Hey all!
Just dropping in to remind you of my upcoming 3.5 week absence! Tomorrow, I leave for London. We fly to Barcelona on Saturday (March 24), Ireland on Thursday (March 29), Paris on April 5, and Italy on April 7. I will be back April 15! I will update you a bit if I can access a computer during the holiday...if not, NEVER FEAR! You'll have a TON to read about upon my return! Blessings on the next few weeks!
Psalm 126-
Han
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Studying-
My sincerest apologies once again for the lack of updates these past couple of weeks. The "study" portion of "study abroad" has kicked in, and I have been spending a large portion of my time tucked away in my corner of the library. It's been a beautiful thing to finally have my nose in the books again, but, after writing about Jane Eyre and personal versus national histories in Redgauntlet for eight hours a day, blogging is the last thing on my mind come nightfall. So, here I sit, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, finally ready to write to you.
Last week, I spent an abnormally large number of hours in the library, my closest companions being my laptop, some chocolate, a few friends from class, and an ever-growing stack of books analyzing sympathy and individualism in Jane Eyre. My nights were spent taking Excedrin and eating meals with my flatmates in an attempt to rejuvenate my mind. Come to find out, dinners prepared haphazardly that consist of cold canned tuna, green beans, and raw carrot sticks may be healthy, but they're definitely not satisfying. Imagine that! Ah, but the laughter bellowing from within us over those disappointing meals, that was refreshing.
Last Friday was my first legitimately stressful day at the University of Aberdeen! I say that with an immense amount of joy in my heart, as I miss the stress and strain of a hard day's work. I will fill you in quickly. My paper was due at one o'clock, and I have a two-hour tutorial at one. I arrived at the library a few minutes past twelve. I went to the seventh floor to search for a computer--none open. I proceeded to check five more floors until I finally found an open one, opened my document, and it was all out of format. So I spent a while fixing it, sent it to the printer, and waited in line to print. I reached the printer, and I was out of print credit. I retreated, found the credit topper in my student portal, paid by card, topped up, and reprinted. This time, a student in front of me needed to copy a ton of papers. When it wasn't working the way he wanted, he started pushing a lot of buttons until the printer broke. A man came over, spent a few minutes fixing the printer, and, by the time I got to print, it was quarter past one. I then sprinted across campus, saw my professor walking from Taylor with the stack of papers, and flagged her down, out of breath.
"Dr. Hutchinson, I'm so sorry I'm late to turn this in. I swear I had it done, but the printer was broken, no computers, it doesn't matter, I'm sorry, and it's here. It's done. Am I late? Is it too late?"
She smiled. "Oh, no worries, as long as it's turned in online. We just say to turn it in at one to scare the students into turning it in that same day."
Well. Relief, I guess. Anyway, I ran into my tutorial half an hour late, the doors slamming behind me, embarrassment written all over my face. I was humbled, and it was good.
Friday nights are our family dinner nights, so we ate a hearty meal of homemade pizza and salad at Matt's flat. I finished the night off with one too many glasses of wine and a good movie with the boys. The weather during the weekend was wonderful (although not as good as Michigan's, I'm sorry to say), so all day Sunday was spent along the riverbank in the sunshine with Matt, Andrew, and way too many dogs. I came home muddy and rosy, a perfect way to begin the week.
This past week was one of intense stress and exhaustion. I had another large essay due on Sir Walter Scott's Redgauntlet, and way too many hours were spent poring through books about historical fiction and what it really means in regards to Scottish history and literature. I went to Andrew's flat a few times just to escape from myself and enjoyed great conversation with him and his English flatmate Robert. By Friday morning, the paper was done, and the weekend was ahead of me. Finally.
Yesterday, Erik and Simon rented a five-person car (though there were six of us...that's an entirely different story) and we headed to Dufftown to tour Glenfiddich Distillery. It was really interesting to see the process that it goes through, though I'm not a lover of whisky. We spent a couple of hours there, grabbed some lunch in town, and then hiked for a bit through the woods. Today, we tried out a new church, I ate a delicious lunch of homemade stew with my French flatmate Alice, and now it's time to get cracking on the reading for the last big project I have until exams! Things are moving too quickly.
This Friday, I leave for my three-and-a-half week journey across Europe. I will be heading from Aberdeen to London to Barcelona with Andrew and Erik. I will spend five days in Spain, then head to Dublin and spend a week trekking across Ireland with Kayla and Natalia. We will then head to Paris for two days, meet up with Andrew and Matt, and head to Italy for the last remaining week where we will visit Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, and Rome. Prayers are appreciated!
Thanks for reading! Stay with me! Philippians 1:3
Last week, I spent an abnormally large number of hours in the library, my closest companions being my laptop, some chocolate, a few friends from class, and an ever-growing stack of books analyzing sympathy and individualism in Jane Eyre. My nights were spent taking Excedrin and eating meals with my flatmates in an attempt to rejuvenate my mind. Come to find out, dinners prepared haphazardly that consist of cold canned tuna, green beans, and raw carrot sticks may be healthy, but they're definitely not satisfying. Imagine that! Ah, but the laughter bellowing from within us over those disappointing meals, that was refreshing.
Last Friday was my first legitimately stressful day at the University of Aberdeen! I say that with an immense amount of joy in my heart, as I miss the stress and strain of a hard day's work. I will fill you in quickly. My paper was due at one o'clock, and I have a two-hour tutorial at one. I arrived at the library a few minutes past twelve. I went to the seventh floor to search for a computer--none open. I proceeded to check five more floors until I finally found an open one, opened my document, and it was all out of format. So I spent a while fixing it, sent it to the printer, and waited in line to print. I reached the printer, and I was out of print credit. I retreated, found the credit topper in my student portal, paid by card, topped up, and reprinted. This time, a student in front of me needed to copy a ton of papers. When it wasn't working the way he wanted, he started pushing a lot of buttons until the printer broke. A man came over, spent a few minutes fixing the printer, and, by the time I got to print, it was quarter past one. I then sprinted across campus, saw my professor walking from Taylor with the stack of papers, and flagged her down, out of breath.
"Dr. Hutchinson, I'm so sorry I'm late to turn this in. I swear I had it done, but the printer was broken, no computers, it doesn't matter, I'm sorry, and it's here. It's done. Am I late? Is it too late?"
She smiled. "Oh, no worries, as long as it's turned in online. We just say to turn it in at one to scare the students into turning it in that same day."
Well. Relief, I guess. Anyway, I ran into my tutorial half an hour late, the doors slamming behind me, embarrassment written all over my face. I was humbled, and it was good.
Friday nights are our family dinner nights, so we ate a hearty meal of homemade pizza and salad at Matt's flat. I finished the night off with one too many glasses of wine and a good movie with the boys. The weather during the weekend was wonderful (although not as good as Michigan's, I'm sorry to say), so all day Sunday was spent along the riverbank in the sunshine with Matt, Andrew, and way too many dogs. I came home muddy and rosy, a perfect way to begin the week.
This past week was one of intense stress and exhaustion. I had another large essay due on Sir Walter Scott's Redgauntlet, and way too many hours were spent poring through books about historical fiction and what it really means in regards to Scottish history and literature. I went to Andrew's flat a few times just to escape from myself and enjoyed great conversation with him and his English flatmate Robert. By Friday morning, the paper was done, and the weekend was ahead of me. Finally.
Yesterday, Erik and Simon rented a five-person car (though there were six of us...that's an entirely different story) and we headed to Dufftown to tour Glenfiddich Distillery. It was really interesting to see the process that it goes through, though I'm not a lover of whisky. We spent a couple of hours there, grabbed some lunch in town, and then hiked for a bit through the woods. Today, we tried out a new church, I ate a delicious lunch of homemade stew with my French flatmate Alice, and now it's time to get cracking on the reading for the last big project I have until exams! Things are moving too quickly.
This Friday, I leave for my three-and-a-half week journey across Europe. I will be heading from Aberdeen to London to Barcelona with Andrew and Erik. I will spend five days in Spain, then head to Dublin and spend a week trekking across Ireland with Kayla and Natalia. We will then head to Paris for two days, meet up with Andrew and Matt, and head to Italy for the last remaining week where we will visit Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, and Rome. Prayers are appreciated!
Thanks for reading! Stay with me! Philippians 1:3
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wandering-
I am convinced that I am living in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I must be. If I'm not and there are more stunning lands than one I am in, I'm not sure my heart could take it. I'm certain it couldn't.
Scotland's cities are lovely, of course. Aberdeen buzzes with international excitement, the airspace overflowing with the sounds of a hundred different languages. Edinburgh is majestic, rich in culture and history. But there is something about this humble countryside, something subtle and breathtaking. It's the way that the sun is positioned in the sky, streaming through thin, white clouds that hang low over the hills. It's the way that the shadows move steadily across the face of the mountains. It's the way that the color of the land shifts from green to red to brown to tan, the dirt and the pastures and the farmland creating an enormous quilt that blankets the earth as far as the eye can see. The black birds dancing in the breeze, the sheep speckling the landscape, the smell of pine needles and damp wood and clean water, the sound of waterfalls and white water and the crunch of pebbles beneath your feet. It is everything gigantic, and it is nothing at all. Beauty in what we see as ordinary, beauty in what God has made extraordinary.
