This past Thursday my wonderful friend Allison and I finally made it to a compline service. We spent an hour at a nice coffeeshop drinking some delicious hot chocolate beforehand and then ventured to compline. A short 10 pm candlelit church service in nearby St. Leonard's chapel, we made it right on time and found dozens of eyes staring at us as we made our way into a front pew. The chapel, which was stone and quite narrow, consisted solely of pews lining the longest walls and across from one another with one central aisle. The only light provided was lit candles in chandeliers. The service was about fifteen minutes and consisted of singing that sounded a bit like evensong and then three minutes of silence at the end. It was quite relaxing and I found throughout much of it I just marvelled at the structure we were in. It felt so incredibly medi(a)eval, we were surrounded by so much stone and history. I found a plaque on the wall was dated 1611, but afterwards, Allison and I approached the university chaplain asking if he knew the year the structure was built and he told us 1510s. (!)
Friday was beautiful in so many ways. The day began with quite blue skies that continued throughout the day. 30 November is St Andrews Day around the world and the celebrations at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland were certainly quite lively. Falling on the very last day of the very last week of classes, all classes are called off on St Andrews Day, so the semester's classes came to an earlier end on Thursday. Like many students, I spent a good portion of Friday preparing for a final exam, but when I ventured out into the daylight, I found tourists, students, crowds, parents, people and celebrations. The St Andrews coat of arms (in flag form) flew from most buildings and the graduate and doctorate student graduation was taking place. All around town there was plenty of bagpipe music as well as near-constant chiming from St. Salvator's steeple tower. St Andrews Day is an official bank holiday and the one day of the year when all official and state buildings must fly a Scottish flag. If a second flag pole is available, a Union Jack flag will also be flown. The Edinburgh castle is quite debatable on St Andrews Day as the castle always flies the Union Jack flag in addition to the Scottish flag in a much lower less noticeable location. The Scotland Nationalist Party members have voiced opinions calling for the Edinburgh castle to fly solely the Scottish flag on St Andrews day as it's such a celebrated holiday - a bit like the 4th of July in the U.S. Supposedly, this isn't possible as the castle is an official military location for the British Army. I would say now is a good time to insert an analogy that I recently thought of....I would say Scotland has it's own distinct national identity, traditions, people and accent, but as it's not a seperate entity from Great Britain, it feels a bit like the government in Westminster is a big brother.
The St Andrews coat of arms (in flag form) flying atop St. Salvator's steeple Thursday night as Allison and I made our way to the compline service.
Tourists at the St. Andrews castle on St. Andrews day.
I know someday I'm going to miss these views...
An area I walk through most days near the School of English. :)
Near the cathedral ruins on St. Andrews day.
Taken around 2:30 p.m. Darkness setting in!
That evening my residence held a formal dinner in a nearby hotel. It cost six pounds to attend (about $10) and it was quite the evening. I attended with my friend Susanna. We first met when we were placed on the same homestay in Edinburgh. Susanna is a study abroad student like I am, she's from Los Angeles and has been a great friend here.
Susanna and myself at the dinner.
We met up with a large group of students before heading over, and as it was a chilly night and several of us were wearing delicate footwear, we discussed taking a taxi together to the hotel. However, when called, we were told a massive St Andrews day parade was taking place and that no taxis were running in our nook of town. We all trekked over together, and while chilly, it was really quite amazing. We walked through the parade and it really just consisted of townspeople carrying large lit torches walking down the street as police blocked traffic. In the skies above the parade in the thirty-something-degree weather, fireworks were lit off. It was so festive and beautiful.
So much light!
Hmmm...not the best photos...
As we grew closer to the hotel we were dining at, we passed the Old Course (the golf course) just as the fireworks ended and a large ash cloud hung over the Old Course.
The dinner was quite fun. There was plenty of wine, three courses, an a capella performance, a violinist group, speeches, bow ties, suit jackets, gowns and English accents galore.
A few of the girls at our table.
It was an extraordinarily beautiful evening, but also made me realize that an evening like that isn't me and it isn't how I want to live my life. It was wonderful and great fun once in awhile, but it's at events and evenings like these that I realize and recognize what Saint Michael's has transformed me to be. I miss the community spirit at Saint Michael's, the social justice mindset, the initiative to help one another, the support system that we as students wrapped around residents and schools in surrounding communities, the realizations we made together of how fortunate we were to be studying in college, to be a part of a community and group of people, and how much we all wanted to share with and help others. This opportunity here is wonderful and the dinner was incredibly fun and amazing, it represeted a tradition that feels rooted in Victorian England, but I recognized that it wasn't how I wanted to live my life, it's an opportunity enjoyed and celebrated by few, and I certainly miss the Vermont atmosphere and mindset. There is a lot of injustice in this world and in each of our communities, and keeping that mindset and reminding myself of that statement seems to allow me to be forever thankful.
As my Virginia Woolf course came to end on Thursday, the course ended with the class realization that we had read seven of Woolf's novels, dozens of short stories, a few biographies focused on her, viewed a couple of films, we had written papers, led discussions and class presentations, conducted research and met with our peers outside of class to present on it, and just as I was packing up my materials in the classroom at the end of the eleven-week course thinking to myself, "Wow, I think I really know quite a bit about Virginia Woolf, in addition to identity, gender, mental illness, Victorian England, both World Wars, feminism, trauma, postmodernism, etc...' our tutor announced in his English accent "I would say you've only just scratched the surface of Woolf!" While for a few milliseconds, I was protesting his statement in my mind, I soon realized he was exactly right. I don't think I'll be looking further into Woolf in the immediate future, but I am pleased I took the course, and it certainly was jus tthe type of literature class I was hoping for, a mixture of literature, history, culture, biography, etc.
A pretty full (and likely exciting) week ahead with preparations for exams!
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