It seems like the closer I get to the end of term, the faster time goes by! I can't believe I'll be home on Friday. I'm really excited to be back and see everyone, but leaving Scotland will be sad. I really like St. Andrews and all the people I've met here.
Kelsey left this morning for London, making her the first of our "inner circle" to leave St. Andrews. The parting was not without tears, but it was a little easier for me since she goes to UVa and will therefore be fifteen minutes away from me for all of next year! We're already planning a trip to visit some of the others.
But for now, I have to keep this brief, as I have two exams tomorrow and have not studied sufficiently for either! Hence the title-- ack!
Monday 25 May 2009
Sunday 10 May 2009
Andrew Melville Ball
The University of St. Andrews has another interesting tradition, one that it seems to share with only Oxford and Cambridge-- each year is punctuated periodically with a remarkably high number of formal balls. One friend of mine, Alex, says he has gone to ten since the start of the year. In addition to large, school-wide balls, each residential hall has at least one a year, sometimes two, and almost every student society has a formal event for their members. The cost ranges from 45 pounds for the May Ball, the largest one which is occurring tonight, to free, like the Andrew Melville Christmas Ball which was held last term.
On Friday, we had the Andrew Melville May Ball, which cost two pounds for Melville residents and five pounds for guests. At such a low cost, I wasn't expecting too much. I decided to go anyway because it would be a fun chance to hang out with my friends from my hall, especially since I don't have too much time left with them all.
My low expectations were completely blown away. The ball was absolutely amazing. The theme for the night was "The Great Gatsby", and the organizers outdid themselves in setting up the venue. The ball took place in Younger Hall, the music building, which provided a perfect setting. The ceiling was draped in cloth banners and a full band was set up on the stage at one end. As you entered the ball, a greeter welcomed you at the door and handed each person a rose, an unexpected, but nice touch. Each person also got two free drinks from the bar, something my first year friends took almost immediate advantage of.
One of the highlights of the night for me, however, was the Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament that had been arranged as part of the ball. Set up around the edges of the dance floor, the tournament started with four different tables of eight people. As the number playing shrank, they consolidated to a single table. Now, as I did not make it that far, I have no idea who won, but I did managed to accomplish my goals for the evening. Not being the best at poker, I went into the game hoping to do two things-- 1- Win at least one hand and 2- Avoid being the first person eliminated at my table. I did managed to win a hand (yes, only one, unfortunately) on a nice set of three nines. On top of that, not only was I not the first person eliminated from the table, but I in fact beat out five of the eight of us, making it so far that I was moved to another table when enough people from my own were eliminated, thanks to a high-stakes hand where three people were all in (the fourth person, the only one who was not down to his last chip, won the hand, knocking out all three at once). I also stayed in the tournament longer than both Mark and Kelsey, something I might rub in for a little while longer.
I finished the tournament just in time to enjoy the last song from the band, which had spent the first two hours or so of the ball playing swing and foxtrot music, to which a surprising number of people knew how to dance. Lessons had been given earlier in the week at Melville, but as not many people attended, I wasn't expecting such a high number of people on the dance floor. Overall, if was a really fun atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music and the ball, and it was a nice way to end the last week of classes. Those two pounds were well spent!
Unfortunately, we are now in revision week, the week between the end of classes and the beginning of exams. I don't quite understand why a whole week is necessary. At home, we take almost twice as many classes a term and only get a single reading day at a time. Here, people can take a max of three courses a semester and yet require a whole week to review? It seems a little ridiculous. I don't even know what to do with myself with this much time.
On Friday, we had the Andrew Melville May Ball, which cost two pounds for Melville residents and five pounds for guests. At such a low cost, I wasn't expecting too much. I decided to go anyway because it would be a fun chance to hang out with my friends from my hall, especially since I don't have too much time left with them all.
My low expectations were completely blown away. The ball was absolutely amazing. The theme for the night was "The Great Gatsby", and the organizers outdid themselves in setting up the venue. The ball took place in Younger Hall, the music building, which provided a perfect setting. The ceiling was draped in cloth banners and a full band was set up on the stage at one end. As you entered the ball, a greeter welcomed you at the door and handed each person a rose, an unexpected, but nice touch. Each person also got two free drinks from the bar, something my first year friends took almost immediate advantage of.
