectures and tutorials until five, ate dinner, and then sat myself in the library surrounded by books until eleven.  Some nights I stayed past midnight, as I was so involved (read - very, very behind) in my essay writing and research that it didn't feel acceptable to leave until I was literally falling asleep at my desk.  The Main Library on the George Square campus, however, is a lovely place to be in if you have to stay there for hours on end.  Every book you could possibly need for research is on hand (unless some horrible awful person got to it first and it isn't due back until Friday and you know they're going to renew it because they're probably just as lazy as you are and you hate them anyway), the study areas are plentiful and blessedly quiet, and after seven the only people left are the ones dedicated to/behind in their work so it isn't crowded or as buzzing as it is during the day.  Once ten goes by, computers start to open up.  All the desks around you become empty.  There is no line at the library cafe and you can get coffee in two minutes or less.  It's beautiful.  The only downside is the fact that I was there for a reason - to work.

And work I did.  I became so educated on Sir Walter Scott and Margaret Oliphant that I had dreams about them.  I pounded out my essay paragraph by painful paragraph, well aware of the amount of editing I would need to do but uncaring at the time.  After a few days, I started in on my Celtic paper as well to avoid rushing that one too much.  I studied ancient Celtic literature and the purposes behind it.  I learned a lot about the startling similarities between what I was writing about for my Scottish Lit class and what the Celtic societies used their literature for - entertainment, social commentary, political gain, everything we use it for today.  I guess it's good to know that the basic purpose of literature hasn't changed much; it makes it that much easier to relate to a people that haven't existed for almost two thousand years.  It also tells me that it will be around for  quite awhile longer, and as a writer that makes me extremely happy.

The day before it was due, I printed out my Scottish Lit paper and made it beautiful to be turned in the next day.  My laptop had a moment where it decided it didn't want to work and scared me into using Google Docs for writing the rest of my essays.  I wasn't going to lose hours and hours of work just because of faulty hardware or software.  Over the next two days I punched out my Celtic Civilization paper - much more difficult, as history has never been, is not, and never will be my strong point - and turned it in for grading.  I then turned towards my final paper, 1,000 words longer and requiring much more detail.  Visualizing Scotland is a course that looks at Scotland and how it has been portrayed through visual media throughout history.  We began with paintings, moved on to photography, them documentaries, then finally film for entertainment.  Being an art-based course, I needed to include artworks in my paper for both comparison and strengthening my argument.  I turned again towards Walter Scott, having already studied him for my other paper, and pointed myself in the direction of his affect on Scottish artwork and Scottish identity.  I kept to my routine - lecture, food, library, sleep, repeat - and managed to complete my paper the night before it was due.  The editing process was brutal - I knew some parts of it were repetitive, and I knew other parts should have been removed all together.  I wasn't willing to rewrite an entire paragraph's worth of words, however, so I left them in.  Tidied and cleaned up for presentation purposes, but decidedly not useful for my overall argument.  I was desperate, and sleep-deprived, and food-deprived.  I needed those words.

Two seven page papers and one thirteen page paper later, I had finished my coursework for the semester (at least until exams).  I will admit that back home I had never put that much effort into writing essays for class.  I suppose the fact that these essays accounted for much more of my grade played a part, but I still felt more challenged than I typically was at home.  At times, I miss my lower-stress version of studying back home in America.  I miss the multiple tests and essays that, should they end badly, have a smaller impact on my overall grade for the course.  I miss how much easier it is to talk to my professors if I'm having difficulty.  At other times, however, I am grateful for this semester abroad.  My courses were first and second year courses, and even with three years of college-level coursework under my belt I still struggled a bit.  I have to hand it to these full-time students - you have to be dedicated to your studies to get A's here.  I have only received one A while in Edinburgh this semester, and that was a low A for an essay I worked extremely hard on.  I don't know if this will positively or negatively affect my studies when I return home, but I do know that I'm grateful to have had the chance to experience this.