This past weekend, the boys and I ventured to the infamous Loch Ness. Andrew had gotten to the town a couple hours earlier than we did, so Matt, Erik, and I rode the bus from Inverness to the Loch Ness Youth Hostel. We walked off the bus, it drove away, and we saw the sign on the front door that read:
Scotland's cities are lovely, of course. Aberdeen buzzes with international excitement, the airspace overflowing with the sounds of a hundred different languages. Edinburgh is majestic, rich in culture and history. But there is something about this humble countryside, something subtle and breathtaking. It's the way that the sun is positioned in the sky, streaming through thin, white clouds that hang low over the hills. It's the way that the shadows move steadily across the face of the mountains. It's the way that the color of the land shifts from green to red to brown to tan, the dirt and the pastures and the farmland creating an enormous quilt that blankets the earth as far as the eye can see. The black birds dancing in the breeze, the sheep speckling the landscape, the smell of pine needles and damp wood and clean water, the sound of waterfalls and white water and the crunch of pebbles beneath your feet. It is everything gigantic, and it is nothing at all. Beauty in what we see as ordinary, beauty in what God has made extraordinary.
This past weekend, the boys and I ventured to the infamous Loch Ness. Andrew had gotten to the town a couple hours earlier than we did, so Matt, Erik, and I rode the bus from Inverness to the Loch Ness Youth Hostel. We walked off the bus, it drove away, and we saw the sign on the front door that read:
We gave ourselves a few moments to panic, curse, and laugh, and then decided to walk back toward town. Town, only a fifteen-minute drive! So, we began the trek, a drop into the loch on one side and mountains on the other. Cars passed us at dizzying speeds, offering only inches of space, and we were terrified. We pressed on, our feet sinking in the rocks and in the mud, our mouths curling into nervous smiles the more we considered our predicament. After about thirty minutes of walking, we received a phone call from Andrew; Molly, the youth hostel manager in town, was going to come pick us up! I thought it odd and unnecessary, but we accepted the offer nonetheless, and we were in her car within minutes.
"Thank God you guys are safe! I was so worried about you. At least twenty-five deaths have occurred on this road in the past year. The road is treacherous. You had a nine-mile walk ahead of you! And I was scared you took the ridge. That's a five-hour walk with cliffs on one side and bogs on the other. The road is a death trap."
Oh. Oh, oh, so we were within inches of our deaths for thirty minutes. And it was only a nine-mile walk (that we started after three thirty). The beginning of a good weekend.
We arrived at the hostel, got settled in, walked to the store, and made dinner. I'm not sure what I expected, but, given the hype and the jokes and the caricatures of that mysterious creature, I suppose I anticipated a town full of gift shops, museums, trolley rides, and other needless luxuries to entertain tourists. I couldn't have been more wrong. By way of business, Drumnadrochit had two small inns, a youth hostel, a corner store, a gas station, three pubs, and a couple of cafes. One business offered boat rides. Mostly, the town was quiet and modest, a place in which I felt at home.
Around seven thirty, we took the advice of our gracious host Molly and walked to Urquhart Castle. She had suggested earlier that we wait for castle to close at dark and hop a few gates to get in without paying. She was the knowledgeable local, so we all agreed that breaking the law was okay under those circumstances. There were almost no lights in the area, so our walk was spent with our necks craned upward, gazing at the heavens and pointing out constellations. When we arrived at the castle, we hopped two gates and made our way down to the castle. An orange glow enveloped the crumbling structure, making it look both beautiful and eerie. We took our own guided tour of the place and eventually sat at a well-lit end of the castle next to the water to talk. We were knee-deep in conversation and laughter when, seemingly out of nowhere, a boat pulled up alongside of us, lingered for a moment, and drove off. We were frozen with fear in the glow of those lights, unsure of what to do in the moment. As the boat floated away, we did the only thing we knew to do: run. We exited the premises, our adrenaline pumping, our mouths chattering with 'what-ifs.' We walked briskly down the road, and, from far across the bay, I spotted one lone police car making its way around the mountain. It was at least eight or nine miles away, so we joked about it coming for us, and then dove into other areas of conversation...until it was driving toward us at a high speed, its blue lights flashing with warning. It flew past us and stopped at the castle, and, consequently, our pace quickened and so did our chatter. We were not going to be outlaws in this land! So we focused on the path ahead and made sure to stay in the shadows.
The rest of the details of the trip are less exciting, I suppose. We got lost for a good thirty minutes that night while attempting to find the pub at the hotel. We got lost for an hour and a half trying to find the trail that led to a waterfall in the mountains. We wandered around in the mountains and in the fields, wandered into town, and wandered our way onto the bus and through Inverness and back home to Aberdeen. A weekend of adventure, laughter, uncertainty, and close calls. Certainly a weekend of close calls.
As for photographs, there are few. Readers, take heart! I will be back in May, and the richness of this land will not be lost in the flatness of my words. My comrades also have much to share, and those photos will continue to be available to you here.
I believe it is officially time to consider myself a weary traveler. My feet are bruised, my body sore and dehydrated, my hair unbrushed. What a privilege it is to be lost in this place, to attribute my fatigue to the beauty of this land.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Exploration-
Ah, please forgive me for my delay in writing. There is so much to say and so little to say that I always seem to be torn between whether or not I should bother to post. But, at last, here I am--on my "one month anniversary" in Aberdeen, no less!
Since our trip to Edinburgh, no enormously exciting events have taken place, yet my level of happiness and comfort continues to rise daily. Last week, the days came and went all too quickly, leaving a sort of hazy streak across my memory that is usually very clear. There is little to update on from last week, I suppose--classes, going out a few nights with flatmates and friends, studying, and the like. A mostly quiet, albeit very fast, week.
Last Friday, I decided to point to a city on the map of Scotland and take a bus there. So, on Sunday, Matt and I walked to the bus station by the harbor and hopped on the bus heading toward a place called Bellater, which is located a little over an hour west of Aberdeen. The town is situated in the Highlands (in Cairngorms National Park), and it couldn't have been more picturesque. The town itself consisted of a few streets that housed a pub, a cafe, the bus station, a bakery, a clothing store, a hotel, and some other nameless shops. There was a sizable commons area in the center next to a large church, and the outskirts were mainly tiny "neighborhoods" that backed up to the looming mountains. For all of you Gilmore Girls fans--I would say Bellater was comparable to Stars Hollow, if not almost exactly the same.
My excitement for the excursion continued to grow deeper as we walked out of town and stood on an old bridge overlooking the River Dee, its flowing water like music to my ears. We continued onward toward a trail that led around the mountain, but that wasn't enough for us. We wanted to hike up the mountain...so we did. There was a sort of trail that led up the steep side of the mountain, and we followed some man's snowy footsteps for about thirty minutes until we came to the highest point. It was so beautiful; we stood there for about ten minutes just breathing, taking it all in. Off in the distance on either side of us were hillier mountains green with tall pines, larger mountains of browns and reds, and, in the distance, the largest and rockiest mountains, snow-capped and reaching to the heavens. God's glory filled the place.
After a bit, we descended and walked around the other mountains, which led us to a farmer's path next to a field of sheep and a small cemetery. By this point, it was mid-afternoon, so we headed back to town and ate some cake and drank tea at the local cafe. After warming up and resting, we headed back out of town to explore the area. At one point, I heard bagpipes and drums coming from a building about one hundred meters away, and I naturally couldn't stay away. So we stood outside of the building (with a sign that read "Bagpipes Music Hall" or something of the sort) for a short moment until I stated that I wanted to meet these people. Matt kind of laughed at first until I strolled up to the doors and walked in. There were three men practicing, and I stated that I was a traveler and was interested as I was walking by. They seemed surprised at first, but then invited us to come out on Tuesday nights to see them play and dance! They were so welcoming, and I really think I might go out on a Tuesday night in the near future.
When all was said and done, we hopped on the bus back to Aberdeen, bleary-eyed and sore, and I fell asleep. After we arrived, we walked back to Old Aberdeen, went to the evening service at St. Machar, and headed back to Hillhead. (In other news, I slipped and nearly fell on the hill next to the church after the service, but I caught myself by throwing my keys that were in my pocket into some nearby brush. There were no lights, and we couldn't see anything. A random passerby helped us search with the lights of our cell phones, and he found it within five minutes. Thanks, humankind. I couldn't stop laughing about it for a solid day.)
As for this week, it's been very busy. To give a quick rundown of it, I've done laundry, gone to class, attempted to write a paper (due tomorrow...), gone to two-hour yoga classes every night, joined the Christian Union and have done daily events with them, and other seemingly unimportant things that give structure to my life and make it more purposeful. This paragraph made my life sound bland and uninteresting, but it's actually quite the opposite, and for that I am so thankful. I have missed my busy days, and I am happy that they're back for the time being.
This weekend, the boys and I will be heading off to Inverness and Loch Ness for the weekend, so I'll be sure to post photographs afterward! Photographs from last weekend are, as always, available on the Imgur account to the right.
