scottland

In less than 24 hours

my parents and sister will be here.  I’m so excited for that!  Today has been spent cleaning and packing and getting stuff done, because I get kicked out at 9am tomorrow morning.  All of my flatmates have been gone since Monday, so I’ve been able to enjoy the place to myself during what has been a nice, relaxing week.  Also, they left a ton of stuff in the kitchen.  A bunch of food, beer, dishes, appliances, and I had no idea what to do with it, because none of them talked with me about it before they left.  Well this morning some of the cleaning ladies came in and sorted through it all, splitting it all up and taking what they wanted home.  It was kind of a funny scene to watch.

There have been lots of goodbyes this week.  Going into this semester, I knew that almost all the relationships I would make would have an expiration date on them, which is kind of a weird feeling.  Nevertheless, I haven’t been feeling too sad—I have enjoyed my time here and the people I’ve met, but I’m ready to go home.  It’s interesting talking to some of the other study abroad students; some have been depressed for weeks because they don’t want to leave, others are excited to get back home.  For me, I think it helps that I have so many good things waiting for me at home.  I can’t wait to get back and see friends and hang out with my family and enjoy wonderful Colorado.

I’m mostly looking forward to seeing people, but I’ve been missing some of the small things too.  Being able to drive, the parks where I enjoy reading, riding my bike, the hot weather, the sunsets over the Rockies, etc.  Oh, and Chipotle.  I’m not going to have a job this summer because I’ll only be home for about two months (that’s a good enough excuse I think), so there’s going to be a lot of time to enjoy the things and places I’ve missed.

But…I won’t be home for another 9 days, because I get the awesome privilege of traveling around with my family for a week.  They’re getting in tomorrow night, then Sunday will be spent in Stirling, with me showing them all the highlights of the city.  This should be good because I’ve actually negelected to do some of the touristy things that most people did back in February, like go to the top of the Wallace Monument or tour Stirling Castle.  Monday morning we’ll head off for the Isle of Skye, which is supposed to be absolutely beautiful (if the weather is nice).  We’ll spend a couple of days there before driving to the opposite side of the country to visit St. Andrews, which is still my favorite city out of all the ones I’ve visited.  Then we’ll end up in Edinburgh for a day before flying back to Denver on the 13th.  I really hope the weather holds out for us.  It’s been so nice this week, which probably means it will rain a lot next week, because two weeks of enjoyable weather in Scotland is unheard of (I’m only kind of kidding).

When I was walking the West Highland Way last week, one of the people in the group asked me if I had changed at all during this semester.  I know that, for a lot of people, spending a semester abroad is a life-altering experience, something that teaches them big life lessons and marks them in some lasting way.  It wasn’t like that for me.  I’ve loved my time in Scotland and I’m glad I decided to come here, but for the most part the Scott that left is the same Scott returning.  I’ve danced in a kilt and tasted the glory of Haggis and Irn Bru, I’ve made new friends and been challenged and encouraged by them, I’ve encountered a different culture and traveled to some amazing places, but the life of my inner man has stayed the same.  I come back with the same convictions, aspirations, hopes, and passions.

So this is my last post.  Thanks so much for keeping up with what I’ve been doing—hopefully you haven’t been too bored reading of my discoveries, exploits and thoughts.  I hope that you are all doing so well and I’m excited to see a lot of you really soon.

Scotland, it’s been great. 

Going for an 80 mile walk, be back next week

Hey all,

So tomorrow I leave for my hike along the West Highland Way, which runs from just north of Glasgow to a city called Fort William.  A lot depends on the weather, but I think that it should be a really good time.  I never thought I would say this, but I actually hope it gets a bit cooler next week than it has been these past few days, because it has been pretty darn hot around here.  

The trail is actually a total of 95 miles, but I’m going to be missing the last day, unfortunately.  Originally, my first and only exam was scheduled for June 2, and that’s when I picked the dates for the walk; but it got moved to May 29, which is the last day of walking.  So on Friday after we stop for the day I’m going to have to hop on a bus, then a train, stay the night in Glasgow, take a train to Stirling in the morning and then take my exam a few hours after that.  Which means I really won’t have much time at all to study.  But I’m not too worried about it.