One of the highlights of the night for me, however, was the Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament that had been arranged as part of the ball. Set up around the edges of the dance floor, the tournament started with four different tables of eight people. As the number playing shrank, they consolidated to a single table. Now, as I did not make it that far, I have no idea who won, but I did managed to accomplish my goals for the evening. Not being the best at poker, I went into the game hoping to do two things-- 1- Win at least one hand and 2- Avoid being the first person eliminated at my table. I did managed to win a hand (yes, only one, unfortunately) on a nice set of three nines. On top of that, not only was I not the first person eliminated from the table, but I in fact beat out five of the eight of us, making it so far that I was moved to another table when enough people from my own were eliminated, thanks to a high-stakes hand where three people were all in (the fourth person, the only one who was not down to his last chip, won the hand, knocking out all three at once). I also stayed in the tournament longer than both Mark and Kelsey, something I might rub in for a little while longer.
I finished the tournament just in time to enjoy the last song from the band, which had spent the first two hours or so of the ball playing swing and foxtrot music, to which a surprising number of people knew how to dance. Lessons had been given earlier in the week at Melville, but as not many people attended, I wasn't expecting such a high number of people on the dance floor. Overall, if was a really fun atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music and the ball, and it was a nice way to end the last week of classes. Those two pounds were well spent!
Unfortunately, we are now in revision week, the week between the end of classes and the beginning of exams. I don't quite understand why a whole week is necessary. At home, we take almost twice as many classes a term and only get a single reading day at a time. Here, people can take a max of three courses a semester and yet require a whole week to review? It seems a little ridiculous. I don't even know what to do with myself with this much time.
Sunday 3 May 2009
The May Dip
Wow, I've become very bad at updating this, and for that, I apologize. Since spring break, I have had at least one paper due a week, so a lot of my time has been devoted to that. However, this week I got to participate in one of the University's time-honored traditions and possibly one of the best nights of my life, so I figured an update on that would be in order.
The May Dip has been a tradition at St. Andrews since I don't know when; with a University this old, there are a lot of traditions. The tradition itself is quite simple. On May 1st each year at dawn, hundreds of University students head to Castle Sands, the beach in the center of St. Andrews, in order to take a dip in the North Sea. This is supposed to cleanse you of any academic "sins", which supposedly make a student fail all their courses. Now this sounds like a chilly and rather unappealing tradition, but in reality, it's quite an experience, mostly because students spend the night before having parties and bonfires on all three of St. Andrews' beaches before finally converging on Castle Sands at 3 or 4am. Before I get into it, however, I should probably describe how I approached the night.
On May 1st, I had two essays due. As of Thursday, one was completed. The other, much longer one did not have a word on paper, although my research for it was done. Because Thursday is my busy day in terms of classes, I wasn't going to be able to start the 3000 word assignment until after dinner. On top of that, I had promised to go to a pub quiz that night to help Steph, as the quiz was a fundraiser for an autistic boy she volunteers with. Needless to say, there was a strong possibility I wasn't making it to the Dip, or at least to any of the fun that proceeds it. However, there are times when I impress even myself with my efficiency when focused. After scarfing down dinner at record speed, I managed to crank out 500 words before the pub quiz, which also ended up being a lot of fun. While we didn't win, my team (Tomas, Steph and myself) definitely beat the other team of our friends (Kelsey, Neil and Hannah), so we were content.
I made it back to my hall at 10:30 and settled in to work. From 10:30 to 2 am, I managed to finish another 2000 words and to improve the 500 I had already put down, as about half of that was... less than adequate, to put it nicely. With that much under my belt, I felt I deserved a break and headed out to West Sands where my friends from Andrew Melville were having a beach party. It had been raining for the past day and a half and rained most of the following day, but that night was absolutely perfect. I had to walk half a mile or so down the beach to meet everyone, and it was a fantastic night to be out. Stars were everywhere, since St. Andrews is pretty small and doesn't have a lot of light pollution and the moon was huge. It was one of the nicest walks I've had since I got here, and I've been doing quite a bit of walking.
The beach party itself was a lot of fun. Pretty much all of my friends from my hall were there, and they had both a bonfire and a barbecue going, making it very much the stereotypical beach party. Throughout the semester, we've slowly been growing closer and closer to people in our hall, and hanging out with them at the beach was one of those moments when I'm reminded that we really are part of the group now, in a way we weren't when we first got here.