Cheers!
Since our trip to Edinburgh, no enormously exciting events have taken place, yet my level of happiness and comfort continues to rise daily. Last week, the days came and went all too quickly, leaving a sort of hazy streak across my memory that is usually very clear. There is little to update on from last week, I suppose--classes, going out a few nights with flatmates and friends, studying, and the like. A mostly quiet, albeit very fast, week.
Last Friday, I decided to point to a city on the map of Scotland and take a bus there. So, on Sunday, Matt and I walked to the bus station by the harbor and hopped on the bus heading toward a place called Bellater, which is located a little over an hour west of Aberdeen. The town is situated in the Highlands (in Cairngorms National Park), and it couldn't have been more picturesque. The town itself consisted of a few streets that housed a pub, a cafe, the bus station, a bakery, a clothing store, a hotel, and some other nameless shops. There was a sizable commons area in the center next to a large church, and the outskirts were mainly tiny "neighborhoods" that backed up to the looming mountains. For all of you Gilmore Girls fans--I would say Bellater was comparable to Stars Hollow, if not almost exactly the same.
My excitement for the excursion continued to grow deeper as we walked out of town and stood on an old bridge overlooking the River Dee, its flowing water like music to my ears. We continued onward toward a trail that led around the mountain, but that wasn't enough for us. We wanted to hike up the mountain...so we did. There was a sort of trail that led up the steep side of the mountain, and we followed some man's snowy footsteps for about thirty minutes until we came to the highest point. It was so beautiful; we stood there for about ten minutes just breathing, taking it all in. Off in the distance on either side of us were hillier mountains green with tall pines, larger mountains of browns and reds, and, in the distance, the largest and rockiest mountains, snow-capped and reaching to the heavens. God's glory filled the place.
After a bit, we descended and walked around the other mountains, which led us to a farmer's path next to a field of sheep and a small cemetery. By this point, it was mid-afternoon, so we headed back to town and ate some cake and drank tea at the local cafe. After warming up and resting, we headed back out of town to explore the area. At one point, I heard bagpipes and drums coming from a building about one hundred meters away, and I naturally couldn't stay away. So we stood outside of the building (with a sign that read "Bagpipes Music Hall" or something of the sort) for a short moment until I stated that I wanted to meet these people. Matt kind of laughed at first until I strolled up to the doors and walked in. There were three men practicing, and I stated that I was a traveler and was interested as I was walking by. They seemed surprised at first, but then invited us to come out on Tuesday nights to see them play and dance! They were so welcoming, and I really think I might go out on a Tuesday night in the near future.
When all was said and done, we hopped on the bus back to Aberdeen, bleary-eyed and sore, and I fell asleep. After we arrived, we walked back to Old Aberdeen, went to the evening service at St. Machar, and headed back to Hillhead. (In other news, I slipped and nearly fell on the hill next to the church after the service, but I caught myself by throwing my keys that were in my pocket into some nearby brush. There were no lights, and we couldn't see anything. A random passerby helped us search with the lights of our cell phones, and he found it within five minutes. Thanks, humankind. I couldn't stop laughing about it for a solid day.)
As for this week, it's been very busy. To give a quick rundown of it, I've done laundry, gone to class, attempted to write a paper (due tomorrow...), gone to two-hour yoga classes every night, joined the Christian Union and have done daily events with them, and other seemingly unimportant things that give structure to my life and make it more purposeful. This paragraph made my life sound bland and uninteresting, but it's actually quite the opposite, and for that I am so thankful. I have missed my busy days, and I am happy that they're back for the time being.
This weekend, the boys and I will be heading off to Inverness and Loch Ness for the weekend, so I'll be sure to post photographs afterward! Photographs from last weekend are, as always, available on the Imgur account to the right.
Cheers!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Wonder (and Terrible Walking Shoes)-
It is with tired eyes, sore feet, and an unprecedented sense of wonder and excitement that I write today after a long weekend in Edinburgh. I am not seated anywhere special--a dark, mysterious pub situated in a shadowy alleyway, a tiny cafe nestled in between a flower shop and a bakery. I am instead perched on a chair in my cream-colored bedroom, listening to the whistle of the wind coming in off of the North Sea, the tops of the bare trees shivering back and forth in the cold February air. It was warm this morning, reaching almost fifty degrees. It has since cooled off, and my trusty wool socks are back on my feet, a warm cup of terrible instant coffee sitting on the window ledge. Heaven help me; I suppose it's time to write a blog post.
Last week flew by, marking my second full week in Scotland. My time abroad thus far has seemed like one giant paradox. Days seem to take weeks to pass, yet they pass in only moments. It feels ordinary, easy even, to be here, yet the fact that I now live in Scotland is extraordinary and extraordinarily difficult. I am comfortable and homesick, excited and fearful--every possible emotion wrapping itself up in others, producing one nameless emotion that attaches itself to me every day. It is good, it is hard, and my overwhelming feeling is that it is all worth it.
My Mondays through Fridays are marked with steady routines involving lectures, lunches, readings, writing, tutorials, and conversations. Some days I go to a local pub with friends, others I spend on the fourth floor of the library overlooking the sea in usually failed attempts to get reading done for class. Some nights are spent out in the city centre, while others are spent quietly in my bedroom. It is a good balance, and I finally have some semblance of a schedule--something that is necessary for me.
My original plan this past week was to travel to Loch Ness with InterSoc, the International Students Society here on campus. It was 25.50 GBP to go, and that included a bus there and back, a boat ride, and castle sightseeing. It sounded like a great trip, but I decided that I'd much rather go when the weather was nicer and with a smaller group rather than a hundred or more other students. So, Erik, Matthew, Andrew, and I all planned a weekend trip to Edinburgh, which proved to be well worth it. We left at five in the morning on Saturday and walked nearly an hour to the bus station, where our bus left at six thirty. I surprised myself during those three hours by falling asleep in a number of uncomfortable positions, including straight up with my head occasionally hitting the seat in front of me and with my head against the rumbling window, my hair soaked and splattered against the condensation. It was remarkable and indeed fairly embarrassing. We arrived in Edinburgh between nine thirty and ten and began our trek around the city. Within moments, we found the first of the three free National Galleries--the portrait museum. We spent a couple of hours roaming around the giant halls, gazing at artwork completed in the twelfth century onward, cherishing our time out of the cold. Afterward, we began the walk from the "new town" to the "old town" and found the second National Gallery, which we spent about an hour or more in. This gallery was situated near the park that separates the two halves of the city, by a huge monument and statue of Sir William Wallace and surrounded by street performers of all kinds. The entire feel of the city was incredible: Imagine a good-humored group of middle-aged Scottish men joking with me in the Scots dialect (I couldn't understand a thing) as I crossed the street toward the majestic Edinburgh Castle with bagpipes in the background playing "Scotland the Brave." Yes, this is all very stereotypical, and yes, it is indeed real.
After we left the second art gallery, we headed farther into the old town to the Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling famously wrote some of her Harry Potter books. We grabbed a few cappuccinos and rested for a bit over our books. Then, we headed down the street to the National Museum of Scotland around three thirty, which we thought would be a good museum to run through before it closed at five. We were right; it was a great museum. But it certainly wasn't something that we could stroll through quickly! The museum was absolutely huge with seven stories and several wings. I made it through three floors of Scottish history in just over an hour, which isn't even a quarter of the museum. The artifacts on display there were incredible as well. There were skeletons of ancient people with their belongings that were buried with them, thousands of old coins, weapons, objects of the everyday. It is definitely a place I will have to return to when I go back.
After the museum closed at five, we headed down the Royal Mile to find our hostel. After getting lost and ending up at the castle, we finally made it to our room and checked in. It was a nice and cozy little place, with a kitchen and two tables, a fireplace and a couple of chairs, and a long hallway that housed the various travelers. The four of us were in a room with two sets of bunk beds that overlooked the Royal Mile and High Street. We unpacked some of our things and sat down for a bit to catch our breath and then headed out to the Royal Mile Tavern where we had some drinks and ate dinner. It was a nice pub that was lit (in the usual fashion, it seems) with candles stuck in old whisky bottles. Afterward, we stopped at another local bar called the Halfway House, per Erik's suggestion, and then returned back to our room to sleep.
The next morning, we checked out around nine forty-five and headed off to St. Giles' Cathedral, which was just down the road on the Royal Mile. It is a beautiful, sprawling old church with an elderly congregation. The service was traditional, and it was certainly a rich experience to attend church in such a historic place, in such an incredible city. Following church, we made the trek back to Edinburgh Castle, where we spent the next few hours. The castle is unbelievable, sitting atop an extinct volcano overlooking the entire city. From the top, you see the North Sea, the Firth of Forth, new town, old town, Arthur's Seat, public parks, craggy hills. Inside were preserved buildings and museums, ancient artifacts and bits of history, including the Crown Jewels and old wooden doors with graffiti and etchings from POWs who were imprisoned at the castle in the eighteenth century. My favorite etching was one by a "rebel" American colonist--a sailboat with an American flag flying on the front from about 1781.