In the UK, you start your major when you are a freshman, and you take major classes until you graduate.  There are no General Education requirements.  In a way, I believe this is a stronger system.  Students don't dawdle for two years, bouncing between departments before finally choosing a major only because if they don't, they won't graduate on time.  The Humanities students do not have to take Science courses, the Science students do not have to bother with Arts or Language.  They are focused on their field, and that makes them much more knowledgeable by the time they graduate.  It is a different system, but I believe that it works for the UK.  America is more focused on the 'all-around' student who knows a little bit of everything, but has special knowledge in their field.  While I may not agree with forcing students to take courses out of their major just for gen-ed requirements, I understand why it is required at many schools.  I know that personally, I did not benefit from the chemistry courses I took my sophomore year.  They had no application to my life, or my interests, or my English degree.  In fact, I've likely forgotten most of the material already, and it's only been a year.  This is, of course, only my opinion - I'm sure others have benefited from their gen-ed courses, or even enjoyed them enough to switch majors.  I do appreciate that there is no particular hurry to declare a major - at UMW, you are not even allowed to declare a major until your sophomore year.  The policy allowed me to explore my interests until I settled on Creative Writing, and I appreciated that.  Each system has its pros and cons, and I'm extremely happy that I was able to experience two country's university systems during my undergraduate studies.  Not many people get that chance, and I keep in mind how lucky I am every day.

I finished off my three weeks of studying by sleeping for a long, long time.  I had spent so little time in my flat that I believe my flatmates worried I'd left for somewhere.  I had little to no food in the kitchen, as I'd spent so much time eating out.  I had to go grocery shopping.  I had to do laundry.  I had to clean my room.  But most of all, I had to prepare myself for some visits from my family the next two weeks, and the trip I took to Rome, Italy during Spring Break.  But, before all that, I slept.  And it was wonderful.

Durham and the Isle of Skye

After Innovative Learning Week, and turning in two essays within the same week(I lived in the library for two weeks), I moved back into my regular lecture and tutorial weekly schedule.  The following weekend, I went on the ISC trip to Durham, a good 3 hour bus ride away.  We left at 8 AM Saturday, and arrived in the city in the early afternoon.  We had the day to spend as we wished, so my group of friends and I wandered to the Durham Cathedral for a self-tour.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but you can guess just from the beauty of the architecture how ornate it was inside.  They still hold service in the cathedral daily, but not on Saturdays, so luckily we were able to walk around inside with other tourists.  The cathedral runs on donations, and apparently it takes 60,000 pounds a week to keep the building running and looking as beautiful as it does.  That's a lot of money in donations, from a lot of considerate people.

Durham Castle is only accessible via tours, and they had sold out for the day, so unfortunately we did not get to see the castle.  They only allow guided tours through because, apparently, Durham University uses parts of the castle as a dormitory for the students.  Jealous.  Much as I love my flat, living in a castle would be beyond fantastic.  I could actually pretend to be a student at Hogwarts and fulfill my lifelong dreams of being a wizard.  We spent our lunch in a farmer's market set up in the center of the city, where I had a delicious, fresh burger for lunch and bought some homemade fudge for dessert.  You have not lived until you have tasted Bailey's Irish Cream fudge freshly made.  Later we wandered to the Old Mill Museum on the river, then spent the rest of our time hanging out by the river.  It was such a nice day out, I barely needed my coat. In the sunlight, it was warm enough that just a light jacket or sweater would suffice.

We found this huge, stone chair and took turns posing on, in, and around it.  It was big enough that five of us could comfortably pose while the other person took pictures.  All in all, a wonderful day in a beautiful city.

Durham was lovely, but I was really looking forward to my weekend trip to the Isle of Skye the following weekend.  The ISC booked us a discounted tour with Haggis Adventures, so our hostel rooms, breakfast, bus, and tour guide were all included in the price.  And considering all the places we visited and all the stories we learned from our tour guide, it was worth the price.

