Ahh, Scotland. Home of William Wallace, whisky, kilts, and haggis.
Hallo everyone from the beautiful land of the Scots, where the rain and cold of my first week have finally abated, and the sun has begun to illuminate what a gorgeous city Edinburgh. It is traditionally referred to as the "Athens of the North," in large part because of a shared obsession with phallic columns.
There is a lot for an American to learn--for example, which beers on tap are good and which are shite. And I've got to watch out so that I dont drink so much I go and do something daft. Because the basic truth is that the pub scene here is all-encompasing. In a city of 500,000, there are reportedly 500-1,000 pubs. Of course, many people abuse this availability, as they do in NYC; but the nearly nonexistent drinking age (I think you have to be able to pronounce the Czech beers in order to buy them, that's about it) does not in fact lead to widespread alcoholism and harmful inebriation. Shocking, no?
The biggest change here--other than talking about pounds instead of dollars--is the portions. Food servings are much smaller here than in the US, and while that means my stomach often growls, not in that "Oh god I ate John Jay meat" but in that "Oh god I would even eat John Jay meat" way, the Scots make up for the lack of food by overcompensating on the unhealthy factor. Ever had a deep fried candy bar? Your teeth will hurt and your soul will cry for Dr. Atkins' forgiveness. Ever had a sausage filled with cheese and wrapped in bacon? Ditto.
"Green" food, as one of my English flatmates said, is socially unacceptable to many Scots--eating healthy is on par with communism in the U.S. circa the Joe McCarthy era. While this may be a bit of an overstatement, it is truly astounding what is considered normal here.
Integration with Scots does not come quickly; a lot of my time is spent with my closest American friends, whom I met during our program orientation in the first few days. Surprisingly, out of about 75 of us, most were girls (score!) and none were Ivy Leaguers. I have heard, though, that there is a surprising proliferation of Dartmouth students around the campus, which is rather inexplicable unless New Hampshire and Scotland have some quirky exchange program. The group of mostly Midewest and East Coast students has begun to split up now as we pursue our own interests, but because of the fact that we are in a semi-foreign land (fitting in here really isn't that hard seeing as we all look like we could be Scots until we open our mouths and call the lift the "elevator"), we have started forming small core groups who we turn to for a night out or a touristy expedition into the city.
If anyone ever visits Edinburgh, swing by Bannerman's Pub, where Tuesday nite (yes, we drink every day here) is International Student Night. If you've ever wanted to see drunk guys sing "Gay Bar" by Electric Six while shaking their asses and spilling their drinks, the night is a must. If you don't find this appealing, I honestly don't know what you could possibly find fun other than a rereading of Moby Dick or the like.
All in all, I'll admit I'm not missing Columbia or the U.S. much right now. Except for my darling girlfriend, who will be studying in Spain this semester, all my ties have been cut or postponed. I stay in touch with all of you, my friends, by e-mail, phone, corny postcard, or maybe, just maybe, a personal visit in the UK. I received the delightful news a few days ago that the Spec, which was once my life, has decided to fire me as a columnist while abroad so they can focus on Columbia issues (not bitter not bitter not bitter...). Thus, it is amazingly helpful that I've, for the first time in my life, actually developed a small core group to spend time with.
In fact, we're off to two of the largest museums in Scotland right now to see Scottish history in person.
Oh, and yes, I do have classes in all of this. I'm taking International Political Economy, Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, and Modern Scottish History 2. Lots of reading, which I should probably start soon.
But for now, I'm off. I apologize if you read this more than once--in an effort to keep a lot of people updated, I'm posting this here, on the Facebook, and sending some e-mails out.
Cheers,
Brian
Hallo everyone from the beautiful land of the Scots, where the rain and cold of my first week have finally abated, and the sun has begun to illuminate what a gorgeous city Edinburgh. It is traditionally referred to as the "Athens of the North," in large part because of a shared obsession with phallic columns.
There is a lot for an American to learn--for example, which beers on tap are good and which are shite. And I've got to watch out so that I dont drink so much I go and do something daft. Because the basic truth is that the pub scene here is all-encompasing. In a city of 500,000, there are reportedly 500-1,000 pubs. Of course, many people abuse this availability, as they do in NYC; but the nearly nonexistent drinking age (I think you have to be able to pronounce the Czech beers in order to buy them, that's about it) does not in fact lead to widespread alcoholism and harmful inebriation. Shocking, no?
The biggest change here--other than talking about pounds instead of dollars--is the portions. Food servings are much smaller here than in the US, and while that means my stomach often growls, not in that "Oh god I ate John Jay meat" but in that "Oh god I would even eat John Jay meat" way, the Scots make up for the lack of food by overcompensating on the unhealthy factor. Ever had a deep fried candy bar? Your teeth will hurt and your soul will cry for Dr. Atkins' forgiveness. Ever had a sausage filled with cheese and wrapped in bacon? Ditto.
"Green" food, as one of my English flatmates said, is socially unacceptable to many Scots--eating healthy is on par with communism in the U.S. circa the Joe McCarthy era. While this may be a bit of an overstatement, it is truly astounding what is considered normal here.
Integration with Scots does not come quickly; a lot of my time is spent with my closest American friends, whom I met during our program orientation in the first few days. Surprisingly, out of about 75 of us, most were girls (score!) and none were Ivy Leaguers. I have heard, though, that there is a surprising proliferation of Dartmouth students around the campus, which is rather inexplicable unless New Hampshire and Scotland have some quirky exchange program. The group of mostly Midewest and East Coast students has begun to split up now as we pursue our own interests, but because of the fact that we are in a semi-foreign land (fitting in here really isn't that hard seeing as we all look like we could be Scots until we open our mouths and call the lift the "elevator"), we have started forming small core groups who we turn to for a night out or a touristy expedition into the city.
If anyone ever visits Edinburgh, swing by Bannerman's Pub, where Tuesday nite (yes, we drink every day here) is International Student Night. If you've ever wanted to see drunk guys sing "Gay Bar" by Electric Six while shaking their asses and spilling their drinks, the night is a must. If you don't find this appealing, I honestly don't know what you could possibly find fun other than a rereading of Moby Dick or the like.
All in all, I'll admit I'm not missing Columbia or the U.S. much right now. Except for my darling girlfriend, who will be studying in Spain this semester, all my ties have been cut or postponed. I stay in touch with all of you, my friends, by e-mail, phone, corny postcard, or maybe, just maybe, a personal visit in the UK. I received the delightful news a few days ago that the Spec, which was once my life, has decided to fire me as a columnist while abroad so they can focus on Columbia issues (not bitter not bitter not bitter...). Thus, it is amazingly helpful that I've, for the first time in my life, actually developed a small core group to spend time with.
In fact, we're off to two of the largest museums in Scotland right now to see Scottish history in person.
Oh, and yes, I do have classes in all of this. I'm taking International Political Economy, Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, and Modern Scottish History 2. Lots of reading, which I should probably start soon.
But for now, I'm off. I apologize if you read this more than once--in an effort to keep a lot of people updated, I'm posting this here, on the Facebook, and sending some e-mails out.
Cheers,
Brian
posted by The Oracles @ 1:34 PM
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