After our time there, we walked across the city to Parliament, the Palace, and Holyrood and hiked our way to the top of Calton Hill, the first public park in Edinburgh. The view from the top was breathtaking, and we spent quite a bit of time there soaking in the city. As we made our way back to the city centre, we stopped in a cafe to rest, drink coffee, and read. Then, we made our way to a tiny pub down a cobblestone alleyway and found a booth near the corner to order dinner and have some drinks. The crowd present was most definitely locals, and they couldn't have been warmer or kinder. An old woman in the corner sat alone, sipping white wine, singing every song played on the jukebox, and smiling at our table every time we did or said something ridiculous. An elderly but jovial man took his place at the bar, making jokes and laughing boisterously, and refusing to let anyone else make any song selections. By this point, it had hit seven thirty, and the city was winding down. Our bus didn't leave until eleven, so we made our way toward the station, stopped and saw a movie, and then took off for Perth and then Aberdeen. The bus ride was pretty brutal once we made our connection in Perth. I was stuck next to a man who I'm certain downed two fifths and smoked a dime bag before boarding the bus, and, by the time I got into bed after our walk home, it was four in the morning. What a great weekend it was! What a tiring weekend it was.
I learned several lessons this weekend:
1) Never, EVER sacrifice comfort for fashion. I chose to wear a particular pair of shoes other than my hiking boots, which was mistake number one. I felt like I had strapped wooden paddles to my feet by the end of the trip.
2) Travel-sized gear is worth the small investment. Backpack=heavy. If I don't have the money, I'll just go without showering. (Sorry, Mom).
3) Never book the latest bus trip possible. There will, without a doubt, be drunk and dirty old men shouting obscure things at inappropriate moments, filling the bus with the scent of stale alcohol. Just book the seven o'clock trip.
4) Edinburgh is the place to be.
Now that I've rambled on a few paragraphs too long, I will depart to read for my classes and daydream about the adventures had and the adventures to come, lost in wonder at this very world before me.
Last week flew by, marking my second full week in Scotland. My time abroad thus far has seemed like one giant paradox. Days seem to take weeks to pass, yet they pass in only moments. It feels ordinary, easy even, to be here, yet the fact that I now live in Scotland is extraordinary and extraordinarily difficult. I am comfortable and homesick, excited and fearful--every possible emotion wrapping itself up in others, producing one nameless emotion that attaches itself to me every day. It is good, it is hard, and my overwhelming feeling is that it is all worth it.
My Mondays through Fridays are marked with steady routines involving lectures, lunches, readings, writing, tutorials, and conversations. Some days I go to a local pub with friends, others I spend on the fourth floor of the library overlooking the sea in usually failed attempts to get reading done for class. Some nights are spent out in the city centre, while others are spent quietly in my bedroom. It is a good balance, and I finally have some semblance of a schedule--something that is necessary for me.
My original plan this past week was to travel to Loch Ness with InterSoc, the International Students Society here on campus. It was 25.50 GBP to go, and that included a bus there and back, a boat ride, and castle sightseeing. It sounded like a great trip, but I decided that I'd much rather go when the weather was nicer and with a smaller group rather than a hundred or more other students. So, Erik, Matthew, Andrew, and I all planned a weekend trip to Edinburgh, which proved to be well worth it. We left at five in the morning on Saturday and walked nearly an hour to the bus station, where our bus left at six thirty. I surprised myself during those three hours by falling asleep in a number of uncomfortable positions, including straight up with my head occasionally hitting the seat in front of me and with my head against the rumbling window, my hair soaked and splattered against the condensation. It was remarkable and indeed fairly embarrassing. We arrived in Edinburgh between nine thirty and ten and began our trek around the city. Within moments, we found the first of the three free National Galleries--the portrait museum. We spent a couple of hours roaming around the giant halls, gazing at artwork completed in the twelfth century onward, cherishing our time out of the cold. Afterward, we began the walk from the "new town" to the "old town" and found the second National Gallery, which we spent about an hour or more in. This gallery was situated near the park that separates the two halves of the city, by a huge monument and statue of Sir William Wallace and surrounded by street performers of all kinds. The entire feel of the city was incredible: Imagine a good-humored group of middle-aged Scottish men joking with me in the Scots dialect (I couldn't understand a thing) as I crossed the street toward the majestic Edinburgh Castle with bagpipes in the background playing "Scotland the Brave." Yes, this is all very stereotypical, and yes, it is indeed real.
After we left the second art gallery, we headed farther into the old town to the Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling famously wrote some of her Harry Potter books. We grabbed a few cappuccinos and rested for a bit over our books. Then, we headed down the street to the National Museum of Scotland around three thirty, which we thought would be a good museum to run through before it closed at five. We were right; it was a great museum. But it certainly wasn't something that we could stroll through quickly! The museum was absolutely huge with seven stories and several wings. I made it through three floors of Scottish history in just over an hour, which isn't even a quarter of the museum. The artifacts on display there were incredible as well. There were skeletons of ancient people with their belongings that were buried with them, thousands of old coins, weapons, objects of the everyday. It is definitely a place I will have to return to when I go back.
After the museum closed at five, we headed down the Royal Mile to find our hostel. After getting lost and ending up at the castle, we finally made it to our room and checked in. It was a nice and cozy little place, with a kitchen and two tables, a fireplace and a couple of chairs, and a long hallway that housed the various travelers. The four of us were in a room with two sets of bunk beds that overlooked the Royal Mile and High Street. We unpacked some of our things and sat down for a bit to catch our breath and then headed out to the Royal Mile Tavern where we had some drinks and ate dinner. It was a nice pub that was lit (in the usual fashion, it seems) with candles stuck in old whisky bottles. Afterward, we stopped at another local bar called the Halfway House, per Erik's suggestion, and then returned back to our room to sleep.
The next morning, we checked out around nine forty-five and headed off to St. Giles' Cathedral, which was just down the road on the Royal Mile. It is a beautiful, sprawling old church with an elderly congregation. The service was traditional, and it was certainly a rich experience to attend church in such a historic place, in such an incredible city. Following church, we made the trek back to Edinburgh Castle, where we spent the next few hours. The castle is unbelievable, sitting atop an extinct volcano overlooking the entire city. From the top, you see the North Sea, the Firth of Forth, new town, old town, Arthur's Seat, public parks, craggy hills. Inside were preserved buildings and museums, ancient artifacts and bits of history, including the Crown Jewels and old wooden doors with graffiti and etchings from POWs who were imprisoned at the castle in the eighteenth century. My favorite etching was one by a "rebel" American colonist--a sailboat with an American flag flying on the front from about 1781.
After our time there, we walked across the city to Parliament, the Palace, and Holyrood and hiked our way to the top of Calton Hill, the first public park in Edinburgh. The view from the top was breathtaking, and we spent quite a bit of time there soaking in the city. As we made our way back to the city centre, we stopped in a cafe to rest, drink coffee, and read. Then, we made our way to a tiny pub down a cobblestone alleyway and found a booth near the corner to order dinner and have some drinks. The crowd present was most definitely locals, and they couldn't have been warmer or kinder. An old woman in the corner sat alone, sipping white wine, singing every song played on the jukebox, and smiling at our table every time we did or said something ridiculous. An elderly but jovial man took his place at the bar, making jokes and laughing boisterously, and refusing to let anyone else make any song selections. By this point, it had hit seven thirty, and the city was winding down. Our bus didn't leave until eleven, so we made our way toward the station, stopped and saw a movie, and then took off for Perth and then Aberdeen. The bus ride was pretty brutal once we made our connection in Perth. I was stuck next to a man who I'm certain downed two fifths and smoked a dime bag before boarding the bus, and, by the time I got into bed after our walk home, it was four in the morning. What a great weekend it was! What a tiring weekend it was.
I learned several lessons this weekend:
1) Never, EVER sacrifice comfort for fashion. I chose to wear a particular pair of shoes other than my hiking boots, which was mistake number one. I felt like I had strapped wooden paddles to my feet by the end of the trip.
2) Travel-sized gear is worth the small investment. Backpack=heavy. If I don't have the money, I'll just go without showering. (Sorry, Mom).
3) Never book the latest bus trip possible. There will, without a doubt, be drunk and dirty old men shouting obscure things at inappropriate moments, filling the bus with the scent of stale alcohol. Just book the seven o'clock trip.
4) Edinburgh is the place to be.
Now that I've rambled on a few paragraphs too long, I will depart to read for my classes and daydream about the adventures had and the adventures to come, lost in wonder at this very world before me.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tears (The Good Kind)-
Today, the sun is shining brilliantly in a nearly cloudless sky, the air is still, the birds are singing, and my bedroom window is open. Today marks my first day of wearing Sperrys with no socks (Where's Paul Boersma?!). And today, I bless God over and over for placing me in Scotland.
(SIDENOTE: This special day also marks fifty-seven years of life for my gracious, giving father. Happy birthday, Dad! You're the best, and you're missed from across an ocean.)