I think that walking about 13 miles a day is going to be more tiring than it sounds to me.  This past week I went on about a 5 mile walk to a neighboring town, and I was kind of worn out by the time I got there.  And my hip was definitely giving me some problems as well.  But oh well; I’ll get through it and I’m looking forward to it.  The trail that I walked on for the 5 mile walk this past week was really nice, and I found out that it was Robert Louis Stevenson’s (Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, etc.) favorite walk to do as a child.  It’s even likely that a cave along the trail served as the inspiration for Treasure Island.  Pretty cool for a bookworm like me.

I’ll make sure to post some pictures of the hike when I get back home next weekend.  After that, I only have a week until my family (hopefully) gets here, which I’m excited about.  I hope everyones’ summer is going great so far!  

License to Kilt

So, as I mentioned in the previous post, last Friday was the ceilidh for the Christian Union, and my friend Colin let me borrow his kilt and accompanying attire.  I found it really enjoyable to wear, although it requires some self-consciousness when sitting down or jumping around (for obvious reasons).  Colin is a few inches shorter than me, but it all fit really well.  Except for the shoes.  Wow, I don’t know if my feet have ever been more uncomfortable (I had blisters before I even got to the dance)!  But it was worth it—no way I was going to wear the entire outfit except for the shoes on what will probably be my only opportunity to do so.  Also, you can’t see it in the picture, but you get to wear a knife in your sock.  Pretty cool.

The dance was fun too.  The whole thing seems really similar to a hoedown, though I haven’t been to one of those so I could be wrong.  All of the dances have set steps and are extremely repetitive, which is good for people like me who sometimes take the length of the entire dance to figure them out (and never get the waltz down right).  Also, there were “most likely to…” awards given out, which had been voted on the week before.  I got voted most likely to be famous.  Huh?  Yeah, I don’t know either.  I was quite confused, but got some nice white shades out of it so it’s fine with me.  

Ben Nevis didn’t end up happening due to the weather conditions on the mountain.  Turns out, there’s still a lot of snow and ice up there, so it might be kind of a dangerous climb.  We’re going to wait for a few weeks and see what it looks like in early June.  Hopefully it works out.

So my family is supposed to be here in just a little under three weeks now, but some complications have arisen.  First of all, that darn ash cloud.  Heathrow Airport in London (which they are flying to first) was closed down this weekend, and there’s the possibility it could affect my family’s flight as well.  Second, British Airways stewardesses are going on strike from tomorrow until June 9th, and their flight is on the 4th.  The airline is still planning on flying most of their flights, but we won’t know if theirs is going to be one of them until the 25th.  What a bummer it would be if they weren’t able to come out!  And what would I do for a week without a place to stay?  Who knows…

Looking forward to this week with barely anything planned, then heading out on Sunday to walk the West Highland Way.  I can’t believe I have such a short time left here—in a lot of ways I feel like I’m just beginning to really settle in and grow deeper in relationship with people.  At least it’s so easy to stay in touch.

Cheeeeeeers.

Writing, throwing, dancing, climbing

In between summer and me there stand about 2,000 words and a final exam.  And so I currently find myself knee deep in analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter.  Anyone remember reading that book in high school and loathing it?  I do.  But I actually really enjoyed it the second time through, and now my last essay of the semester is to compare it with a pretty dreadful film adaptation (in my opinion) made back in the 90’s.  My only final exam is still over two and half weeks away, though, so I have some time yet before I can say the summer is mine.  I’m going to spend some of the interim time traveling—a week of it on the West Highland Way, which I mentioned about a month or so ago.

Today I went with my frisbee team to an elementary school to play a demo game for them and it was a lot of fun.  Basically, it was twenty minutes of frenzy, with high-pitched chants from the wee onlookers who quickly divided themselves into faithful supporters of either the white team or the green team.  It got a touch weird at the end, with some of the girls asking for the autograph of a guy on our team.  Ultimate Frisbee never received such acclamation.  