Eventually the sky started to lighten up a bit and it was time to make our way to Castle Sands. I'm not completely sure why that beach was chosen as the correct one from which to jump into the ocean. To begin with, it's the smallest. On top of that, as you can see in the picture here, it's backed by cliffs, meaning that there's only one way to get up or down. Not an easy task with hundreds of students all trying to do the same thing. Lastly, it's the rockiest of all the beaches, with rough, grainy sand and rows upon rows of submerged rocks (one of which later met with my knee in an unfortunate and painful collision). All of this seems like a poor choice, particularly with drunken students added to the mix. (For the record, I was not among the drunken ones. Jumping into the sea in that state just seemed like another poor choice.)
But I guess tradition is tradition, and we wouldn't want to miss out on participating in our one semester here. So at four am on May 1st, Steph, Kelsey and I were joined by Tomas in running into the North Sea. For anyone who ever considers doing this, I will warn you right now-- however cold you think it's going to be, it is worse. I actually screamed when I hit the water because of the temperature. To make matters worse, I was with people who insisted we actually submerge ourselves in the water. Our friends on the shore, who had already gone in, were standing there laughing at our obvious pain as we paddled around for a bit trying not to lose feeling in our limbs. And even better, as we went to get out, we had to climb up on a ledge of submerged rock to reach the shore again. As Steph and I climbed up and tried to gain our balance, Tomas came over and grabbed our hands. To help? Nope. He, being the gentleman that he is, took that opportunity to shove us both back into the water, and unfortunately had enough balance not to follow as we tried to pull him with us.
When we did finally make it out, we were cold to the point that sand against our feet burned. Thankfully, there was a bonfire only a few short steps away, and our friends had been holding towels for us, so we were soon back to a relatively normal temperature. After warming up, we headed back to our hall still soaked and shivering at five in the morning, backed by one of the best sunrises I have ever seen.
I realize looking back at what I've written that it doesn't seem like that much of an experience, and certainly not one that I would be convinced I'll remember forever. But it was, and I am. It was an awesome night, simply because we got to spend most of it with friends. Despite smashing my knee on underwater rocks and feeling possibly the coldest water I've ever been in in my life, given the choice, I would do everything again. It's an experience that I think is uniquely St. Andrews and part of the reason I love it here.
And, for the record, I think the paper turned out relatively well. I even managed to get it in an hour early.
The May Dip has been a tradition at St. Andrews since I don't know when; with a University this old, there are a lot of traditions. The tradition itself is quite simple. On May 1st each year at dawn, hundreds of University students head to Castle Sands, the beach in the center of St. Andrews, in order to take a dip in the North Sea. This is supposed to cleanse you of any academic "sins", which supposedly make a student fail all their courses. Now this sounds like a chilly and rather unappealing tradition, but in reality, it's quite an experience, mostly because students spend the night before having parties and bonfires on all three of St. Andrews' beaches before finally converging on Castle Sands at 3 or 4am. Before I get into it, however, I should probably describe how I approached the night.
On May 1st, I had two essays due. As of Thursday, one was completed. The other, much longer one did not have a word on paper, although my research for it was done. Because Thursday is my busy day in terms of classes, I wasn't going to be able to start the 3000 word assignment until after dinner. On top of that, I had promised to go to a pub quiz that night to help Steph, as the quiz was a fundraiser for an autistic boy she volunteers with. Needless to say, there was a strong possibility I wasn't making it to the Dip, or at least to any of the fun that proceeds it. However, there are times when I impress even myself with my efficiency when focused. After scarfing down dinner at record speed, I managed to crank out 500 words before the pub quiz, which also ended up being a lot of fun. While we didn't win, my team (Tomas, Steph and myself) definitely beat the other team of our friends (Kelsey, Neil and Hannah), so we were content.
I made it back to my hall at 10:30 and settled in to work. From 10:30 to 2 am, I managed to finish another 2000 words and to improve the 500 I had already put down, as about half of that was... less than adequate, to put it nicely. With that much under my belt, I felt I deserved a break and headed out to West Sands where my friends from Andrew Melville were having a beach party. It had been raining for the past day and a half and rained most of the following day, but that night was absolutely perfect. I had to walk half a mile or so down the beach to meet everyone, and it was a fantastic night to be out. Stars were everywhere, since St. Andrews is pretty small and doesn't have a lot of light pollution and the moon was huge. It was one of the nicest walks I've had since I got here, and I've been doing quite a bit of walking.
The beach party itself was a lot of fun. Pretty much all of my friends from my hall were there, and they had both a bonfire and a barbecue going, making it very much the stereotypical beach party. Throughout the semester, we've slowly been growing closer and closer to people in our hall, and hanging out with them at the beach was one of those moments when I'm reminded that we really are part of the group now, in a way we weren't when we first got here.