Before I get too far ahead of myself, I need to start at the beginning--August 2009, the month I moved away from my hometown of Canton, Michigan, to Hope College, a tiny community located three hours west. The first few weeks were full of excitement, insecurities, fears, and a frantic search for a niche, for friends, for comfort. The beginning of my time as a college student truly shaped who I am today and what I value, though it was impossible to see at the time that it was occurring. I was cared for by a beautiful, wonderful community who is still dear to me today, and I couldn't be more grateful for that first week of discomfort and anxiety. It was after those first few weeks that Hope started feeling like home rather than just a college campus, and that feeling has never gone away.
The past week and a half that I've been at the University of Aberdeen has felt a lot like those first weeks as a freshman; I've experienced high degrees of excitement and joy and have also felt unsure, homesick, and out of place. What an interesting experience it is to feel these kinds of anxieties in your third year of college! However, just as I'm seeing the first very early signs of spring here in Scotland, I'm also experiencing the first feelings of belonging, of true happiness, and of home.
Friday marked the first day of rounding this corner. I had my first Victorianism tutorial from nine to eleven, and I spent two hours discussing and analyzing Jane Eyre with other literature students. The class is made up of about fifteen people, all from various parts of the world--Tunisia, England, Austria, Scotland, the States, Canada, and several others. We shared in good discussion, about both the literature at hand and about our own lives, and that made the experience even richer. Following class, I spent a couple of hours at a local cafe, drinking coffee, eating a sandwich, and reading Scottish poetry. I then had my Scottish literature tutorial from one to three, which takes place in a little hidden room in King's College. Here, the walls are lined with books from ceiling to floor on one side and the other side is lined with windows. The "tutor" (or person leading discussion) is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable young man who is clearly very interested in his students' well being and success in the course. I discussed "poetry before Burns" with a great small group--one from Stonehaven, another from Buckinghamshire, and another from Washington--and we shared quite a bit about our personal lives as well. How refreshing it is to meet new people and to be introduced to fresh perspectives! After that class, I picked up my student ID, returned to Hillhead, ate dinner, and talked to my flatmates. Around nine, I met up with Erik, Andrew, and Matt to discuss our weekend plans to visit Dunnottar Castle, and the four of us and Simon, a new friend from Sweden, went to the Union Bar to have a couple drinks and hang out. We spent a couple of hours there, and I headed back to my room. It was so good to be engaged in the classroom again and to spend quality time with friends.
Saturday was uneventful, as the weather was dreary, wet, and cold, so I spent the day with my flatmates and reading for class. Not much to report on there.
Sunday, I fell in love in with Scotland. Yes, it's true--we're officially in a relationship. I woke up before seven and showered before meeting the other four guys, and we left around eight thirty to walk to the bus station in the city. It was about an hour-long walk, and, when we arrived, we had just missed the bus to Stonehaven. We found a little coffee shop and drank coffee during conversation for about an hour and eventually got on the X7 bus toward our destination. The ride there was the start of it all. On my right were tilled fields and pastures full of sheep, and on my left were rolling hills, sharp cliffs, and a view of the North Sea that takes your breath away. The bus dropped us off on the side of a country road, and we walked toward Dunnottar Castle, which is situated on a piece of land jutting out into the sea. As we walked toward it, I was astonished at the beauty of the landscape--a castle in ruins, a majestic blue sea, rocky cliffs, rolling pastures, deep green grass. We walked down a large hill and back up some stony steps until we reached the entrance to the castle, which was far bigger than I expected it to be. Google Images, as Andrew and I agreed upon, did not do it justice. The ruins consisted of a ton of buildings that were resting on a large parcel of land. There were barracks, the warden's quarters, a kitchen, a chapel, a dining room, suites, a drawing room, a large bath area, a "thiefs' room," and a sort of torture chamber, to name a few. In the middle of all of these buildings was a large courtyard area that would have been used as a garden. After exploring and taking some photos, the five of us ate lunch on some stone stairs (that led to nowhere) that overlooked the North Sea. It was at this point, if you were wondering about the title of this post, that I started to cry--with laughter, with overwhelming happiness. I can't explain why, but I'm absolutely certain that God was present in that moment; the beauty of His creation was too much to take in. After lunch, we wandered down several paths to different areas of the beach and through a narrow valley following a small stream to a waterfall. We hiked past the castle, then, and around to the other side, where we could overlook the entire scene, which was indescribable. All that I could think was, "God is so good. He is so unbelievably good."
(SECOND SIDENOTE: If you want to learn more about this incredible castle's history, go here.)
Upon returning to Aberdeen, I walked to the grocery store to get food for my empty cupboards, made dinner, talked to some of my flatmates, and took the downhill turn toward sweet exhaustion. What a blessed day it was. Photographs are available on facebook and on the Imgur account to the right.
Today, as I said earlier, has been absolutely gorgeous. I spent several hours in the brand new library reading Great Expectations for class and soaking in the view from the fifth floor that overlooks the North Sea through giant walls of glass. When I returned home, I received my first piece of international mail--from JENSEN! Thanks, JStarr--you made my day!
I simply couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity and more excited for the rest of this semester. It is with pleasure that I indeed relish in these great expectations.
(SIDENOTE: This special day also marks fifty-seven years of life for my gracious, giving father. Happy birthday, Dad! You're the best, and you're missed from across an ocean.)
Before I get too far ahead of myself, I need to start at the beginning--August 2009, the month I moved away from my hometown of Canton, Michigan, to Hope College, a tiny community located three hours west. The first few weeks were full of excitement, insecurities, fears, and a frantic search for a niche, for friends, for comfort. The beginning of my time as a college student truly shaped who I am today and what I value, though it was impossible to see at the time that it was occurring. I was cared for by a beautiful, wonderful community who is still dear to me today, and I couldn't be more grateful for that first week of discomfort and anxiety. It was after those first few weeks that Hope started feeling like home rather than just a college campus, and that feeling has never gone away.
The past week and a half that I've been at the University of Aberdeen has felt a lot like those first weeks as a freshman; I've experienced high degrees of excitement and joy and have also felt unsure, homesick, and out of place. What an interesting experience it is to feel these kinds of anxieties in your third year of college! However, just as I'm seeing the first very early signs of spring here in Scotland, I'm also experiencing the first feelings of belonging, of true happiness, and of home.
Friday marked the first day of rounding this corner. I had my first Victorianism tutorial from nine to eleven, and I spent two hours discussing and analyzing Jane Eyre with other literature students. The class is made up of about fifteen people, all from various parts of the world--Tunisia, England, Austria, Scotland, the States, Canada, and several others. We shared in good discussion, about both the literature at hand and about our own lives, and that made the experience even richer. Following class, I spent a couple of hours at a local cafe, drinking coffee, eating a sandwich, and reading Scottish poetry. I then had my Scottish literature tutorial from one to three, which takes place in a little hidden room in King's College. Here, the walls are lined with books from ceiling to floor on one side and the other side is lined with windows. The "tutor" (or person leading discussion) is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable young man who is clearly very interested in his students' well being and success in the course. I discussed "poetry before Burns" with a great small group--one from Stonehaven, another from Buckinghamshire, and another from Washington--and we shared quite a bit about our personal lives as well. How refreshing it is to meet new people and to be introduced to fresh perspectives! After that class, I picked up my student ID, returned to Hillhead, ate dinner, and talked to my flatmates. Around nine, I met up with Erik, Andrew, and Matt to discuss our weekend plans to visit Dunnottar Castle, and the four of us and Simon, a new friend from Sweden, went to the Union Bar to have a couple drinks and hang out. We spent a couple of hours there, and I headed back to my room. It was so good to be engaged in the classroom again and to spend quality time with friends.
Saturday was uneventful, as the weather was dreary, wet, and cold, so I spent the day with my flatmates and reading for class. Not much to report on there.
Sunday, I fell in love in with Scotland. Yes, it's true--we're officially in a relationship. I woke up before seven and showered before meeting the other four guys, and we left around eight thirty to walk to the bus station in the city. It was about an hour-long walk, and, when we arrived, we had just missed the bus to Stonehaven. We found a little coffee shop and drank coffee during conversation for about an hour and eventually got on the X7 bus toward our destination. The ride there was the start of it all. On my right were tilled fields and pastures full of sheep, and on my left were rolling hills, sharp cliffs, and a view of the North Sea that takes your breath away. The bus dropped us off on the side of a country road, and we walked toward Dunnottar Castle, which is situated on a piece of land jutting out into the sea. As we walked toward it, I was astonished at the beauty of the landscape--a castle in ruins, a majestic blue sea, rocky cliffs, rolling pastures, deep green grass. We walked down a large hill and back up some stony steps until we reached the entrance to the castle, which was far bigger than I expected it to be. Google Images, as Andrew and I agreed upon, did not do it justice. The ruins consisted of a ton of buildings that were resting on a large parcel of land. There were barracks, the warden's quarters, a kitchen, a chapel, a dining room, suites, a drawing room, a large bath area, a "thiefs' room," and a sort of torture chamber, to name a few. In the middle of all of these buildings was a large courtyard area that would have been used as a garden. After exploring and taking some photos, the five of us ate lunch on some stone stairs (that led to nowhere) that overlooked the North Sea. It was at this point, if you were wondering about the title of this post, that I started to cry--with laughter, with overwhelming happiness. I can't explain why, but I'm absolutely certain that God was present in that moment; the beauty of His creation was too much to take in. After lunch, we wandered down several paths to different areas of the beach and through a narrow valley following a small stream to a waterfall. We hiked past the castle, then, and around to the other side, where we could overlook the entire scene, which was indescribable. All that I could think was, "God is so good. He is so unbelievably good."
