London

Greetings. :)
I've returned from a few days spent with a friend in London and it was a wonderful trip!

I left St Andrews early on Sunday morning and departed for the nearby rail station. I had over an hour before the train would arrive, and it was a beautiful morning. The weather was mild and I was delighted to be able to sit outside with my book on a bench on the platform in December. The rail station is surrounded by green hills which were beautiful and just being hit with sunlight around 10:30am. Once the train arrived, I found my reserved seat and watched the countryside pass by. I had six and a half hours before the train would arrive in London and it really was beautiful to see so much of Scotland and England. I loved the views of the North Sea, the cliffs and moors in southern Scotland, the bright bridges we passed in Newcastle and Darlington, England. The cathedrals and castles in northern England set back behind fields under bright skies. It was so fun too, to watch the crowds of people at Edinburgh Waverley trrain station, Newcastle train station, and York. There were so many students headed home to England, and just crowds of people everywhere running to catch trains and families being reunited. It all was so wonderful to watch, and felt incredibly timeless.

On the train - somewhere not too far out of St Andrews, the North Sea.

More train - crossing a long bridge into Edinburgh.

More train - York, England, I believe.

I was able to write and read and sometime before 6pm, the train arrived at the last stop, Kings Cross Station in London. Emerging from the train in the mass crowd of students, businessmen, families, and elderly people dressed in long jackets and scarves, I was more than a bit nervous about navigating the enormous train station as well as the tube to get to central London where I was to meet my friend Tarah. What first struck me when I walked off the train at Kings Cross was how beautiful everything there was. Our train was one of at least twelve in the station, and we all seperated, rushing in seperate directions. The ceiling was so high and architecturally beautiful. Coming from non-urban area, I had only taken the subway a handful of times before and never alone, but I soon found the attached tube station and immediately bought my tickets with a connection. I took the Victoria Line and changed to the Northern Line before arriving in Charing Cross. Once there, I stepped outside to find myself in central London in the most beautiful, mild evening weather I could ever expect in December and I was convinced that the London tube system is incredibly simple, clear, and quite fun to use. :) Tarah met me at the station and as we walked through the center of the city, it felt exhilerating. Christmas lights and trees and people were everywhere, and it was beautiful. Tarah lives in a London School of Economics residence in an wonderful location. After a quick walk through Covent Garden and dropping off my bag at her residence, we set out for some Japanese food. The culinary options in London were (not surprisingly!) amazing. While St Andrews has wonderful food, it was so fun to explore such different cuisines while in London. We each ordered three small japanese dishes for ourselves, and I had never experienced a japanese meal like that. I ate a salmon roll, a few dumplings and some crab, and can say that I'm no longer the vegetarian I once thought I was. Other culinary highlights of London included plenty more salmon, a brazilian restaurant where I had a delicious curry dish, as well as a gelato place where I tasted salted caramel and rose gelato. That first evening, after our Japanese meal, we walked along the river Thames near Big Ben and the London Eye and enjoyed some mulled wine from a nearby Christmas market. We walked more around the city and by the end of the night, we were both quite exhausted.

The London Eye, an "observation wheel" constructed to mark the year 2000 in London.

 

myself with some mulled wine by the river Thames.

The next two days passed quickly! Tarah had three papers she was working on for her classes so we spent the mornings and evenings together but each afternoon she returned to work on her papers or take a nap. I loved the National Portrait Gallery. A mix up modern, renaissance, and Tudor portraits, everything was so gorgeous. The modern included several photographs of members of the current royal family, as well as musicians and important figures. The large exhibit on the Tudors was fascinating to me. I'll be taking a class next semester through the school of English about the Tudors, and seeing the paintings of Elizabeth I really made me look forward to the course. After Tarah left for the afternoon, I headed to the National Gallery next door which was also incredible. The entire gallery was enormous and included solely paintings. I think my favorites were Manet's paintings as well as the Renaissance art. Next, I walked to Westminster, where I had one goal: Westminster Abbey. Since reading a children's book about Elizabeth I in 2002, I've long held an interest in the Abbey, as it's where she is buried. I was planning on attending Evensong that afternoon but it appeared the choir was on break. Instead, I bought a ticket to explore the Abbey, and I'm quite happy I did. I spent a couple of hours in there, and while it is very different from a Cathedral, and certainly not as ornate or beautiful as a Cathedral, it was historic and inspiring in its own way. It began as an Abbey in the year 960, and just that was pretty amazing to me. Seeing the tombs of the Tudor family, including Elizabeth I's was also interesting. The afternoon included more walking and exploration before meeting up with Tarah for dinner that evening.