Eventually the sky started to lighten up a bit and it was time to make our way to Castle Sands. I'm not completely sure why that beach was chosen as the correct one from which to jump into the ocean. To begin with, it's the smallest. On top of that, as you can see in the picture here, it's backed by cliffs, meaning that there's only one way to get up or down. Not an easy task with hundreds of students all trying to do the same thing. Lastly, it's the rockiest of all the beaches, with rough, grainy sand and rows upon rows of submerged rocks (one of which later met with my knee in an unfortunate and painful collision). All of this seems like a poor choice, particularly with drunken students added to the mix. (For the record, I was not among the drunken ones. Jumping into the sea in that state just seemed like another poor choice.)But I guess tradition is tradition, and we wouldn't want to miss out on participating in our one semester here. So at four am on May 1st, Steph, Kelsey and I were joined by Tomas in running into the North Sea. For anyone who ever considers doing this, I will warn you right now-- however cold you think it's going to be, it is worse. I actually screamed when I hit the water because of the temperature. To make matters worse, I was with people who insisted we actually submerge ourselves in the water. Our friends on the shore, who had already gone in, were standing there laughing at our obvious pain as we paddled around for a bit trying not to lose feeling in our limbs. And even better, as we went to get out, we had to climb up on a ledge of submerged rock to reach the shore again. As Steph and I climbed up and tried to gain our balance, Tomas came over and grabbed our hands. To help? Nope. He, being the gentleman that he is, took that opportunity to shove us both back into the water, and unfortunately had enough balance not to follow as we tried to pull him with us.
When we did finally make it out, we were cold to the point that sand against our feet burned. Thankfully, there was a bonfire only a few short steps away, and our friends had been holding towels for us, so we were soon back to a relatively normal temperature. After warming up, we headed back to our hall still soaked and shivering at five in the morning, backed by one of the best sunrises I have ever seen.
I realize looking back at what I've written that it doesn't seem like that much of an experience, and certainly not one that I would be convinced I'll remember forever. But it was, and I am. It was an awesome night, simply because we got to spend most of it with friends. Despite smashing my knee on underwater rocks and feeling possibly the coldest water I've ever been in in my life, given the choice, I would do everything again. It's an experience that I think is uniquely St. Andrews and part of the reason I love it here.
And, for the record, I think the paper turned out relatively well. I even managed to get it in an hour early.
Friday 17 April 2009
I'm back!
I made it back from my continental adventures! I apologize for not updating this sooner, but it's been a busy week. My family was here at the beginning, then my friend and I had our joint birthday party, and then I had a paper due today! Now that that's out of the way, I'm hoping to be able to get up some notes about how the trip went. My journal entries about it are excessively long, sometimes in excess of thirty pages a city (albeit in a small journal, but still), so I don't think I'll be transferring all of that to here. But I will start putting up some shorter discussions of where we went and what we saw and all that.
In the meantime, about 2/3 of my photographs have been posted! I had to put them up on Facebook- most other photo sites have excessive restrictions on how many photos you can post in what timeframe, and Facebook was just easier. If you don't have a Facebook, you can email me and I will try sharing the album with you. Having not done that before, I'm not sure how it works, but supposedly it is possible.
Other than that, look forward to some travel stories soon!
In the meantime, about 2/3 of my photographs have been posted! I had to put them up on Facebook- most other photo sites have excessive restrictions on how many photos you can post in what timeframe, and Facebook was just easier. If you don't have a Facebook, you can email me and I will try sharing the album with you. Having not done that before, I'm not sure how it works, but supposedly it is possible.
Other than that, look forward to some travel stories soon!
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Spring!
So it's been awhile since I've written, mostly because I haven't actually been in Scotland for the past week or so. I left here on the 13th to go back to the United States for my Model United Nations Conference, which took place the week of the 16th. I got to spend a few days at home for a nice break before going into the city. It was also really convenient that Mark had the same flight home as I did, so I had someone else to ride with on the train and bus to the airport. Since we had to leave St. Andrews at quarter to six in the morning to catch our train, Mark and I actually ended up staying up all night watching movies and helping him pack. He's a very last minute type of person, as he started packing around 2am.
It's interesting to come back after a week or so to find St. Andrews in full bloom for spring. It's not particularly warm here, and still very windy, but flowers have appeared everywhere. There are large patches of crocuses and daffodils all over the place, which is really pretty with all the old buildings. Students are really great about not taking them as well. At UVa, there are usually signs next to the tulips saying not to pick them, but I haven't seen anything like that here. Maybe because there's so many it doesn't matter! It's a really big contrast to how brown things still are at home.