We left Friday evening at about 7, packed on to two buses, and drove the two and a half hours to Inverness to spend the night.  I'd never spent a night in a hostel before, so this was definitely an interesting experience (plus good for me to experience before I start traveling around during my Spring Break in April).  We stayed in a four person dorm-style room, with shared bathrooms in the hall.  I was with three of my friends, and another person we'd met when in line to get our tickets for the trip.  The beds were fine, not rocks but not clouds, and the sheets kept us warm through the extremely cold night (below ten degrees Fahrenheit  I believe).  Breakfast was simple - bread, ham, cheese, cereal, toast, jam, and juice and coffee - and at 7:30 in the morning.  Can I just say, that trying to use the bathroom when the entire floor is also trying to use the same bathroom at the same time to eat breakfast on time is an experience I never wish to have again.

We left at 8 in the morning to begin our journey to Skye.  We stopped at Loch Ness on our way for a few minutes to take pictures and admire the view.  Loch Ness is apparently so big and so deep, the entire human population could fit in the lake and still not fill it.  Despite the cloudy weather, the loch was still beautiful.

Afterwards, it was a straight shot to the Isle of Skye.  We got just a glimpse of the island as we passed over the bridge, and it was stunning, even in the cloudy weather of late winter.  We stopped in the main town of Portree for lunch, where my friends and I visited the recommended fish and chips shop on the harbor.  The fish, we were told, was caught fresh and prepared that morning, and he battered and fried it right in front of us.  We took our meals to the main square to eat, and enjoyed the freshest, lightest fried fish I have ever tasted.  I could cut through the fish like a hot knife through butter with just my dinky, plastic fork.  I swear, I shall never have fish and chips as delicious, fresh, and filling as that ever again.

The most delicious fish and chips in the entirety of Scotland, in my opinion.

Portree harbor, quite picturesque

After lunch, we drove around the Isle of Skye and made a few, short stops for pictures.  We stopped at Kilt Rock, said to have been created when a giant wearing a kilt sat down to rest upon it.  We visited a beautiful overlook of the Atlantic ocean, where a friend and I journeyed down the mountainside to take pictures of a lovely waterfall.  The hike, though steep, was worth it.  I arrived back at the bus sweaty, red-faced, and panting (because, despite the massive amount of walking I do in Edinburgh, I also eat a massive amount of food), but highly satisfied with my advneture (and impromptu exercise).  I also discovered that sheep can scale vertical surfaces, and I swear they stick to the mountainside with some sort of witchcraft or magic.  It's the only explanation.

Kilt Rock

Waterfall

Magical sheep

Finally, we arrived at our hostel for the night on the Isle of Skye.  With a few hours to spare before dinner, my friends and I decided to try for the castle nearby the town we were in.  After a hike through some marshlands, and some unfortunately soaked through boots and socks, we reached the top of a hill opposite the hill the castle was on - the closest we could get, with the original pathway being covered by the tide.  We trudged back to the hostel, unable to achieve our goal but ultimately satisfied with our view and experience in adventuring through the marshes.  What's a trip to the Highlands of Scotland without a little romp through some marshlands?

The next morning, we left the Isle of Skye bright and early, on our way back to Edinburgh.  We made a stop at the Eilean Donan Castle, a castle that is still used today for weddings, birthdays, and generally as a party venue.  It is a lovely castle, with the inside decorated and restored to 99% accuracy from its original state.

