I'm taking a study break and blogging! I am really liking this new Blogger text editor. I like that you can add photos (and now videos!!) a lot more easily than before. Which will be handy, because I am posting a lot of pictures this blog :)
○ SCOTLAND WEEKEND
We left on Friday morning at 8:00am. I had trouble sleeping the night before, but packing was easy. I was disappointed that I wasn't on Blonde Bill Weasley and Less-Jewish John Matador's bus, but I groggily got on the bus with some friends and started to sleep. I wasn't really sure how long the journey was going to take, but I think Google maps told me that the drive from Cambridge to Edinburgh was about the same distance as Berkeley to LA.
The Bus. From. HELL.
First of all, let me say this. I am not usually a girl that cries over spilled milk. Sure, I like to be over-dramatic and over-exaggerate (especially on this blog!) for fun, but I think when it comes down to the bare bone of things, I usually stick up to a bad situation and deal with it. Those of you who know me well will (hopefully) agree with this. That being said, WOW. After the bus was driving for an hour, I awoke from a short-lived nap and noticed that my glasses were completely fogged up. Weird, I thought. But as I tried to wipe them with my shirt, I realized that my shirt was WET. I looked around, confused, and noticed that everyone was sweating like nobody's business. HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE?! It was like 9:00am on an English morning, and it was really cold outside when we left. Word traveled fast that not only was the air-conditioning broken, but some conveyor system was malfunctioning, so there was hot air blowing out of the vents. But this wasn't the worst. Because the system was malfunctioning, there was ZERO air circulation, and no air from outside coming in. So basically, we were breathing the same air in the bus the whole way. AND the windows wouldn't open. It was seriously like being in a 95-degree sauna, which was odd, because I would be breathing in this hot, heavy, thick humid air in the bus, but it looked quite windy outside. The fact that bus was filled with 60 warm human bodies definitely did not help. All the guys in the back of the bus with me had sweat-soaked shirts, and all at one point I wiped my face with enough sweat to drop off my finger. IT WAS DISGUSTING. At a rest stop when I commented on the heat to my friend from another bus, and she was like, "REALLY?! That sounds terrible! My bus is kind of cold... I actually had to turn my AC vent OFF."
...
OH REALLY.
TOO COLD???????
POOR. YOU.
Again, I don't usually lose my temper, but I seriously contemplated telling my friend that her bus wasn't leaving for another hour... so I could then sneak onto her bus and take her place.
After getting back in the bus for another hour, all of us started getting really oxygen-deprived. I felt like I was just breathing the same pocket of air the whole time. All of our conversations started going something like this:
"Dude. Dude. Dude. You know what I want right now?"
"Dude. What."
"SNOW CONES."
"YEAHHHHHH. You know what else is good? SHAVED ICE."
"DUDE. YES. It's so... so... SHAVED."
"Yeahhhh. It IS shaved."
"And... ice-like."
"Yeah. Ice-like. Ice."
"Yeah and it has like. Colors and stuff."
"Yeah dude. Those Hawaiians are SO smart."
"Yeah they are."
"Dude."
"They even have like an island and shit."
"Yeah."
"......"
"Fuck man. I think we're on the bus to hell."
And this continued for about four more hours until we finally reached North Yorkshire. After around six hours on the road, I was ready to call it quits. None of could sleep, and we were all just tired and sticky. I really, REALLY just wanted to walk to Scotland if it meant breathing real air.
Fountains Abbey
Everyone was sweating and absolutely disgusting when we stumbled out of the bus to Fountains Abbey, one of the world's most beautiful Gothic architectural relics. After staggering down a few grassy hills like a herd of drunk and dazed sheep, we got to the Abbey. It was absolutely GORGEOUS. We climbed and explored a bunch of the ruins. This place was humongous.
We also walked on the open field and followed the stream down to the Water Garden. There was so much green!