The conference itself was a lot of fun. It's nice to have friends like the ones I have on staff- it's possible for me to go almost a year without talking to them but still have them run over to give me a hug when I show up in the hotel. They're very low maintenance. It's great. Possibly the only downside to the week was the complete lack of sleep I suffered. Unfortunately, when we have 71 college student to take care of 2500 high school students, it's a lot of responsibility. A big part of this is trying to stay on the good side of the hotel, so we arrange and run our own security patrols on the floors that have our students on them. It was really effective this year, with a record low number of noise complaints, but it was also exhausting, as security shifts keep us up really late. Then we have to be up before our students as well, in order to be in our conference rooms before them to get everything set up. So over the end of the week when students were there, I think I averaged 4 or so hours of sleep a night.
But the funny part is that even when we had a chance to sleep more, most of us wouldn't take it. Instead, we spent the time hanging out in the Penthouse, where our Executive Staff lives, in order to spend more time with each other. It's actually very interesting how close to people you can get in a week or so, even if you didn't know each other beforehand. Of course, we also spend a ridiculous amount of time together, so I guess it does make sense.
When the conference was over, Dad actually came down to spend the day with me, since my flight didn't leave until ten that night. We spent most of the day at the Museum of Natural History. It's a huge museum, and we didn't really get a chance to read too much of the material, because we were trying to see everything at least briefly. The Butterfly Conservatory was probably one of the coolest parts. We got to go into a room filled with butterflies and walk around to see them all. There were hundreds of them and all really close, since it wasn't a very big room. Dad and I managed to get some great photographs. After the museum, we walked through Central Park to the Carnegie Deli for dinner, then went for a quick drive through Battery Park before heading to the airport.
At this point, I was beyond exhausted. Thankfully, on the way home, I had three seats to myself on the airplane, so I slept the entire time, not even waking up for food. I've also been sleeping a lot since I got back, and think I'm finally back to normal. Which is good, because I leave this weekend for Germany and my Easter Break trip! Hopefully I'll be able to update throughout the trip, but we'll have to see. None of us are planning on bringing our laptops, so it will depend on what kind of internet setup the hostels have. Either way, I know I'll end up giving a full report eventually. I'm so excited!
It's interesting to come back after a week or so to find St. Andrews in full bloom for spring. It's not particularly warm here, and still very windy, but flowers have appeared everywhere. There are large patches of crocuses and daffodils all over the place, which is really pretty with all the old buildings. Students are really great about not taking them as well. At UVa, there are usually signs next to the tulips saying not to pick them, but I haven't seen anything like that here. Maybe because there's so many it doesn't matter! It's a really big contrast to how brown things still are at home.
The conference itself was a lot of fun. It's nice to have friends like the ones I have on staff- it's possible for me to go almost a year without talking to them but still have them run over to give me a hug when I show up in the hotel. They're very low maintenance. It's great. Possibly the only downside to the week was the complete lack of sleep I suffered. Unfortunately, when we have 71 college student to take care of 2500 high school students, it's a lot of responsibility. A big part of this is trying to stay on the good side of the hotel, so we arrange and run our own security patrols on the floors that have our students on them. It was really effective this year, with a record low number of noise complaints, but it was also exhausting, as security shifts keep us up really late. Then we have to be up before our students as well, in order to be in our conference rooms before them to get everything set up. So over the end of the week when students were there, I think I averaged 4 or so hours of sleep a night.
But the funny part is that even when we had a chance to sleep more, most of us wouldn't take it. Instead, we spent the time hanging out in the Penthouse, where our Executive Staff lives, in order to spend more time with each other. It's actually very interesting how close to people you can get in a week or so, even if you didn't know each other beforehand. Of course, we also spend a ridiculous amount of time together, so I guess it does make sense.
When the conference was over, Dad actually came down to spend the day with me, since my flight didn't leave until ten that night. We spent most of the day at the Museum of Natural History. It's a huge museum, and we didn't really get a chance to read too much of the material, because we were trying to see everything at least briefly. The Butterfly Conservatory was probably one of the coolest parts. We got to go into a room filled with butterflies and walk around to see them all. There were hundreds of them and all really close, since it wasn't a very big room. Dad and I managed to get some great photographs. After the museum, we walked through Central Park to the Carnegie Deli for dinner, then went for a quick drive through Battery Park before heading to the airport.