Only real rebels take pictures of the 'Strictly No Photography' sign

Next stop was at the Commando Memorial, a memorial dedicated to all the soldiers, past and present, of Scotland.  After that, we made a stop at the lovely and beautiful Glencoe, possibly the most beautiful valley I have ever seen.  Our tour guide told us the story of the Glencoe Massacre, a tragedy that, while not the bloodiest or worst of Scotland's tragedies, is still remembered and mourned over today.  The MacDonald Clan, living in Glencoe at the time, accepted guests into their homes, fed them, gave them warmth in the cold of winter.  These guests, however, were soldiers under the rule of William and Mary.  The MacDonald Clan had been claimed as 'not prompt' in declaring their allegiance to the king and queen, and so were meant to be  executed.  So, one night after a few nights staying with the MacDonalds, orders were given for the soldiers to kill the clan members.  Not all of them participated, but enough followed the order, and slaughtered innocent men, women, and children in their beds.  The few that survived fled to the surrounding Highlands, in their bed clothes, in the dead of winter.  Thirty-eight were killed by the soldiers, and another forty died from exposure to the elements after their homes were burned to the ground.  It is a sore subject in Scottish history, once that struck me as we stopped in the glen for pictures.  It was the murder under trust, the killing of people who invited you into their homes out of the goodness of their hearts, that stuck with the Scottish people, and I can completely understand why.  The glen is beautiful, yes, but is is also very, very sad.

After Glencoe, we drove straight on back to Edinburgh, and arrived in the city around 6:30 at night.  My friends and I, exhausted from the trip, grabbed a quick dinner and parted ways to get some rest before lectures the next day.  It was a long trip, but an enjoyable one, and I will miss the Isle of Skye.  It may not have been strewn with the purple heather it is known for in summer months, but it was still beautiful, even brown and gray in the cloudy days of late winter.  My first two nights staying in hostels, and my first weekend spent with my new friends will not be easily forgotten.

After this trip, however, my weekends spent with the ISC and their day trips around the country were over.  I had three essays due over the course of the next few weeks, long essays that needed attention if I was going to get the grades I wanted.  I'd spent my last truly free weekend in absolute joy, however, so I buckled down, cast aside my laziness, and did the semester work that I was technically supposed to be focusing on more than I had been.  But what's a semester abroad without making a few impromptu journeys along the way?

And Then I Started Spending Money

The one, most important thing that I have learned since arriving in Edinburgh is to wear your clothes until they either are hanging so loosely off your body that it looks like you've lost twenty pounds in two days, or they start to smell from a few feet away.  Because laundry is really, really expensive.  I try not to think about the exchange rate between the pound and the US dollar when purchasing anything, and usually I do fine.  But when it comes to laundry, sliding coins into those machines is as painful for me as walking across hot coals.  'Three dollars,' I think as I sadly begin my second load of laundry.  'Three dollars to wash.  So painful.'  Beyond spending ridiculous amounts of money on washing my clothes, I've been trying to be more frugal since I arrived.  I ate out a lot my first few weeks, and that hurt my wallet more than I like to remember.  Then the International Student Centre offers these weekend day trips for cheap, cheap prices, and I simply can't resist.  I pay but ten pounds, and I get a bus ride to a city, a ticket to its castle, and freedom to explore the city in the afternoon.  What's not to like?

So, I find myself attempting frugality but failing miserably.  There is so much to explore and experience, and unfortunately it all costs money.  That would be my strongest advice to anyone thinking of studying abroad: definitely save up your money, and be prepared to spend it all very quickly, because you will likely spend more time travelling than studying.  That's all fine and dandy, especially since I believe that is the purpose of studying abroad.  Yes, I get to experience another lifestyle, another culture, another way of studying and going to university.  But I also am so close to all this magnificent history and all these beautiful, old buildings, and I feel that I wouldn't have as much of an understanding of Scotland if I did not travel or experience their history.  Just the fact that I have been able to visit two castles already in my time here tells me that they were a fortified people back then - they needed such defense, from others both in and outside of their own country.  I can learn plenty about their literature and their ancient history in class, but I believe I can learn much, much more by exploring their country.

So, because I have been busy spending more money than I should, I have not written a blog post in a few weeks.  Hopefully, I will cover everything in this post (if I remember it - when there's something going on every weekend, you tend to forget what happened last weekend).  I visited Edinburgh Castle, Melrose Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel with the ISC, the city of Stirling the next weekend, turned in two essays within two days of each other, went on a ghost tour during Innovative Learning Week, and tracked down a hair straightener that actually worked.