I'm sad that we didn't have too much time to explore, because this place had open fields, benches, temples, bridges, a deer park, and a gorgeous lake - on top of the Abbey ruins. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
After getting lunch, we heard that the bus driver had finally fixed the air system! FINALLLY! When the bus driver started the bus and semi-cool air started flowing in and everyone started cheering, I am quite embarrassed to say that I ALMOST started crying. It was a beautiful moment.
It was a smooth ride the rest of the way, and we reached Edinburgh University at around 7:30pm in time for dinner at the dorms. We were on the road for about 11 hours, and it was definitely tiring, but after the AC started working it was actually a pretty nice coach ride.
Edinburgh University
We stayed in the Pollock Halls, which is the residence area for the university. I can say that all the UK dorms I've stayed in so far are SUPERRR nice. And we all got singles!
They gave us BATH MATS for the showers and replaced them everyday!
After that a bunch of PA's led a group to go downtown to go clubbing. I eventually turned back after ten minutes of walking because I was tired, but I'm glad I did because apparently it was an HOUR walk into town. Edinburgh is quite the opposite of Cambridge. It's a big city, and everything is more urban and spaced out. No worries though, more adventures were to come.
Rosslyn Chapel
The next morning some of us got on a bus to go to Rosslyn Chapel - it's probably best-known by people nowadays as the chapel in "The Da Vinci Code".
It had a stone vault and very detailed carvings. This thing is old and has a bunch of mysterious folklore and legends that go with it. Yes, I stood on the the Holy Grail. Or the spot that is supposed to represent where it is. Thanks, Dan Brown.
Downtown Edinburgh and the Royal Mile
After that, the bus driver dropped a few of us off in the city for lunch. We walked around down and up and down the Royal Mile, starting from the Edinburgh Castle and back down to the Palace of Holyrood.
The buildings and architecture were all gorgeous, but to be honest, I was dead tired. There was a lot of walking involved, and I was still sleep-deprived and recovering from the bus ride from hell the day before. Edinburgh is a beautiful city though, and I definitely wish I spent more time scouting out building names and walking around more.
CIELDIDH!!!
After being out all day from 9:00am to 6:00pm, we called a cab (all my £££ went to Scottish cabs that weekend, I SWEAR) and got back to campus just in time for dinner and Cieldidh.
How do I describe the Cieldidh? Well first of all, it was put in place for us as a 4th of July party so that us American kids could get a celebration out of our system. It was four-hour dance party from 8:00pm to midnight, but there was a live band that played traditional Scottish music, and we learned and danced a bunch of traditional folk dances! There were a lot of fast-paced, lively group dances (with arm swinging and clapping and do-si-dos!) and a lot of couple dances (with hopping and skipping and twirling!).
I was bummed because I didn't get to dance with Less-Jewish John, but it's okay because I did get to dance with Red-Haired Neri's Cousin and Scottish Abercrombie Boy. Everyone from the program was pretty in to it, and it was definitely the most fun I've had in a long time.
Dancing for four hours was tiring, but something inside me jumped back to life even after a whole day of walking around the city. It was just so cute. I don't know what it is with American "dancing" and why we have to be so grindy and disgusting, because we definitely need a traditional, festive dance.
We ended the night with this CRAZY hoe-down-like dance. Okay so this is how it goes:
All the girls and guys stand in opposite lines and face each other.
The first couple at the front of the line holds hands and spins around for 16 counts.
Then the boy links arms with the first girl in the line and skips around with her.
The girl does the same thing and arm swings with the first boy in the other line.
The the partners meet up again and arm swing together, and then split up and go to the next guy/girl in the lines.
So basically, you link arms and skip with everyone in the line and meet your partner (and link arms and skip in a circle) in the middle each time... and you do this until you reach the end. And everyone who reaches the front of the line then also spins 16 times and proceeds to swing up the lines. I think I explained this very badly. Here I drew a diagram. You can click on it to make it bigger.
The " " " " marks denote arm swinging.
SEE?! But with 60 people on EACH side. You really didn't stop swinging for the entire time, because when you were in the middle, you had to swing up the line and with your partner, and when you were in the line, you had to pay attention to link the arms of the people who were swinging up the line.