At this point, I was beyond exhausted. Thankfully, on the way home, I had three seats to myself on the airplane, so I slept the entire time, not even waking up for food. I've also been sleeping a lot since I got back, and think I'm finally back to normal. Which is good, because I leave this weekend for Germany and my Easter Break trip! Hopefully I'll be able to update throughout the trip, but we'll have to see. None of us are planning on bringing our laptops, so it will depend on what kind of internet setup the hostels have. Either way, I know I'll end up giving a full report eventually. I'm so excited!
Tuesday 10 March 2009
St. Andrews Culture
So I've been here a few weeks now, and I'm finally starting to get friends among the full time students in my hall. It was difficult, as they tend to be somewhat grouped into cliques, especially the people who live in my block. Andrew Melville Hall, my dorm, is separated into 5 blocks of rooms, A-E. I live in A block, where the top floor is eight girls and the rest of the floors are boys. And everyone here is always together. A block is actually known throughout Melville by the other blocks as being very insular.
Now I'm not sure if the reason it's taken me this long to get to know them is because it took them awhile for them to open up to us new kids, or if it's just that I was intimidated by how close they all are, but I'm finally starting to be more comfortable around them and hang out with them more. Partially, I think I have Mark to thank for this. About two weeks ago, I went out with Mark, my friend from Model UN, Stephanie and Kelsey. While we were out, one of Mark's friends, Harry, from Northern Ireland came over. It turns out that he lives in A block, and he ended up spending the rest of the night out with us. Since then, it's almost like we've gotten the seal of approval from the rest of A block. The ones that are in my class are more likely to sit with me or ask me to sit with them. They've invited us to go out with them. Steph and I sat with them at dinner. And they're all really nice. I'm glad we've finally "broken in" to A block, as Steph, Kelsey and I joked. I guess it was a combination of the two factors I mentioned above- them being so close to each other already and us being intimidated. It took both sides a little while to open up. But it's nice to be making more friends among the full-time St. Andrews students, rather than just the JSAs.
Although I love my JSA friends as well. Kelsey, Steph and I have pretty much become joined at the hip in a lot of ways. Hannah too, but to a lesser degree only because she doesn't live in Andrew Melville. We joke that we're the three musketeers and Hannah is our D'Artagnan. We're definitely closer to each other than to the other JSAs, which is good since the four of us are spending our Easter Break traveling together. It's coming up quickly and we're all really excited. We managed to narrow down the places we wanted to go to a manageable number, so we'll be spending about two weeks in three separate countries. I'm sure I'll be writing all about it then.
We're also slowly starting to adjust to the culture of St. Andrews. Surprisingly for us, there aren't that many actual Scottish students here. There are a good number, of course, but less than we expected. We found out that University of St. Andrews is actually known colloquially as "The English University of Scotland", because so many students come from England. Quite a few are also from Northern Ireland, like Mark and Harry. We're starting to pick up on the differences is accents, which is good. Then we can avoid making mistakes like that of another JSA, Brian, who told one of the A block girls, Tatum, that he thought she was "the epitome of an English woman", only to find out that Tatum is from Northern Ireland. Needless to say, Brian was slightly embarrassed. We're also starting to get more phrases that we don't use in the US. One of my favorites is saying "half seven" or "half three" instead of seven-thirty or three-thirty. That's one that we all picked up on relatively quickly and use ourselves now. It's shorter and easier to type when texting. I also like the word "knackered", meaning exhausted. Although you also have to be careful when using British terms-- if you say them in an accent, like one JSA always does "by accident", you tend to get made fun of.
Now I'm not sure if the reason it's taken me this long to get to know them is because it took them awhile for them to open up to us new kids, or if it's just that I was intimidated by how close they all are, but I'm finally starting to be more comfortable around them and hang out with them more. Partially, I think I have Mark to thank for this. About two weeks ago, I went out with Mark, my friend from Model UN, Stephanie and Kelsey. While we were out, one of Mark's friends, Harry, from Northern Ireland came over. It turns out that he lives in A block, and he ended up spending the rest of the night out with us. Since then, it's almost like we've gotten the seal of approval from the rest of A block. The ones that are in my class are more likely to sit with me or ask me to sit with them. They've invited us to go out with them. Steph and I sat with them at dinner. And they're all really nice. I'm glad we've finally "broken in" to A block, as Steph, Kelsey and I joked. I guess it was a combination of the two factors I mentioned above- them being so close to each other already and us being intimidated. It took both sides a little while to open up. But it's nice to be making more friends among the full-time St. Andrews students, rather than just the JSAs.