I toured Edinburgh Castle on a great student discount through the International Student Center on February 2nd, and was able to take amazing photos of the city.  From one point on the castle, you have a clear view of Arthur's Seat, and a wonderful photo opportunity - same as how you can see the castle from the summit of Arthur's Seat.  The castle is a beautiful sight, with a rich history.  I did not get an official tour done, but I did wander with a friend.

I went to Melrose Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel on February 8th.  Melrose Abbey was a beautiful sight, despite the fact that it is the ruins of an abbey.  Most of the outer buildings - the places the monks slept, ate, etc. - were  just outlines of rock in the ground, with a plaque to tell us what each square used to be.  The only standing building was beautiful, and huge.  I climbed to the top of its tower, and despite the slight foggy weather I could see fairly far away.

Our next stop that day was to Rosslyn Chapel, famous both for its religious background and for the filming of The Davinci Code in its small chambers.  It is a lovely little chapel, with a rich history and intricate designs and decorations to match.  The tour guide told us that people frequent the chapel mostly to search out truths to myths they've heard - sacred objects hidden in the decorated pillars, hidden passages seen in The Davinci Code - or even just to see where only a few minutes of the film were shot.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside, and the outside is surrounded by construction for upkeep of the chapel.  Despite this, the chapel is a beautiful building.

The following weekend, on the 15th of February, I went again on the ISC weekend trip, this time a day trip to Stirling.  We toured the castle, and the Argyll's townhouse nearby.  The weather was so foggy in Stirling that we could barely see past the castle, and any attempts at taking pictures of the wonderful view of the city failed miserably.  There was nothing but a good haze of cloud hanging over the city all day long.

The castle has a fairly bloody history, with multiple Scottish monarchs including Mary, Queen of Scots, and King Richard I taking up residence there.  William Wallace won a victory over the castle, and for that a monument in his name was erected on a hill nearby that overlooks the castle.  Unfortunately, due to the distance it was from the castle and the lack of ability to see past the castle walls, I was not able to see the monument. Robert the Bruce besieged the castle later, taking it as well, and he has a statue standing guard outside the castle walls.

The Queen's Rooms were decorated as ornately as it would have been during her residence, with the royal purple cloth decorating most of the rooms, and the ceilings beautifully decorated with faces of the kings and queens.  At the end of our tour, we found a side room for kids to dress up in fancy clothes from back then, so naturally we put on all the clothes that would fit us and took pictures.

The Argyll's townhouse was built nearby, and was built in four different sections in four different years.  A few of the rooms were decorated as they would have been during the Argyll's residence.  One of the bedrooms was done up, and the bed was shorter than the beds we are accustomed to now.  Our tour guide told us they slept sitting slightly up back then, hence why the beds are shorter.

A model of  the Argyll and his wife

The following week was Innovative Learning Week - a week during which all lectures and tutorials are cancelled, and instead they hold seminars in a large variety of topics.  Some are simple seminar style talks, some are question and answer sessions, some are discussions, some are trips to various museums and historical locations.  Many of the international students I know chose to use this week off from class to travel.  Quite a few went to London, some went to Amsterdam, others to Berlin, and a few to Italy and Ireland.  I, however, remained in Edinburgh, both due to a lack of funds and a lack of planning ahead.  Instead of travelling Europe, I travelled the city.  I got lost with two friends trying to find a movie theater past Princes Street.  I went for walks in the city center and beyond.  I went on a ghost tour with a friend, and learned about Greyfriar's Bobby, and the Mackenzie Poltergeist.  The tour guide warned us that, occasionally, they had guests who would, after the tour, find a really bad bruise on an arm or leg with no knowledge of how it got there.  Then, the bruises would mysteriously disappear.  A few tourists have fainted during the tour after begin attacked by the poltergeist.  Luckily, (or not, depending on how you look at it) the poltergeist left me alone, and I survived to live another day.

The voltage had killed my hair straightener, so I found myself a cheap one to last me through the next four months.   That is one piece of advice I would strongly offer to anyone planning to study abroad - if the voltage is different than home, buy electrical hair products when you get to your destination.  It will save you from losing a $80, really nice, really smooth hair straightener and having to replace it with one worth $30 that honestly does not do as good a  job as your beloved, now deceased one.