But anyway, it was SUPER fun. There were like over 60 people in each line, AND the band kept playing the song so my partner (Blonde BYU Boy In A Kilt) and I ended up going through the line FOUR full times. I calculated this. And it amounts to like 120 x 4 = 480 ARM SWINGS in one dance! I was TIRED. It was a great way to end the night. We sang the National Anthem at midnight, but other than that, I'm glad I got to celebrate Independence Day Scottish style. My arms were very bruised the next day haha.
The Pentlands
I awoke the next morning to a very windy and rainy Scotland the next day. Our hike to the highlands was canceled, so everyone was really bummed. Greg, the programme head, told us it was a safety issue, because winds were reported to be around 70-80mph in the hills. PSH. SO WHAT?! Everyone was really mad, but the programme heads organized a smaller, safer hike in the Pentlands. Most people decided to stay home because of the rain, but a few of us decided to go. It stopped raining before we left, so most of us were pretty optimistic when we arrived an hour later to the trail. Greg wouldn't let anyone leave Edinburgh until we all had something waterproof, but we all thought he was being really uptight. Besides, it's not like we haven't seen RAIN before right? Well...
Okay well for the first hour, the hike was fine. The skies were very blue, there was so much green, and we were surrounded by views of gorgeous rolling hills. And there were SHEEP!!
The only thing that was slightly troublesome was the wind. I didn't have a hood (DUMB KATHERINE, DUMB) and the wind was pretty strong. My hair was crazy and my head started to hurt and got really cold. But overall, the hike wasn't bad. There were a few steep hills here and there, but it felt good to HIKE again because I haven't been in so long.
Then it started raining.
I pulled my windbreaker over my head and tried to keep my backpack dry. At first I was really worried that my socks were going to get wet so I tried to hop around puddles.
But I really shouldn't have bothered.
After about 30 minutes, the wind picked up. And I'm talking like 70mph, hurricane-like, turbulent winds. The rain started to feel like it was slicing my skin, and I couldn't walk straight up the hill because the wind was literally BLOWING me around. It was actually pretty. By this time, my shoes were full of water, and my hair and backpack and clothes were all soaked. The wind picked up even more, and as I was trying to get up the steepest hill, the wind pushed me into a barbed-wire fence. I kind of started to panic because my backpack was caught and when I tried to push away, the wind pushed me back and I caught my hand in a barb-spike. Someone finally came to help me and I started back up the hill. I literally could not see, not only because of the heavy rain, but because I could actually feel the wind blowing my contacts around in my eyes. At one point it got really hard to breathe because it was so wet, and I felt like I was swimming. By the time I got to the top of the hill, I saw people huddling behind a gate, and I felt snot and tears flying from my face. I was attractive!! Then I noticed that my sleeve was red, and that's when I realized that the cut from the rusty barbed-wire had sliced open part of my hand. Oops. Good thing I got my tetanus shot!
I was about to sit down when the clouds started to part and there was sun again! Just as quickly as the storm started, it vanished at the top of the climb and spread light over this gorgeous view of Scotland below.
Mmm. Nothing like wet skinny denim clinging to your skin. It was really hard to take pictures because the wind really picked up to 80+ mph, and all of us were stumbling around trying to stand still. One of my friends with a particularly skinny frame (I'm talking like, Leslie Chao/Cynthia Lee in 8th Grade skinny), flew backwards when she was walking up the hill and Less-Jewish John literally had to grab her to prevent her from getting knocked down. If you tried leaning forwards or backwards, the wind would keep you up - and for the really tiny girls, the wind kept them from falling even at a 45-degree angle to the ground.
On the way back down, the wind blew uphill and you could almost put all your force into falling forward and the wind kept you up. CRAZY STRONG winds. I seriously felt like I was in an indoor-skydiving room or something. The wind got progressively warmer though, so it definitely helped with the drying process, because we were all drenched to the bone.