(SECOND SIDENOTE: If you want to learn more about this incredible castle's history, go here.)
Upon returning to Aberdeen, I walked to the grocery store to get food for my empty cupboards, made dinner, talked to some of my flatmates, and took the downhill turn toward sweet exhaustion. What a blessed day it was. Photographs are available on facebook and on the Imgur account to the right.
Today, as I said earlier, has been absolutely gorgeous. I spent several hours in the brand new library reading Great Expectations for class and soaking in the view from the fifth floor that overlooks the North Sea through giant walls of glass. When I returned home, I received my first piece of international mail--from JENSEN! Thanks, JStarr--you made my day!
I simply couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity and more excited for the rest of this semester. It is with pleasure that I indeed relish in these great expectations.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Rest-
Happy Thursday to you from a finally sunny Aberdeen. The past five days have been bleak and dark, so the sun comes today as a very welcomed friend. Unfortunately, of course, it's arrived on a day where I have no time to explore my surroundings and must spend my time indoors reading an entire novel for tomorrow morning's seminar. I hope that the light defies this weekend's weather forecast so that my time can be well spent out of doors.
Yesterday morning, Erik, Andrew, Matt, and I took a trail from Hillhead down to the North Sea for the first time. It was approximately a thirty-minute walk along cobblestone streets, the River Don, and one small golf course. The North Sea looks like any other large body of water, but, for some reason, standing on that coast makes one seem quite a bit smaller and much farther from home. To say out loud that I was standing on the water's edge, staring out at the North Sea--well, it makes this Scotland experience seem a little more real.
After that excursion, I headed over to the University to check out some societies at the Societies Fayre. I signed up for InterSoc (International Students Society) and received information on some others, such as Childreach International, Highland Frontier, Canoe Club, and the Christian Union. InterSoc, Canoe Club, and Highland Frontier do a lot of trips and expeditions around Scotland; Childreach International is a fundraising group that raises money through trips to China, India, Mount Everest, and a few others places; and the Christian Union is a group of students who meet for different activities and bible studies on campus. All of them sound interesting, and I'm going to check out the meetings to see what I can fit into my schedule and which ones I want to join for certain.
After that, I returned to Hillhead to organize materials for my classes and to attempt to schedule some trips for the coming weekends and break. I cooked dinner with my flatmates and had a good conversation with a few of them for quite some time (and even learned a little French!), and then Matt and Andrew came by to go to a philosophy discussion at an area pub. We made the trek down to the city to a place called the Blue Lamp, which was an interesting and dark bar that was lit by candles on top of Jack Daniel's bottles. We discussed the topic of "determinism versus free will," though I mostly listened, as I don't formally study philosophy. Many of the members were PhD students, and they were very friendly and sociable. I enjoyed a good discussion afterward with a couple of guys, one who received his bachelor's at Oxford and another who is receiving his master's in philosophy at Aberdeen. We left around ten forty-five and made our way back to Hillhead, where I Skyped for a while and went to bed.
I didn't set an alarm this morning, as I have been extremely tired the past few days. I have been taking it slow this morning and working on my readings for class in my flat. I am a little bit bummed that I have to do my homework on the one and only day that it is sunny, but I hope and pray that more sunny days in Britain are to come (cross your fingers for me).
Psalm 8--O Lord, that you are mindful of me.
Yesterday morning, Erik, Andrew, Matt, and I took a trail from Hillhead down to the North Sea for the first time. It was approximately a thirty-minute walk along cobblestone streets, the River Don, and one small golf course. The North Sea looks like any other large body of water, but, for some reason, standing on that coast makes one seem quite a bit smaller and much farther from home. To say out loud that I was standing on the water's edge, staring out at the North Sea--well, it makes this Scotland experience seem a little more real.
After that excursion, I headed over to the University to check out some societies at the Societies Fayre. I signed up for InterSoc (International Students Society) and received information on some others, such as Childreach International, Highland Frontier, Canoe Club, and the Christian Union. InterSoc, Canoe Club, and Highland Frontier do a lot of trips and expeditions around Scotland; Childreach International is a fundraising group that raises money through trips to China, India, Mount Everest, and a few others places; and the Christian Union is a group of students who meet for different activities and bible studies on campus. All of them sound interesting, and I'm going to check out the meetings to see what I can fit into my schedule and which ones I want to join for certain.
After that, I returned to Hillhead to organize materials for my classes and to attempt to schedule some trips for the coming weekends and break. I cooked dinner with my flatmates and had a good conversation with a few of them for quite some time (and even learned a little French!), and then Matt and Andrew came by to go to a philosophy discussion at an area pub. We made the trek down to the city to a place called the Blue Lamp, which was an interesting and dark bar that was lit by candles on top of Jack Daniel's bottles. We discussed the topic of "determinism versus free will," though I mostly listened, as I don't formally study philosophy. Many of the members were PhD students, and they were very friendly and sociable. I enjoyed a good discussion afterward with a couple of guys, one who received his bachelor's at Oxford and another who is receiving his master's in philosophy at Aberdeen. We left around ten forty-five and made our way back to Hillhead, where I Skyped for a while and went to bed.
I didn't set an alarm this morning, as I have been extremely tired the past few days. I have been taking it slow this morning and working on my readings for class in my flat. I am a little bit bummed that I have to do my homework on the one and only day that it is sunny, but I hope and pray that more sunny days in Britain are to come (cross your fingers for me).
Psalm 8--O Lord, that you are mindful of me.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Adjustment-
My sincerest apologies to those of you who have been waiting for an update. I have been very busy here at the University trying to get classes and necessities for basic living in order. That said, let me begin at Saturday and move onward onto the present day.
Saturday was the official orientation day for international students. I attended an hour-long meeting from nine thirty to ten thirty that included basic advice for living and navigating the Uni and the city. After the meeting, Erik, Andrew, Matt, and I stopped to get coffee/tea at a local shop and rested a bit at "The Hub," the one of the campus's cafes and computer centers. After that, I headed back to Hillhead to clean up and make some lunch before heading back to the campus for my advising meeting at two thirty. There, I officially registered for classes, which I will fill you in on a bit later. Before and after the meeting, which only took about fifteen minutes, I spent a good amount of time in conversation with new acquaintances. I met many international students from Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Michigan, Vancouver, Guelph, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. After spending a couple of hours there, I went back to Hillhead for about an hour before meeting with the guys to go out for dinner and drinks. We took the bus to City Centre and walked to a restaurant/pub called Slain's Castle, which was an old church. It had an interesting atmosphere but seemed to be trying a little too hard to achieve a creepy Gothic feel. We spent time in conversation for a few hours before heading back to Hillhead.
On Sunday morning, the four of us walked to the Cathedral of St. Machar just through Seaton Park to attend their morning worship service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the service was traditional and very similar to both Third Reformed in Holland and St. Michael in Wayne. The community there was very pleasant and welcoming, and we spent nearly three hours there for worship and in conversation with the church members. I am considering joining the choir there, and I am certainly going to attend regularly. I truly enjoyed it. Afterward, I went back to my flat and spent time with my flatmates, which was wonderful. Two new women moved in from northern France who are very sweet, and all of us got to know each other a bit better. I also got to Skype with my parents for over an hour, which was good for both them and me. At seven, some of the girls from the flat, the three boys from Hope, and I went to the Burns Supper which was taking place at the Union Bar near to our buildings. I tried haggis for the first time, which was actually quite pleasant tasting. It was a sort of spicy meat, and, when eaten with the turnips and potatoes (neeps and tatties), it was very good. Of course, we washed it down with a bit of Iron Brew, which tastes a bit like cheap orange pop. After dinner, we learned four or five Scottish dances, and they were a blast! The traditional Scottish band was very good, and it seemed as if everyone was enjoying themselves. The guys and I then went to the bar and talked for quite some time over a pint and went home around eleven.
Yesterday was the first day of class for most students the University. However, I didn't have class, so I went to the City Centre in the morning to buy a pay-and-go mobile phone in order to stay in touch with people here in Aberdeen and to make calls back home to the States while I am traveling if need be. The bus system takes some time, so I arrived back at the flat around one to activate my phone and clean up. Then, I headed back out to get some real groceries so that I could eat a meal that didn't consist of toast or noodles. I picked up some fresh vegetables for stir fries and salads and a couple of other staples to live on for the next couple of weeks. When I left the grocery store at three thirty, it was hailing and already getting dark. I took the bus back to Hillhead, unloaded my groceries, made dinner, and talked to my flatmates Emmy, Pauline, Alice, and Chloe for several hours. It was wonderful getting to know them even better, and it is clear that we will learn a lot from each other during these next four to five months.