Trafalgar Square, outside the National Gallery.

The entrance to the National Gallery.

Trafalgar Square.

The National Gallery.

 

We took a short bus tour the following day and it was nice to see so many other corners of the city. Passing Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, as well as the Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral was very cool. I explored more of Westminster and the area surrounding Parliament that afternoon before Tarah and I got dinner together once again, and walked around in Soho.

 

Tarah took this photo of me at breakfast one morning.

 

Westminster Abbey.

 

Westminster Abbey.

My curry and salad one night.

Tarah and I in Trafalgar Square. :)

 

I departed London mid-day on Wednesday, and after saying goodbye to Tarah and making my way back to King's Cross Station, I walked to the nearby British Library, a visit I was really hoping to make on the trip. While I couldn't stay too long for fear of missing my train, what I saw there was amazing. Original maps, sacred texts, journals, manuscripts and books of some of Britain's best writers was fascinating. After wandering around the maps, original journals, and ancient texts for awhile, I headed back to King's Cross where I boarded my train. The train was later in the day than my previous train, so it grew dark much quicker and I didn't see quite as much of the surroundings as I did when I ventured to London. Arriving back in St Andrews though, was wonderful, and just seeing the lights sprinkled over the town from afar was beautiful. I'll be here a couple more days and then depart for the States on Saturday. :)

 

 

Tragedy and Reflection

While my semester has officially ended here, and happy times have certainly been occurring, the sadness that I've felt with yesterday's elementary school shooting in Connecticut is far stronger than the the happenings here the last few days. I think I've written before on it, but not until I've been here for a prolonged period of time have I realized the sense of nationalism that being an American brings. It's a community-type feeling and while I've never been incredibly patriotic while in the States, something about an upbringing and life spent as an American brings out such a sense of nationalism when away. I usually try to stay quiet about it, as it's not the most popular voice to be raising in the international community, but it's forever in me, and I think as Americans, it's instilled in all of us.

Deaths like what occurred yesterday in a school happen often around the world and currently at enormously high rates in the Middle East. All instances are immense tragedies, but I think when it occurs close to home in our own communities and through our own eyes it hurts the most. The deaths are no more tragic or more important when they occur in the western world versus developing countries, but perhaps, and unfortunately, they much more shocking. This tragedy occurred in an elementary school in a small town in New England. Much like my small town and elementary school in New England. Much of the memories of my own elementary school and years spent there have been coming to me since I heard of the shooting. It's when you can imagine and visualize it all that it hurts the most. Last night, to finish the semester, my kitchenmates and a bunch of our friends went out for a celebratory dinner and a (very) late night afterwards. It was incredibly fun and I'm so glad we went out, but I learned of the shooting before leaving, and knew I would be the sole American at the table and with the group for the evening. The tragedy was periodically in the back of my mind, and when we discussed it at one point, I briefly explained the sense of nationalism that's arisen for me, how it feels like each time a national tragedy occurs, we all mourn, we all refleft, we're all thankful and in disbelief, clutching to whatever we can, telling others that we love them. It's a sense that arises with disbelief and a yearning for strength.

I have a busy-ish day ahead, including saying goodbye to several friends who are leaving this weekend or in the next few days. I'll be headed to London to visit a friend from Saint Michael's tomorrow and will return to St Andrews on Wednesday for a couple more days before flying back west.

Edinburgh, A visit, and a Final Exam

Aloha.
All here is well and plenty is being accomplished! Life continues to be wonderfully challenging and exciting.

Here's an image of myself and my friend Allison this past Friday outside of Edinburgh Castle. It was certainly chilly that day, but very fun.

 

Amanda visited this weekend which was wonderful. We kept busy but also fit in quite a bit of  relaxing and sleep as a way to celebrate the end of our semesters. Allison and I spent all of Friday in Edinburgh exploring the German Christmas market, Edinburgh castle, and a delicious vegetarian cafe popular among students at the University of Edinburgh.

 

As Allison departed back for St Andrews around 3:30 pm, I spent the next several hours in a coffee shop before catching a bus to the Edinburgh airport. As the airport is on the very outskirts of the city, the ride was 30 minutes, and only myself and a sleeping man were on the bus. It was beautiful passing through so much of Edinburgh at night with Christmas lights all around. I think my favorite part of the bus ride was the stop at the Edinburgh Zoo. While I haven't been yet, the fact that the zoo contains the only pandas in the U.K. - given as a gift to Scotland from China last year - definitely interests me! Much of Edinburgh and Scotland has capitalized upon this as well...in addition to the  traditional bagpipes, shortbread, tartan/plaid, Nessie, and whiskey, the young panda pair are arguably the current marketing image of Scotland.

Amanda's flight from Spain was a couple hours late and it was certainly a frenzy getting back to St Andrews that night, but we returned around 1:30 a.m. and slept quite late the next morning. Saturday was spent exploring the entirity of the town and I was thankful Amanda was able to meet I think all of my friends here. We journeyed over to my friend Marissa's flat Saturday afternoon when she and her flatmates were taking a study break, went out to dinner with Allison, provided ice cream for a party of sorts with my four kitchen-mates, and went out to a pub with my sweet Scottish friend Miriam that evening.

Sunday we were both hoping to journey to a nearby castle but found the buses didn't travel that route on Sundays. We spent part of the day instead in Dundee, Scotland's fourth-largest city located just 30 minuted north of St Andrews. I think I would best describe Dundee as feeling quite a bit like Manchester, New Hampshire. Quite interesting, semi-industrial, ethnic, working class, yet traditionally Scottish as well! Upon returning to St Andrews, Amanda was an amazing guest as I spent (several) hours on final preparations for my final Virginia Woolf exam which took place this afternoon. Later, we skyped some friends from Saint Michael's.

Amanda left this morning and I entered full-on exam mode. I met a couple classmates to head over to the exam venue with, and it was QUITE the experience. I've been fortunate with journalism over the past couple of years to routinely have final exams consisting of papers and articles; not since my SAT and ACT days have I truly sat an exam like the one I sat today. While my class is only 19 students, our exam venue was with another 350ish students in the sports hall. We entered the room in silence, dropped off everything we brought in an enormous pile of bags, jackets and coats in the back corner of the room with the exception of our identification cards, handfuls of pens, optional water bottle, and optional tissues. We were seated in long rows according to class in wooden and iron desks that felt like they had seen thousands of final exams before. There were windows leading to offices lining the high walls of the large room, and when I saw faces peering through them, I felt pretty sure that as students completing a final exam, we would be watched from all angles during the two hour exam. Given instructions to not leave the desk for the next two hours, I grew somewhat worried as I struggled to understand the accent of the Scottish man speaking the full instructions through the microphone which echoed throughout the sports hall. With intense focus though, I listened and focused on the words he spoke as if my life/passing grade depended upon it! Soon enough, we were given the command to immediately open the exam booklets marked with the photocopied St Andrews seal. Hundreds of us began the exam and tutors and proctors walked the rows continually for two hours peering at each student until the command was given for all pens to be put down immediately. Overall, it's incredibly hard to know how I performed, but I wrote everything I had memorized and prepared. I knew four novels really well and used most everything I knew from them in the two essays that made up the entirety of the exam. I'm not sure if my essay structure and layout were exactly what was wanted, but I think I provided plenty of material. For now, Virginia Woolf is finished, and I can say that it was an incredibly challenging, yet fulfilling module!

For now, I'll be working on a couple of creative writing assignments for the next few days. I find the creative essay process to be so different from the research essay process. While somewhat simpler and less stressful to complete a creative essay, I find that once the story takes shape - usually within a day of it being crafted - it comes alive and is all I can think of. Thoughts, ideas and new twists come to me as I try to sleep and as I move through daily life. The creative essay overtakes so many areas of life and becomes an incredible distraction as the continual edits and changes dominate my thoughts. Time to begin!

The last few days

Greetings!

There has been PLENTY going on here, causing a very busy week and not too much sleep. This past week is revision week here. Revising, or studying, is pretty constant this week as all classes have ended and the two-week exam period begin on Monday. My one exam is on (yikes!) Monday. I've been studying here and there between seeing friends, attending a poetry event, a birthday party last night, a Christmas party tonight, a Christmas carol service yesterday and tying up the figurative 'loose ends' of the semester as we prepare for it all to end in just a couple weeks. All I can say is I'm pretty exhausted, but it's been incredible.

Creative Writing ended this week with a bonus lecture and workshop during revision week, and it's challenging to even put it into words - ironic as it's Creative Writing... - but I can say that it was an incredibly touching last lecture and workshop. While the class only met once a week for eleven weeks, the course has certainly been added to that small vault of past courses I've taken that I finish thinking, 'This was the best course I've ever taken.' The two tutors were just fabulous. The last lecture involved reflecting on the course, how we've all changed as writers, everything that has occurred, and it ended with both the tutors (who knew all of our names and our work!) thanking and saying goodbye to each of us. Perhaps it's just my present and constant somewhat-emotional state after a challenging and changing and continually evolving and symbolic year, but it definitely felt like an incredibly symbolic and bittersweet afternoon, thankfully though, I kept it together. :) I don't know where my writing will take me next. I know that next fall I'll return to journalism, or, as the department is now called, 'Media Studies, Journalism and Digital Arts' and graduate within that concentration, but I've loved creative writing more than I thought possible. Like my interests in dance, music, and visual arts, I see my future writing being a passion and forever present on the side of whatever I choose to do. I don't favor seclusion much and struggle to see myself solely writing. It's a beautiful art form that I've found here, and like the many, many ideas and experiences I feel forever indebted to Saint Michael's College for, I am forever indebted to the University of St Andrews for sparking an interest I didn't know I had and may not have found otherwise. I have two more pieces due as a final submission for Creative Writing in the next week, and as always, ideas and words and phrases and imagery are floating about my mind non-stop. I struggle most days to express everything I want to put onto paper when it comes to mind. I try to always have a tiny notebook with me and a few pens. The daily inspirations of this place, these people and these experiences continue to bring more and more to write about, both fact and fiction.

In other news, it's incredibly DARK here. All the time. So, so often. Each day grows darker and it's grown so incredibly dramatic. As of today, 1-2 pm is often when the sun disappears. 2-3 pm the light fades. 3-4 pm is getting pretty dark....and anytime after 4 pm can only be compared to the darkness of outer space. Thankfully, if my calculations are correct, it appears that when I leave St Andrews in late May 2013 the sunlight will be pushing 10-11 p.m.

Tomorrow I'll be headed to Edinburgh for what promises to be an amazing day as my lovely friend from Saint Michael's, Amanda, who is studying abroad in Spain will be visiting for the weekend! She flies in late tomorrow night and I'm headed to Edinburgh for the day with my friend Allison and then to the airport late tomorrow night. Amanda and I hope to explore some local castles this weekend and we will likely talk, a lot.

A few more images from around St Andrews the last few days are below:

St. Andrews Day

Hello! I know there has been a bit of a blogging break again...preparations for exams and a full schedule late last week and into the weekend have certainly contributed to it.

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!