I feel that, at this point, I've adjusted fairly well to living in Edinburgh.  My 'new student nerves' have passed. I have a good set of friends, and am always making new ones.  I have a good idea of where certain shops and offices are in the city and how to get to them.  I can manage the public bus system and schedule fairly well.  I have fallen into a routine just like one I would have at home, so that sometimes I can forget I am studying in the UK and not at UMW.  Then I overhear a stranger on the street talk in a British accent, or I look up and see the wondrous architecture filling the city, and I remember where I am, and I can not help but marvel at how lucky I am.

Two Weeks Down, Only Eighteen Left

My first week in Edinburgh was indiscriminately chaotic.

My sister's-in-law sister, also attending post-graduate courses at the University of Edinburgh for the whole year, kindly picked me up at the airport and helped me find and get into my accommodations.  This entailed a bus ride from the airport to the city, then another bus ride to the accommodation center to pick up my keys, then a twenty minute walk down the street to my accommodation.  This, naturally, was all accompanied by my two suitcases and my panicky method of flouncing about the city.  It was an intense introduction to the public bus system, traumatizing me enough to avoid riding the public buses for fear that I would end up on the other end of the city with no change to buy me another bus ride and no way to call anyone for help.  Once settled into my accommodation, I spent the next few days acquiring an international cell phone, purchasing a few basic food stuffs to get me through the week, and exploring my new city.

Classes started on Monday, and I was swept up into the lecture and tutorial style of teaching with little preparation.  All three of my classes were on Monday, giving me a good look at how the teaching system works and a good introduction to what I would be learning during my semester.  My first day of classes, while only slightly less chaotic than my first day in Edinburgh, was much more informative and had an air of familiarity that I could cling to.  I am a good student, and I understand going to lecture and taking notes, and with map in hand I could easily find my way around the university.  This, I could handle.  I attended my first tutorial on Tuesday, which for all my American friends back home is the discussion part of the course.  You go to lecture and learn about the reading, and then you go to your tutorial (some once a week, others once every two weeks) and go more in depth about the reading and have a chance to discuss your own thoughts and questions about it.  It was basically just splitting my normal classes at home into two each, which actually makes more sense to me.  It is much easier to participate in a class discussion when there are only six or seven other students in the class, as opposed to somewhere between twenty and thirty.

Plus, none of my classes are earlier than 11 AM, which fits nicely with my tendency to stay up late.

On Sunday after my first week of classes, I joined a small group of other international students at the International Student office in a peer-led walk up Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh's own mini-mountain.  While the snow made it too slippery (or slippy, as the signs going up the mountain advised) to climb to the summit, I did manage to climb to the almost summit with most of the group.  Despite the wind blowing straight through my layers of sweaters and heavy pea coat and chilling my bones, the freezing temperature, the snow and mud layering the bottom of my jeans, and the inability to keep snot from constantly running out of my nose, I took a long look out over the city and fell in love with it.  The grey sky actually enhanced the view, and the light layer of snow over the city made it seem very peaceful and innocent.  I hope to return to the summit of Arthur's Seat when the view is clearer and the mountain less muddy, and to actually climb to the top to take better pictures of the city, but in the meantime we will have to make due with the pictures I have.

Edinburgh from one side of the mountain.

Me at the almost-summit

Edinburgh from the other side of Arthur's Seat

You can see the ocean past the city!

Unfortunately, however, I did not known that my accommodation was located a good thirty minute walk from my classes until I arrived in Edinburgh.  After my first week of classes, I decided that moving was likely my best option.  There is the public bus system, but that costs money, and I do not have much of that.  There is a free shuttle bus for only university students, but to get to that stop I had to walk ten minutes in the opposite direction I needed to go to the other campus, then wait for the bus to arrive, then enjoy the fifteen minute bus ride to the campus I needed to get to.  I found it difficult and tiresome, especially when I found myself walking thirty minutes in the rain and snow, so I emailed accommodations about transferring to a different location.  I got lucky, and ended up moving at the end of my second week to a place only ten minutes walk from my classes.  Much easier, less stressful, and generally a good idea to move so early in the semester.

