When in Glasgow, Do as the Glaswegians Do

What a big 1^st weekend I’ve had…here is the recap…

Friday: On Friday night we decided we were going to go to this thing called a Ceilidh that the Strathclyde Fencing Club was holding as a fundraiser at the Student Union. I seriously had no idea what to expect. Anyway, it started at 7:30 but when we got there at 7:40 there was no one around. We went downstairs to a pub called The Gamezone and had some cider, then we came back up at 8:15 and the place was PACKED. Unfortunately the seats were all taken so we pulled up a corner and hung out for a bit. As it turns out, a Ceilidh is what Scottish farm kids do on Friday nights in barns. It is basically equivalent to our square dancing. Then, as the band gets drunker, the music gets faster and people start falling down and it’s pretty funny. We were in a group of four girls so it was a bit difficult to do some of the dances because it seemed that everyone else had a male partner. Speaking of male partners, Ceilidh’s are primo viewing opportunities for young fellas in kilts. It was quite an experience.

Saturday: The next day six of us hopped on a bus to Edinburgh (the “prettier sister” of Scotland. Glasgow is more the weird quirky sister). It was supposedly 48 degrees and sunny but the wind chill was miserable! We walked and walked to Edinburgh castle and had a picnic lunch right outside the castle gates. Then we went inside and did a whole lot of looking around at all kinds of everything. We saw them shoot the One O’Clock gun, walked through some war museums, etc. We saw St. Margaret’s Chapel (the oldest structure in Edinburgh, and very pretty), Mons Meg - a giant cannon given as a gift to a king whose name I am not currently recalling, and the Great Hall. The highlight was definitely seeing the Crown Jewels of Scotland. It was really cool being so near something that has so much history. The war memorial was really moving, and seeing the dungeon was just kind of creepy. We got to read some cool stuff about “The American War of Independence” (they don’t call it the Revolutionary War…haha). Apparently some American POWs were held as pirates in the castle dungeon. They only received one pound of bread rations instead of two because they were so morally corrupt. One solider had carved the American flag into one of the cell doors, which is still pretty visible. We stood there looking at it for a while and the security guard asked us if we were “colonists too.” Anyway, so that was cool.

After the castle we went down the Royal Mile to a place called Chocolate Soup where I had the best hot chocolate of my life. We were going to go to Arthur’s Seat, which is a huge lookout point type of thing that apparently gives a great view of the entire city of Edinburgh. The name either refers to the seat of King Arthur or is a corruption of the phrase “Archer’s Seat” because the hill was a really important point of defense during the Middle Ages. Either way, we didn’t get to go up because it was already 4pm and it was like a mile and a half hike up the side of a giant hill. So instead we went to the National Gallery of Scotland, a sweet art museum, to check out some marvelous paintings and sculptures. There was lots of religious Renaissance-y type art, and lots of portraits of refined and uncomfortable looking British ladies. Upstairs was the Impressionist section which is definitely my favorite in any art museum. (Brianna – Fauvists everywhere, it was like a dream…no Manet unfortunately though). I saw some Van Gogh that I had never seen before. One I really loved was Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees) (1888). It’s so cliché to love Van Gogh, but seriously… We also saw one of Monet’s haystacks. The Chicagoan in me was very confused because there was only one haystack. Chicago apparently has some kind of monopoly on them; either that or a room full of haystacks is a bit of overkill.

After the National Gallery we wandered around in the City Center trying to find a place to eat, which we didn’t, so we went back up near the castle and nosed around in some touristy shops. I bought a bunch of postcards so if you’d like to receive one please comment or e-mail me your address. Finally we found a local who suggested we eat at Deacon Brodie’s Pub. It was really delicious; I had Scottish Steak Pie and drank another Tennent’s, yum. We read about Deacon Brodie and apparently he is the guy who inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was a respectable cabinet maker by day and a gambler and thief by night, but they make a delicious steak pie at his pub.

After dinner we went back to the bus station and milled around for a bit waiting for the bus. We got back to Glasgow and I was sure there was no way it could be colder than it was in Edinburgh, but indeed it was FREEZING. Mind you, it was like 32 degrees so I’m not really sure what it is about the wind here, but it is rough for sure. Ick!

Sunday: Yesterday was pretty chill. We did a little shopping at Buchanan Galleries and ate at a place called Chopstix (think Panda Express…not great but we were SO hungry). Then we went down to Aldi to do a bit of grocery shopping. Aldi is exactly the same here as it is at home, right down to the carts that you have to deposit a coin to use. The girls somehow talked me into walking back with all of our groceries instead of hopping in a cab, which was crazy because we had to walk up like nine flights of stairs with huge bags of groceries. At least it was an excellent work out. Later we went to Mass at St. Mungo’s, which is pretty close by. It was a very odd funeral-type mass commemorating Fr. Michael, the former rector of St. Mungo’s, who had died in December. The music was very folk-y; it was fun to sing How Great Thou Art to an acoustic guitar. Afterwards LO AND BEHOLD the St. Vincent dePaul Society was standing outside, so I got some information on joining them for service opportunities around Glasgow, very exciting.

Today my first whole week of classes starts, which should be interesting. I am taking Drama, Theater & Film, America in the 1920s, Scottish Society Since 1914, and Journalism & Popular Culture. The university system works differently here; I am only in class for about an hour per class per week (so four hours total) but this is supplemented with discussion groups called “tutorials.” I think the American University system is the only system that doesn’t use this lecture/tutorial type model, because all of the other international students have some idea of what happens in a tutorial. Anyway, I’m sure it will go fine. After my 2:00 class today I plan on taking myself on a date to the Willow Tea Room on Buchanan Street and having afternoon tea!

A word on homesickness… A couple people have asked me if I am homesick and the answer is yes and no. I do really miss home (Chicago home and Bourbonnis home), but think I am more America-sick than anything else (I’ve been tracking my stages of Culture Shock and I think I am progressing quite nicely). What I have realized is that the great thing about being at home is that we don’t really have to think real hard when we want to do something. We hop in the car to go to Target, we know all of our favorite hangouts, etc. This experience thus far has shown me how much I really have my brain switched off during the day. In my own culture all of my day to day activities are done in autopilot. Being even an hour away from home there is some degree of differences in culture, but this has really been something. It’s a really cool heightened sense of awareness, but there are a lot of mental and emotional hoops to jump through.

All of the cues of interpersonal communication are slightly different, the body language is different, slang is different, some people are speaking English but they might as well be speaking Swahili with that incomprehensible Glaswegian accent. Interpersonal communication is my major course of study, so I’m really fascinated and enjoying this immensely, but at the same time something as simple as going to the grocery store is a mentally taxing affair. This all being said, please don’t mistake it for complaining. What am I studying here for if not to study the people and the culture as well as the academic stuff. If you haven’t been out of the country, do it immediately, it’s a small world after all.

Okay time for class, it’s doing this weird sideways snow/rain thing right now that I have to figure out how to dress for…

Cheers
Jillian

P.S. Good work Steelers, and someone let me know if the Groundhog sees his shadow. Also, Happy Birthday Dad!! Love you!