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.
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