This Friday is another ceilidh (that Scottish dance that I described back on April 18th); this time for the Christian Union.  It should be a good time, and my friend Colin offered to lend me his kilt for it, which I accepted.  I am a true Scotsman now.  

The day after that I’ll hopefully be climbing Ben Nevis, which is Britain’s tallest mountain.  It still ends up being less than a third of the height of Colorado’s fourteeners, but since we are pretty much at sea level here it should end up being a similar climb.  The only questionable factor is the weather, because I’m told there’s still some ice on the mountain and snow is possible.  We’ll see.

Speaking of the weather, it has gotten out of the 50’s maybe only a handful of times so far this Spring.  I’m definitely ready for some heat.

Colorado, I will be back in one month.  I’m going to miss this place, but I’m excited to go home.  

That’s it for now I think.  I’ll try to get some pictures up next week of the stuff I end up doing.  Ok, cheers.

Rhythm

Hello,

There is really not much new to update since I last posted; I feel like I am finally to the point where I am really into the rhythm of things and what’s around me no longer holds the wonder of the unfamiliar.  That is not to say that I am bored or tired of being here, but that the initial excitement has given way to the more enduring feeling of steady appreciation.  

That said, there are only two weeks of class left!  That seems crazy, and also makes me realize that I really need to get moving on some essays.  And although I’ll still be here at least until the middle of June (because the exam period is four weeks long and then my family is coming out for a week), it really feels like things are winding down and wrapping up here.  Ultimate frisbee is over, intermural football is over, Bible study only meets a few more times, etc.  

Even still, I have a lot planned and plenty to look forward to before leaving.  I mentioned that I’ll be doing a week-long hike along a trail called the West Highland Way, and then I will also hopefully climb Ben Nevis (the tallest mountain in Britain) and get up north as well.  Then when my family comes out, we will probably do some traveling on what are supposed to be the beautiful western or northern islands of Scotland.

Well, that’s pretty much all I have to say for now.  I hope everyone is well and I look forward to seeing most of you in just a few months now!

Spring

has finally come to Stirling.  There have been about five sunny days in the last week, and it’s been so nice to spend some more time outside.  The leaves aren’t back yet, but they’re on their way, and when they do come this campus is going to be beautiful.  I’ve been taking advantage of the nice weather by hiking and walking around a lot, and so last week I did a sunrise hike up this mountain on the outskirts of campus called Mt. Dumyat (pronounced Dum-i-at).  I completely missed the trailhead, and ended up bushwhacking it almost the entire way up—it was still a great hike though.  Lots of sheep with a fair share of angry “baaa”-ing.  Then this week I’ve walked around a good amount in the woods right outside my residence hall.  They are called the Hermitage Woods, and the story behind the name is kind of interesting.  In the mid-18th century this guy Robert Haldane bought the land that the university is on and commissioned the present design.  In the woods, he built a hermitage, and then went on to advertise for a hermit, who had to be vegetarian and commit to never leaving the woods.  There was only one serious applicant, but he couldn’t agree to reside their permanently.  The now roofless hermitage is still there, along with a lot of great paths and good views of the university and city.

This weekend, I’m heading to Aberdeen (a coastal city on the east of Scotland) for another ultimate frisbee tournament.  It’s going to be a beach tournament, but I’m told that there’s a good chance the beach will actually be quite cold and windy.  Anyway, it should be a fun time and a good way to spend my birthday (which is on Sunday).  

Also, the Loch Drunkie Puffins (the intermural football team I’m on) had our last match today.  After two ties, two losses, and not having scored a single goal, we won 5-0, with all five goals coming in the second half and all under ten minutes.  We definitely aren’t going to make it to the playoffs, but it feels good to finally get that ball in the net.  

I’m really looking forward to these last two months.  They will hopefully be filled with a lot of sunshine and a lot of traveling, even if it’s in and around Stirling.  Yup, that’s it for now.