Friday of this past weekend, I met another group of friends who took us up to Calton Hill, a less steep climb than Arthur's Seat, after dark to see the city by night.  Despite the cold and rain, the view was fantastic and wonderfully beautiful.  I do want to return during a clear day to take pictures again, as I can imagine the view during the daytime being similarly fantastic, however seeing the city light up all the way to the ocean and being able to see the next city over was unforgettable.

Edinburgh by night from Calton Hill.

I have yet to even begin to discover this city and the history that surrounds it, but I certainly plan on doing so during my five months here.  Culture-wise, I have learned a few things in my two weeks here: look right, not left, before you step into the road, otherwise you will narrowly avoid being hit by a car three times in one week; saying 'have a nice day' after an interaction with a stranger is not a common thing here, or at least it has not been in my interactions, which, as an American used to saying such a phrase constantly back home, is very strange to me; they have a two pound coin, which makes payments via change so much easier; laundry is really expensive; double-decker buses are awesome and allow a sweet view of the city; you don't have to wait for the crosswalk light to go green to walk, but it is recommended when you keep forgetting that people turning right will hit you if you don't think to look for them; it is impossible to understand people with a thick Scottish accent.

As I go into my third week (already!), and I start getting into my coursework and having deadlines approach at a rapid pace, I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable in this new home far, far away from home.

The Crofter and the Laird

Before I arrived in Edinburgh, I read The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee, as a look at Scotland and the writing of Scotland in preparation, I suppose, for the five months I would be spending there.  The book follows the narrator as he returns to his ancestor’s home on the Scottish island of Colonsay.  I do not know much about the island itself, but the book presents it as the typical “rolling hills, sheep everywhere, people living in small villages” image of Scotland that I’ve seen in the States.  McPhee goes into detail about the clan history of the island, and the overbearing, generally disliked presence of the laird over the island that he basically owns.  It was an interesting perspective, as the points of view slip seamlessly between McPhee and the villagers.  The way he presents the island lends me an image of a generally beautiful, but entirely melancholic place to live.  I do not mean that the people he describes living there are necessarily depressed because of their residence, but rather that the history of the island and its clans is full of melancholy and grief.  He ends the book with the story of his ancestor escaping an invading army while a companion runs back to save the wife of McPhee’s ancestor, which left me feeling very confused and sad myself.  My feelings reflect my understanding of the book – there was so much description of this person’s ancestry and this person’s ancestry that I often got lost as to who was who.

                The book did reflect what I’ve been studying in my first week of classes at Edinburgh.  My Scottish Literature class has been going over the confused nationality of Scotland, how its history and lack of solid kingship has created an inability to have a national image of itself.  To the Scottish, I’m sure that is ridiculous, but I myself can’t think of anything other than kilts and sheep and haggis when I think of Scotland.  Is this because of my own ignorance living in America, or is it because of Scotland’s own confused and complicated history?  In McPhee’s book, the people seem to know very well who they are and what they are, but I was not as sure.  I had little sense of the characters and who they were; if that was because of McPhee’s tendency to leap from story to story with little in between, or because of my own inability to understand the characters, I still do not know.

                In any case, while McPhee’s book was an interesting read and certainly a different perspective of a Scottish lifestyle, my own arrival in Edinburgh was nothing like McPhee’s arrival in Colonsay.  Edinburgh is a city, and there was not a rolling hill to be seen while I rode the bus from the airport to pick up the keys to my accommodations.  I’m sure that as I explore the country more (this being my first week in Edinburgh, I had little chance to explore outside of the city), I will see more of the majesty that McPhee describes.  I certainly hope so, because while Edinburgh is a wonderful city with an innumerable amount of things to see, it is still a city, and I will forever be a open country kind of person.