Today marked my first day of classes. I was (and am) very excited to finally be back in the classroom learning and growing in knowledge after a six-week break. My first lecture was Victorianism and was from eleven to one. My second lecture is directly upstairs in King's College and was about Scottish literature from one to three. I enjoyed both classes, although the lecture halls are a bit larger than Hope's, and the lectures are structured a bit differently. It seems that the professors write their lectures in paper form before class and simply read them out as information to write down, which I don't particularly enjoy. After an hour or so, I was struggling to engage myself with the professor (course convener) and with the information. I think I will enjoy the content, but I definitely already miss classes at Hope. Tomorrow will be spent buying books (at Blackwell's or via my Kindle) for the class and preparing for the tutorials, which I have on Friday morning and afternoon. If you are following, that means I only have class on Tuesdays and Fridays. This is going to be a very relaxed schedule that will take some time to get used to, as I normally run from class to field placements to work every day back home. However, I am very excited to have the time to do the readings for class and to put one hundred percent into everything I do academically. What a joy it will be to engage my mind fully in the material before me.
As for day-to-day life here, I am adjusting quite well, though it is somewhat different. I struggle daily with the weather patterns, as Britain this time of year is very dark and gray. The weather moves seamlessly from blue skies to sleet to hail to rain to darkness in a matter of moments, and it is only light from about eight thirty in the morning to four in the afternoon. I know that this will change once April comes, and I look forward to longer hours of sunlight. I've also been hit with the reality that the UK is largely a secular land--a very different climate than the one I know and love at Hope. My flatmates were stunned that I'd wake up early on Sunday to attend church, and I was told that they know almost no young people who attend or ever have attended a church service (with the exception of Easter or Christmas). It was good to be in conversation with them about my morals and my beliefs, and I learned a lot about their culture and their beliefs as well. On the whole, it is more difficult than I imagined to not be surrounded by the encouraging community of Hope and home, but I believe I was put here for a reason and will continue to live my life in such a way that I may present God's love through my actions. I am here to learn and grow in love and knowledge, and I intend to embrace that every moment of every day.
Again, I apologize for the late update, and I will be sure to write more often for those of you who check daily. Cheers! You are loved and in my prayers.
Psalm 5
Saturday was the official orientation day for international students. I attended an hour-long meeting from nine thirty to ten thirty that included basic advice for living and navigating the Uni and the city. After the meeting, Erik, Andrew, Matt, and I stopped to get coffee/tea at a local shop and rested a bit at "The Hub," the one of the campus's cafes and computer centers. After that, I headed back to Hillhead to clean up and make some lunch before heading back to the campus for my advising meeting at two thirty. There, I officially registered for classes, which I will fill you in on a bit later. Before and after the meeting, which only took about fifteen minutes, I spent a good amount of time in conversation with new acquaintances. I met many international students from Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Michigan, Vancouver, Guelph, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. After spending a couple of hours there, I went back to Hillhead for about an hour before meeting with the guys to go out for dinner and drinks. We took the bus to City Centre and walked to a restaurant/pub called Slain's Castle, which was an old church. It had an interesting atmosphere but seemed to be trying a little too hard to achieve a creepy Gothic feel. We spent time in conversation for a few hours before heading back to Hillhead.
On Sunday morning, the four of us walked to the Cathedral of St. Machar just through Seaton Park to attend their morning worship service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the service was traditional and very similar to both Third Reformed in Holland and St. Michael in Wayne. The community there was very pleasant and welcoming, and we spent nearly three hours there for worship and in conversation with the church members. I am considering joining the choir there, and I am certainly going to attend regularly. I truly enjoyed it. Afterward, I went back to my flat and spent time with my flatmates, which was wonderful. Two new women moved in from northern France who are very sweet, and all of us got to know each other a bit better. I also got to Skype with my parents for over an hour, which was good for both them and me. At seven, some of the girls from the flat, the three boys from Hope, and I went to the Burns Supper which was taking place at the Union Bar near to our buildings. I tried haggis for the first time, which was actually quite pleasant tasting. It was a sort of spicy meat, and, when eaten with the turnips and potatoes (neeps and tatties), it was very good. Of course, we washed it down with a bit of Iron Brew, which tastes a bit like cheap orange pop. After dinner, we learned four or five Scottish dances, and they were a blast! The traditional Scottish band was very good, and it seemed as if everyone was enjoying themselves. The guys and I then went to the bar and talked for quite some time over a pint and went home around eleven.
Yesterday was the first day of class for most students the University. However, I didn't have class, so I went to the City Centre in the morning to buy a pay-and-go mobile phone in order to stay in touch with people here in Aberdeen and to make calls back home to the States while I am traveling if need be. The bus system takes some time, so I arrived back at the flat around one to activate my phone and clean up. Then, I headed back out to get some real groceries so that I could eat a meal that didn't consist of toast or noodles. I picked up some fresh vegetables for stir fries and salads and a couple of other staples to live on for the next couple of weeks. When I left the grocery store at three thirty, it was hailing and already getting dark. I took the bus back to Hillhead, unloaded my groceries, made dinner, and talked to my flatmates Emmy, Pauline, Alice, and Chloe for several hours. It was wonderful getting to know them even better, and it is clear that we will learn a lot from each other during these next four to five months.
Today marked my first day of classes. I was (and am) very excited to finally be back in the classroom learning and growing in knowledge after a six-week break. My first lecture was Victorianism and was from eleven to one. My second lecture is directly upstairs in King's College and was about Scottish literature from one to three. I enjoyed both classes, although the lecture halls are a bit larger than Hope's, and the lectures are structured a bit differently. It seems that the professors write their lectures in paper form before class and simply read them out as information to write down, which I don't particularly enjoy. After an hour or so, I was struggling to engage myself with the professor (course convener) and with the information. I think I will enjoy the content, but I definitely already miss classes at Hope. Tomorrow will be spent buying books (at Blackwell's or via my Kindle) for the class and preparing for the tutorials, which I have on Friday morning and afternoon. If you are following, that means I only have class on Tuesdays and Fridays. This is going to be a very relaxed schedule that will take some time to get used to, as I normally run from class to field placements to work every day back home. However, I am very excited to have the time to do the readings for class and to put one hundred percent into everything I do academically. What a joy it will be to engage my mind fully in the material before me.
As for day-to-day life here, I am adjusting quite well, though it is somewhat different. I struggle daily with the weather patterns, as Britain this time of year is very dark and gray. The weather moves seamlessly from blue skies to sleet to hail to rain to darkness in a matter of moments, and it is only light from about eight thirty in the morning to four in the afternoon. I know that this will change once April comes, and I look forward to longer hours of sunlight. I've also been hit with the reality that the UK is largely a secular land--a very different climate than the one I know and love at Hope. My flatmates were stunned that I'd wake up early on Sunday to attend church, and I was told that they know almost no young people who attend or ever have attended a church service (with the exception of Easter or Christmas). It was good to be in conversation with them about my morals and my beliefs, and I learned a lot about their culture and their beliefs as well. On the whole, it is more difficult than I imagined to not be surrounded by the encouraging community of Hope and home, but I believe I was put here for a reason and will continue to live my life in such a way that I may present God's love through my actions. I am here to learn and grow in love and knowledge, and I intend to embrace that every moment of every day.
Again, I apologize for the late update, and I will be sure to write more often for those of you who check daily. Cheers! You are loved and in my prayers.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Discovery-
Greetings from my new temporary home in Aberdeen, Scotland! It is with weary eyes and a hungry heart that I finally write this first post from my room at the University. I will attempt to provide as much detail as possible about my first two days of discovery here in this beautiful land.
Getting to Aberdeen was certainly tiring, as I traveled for about seventeen hours. I left from Detroit Metro and flew to Dallas, where I then hopped on a nearly nine-hour flight to Heathrow in London. In London, I took a short one-hour flight to Aberdeen. Along the way, I was blessed with the opportunity to meet some very nice people. On my flight to Dallas, I talked to a woman from Guatamala City, Mexico, who showed me how to get around the airport and to my next terminal. On my flight to London, I sat with a young man about the age of twenty-five who was from Wales. We talked for the first four hours of the flight, which helped settle my nerves and made the flight go by much more quickly, though I slept little. We arrived in London just as the sun was rising, and my first view of the city was one I will never forget. The entire city was beautifully lit, and I observed several major landmarks, including the London Eye which was lit up along the Thames. It was at that moment that the enormity of what I was doing truly hit me, and I had to force myself to sit back and rest my mind. Once I got to Heathrow, I had about forty minutes to catch my next flight. I was nervous that they wouldn't let me into the country, as I had not applied for a visa, but the conversation to get into the UK went something like this:
Customs Officer: "Hello. Passport?"
Me: "Hi. Here you go."
Customs Officer: "Why are you coming to the UK?"
Me: "Studying."