Although I love my JSA friends as well. Kelsey, Steph and I have pretty much become joined at the hip in a lot of ways. Hannah too, but to a lesser degree only because she doesn't live in Andrew Melville. We joke that we're the three musketeers and Hannah is our D'Artagnan. We're definitely closer to each other than to the other JSAs, which is good since the four of us are spending our Easter Break traveling together. It's coming up quickly and we're all really excited. We managed to narrow down the places we wanted to go to a manageable number, so we'll be spending about two weeks in three separate countries. I'm sure I'll be writing all about it then.
We're also slowly starting to adjust to the culture of St. Andrews. Surprisingly for us, there aren't that many actual Scottish students here. There are a good number, of course, but less than we expected. We found out that University of St. Andrews is actually known colloquially as "The English University of Scotland", because so many students come from England. Quite a few are also from Northern Ireland, like Mark and Harry. We're starting to pick up on the differences is accents, which is good. Then we can avoid making mistakes like that of another JSA, Brian, who told one of the A block girls, Tatum, that he thought she was "the epitome of an English woman", only to find out that Tatum is from Northern Ireland. Needless to say, Brian was slightly embarrassed. We're also starting to get more phrases that we don't use in the US. One of my favorites is saying "half seven" or "half three" instead of seven-thirty or three-thirty. That's one that we all picked up on relatively quickly and use ourselves now. It's shorter and easier to type when texting. I also like the word "knackered", meaning exhausted. Although you also have to be careful when using British terms-- if you say them in an accent, like one JSA always does "by accident", you tend to get made fun of.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
A torchlight procession
Well, this weekend was highly uneventful, especially compared to last weekend. I'm not even sure I could tell you what I did the past few days (but here's a hint: it wasn't much). Today was an interesting day though, because we got to participate in a University tradition that occurs only once every three years. This year, a new Rector of the University was elected. They are chosen directly by the students to serve as the head of the University Court (the supreme governing body of the University) for three years. In the past, people as varied as Rudyard Kipling, Andrew Carnegie, J.M. Barrie and John Stuart Mill have been elected to the position. Originally, the person elected was supposed to be one of "great national or international distinction who would be installed with much celebration but was seldom seen again in St Andrews", according to the school website, but this has changed over time, especially since the 1960s. Today, the student body aims to elect a person who will promote their interests to the University Court. Our new Rector, Kevin Dunion, will take on the role tomorrow after an official ceremony, but today marked the fun part of the tradition.
The day before their installation, the new Rector arrives at the University, traditionally in some spectacular or odd manner. In the past, methods have been as varied as the Rector getting himself shipped by post or riding up onto the beach in a historical landing vessel from World War II. Famous comedian and former Rector John Cleese apparently arrived carrying a pig. I still haven't gotten the full story on that. (He later went on to dramatically change the post of Rector, making changes such as making the role of Assessor, who can act in the Rector's stead in meetings, into a position for a student, elected by the whole student body. This granted direct access and representation to the student body for the first time in over 500 years). Kevin arrived today pedaling a vintage bicycle ice cream cart from Janetta's Ice Cream Parlor in St. Andrews. He brought some ice cream to hand out, and was even dressed in a red apron and straw hat over a white shirt and black slacks. After his arrival, he participated in the Rectorial Drag, where he rides around town from pub to pub in a carriage drawn by students. Along the way, he is met in these pubs by students of the university, in order to spend some time with the people who have elected him.
Later at night, there is a torchlight procession from the center of the school down to the pier that stretches out into the North Sea. The procession was quite a sight, with hundreds of students showing up. Most of them were wearing the traditional St. Andrews robes, with red for Arts and Sciences students and black for Divinity students. The robes are interesting, as they are worn differently for each class. Freshmen wear them normally, but as you progress through years, you wear your robes further and further off your shoulders, so seniors wind up with theirs around their elbows. My friends and I were originally packed into the middle of the crowd, but Kelsey and I managed to sneak around the side up to the front. We weren't fast enough to get a torch, as there were very few, but as we walked in the procession, we both spotted broken torches on the ground and snatched those up. Once we had them lit off of other people's torches, you couldn't even tell they were broken. As our torches put us in the minority, we were a novelty. I don't even know how many people borrowed our torches to take a picture for the night. And even more pictures were taken of us by people we don't know. Events like that gave the night a really strong feeling of unity among the university students, which I'm sure is the main purpose of the procession. It was definitely worth being here for.