On the way down my ears starting really hurting because the wind was only blowing into one ear, and I starting plugging my ears because I was afraid of my brains getting blown out the other. Well... okay I was scared at the time... but when I type it out now it sounds pretty stupid. I heard some girl saying how she felt like her contacts were moving around in her eyes during the wind storm and I was like HEY ME TOO! So we bonded over that.
All in all, probably one of the craziest things I've ever experienced, but well-worth it. The wind and rain were definitely humbling, but the view and the bonding we had as a group were great things to have on this trip. And I got to hike in Scotland with true Scottish rain!
By the time we got back to the bus, my hand had already bled through the two band-aids that I had in my backpack. So I went up to Less-Jewish John and Mini-Emma Watson and asked them for a band-aid. Which brings us to a new segment that I will call "Word for Word."
WORD FOR WORD #1: BANDAID
Here we will be exploring the differences in English words between America and Britain. Apparently, the English word for "band-aid" is "plaster." Because I ran up to the PA's Mini-Emma Watson and Less-Jewish John and the conversation went a little like this:
Me: Hi! Do you guys happen to have a band-aid?
MEW and LJJM: Wait. What?
Me: Like.. A band-aid?
MEW: I'm sorry, do you mean have a music band... or something?
Me: Uhhhhhhh what?
LJJM: *Sees my hand* OH SHIT is your hand okay?! Do you need a PLASTER?
So that's how I learned what a plaster was.
After I got back to the dorms, I made myself a hot cup of coffee and took a realllllly long shower.
I wore three layers and all of them were sopping wet and most of my clothes didn't dry until two days later.
Even after three layers on top!
But YAY!! HIKING WAS A SUCCESS!
After dinner, most of the programme went into town to go to a pub/club called "Espionage" the dancing was pretty fun (everyone here dances in clusters and not in couples - like middle school!) and the music was really good. But then after about 1:00am, I noticed that the dance floor was getting taken over by balding, white-haired men in their late-forties, and we started getting kind of creeped out. Like... don't these people have JOBS? They were dancing rather rambunctiously, beers in hand, and moshing to "California Gurls" and that's when I peaced out and went back to Pollock Halls with my friends.
Arthur's Seat
Our bus was supposed to leave at 8:00am in the morning for the ride back to Cambridge, but I really wanted to go on one more hike before we left. Most people told me that they climbed up to Arthur's Seat the first day when it wasn't raining, and I knew it was a must-do. So at 6:00am, Joe, Tim, and I dragged ourselves up to the trail behind the University, and climbed up the rock.
The climb wasn't bad, and was paved with a rock trail/steps kind of like in Yosemite at Vernal Falls. It was definitely tiring though, and I don't know why getting up at 6:00am after a night of clubbing until 2:00am sounded like a pretty good idea in my head the night before. The whole trip took a little over an hour, and the top of the cliff was breathtaking. You could see all of Edinburgh - the Castle, the Palace, the city, and even the water. Definitely windy, but so worth it!
Richmond Castle
We got back from Arthur's Seat to eat breakfast at around 7:30am, and then I ran to my room to pack and get on the bus back to Cambridge. The ride back felt a lot shorter, and we stopped in Richmond to see Richmond Castle.
We got back to Cambridge around 6:30pm on Monday night, and it was the first night that I slept early. All the walking killed my feet, but I was happy to finally fall asleep when I went to bed. I'm disappointed that we only got to spend two full days in Scotland, because I really didn't get to soak in as much as I wanted. It it such a beautiful place. To be honest, I got kind of bored walking around the city that first night, because there wasn't much to see around the University - because everything was so far away and I hadn't explored enough yet. I definitely got a better taste of Scotland over the next few days. Hopefully there will be a next time!
○ BACK TO SCHOOL
1. Supreme Court Justice Breyer came to speak at the Union chambers on Tuesday. If you don't remember from my previous blog, this is the place I have all my classes and it's housed a bunch of world-famous speakers. I got some better pictures of the chambers that day.
