I am so glad that our group that flew into Edinburgh last Thursday got to move in a day early. It saved us the chaos of the big group that came on Saturday morning. That night, we were expected to come to Airthrey Castle (for picture, please see previous post) for a 'Welcome Reception.' Well, when I heard that, I thought it would be some sort of room where we would sit and listen to someone talk about the school and why we were there...you know, the usual thing.
Au contraire, Pierre.
We were heralded into the castle by a piper (playing "Scotland the Brave," no less), and found ourselves in a large room with ornate carvings on the side panels and a fancy looking fire place. All of the students were milling around, talking to their new acquaintances (except for our little group, because we had somehow managed to find one another again). And then, everyone appeared to form a jumbled line, while still maintaining the same level of talking - it's been at least 15 minutes we've stood around talking, mind you - and we start to creep toward where the line is headed. When we reached the front of the line, there was a table with an extensive assortment of wines, juices, and other drinks. Then, we were to place our order and to present our IDs if we were under 25, to make sure that we passed the age requirement (18 here). I got apple juice. Kept it simple, and besides, I didn't know the names of anything except for the juices!
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| