United States

Hello!
It's nice to be home!
The time has gone by so fast.
Leaving St. Andrews was bittersweet.
I never went to sleep that night and hugged a few friends goodbye at 4am.
I dozed off for half an hour or so on the ride to the airport. The sun had risen at 330 and the sky was so bright and white.
My flights were long and crowded but it was wonderful to land in Boston.
I met my Dad in the Border Patrol and Customs line as his business flight returning from Dublin had just landed.
We collected our baggage and sat outside Logan airport in the sunshine as we waited for our bus to New Hampshire.
It was beautifully warm and sunny.
The view of the city too, was amazing.
It sounds so strange, but seeing license plates, hearing American accents, Spanish, and feeling the sun was wonderful and it all hit me there that I was back in my home.
The weekend was filled with unpacking, cleaning, reorganizing and spending time with family.
I spent Tuesday in Burlington, Vermont and Saint Michael's and it was so nice to be back. I hadn't been on campus since July and so much had changed. It was wonderful to see friends again and it was such a nice day. :)
It's been pretty rainy here in New Hampshire since I returned but much warmer than Scotland and I've loved the trees, lilacs and being on the lake.
Ohh and a few photos below -- the last of Scotland and then a few from home.

Last afternoon in Scotland last Thursday -- saying goodbye to Becky and Jia, both are fourth-year English students who graduate next month. :)

Jia and I spent the afternoon exploring St. Andrews residence halls. This one, Wardlaw, is my favorite.

At our meal that evening, Lydia, Joseph, myself, Han and Siti. :)

Joy, myself, Nages, Han and Siti.

Siti, Nages, Han, myself, Joy, Conor and Lydia.

 

And then I arrived home! And was struck by the beauty of the forest and

Friday's sunset. I might not have slept well in forty-ish hours, but a mix of adrenaline and excitement allowed me to stay up throughout the evening.

Friday's sunset.

The next day, we headed to Manchester for my friend Linh's graduation from St. Anselm College.

It was a wonderful day!

Exciting and emotional.

And plenty warm.

I've known Linh for five years and she is one of my closest friends. It was wonderful to meet and sit with her parents who had arrived from Vietnam.

Home.

 

 

 

Farewell

It's incredibly hard to believe, but the time has come.
I will be blogging throughout the summer, but this will be my last post from Scotland.
The rate at which this year has flown by has been unbelievable. It's nearly 1am on Friday morning here, and I expect to be picked up to head to the airport in about three hours. From there, I have two flights and about eighteen hours until I'll arrive home in New Hampshire.
My exam earlier went well. Earlier this morning, I met up with Miriam at a favorite café of ours and we had so much fun laughing and talking. She brought me the sweetest gifts (a coffee scented candle in a teacup and a saucer in addition to a wonderful compilation of our best and funniest memories). Sheen and Lewis also came along and it was so fun, yet just as it's been all week, it was very hard to say goodbye.
After my exam, I met up with Sheen who also surprised me with a nice gift - a book of hilarious English puns and funny test answers - and my friend Jia. Jia is a fourth-year and also finished her final exam today, it was so fun to celebrate together. Her and I had planned to tour the residence halls before both of our departures, and it was so fun meeting up with our friend Becky in her residence of St. Salvator's and later exploring a few of the beautiful residences we had never been in before.
For dinner, the kitchenmates and a few friends of ours went out for a birthday dinner and a farewell dinner for me. It was so nice. Conor is a member of a local golf club, so we had the dinner there and it all was so delicious. So many photos were taken (they'll be up soon!), and so many hugs exchanged. I also received a really sweet card from Lydia and a box of chocolates from Samuel and Yi Rong. Most were later given away as my luggage simply has no room or weight allowance left. I also fully envision that I'll be at the Edinburgh airport in a few hours still trying to sort through my suitcase to reduce its weight. I've gotten rid of so much already, I think eight months in 51 pounds will never be easy. The night ended with a final visit from Julie, the first St. Andrews friend I met...at our departure gate in Boston on September 4th.

Well, rather than fill the rest of this post (and the coming hours) with ten thousand memories, they've been covered here already. I cannot recommend enough to college students to spend a year abroad. Leave your comfort zone. Do something completely different. Experience it and love it. It's so challenging to say goodbye, and I know the days and months ahead will be challenging at times as I adjust to the life and people I left and the experience I will attempt to pick up again yet I cannot imagine who I would be today without experiencing it.

One Down

Greetings!
Today went so well.
My exam went perfectly fine.
I awoke late in the morning after falling asleep early in the morning with my notes next to me in bed.
I met a classmate for lunch and had no appetite, but I knew I needed to eat something.
I was far more nervous than I expected and spent the hour before the exam trying to busy myself with other tasks and thoughts as looking over the material just made me unsure.
We met the rest of our class (and a Spanish and Film Study class) at our exam venue and found our assigned seats.
The room was beautiful. It was a large room on the second floor of College Hall with wide square windows, cream-yellow walls and heavy gold curtains. It all overlooked the main academic quad. I also was lucky to be seated in a desk next to a heater which I could lean against. :)
After the exam, I spoke with classmates and friends and said farewell to a few friends.
After an assortment of hugs, I met my friend Kholoud for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.
Kholoud and I met back in December. She attended St. Andrews last year as a master's student and currently teaches literature and English at St. Leonard's School, the private boarding/day school in St. Andrews for students aged 10-19. Kholoud is originally from Cairo but grew up in Liverpool. She has been such a sweet friend this past spring and I am beyond excited that she has chosen to begin her Ph.D next year at Cornell in Ithaca, New York in comparative literature. We enjoyed our Mexican food (and a slice of mango-coconut cheesecake) before heading over to St. Leonard's drama production of Animal Farm. Kholoud had been helping with the production, and it was really cute (yet also politically stimulating!) to watch eighth, ninth and tenth-graders perform George Orwell's work.
After returning to my residence, I dove into packing, emails, messages and revising for my American Poetry exam tomorrow.
Yikes.
Last day in Scotland!

May Fifteenth

Hello. Everything here is so busy here. It's chaotic. And rushed. And sad. And cheerful. And there is so much to do. I continue to find myself in between saying goodbye/continuing to have fun with friends/laughing-in-a-delusional-manner after too much studying/wanting to cry-in-far-too-public-of-places as I realize I leave in a couple of days.
But it's alright. It's all going so well. I have my first (and more challenging exam) tomorrow afternoon. I feel ready. I just want to take it truthfully. It's time for the Tudors.
Afterwards, I have one more exam, more goodbyes, a bit more packing and cleaning, a bit of fun, and hopefully a chunk or two of sleep.

Today I went out to lunch with a few friends and Joseph, from my kitchen. The girls surprised me with a bouquet of flowers which was so sweet. We ate at a Japanese/Thai restaurant I had been hoping to visit for awhile, and it was delicious.

Joseph, Nages, Han, myself and Siti. :)

 

Later, I headed over to my friend Marissa's flat. I arrived around 4pm and didn't leave until some time past 11. The walk over was beautiful and so bright. Ohh and even at 11, there was still a bit of blue/green horizon sky. :) I'm going to miss the extended daylight.

 

The End is Near

Greetings!

Yesterday evening.

The challenge of packing and saying farewell has begun.
I packed up a chunk of my room today and have taken down the majority of photos, cards and notes from my walls.
It's a somber time.
I've studied so much for my Wednesday and Thursday exam and part of me just wants to take both exams tomorrow and be finished.

The current state of my desk.

I met with the kitchenmates tonight to attempt to give away a lot of my kitchenware.
I'm struggling with packing. The last few weeks I've gotten rid of a lot and today I recycled and donated even more.
I'm trying not to look back and keeping only what is necessary.
Today was graduation day at Saint Michael's. It was beautiful seeing the photos of so many friends graduating.
I remember when I applied and was accepted for a year abroad at St. Andrews, it was challenging realizing I would miss the senior years and graduations of so many friends, but I think (in a somewhat selfish way) it's been so worth it for me to be here for the full year.
It also will make this week pretty tough.
But we will survive.
Ohhh and in between final plans/dinners/lunches/study sessions with friends, I may not blog too much...I'll try for a couple more posts though. And I'm looking forward to blogging in Vermont/New Hampshire this summer.

And lastly, for a bit of laughter, my friend Sheen and I attended 'The Original St. Andrews Ghosts and Witches tour' together a few days ago seeking an exciting break from revisions. We had decided on it over coffee after the prayer meeting we attended on Thursday morning. We were hoping Miriam would join us as well, but sadly she was too deep in revision. Come Friday night, we were the only participants on the tour and were met in the center of St. Andrews by a man with a Captain-Hook-like-hand who took our money and then said, 'Alright, I'll be off to the pub with your money...your tour guide should be around shortly!' Immediately, Sheen and I looked at each other skeptically before I said, 'That means he'll be the one jumping out to scare us during the tour...' A few minutes passed before a woman in a bonnet and cape (presumably his mother) arrived and began our tour. Throughout the sixty-minute evening tour, she treated Sheen and I as if we were a group of fifty people. Her storytelling and theatrical tactics were interesting, though. The first story involved witches burned in St. Andrews before Mr. Hookhand ran out from his hiding spot behind a monument dressed as a witch and bestowed a slew of curses on us (my favorites were that Sheen would smell bad every second Tuesday and that I would forget an acquaintances name...which already happens pretty regularly). Later, our tour guide took us to the library...where masses of students were revising the weekend before exams...we commanded a bit of unwanted attention when we arrived with our caped guide...and told more tales of ghostly St. Andrews. Mr. Hookhand appeared soon after to throw the imaginary contents of chamber pots at us which we ran away from. It was frightening. Later, the tour ended with our guide leading us down an alley way to a cleared area  before Mr. Hookhand appeared for a final confrontation in a grey wig and tried to buy my soul. Thankfully, I didn't let him. It was an interesting evening.

Vermont Life

Hello!
I don't have too much to say currently.
Although I do have some big news! Well, it's not too huge.
It's more needless self-promotion...
But I'll still announce it.
I will be blogging over the summer.
I've loved blogging this past year and can't envision myself giving it up.
I plan to use this same blog.
My Scotland posts will always be here but I imagine I'll change the name of the blog.
I think I've written about it before, but I've accepted a position with Blue Cross Blue Shield Vermont this summer in communications and external affairs. I'll be working in Berlin (right outside of Montpelier) full-time and am looking forward to the experience.
I'll be living with a family member on her dairy farm in Northfield, Vermont during the week.

Cows from the University of Vermont's dairy farming program (taken December, 2011).

I'll also be taking a summer course online through Saint Michael's towards my Media Studies, Journalism, Digital Arts and communications degree.
I'm hoping to continue writing, reading and photography this summer. I'd also love to travel a bit if I can at the end of the summer...but we'll see what happens.

As I've begun planning for the summer and the fall, I've realized just how much I love Vermont.
I'm so happy I chose to attend school there.
Some days I miss it.
Mainly the people, the handmade crafts, organic and local food, the green movement, the kindness, acceptance and equality.
And the peaceful nature of everyone and everything.
And the tie dye. And shorts and birkenstocks and sunglasses.
Below are a few Vermont images that I love.
As a disclaimer, none of the photos below belong to me.

This is what I think of when I think of summer in Vermont. Church Street in Burlington. So beautiful.

Uhmmm yum. I miss Vermont cheese.

So peaceful. This past week I've been missing the lilac bushes from home. 

So Vermont. Gorgeous.

Rural.

Yes.

May Sunshine

Greetings!

Today has been beautiful.

I woke up a little before 7 and was out the door by 7:15.

The sun had already been up for hours.

Everything was so peaceful.

I usually go to bed and sleep in quite late here as classes/work/opening hours of businesses all start a bit later than in the U.S.

But this morning, my alarm was set.

I planned on attending the Christian Union's morning prayer meeting.

They're held throughout the semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays with breakfast at 7:30 and prayer at 8.

Miriam and I arranged to go together, but sadly she was in bed a bit later than she expected and overslept. I arrived at the Chaplaincy a little past 7:30 and found it was a beautiful building. The kitchen was clean with a central table near a large window overlooking St. Andrews, a few fridges reserved for the Islamic, Jewish and Christian societies, and an array of breakfast cereals and toasts set out on the table. About fifteen of us gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. I met other students and was happy to see several friends as well. I wasn't sure what to expect for the prayer portion, but it was so incredibly peaceful and a wonderful way to begin the day. We began with a bit of singing and a student played guitar before we split into groups to pray together, reflect on the year, on the summer, on revision week, our exams and the array of challenges ahead. I was in a group with my friend Sheen and another student, Sharon.

It was so nice sharing such an introspective time with them.

We're each headed in such different directions in the coming weeks and years and it was great to reflect on it all. Sheen has two more years at St. Andrews for the first half of her medical degree while Sharon is headed to London in the fall for graduate school and I'm headed into my final year of college and back to the U.S. next week. The meeting closed with more singing that was so powerfully touching. I'll also admit that I found myself very near to shedding a few tears related to leaving and saying goodbye to the friends I've found here.

I'm so pleased I chose to attend the morning prayer meeting, and am delighted that another meeting will be held this Thursday morning.

From there, I headed to the School of English to revise for my Tudor exam.

But then I noticed the sea.

I had never seen the sea and the sky look quite like this before.

So many words came to mind as I stood watching it.

Adjacent ribbons of water.

Smooth, velvet blue cloth.

A simple painting of the most subtle blend of colors.

It's hard to see, but there is a tiny ghost ship on the horizon.

It looked like an oil tanker when I saw it earlier.

Later, after revising for my Tudor exam and eating lunch, I joined a few other English students for the play reading of A Streetcar Named Desire. I've long wanted to see the play or know the story. I did a bit of research beforehand, and knew it was something I was interested in. My friend Charlotte is the School of English student president and she organized the reading.

Charlotte and I last week. :)

The reading was so fun. It lasted three hours and it was especially nice that I didn't know the story too well and was in suspense while reading through it. A few of the readers were very good actresses. I played Steve and Mitch, and I actually really loved both parts. Because the play takes place in New Orleans, the English students tried to disguise their accents while I just tried to sound like a man with a New Orleans accent. There was a lot of laughter. And more than a few instances when we all struggled to say our lines between the laughter.

We kept the windows open in the room we were in in the School of English as we read through the play. It felt like a summer day. :)

Later, I laid out on this lawn for a couple hours and revised for my American Poetry exam. It was beautifully sunny.

This building, Upper College Hall is where I'll take my poetry exam next Thursday.

I'm hoping if I just talk to this unicorn above the door before heading inside, I'll be alright.

 

 

 

Healthy!

I'm pleased to announce the return of my health! I love immune systems.

I was sick with a head flu this past week and it was a struggle.
I spent three days resting in bed and was so so weak.
I find each time I'm struck with influenza my mind turns to strange thoughts and worries.
I had a few unpleasant dreams that I was dying of Spanish influenza.
It was frightening.
But after five days, I'm feeling good! Still a few lingering symptoms that'll take some time, but my energy and strength has returned. :)
I'm thankful too the weather has been quite rainy. It was a bit upsetting to be spending some of my last days in St. Andrews in bed, but with the chill and rain, I didn't miss too much.

Today was the official May Day holiday. Even though we've begun the second revision week (the week preceding exams when no classes are held) much of the University was closed today along with several businesses. As the weather was warm and sunny, there were huge amounts of families and visitors visiting St. Andrews. It felt a bit like American Labor Day. 

 

This evening Shaunna and I attended a Fiesta hosted by a few other American study abroad students. I've struggled this semester with knowing this semester's American study abroad group, but the girls hosting the Fiesta were so nice and much of our program was there. We all miss Mexican food, and the food that was prepared was delicious. Shaunna and I brought along some chips and salsa, and enjoyed tacos, homemade guacamole and salsa.

Jenny (one of the hosts) and myself. :) Ohhh and clearly my sweater buttons were a bit off. :)

  

Events, Perspective & Thoughts

Hello again.
All continues to go well here. Most students are busy with revising(studying), yet without classes, still finding a nice amount of free time to enjoy the last weeks here.

I had an interesting conversation this evening with a kitchenmate who will remain nameless. It began when he called a few classmates words which would be deemed incredibly offensive in American society. Because this specific kitchenmate and I tend to have long discussions, we embarked on a chat about equality. I truthfully was interested in his perspective regarding the equality of all people. The conversation took a few dark turns and was overwhelmingly saddening and upsetting to me, but still worthy and fascinating. I said what I wanted to say. I gave a few examples and I found myself in some type of teaching mode. I've thought deeply about teaching over the past few years. I remember being seven years-old and not wanting to be a teacher but having a strange feeling I would be. In high school I explored it further, and in my first-year of college I gladly volunteered in a couple programs which taught English to adults and children. I don't know what path I'm currently on, but I love the fulfillment of bringing realization, growth and knowledge to someone else.

Yesterday was exciting.

In the early evening Shaunna and I attended the Christian Union's end-of-term barbecue. And it was wonderful. It was held in St. Mary's Quad which brought back some crazy realistic memories. I had been in St. Mary's quad twice before, the most recent being the feminism photo shoot and the previous being the Christian Union's Beginning-of-term Champagne brunch. The champagne brunch memories were what struck me hard yesterday. The late-April and early-September weather share a few similarities. The sunshine, the scene, the groups of students and the weather all just brought me back to early September in the most realistic and reminiscent way. I remember going alone to the brunch. It was the morning of September 11th. It was a Tuesday and I had been in St. Andrews a few days already. I was a bit lost and upon arrival, wasn't sure who to talk to or introduce myself to. I met my academic Dad John there which I think is why the area has so many positive memories associated with it. Just as I've found goodness and friendliness all year while here, those first few days I certainly didn't know what to expect for the eight months ahead of me and I think the beautiful experience the year has been began there. Shaunna and I jumped from group to group, I laughed far too much and had so much fun talking to friends. I also met up with my academic brother Josh who was grilling. We agreed on organizing some type of end-of-year siblings reunion at a pub with our other four siblings. Josh also delivered the happy news of "Liz! You're going to be an aunt!" Josh plans to adopt children in the fall and it was exciting to hear that I can play the role of the faraway American aunt. :)

Later that evening I met up with Miriam, her boyfriend Harry and her friends Charlotte and Sarah to go dancing at the Student Union. I think we danced for about three hours and there was so so much laughter. It was a bit dangerous. I think we all truthfully experienced suffocation risks. The music was very 1950s/1960s/Beatles and it was wonderful. My original plan was to stay up until sunrise to participate in the annual St. Andrews tradition of the May Dip! I planned to join other willing undergraduates and run into the North Sea at dawn...an action rooted in the belief that if doing so, one will pass his or her exams and reverse all academic curses (inflicted only by stepping on the spot where Protestant martyr Patrick Hamilton burned, or spending a romantic moment or two with an academic sibling). As the night wore on though, and the group I was in decided against diving into the sea after describing frigid and miserable experiences the previous year, I found when I returned to my room around 3, I fell into a deep sleep and slept through the May Dip. I would LOVE to see the sunrise though over the North Sea in my remaining days here, but I imagine I'll stay out of the sea.