It was so cool to hear Justice Breyer speak. He is a cute, old man with a really good speaking voice, and he was engaging and talked to us about his job. I expected him to be this giant figure in black robes, but he came off as a regular, personable guy - that just happened to have one of the most influential and powerful jobs in America.
I mean think about it. There are only NINE justices and I met one of them!
2. I went to my second formal dinner.
This time it was at Pembroke and not King's, but still super nice. The dining hall was candle-lit again, and the Fellows and professors sat at "high table" which is a long table on an elevated platform, and they also wore their traditional black robes. Yeah. Elevated long tables + black robes + professors = HOGWARTS.
It's really cool. The head server bangs a gong, we all stand up, and the Fellows/professors enter the room to be seated at high table. Then the head Fellow or Master says a prayer in Latin, and then we all sit down. So badass.
I want my own set of Pembroke College disheware! The Pembroke seal is the best :)
3. I climbed to the top of King's Chapel for a roof tour on Wednesday afternoon. IT WAS AWESOME. This is what I was on the roof of!!
4. I went back to King's Chapel today for the second-to-last Evensong choral service of the season. This time the choir was composed of the College's Men's Voices and the Boy's Choir. What a treat! The boys were so cute. They were all in 2nd or 3rd grade and had tiny white robes on. And there was even an ASIAN choir boy! The inside of the Chapel was again, gorgeous, and the ground floor was packed. The choir gave me chills - their voices were so pure, and the Boy's Choir had really amazing solos.
5. I am starting to feel the pressure of a 4-week class. We're already HALF way done with this round of classes, and midterms, term papers, and finals are coming up in a matter of days. I have started to spend more time in the library - but it's definitely hard to concentrate because of how beautiful it is outside - and because there are just so many things to do everyday.
Another thing I have noticed so far that I'd like to share before I end this massively long post:
BRITISH OBSERVATION #4: CAN YOU REPEAT THAT
The British accent, while amazing and awesome, is PRETTY hard to understand at times. Okay. Stop. Before any of you guys start rolling your eyes and start telling me that I am studying abroad in a "foreign" country where they speak ENGLISH - let me explain. I don't know if it's because Americans are so effing loud all the time (actually that's probably it), but it's apparent that people in England speak a lot softer, with a slight mumble. Maybe "mumble" isn't the right word, but they definitely pronounce some things differently and don't enunciate or stress the same sounds that Americans do with certain words. YES. I do understand that it's English. But it's a different dialect! It's surprisingly hard to understand at times.
For the first few days I was here, every time I spoke to a local in a public setting, I kept having to ask "WHAT?" or "HUH?" until I learned to say the more polite "Sorry?" and "Pardon?" but eventually I gave up and responded to everyone with a default thumbs up and "Yeah. I am excited!"
That worked for most of the time, but sometimes it was awkward:
Local: "My cousin is studying in the states right now."
Me: *thumbs up* "Yeah. I am excited!"
Local: "Excuse me, I have to get to the door."
Me: *thumbs up* "Yeah. I am excited!"
Yeahhhhh.
Tomorrow we're going on a Field Study trip to Ely Cathedral for my Architecture class. And then in the afternoon we're going to the Pembroke Tea Room (I have a tea room at my college?!) and enjoying traditional afternoon tea.
Also, on a whim I've decided to go to Paris this weekend to visit Sam! It's her last weekend here so it'll be perfect. In order to get the cheapest last-minute tickets, I'm going to leave from Cambridge at 5:45am on Saturday, and get back to London on Monday at 12:29pm... and I'm going to catch a train to Cambridge in order to make it to my 2:00pm class on time. Everyone has told me that I'm not going to make it, but I have faith haha.
Sorry jeez. These posts always end up so much longer than I intend them to be. Hopefully the once-a-week posts will help, and you guys won't get tired of me. Things are definitely taking off here. The weather has cooled down from the heat wave we had lats week, and I'm getting into a more regular sleep pattern. I'm excited for what it sure to be an amazing weekend!
Until after Midterms,
Katherine
Can I please have your life!!!
ReplyDeletesnow cones baby. i like yo pics!
ReplyDelete