Tomorrow is the official Rectorial Installation, which my professors keep joking sounds like a painful medical procedure. It's actually just the ceremony that instates Kevin into his role for the next three years. The event is free to attend, but it has limited seating, so I decided to leave the tickets for students that actually go here. Instead, I'm taking advantage of the fact that all afternoon classes are cancelled by going with three friends to the University Travel Services, the travel agent just for students, to talk to them about our plans for spring break. The four of us have planned out a trip for our two week Easter Break that looks to be absolutely fantastic. I have to leave a bit early because Mom and Dad will be coming to Scotland to visit me during that time, but before I come back here to see them, the plan is to go to Germany, Austria and Italy-- Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Venice and Rome. After I leave, the girls are continuing on to Florence and Sienna, then flying back out of Pisa, but I'll be there for most of the trip.
We are really excited. The four of us all did separate research on transportation methods, and we've gotten the whole trip planned for a few hundred dollars. And that's without any help from the travel services people. Tomorrow, we're going to see if they can get us even better deals than the ones we've found, so with any luck, our trip will cost even less. It's going to be great to actually see the mainland, because while I've been to Europe before, I've never left the British Isles and Ireland. Getting to see some of the rest of it was one of my goals for the term.
The day before their installation, the new Rector arrives at the University, traditionally in some spectacular or odd manner. In the past, methods have been as varied as the Rector getting himself shipped by post or riding up onto the beach in a historical landing vessel from World War II. Famous comedian and former Rector John Cleese apparently arrived carrying a pig. I still haven't gotten the full story on that. (He later went on to dramatically change the post of Rector, making changes such as making the role of Assessor, who can act in the Rector's stead in meetings, into a position for a student, elected by the whole student body. This granted direct access and representation to the student body for the first time in over 500 years). Kevin arrived today pedaling a vintage bicycle ice cream cart from Janetta's Ice Cream Parlor in St. Andrews. He brought some ice cream to hand out, and was even dressed in a red apron and straw hat over a white shirt and black slacks. After his arrival, he participated in the Rectorial Drag, where he rides around town from pub to pub in a carriage drawn by students. Along the way, he is met in these pubs by students of the university, in order to spend some time with the people who have elected him.
Later at night, there is a torchlight procession from the center of the school down to the pier that stretches out into the North Sea. The procession was quite a sight, with hundreds of students showing up. Most of them were wearing the traditional St. Andrews robes, with red for Arts and Sciences students and black for Divinity students. The robes are interesting, as they are worn differently for each class. Freshmen wear them normally, but as you progress through years, you wear your robes further and further off your shoulders, so seniors wind up with theirs around their elbows. My friends and I were originally packed into the middle of the crowd, but Kelsey and I managed to sneak around the side up to the front. We weren't fast enough to get a torch, as there were very few, but as we walked in the procession, we both spotted broken torches on the ground and snatched those up. Once we had them lit off of other people's torches, you couldn't even tell they were broken. As our torches put us in the minority, we were a novelty. I don't even know how many people borrowed our torches to take a picture for the night. And even more pictures were taken of us by people we don't know. Events like that gave the night a really strong feeling of unity among the university students, which I'm sure is the main purpose of the procession. It was definitely worth being here for.
Tomorrow is the official Rectorial Installation, which my professors keep joking sounds like a painful medical procedure. It's actually just the ceremony that instates Kevin into his role for the next three years. The event is free to attend, but it has limited seating, so I decided to leave the tickets for students that actually go here. Instead, I'm taking advantage of the fact that all afternoon classes are cancelled by going with three friends to the University Travel Services, the travel agent just for students, to talk to them about our plans for spring break. The four of us have planned out a trip for our two week Easter Break that looks to be absolutely fantastic. I have to leave a bit early because Mom and Dad will be coming to Scotland to visit me during that time, but before I come back here to see them, the plan is to go to Germany, Austria and Italy-- Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Venice and Rome. After I leave, the girls are continuing on to Florence and Sienna, then flying back out of Pisa, but I'll be there for most of the trip.
We are really excited. The four of us all did separate research on transportation methods, and we've gotten the whole trip planned for a few hundred dollars. And that's without any help from the travel services people. Tomorrow, we're going to see if they can get us even better deals than the ones we've found, so with any luck, our trip will cost even less. It's going to be great to actually see the mainland, because while I've been to Europe before, I've never left the British Isles and Ireland. Getting to see some of the rest of it was one of my goals for the term.
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