Customs Officer: "Okay." (Stamps passport)
I got through security, and, luckily, my flight was departing from the same terminal (one of five that you get to by bus). As I walked up to the gate, I ran into Andrew Peterson, a friend from Hope who is also studying at the Uni. It was wonderful to see a familiar face in such a faraway place, and we quickly caught up before heading to Aberdeen. Upon our arrival, we took a taxi to Hillhead, where we are both residing for the term, and proceeded to unpack in our separate buildings. I quickly met four of my flatmates, who all are extremely nice, though two are leaving tomorrow morning. After talking to them and unpacking a bit, Andrew came over and we took the bus down to City Centre to do some exploring. We walked around the city for a few hours, popping into some stores, the city library, the city council, and a couple of churches and cemeteries. The buildings were all beautiful, many of the roads cobblestone. The city has a lot of character, and, though I forgot my camera yesterday, I will be sure to take it with me next time I go downtown.
The evening brought rest of sorts and the finishing of my unpacking process. I Skyped until about eleven at night, which brought my sleepless hourly toll to about thirty-six hours. At that point, I fell into a deep sleep until about ten thirty in the morning, when I got up and showered. Erik Westenbroek, another Hope student who had just arrived, stopped by my flat, and we headed over to Andrew's flat to meet with him and eat some breakfast. After a while, I set out with my camera and wandered through Seaton Park toward the campus where I'll be taking my classes. The walk is about twenty minutes long through some trails, through the park, and along The Chanonry and High Street, which are narrow streets of cobblestone. It is a beautiful walk that I'm certain I won't mind taking every day. After looking through the campus a bit, I headed back up past Hillhead and toward the city to get some groceries. As I was walking toward the store, I looked to my right and caught my first glimpse of the North Sea! After buying a few essentials, I headed back to Hillhead, got some money out of the ATM, and ate dinner at my flat. It was a great day.
I am still feeling a little jet-lagged, and the short days here haven't helped that much, but I'm enjoying most everything about Scotland so far. I look forward to learning and discovering much more during the upcoming months, which I will most definitely share with you here. Cheers!
Getting to Aberdeen was certainly tiring, as I traveled for about seventeen hours. I left from Detroit Metro and flew to Dallas, where I then hopped on a nearly nine-hour flight to Heathrow in London. In London, I took a short one-hour flight to Aberdeen. Along the way, I was blessed with the opportunity to meet some very nice people. On my flight to Dallas, I talked to a woman from Guatamala City, Mexico, who showed me how to get around the airport and to my next terminal. On my flight to London, I sat with a young man about the age of twenty-five who was from Wales. We talked for the first four hours of the flight, which helped settle my nerves and made the flight go by much more quickly, though I slept little. We arrived in London just as the sun was rising, and my first view of the city was one I will never forget. The entire city was beautifully lit, and I observed several major landmarks, including the London Eye which was lit up along the Thames. It was at that moment that the enormity of what I was doing truly hit me, and I had to force myself to sit back and rest my mind. Once I got to Heathrow, I had about forty minutes to catch my next flight. I was nervous that they wouldn't let me into the country, as I had not applied for a visa, but the conversation to get into the UK went something like this:
Customs Officer: "Hello. Passport?"
Me: "Hi. Here you go."
Customs Officer: "Why are you coming to the UK?"
Me: "Studying."
Customs Officer: "Okay." (Stamps passport)
I got through security, and, luckily, my flight was departing from the same terminal (one of five that you get to by bus). As I walked up to the gate, I ran into Andrew Peterson, a friend from Hope who is also studying at the Uni. It was wonderful to see a familiar face in such a faraway place, and we quickly caught up before heading to Aberdeen. Upon our arrival, we took a taxi to Hillhead, where we are both residing for the term, and proceeded to unpack in our separate buildings. I quickly met four of my flatmates, who all are extremely nice, though two are leaving tomorrow morning. After talking to them and unpacking a bit, Andrew came over and we took the bus down to City Centre to do some exploring. We walked around the city for a few hours, popping into some stores, the city library, the city council, and a couple of churches and cemeteries. The buildings were all beautiful, many of the roads cobblestone. The city has a lot of character, and, though I forgot my camera yesterday, I will be sure to take it with me next time I go downtown.
The evening brought rest of sorts and the finishing of my unpacking process. I Skyped until about eleven at night, which brought my sleepless hourly toll to about thirty-six hours. At that point, I fell into a deep sleep until about ten thirty in the morning, when I got up and showered. Erik Westenbroek, another Hope student who had just arrived, stopped by my flat, and we headed over to Andrew's flat to meet with him and eat some breakfast. After a while, I set out with my camera and wandered through Seaton Park toward the campus where I'll be taking my classes. The walk is about twenty minutes long through some trails, through the park, and along The Chanonry and High Street, which are narrow streets of cobblestone. It is a beautiful walk that I'm certain I won't mind taking every day. After looking through the campus a bit, I headed back up past Hillhead and toward the city to get some groceries. As I was walking toward the store, I looked to my right and caught my first glimpse of the North Sea! After buying a few essentials, I headed back to Hillhead, got some money out of the ATM, and ate dinner at my flat. It was a great day.
I am still feeling a little jet-lagged, and the short days here haven't helped that much, but I'm enjoying most everything about Scotland so far. I look forward to learning and discovering much more during the upcoming months, which I will most definitely share with you here. Cheers!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Departures and Arrivals-
After a wonderful weekend at Hope of 500-piece puzzles, laughter, an excellent Italian dinner, one long nap, and many tearful goodbyes, I found myself drowning in a hurricane of flannel, power adapters, and long lists in my living room back home. Two days of packing are finished, and my life is packed into one suitcase and one beautiful Gregory backpack, both sitting by the front door, ready to see the world. And see the world they shall, in only twelve short hours.
The emotional highs and lows of the past two weeks faded today into an eerie sense of calm. Though I would not necessarily define this feeling as "peace of mind," it certainly is one of stillness, of collectedness. I have been anticipating and waiting for this day of departure (and arrival) for well over a year now, and it is with sureness that I say I am, at last, truly ready. My bags are packed, my goodbyes have nearly been said, and I have bought enough Clif Bars to last me at least two months overseas. Nothing says "ready" like tears and protein.
Truthfully, the experience will be difficult. It will be life-giving and full of growth. It is going to hurt to be gone, but it will be incredible to simply be, and to be in a place so full of beauty and knowledge. For now, I will enjoy my last night in this comfortable bed and dream of what the next five months may bring. Cheers; I'll be in Scotland afore ye.
"The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in,
From this time forth, and even forevermore." Psalm 121:8
The emotional highs and lows of the past two weeks faded today into an eerie sense of calm. Though I would not necessarily define this feeling as "peace of mind," it certainly is one of stillness, of collectedness. I have been anticipating and waiting for this day of departure (and arrival) for well over a year now, and it is with sureness that I say I am, at last, truly ready. My bags are packed, my goodbyes have nearly been said, and I have bought enough Clif Bars to last me at least two months overseas. Nothing says "ready" like tears and protein.
Truthfully, the experience will be difficult. It will be life-giving and full of growth. It is going to hurt to be gone, but it will be incredible to simply be, and to be in a place so full of beauty and knowledge. For now, I will enjoy my last night in this comfortable bed and dream of what the next five months may bring. Cheers; I'll be in Scotland afore ye.
"The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in,
From this time forth, and even forevermore." Psalm 121:8
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Anticipation-
"I love to travel but hate to arrive." Albert Einstein
I am certain that I would have passed by this quote without a second thought had I not chosen to embark on this journey across the Atlantic. When I decided to study abroad fourteen months ago, the experience seemed so far off, a sort of cloudy ideal in the distant future. Now, with my departure for Scotland a mere twenty-three days away, my mind swirls with excitement and anxiety, my desk overflows with paperwork and to-do lists, and the discussions surrounding the upcoming semester occur more frequently. I am thrilled. I am nervous. I am afraid to arrive.
I am afraid to arrive alone in a foreign country that is over 3500 miles away from home. I am afraid to attempt to navigate four different airports by myself. Most of all, I'm afraid of that moment where I unlock the door to 266E and realize that there is no going back. What a beautiful, frightening moment that will be.
Above all, I am ready. I am ready to embark on this adventure, and I am ready to experience life as I do not yet know it. What a privilege it will be to travel, to read literature for leisure and learning, to see a beautiful world and beautiful people that only the Divine Creator could have made. How blessed I will be to feel discomfort. What a joy it will be to live simply.
I am certain that I would have passed by this quote without a second thought had I not chosen to embark on this journey across the Atlantic. When I decided to study abroad fourteen months ago, the experience seemed so far off, a sort of cloudy ideal in the distant future. Now, with my departure for Scotland a mere twenty-three days away, my mind swirls with excitement and anxiety, my desk overflows with paperwork and to-do lists, and the discussions surrounding the upcoming semester occur more frequently. I am thrilled. I am nervous. I am afraid to arrive.
I am afraid to arrive alone in a foreign country that is over 3500 miles away from home. I am afraid to attempt to navigate four different airports by myself. Most of all, I'm afraid of that moment where I unlock the door to 266E and realize that there is no going back. What a beautiful, frightening moment that will be.
Above all, I am ready. I am ready to embark on this adventure, and I am ready to experience life as I do not yet know it. What a privilege it will be to travel, to read literature for leisure and learning, to see a beautiful world and beautiful people that only the Divine Creator could have made. How blessed I will be to feel discomfort. What a joy it will be to live simply.
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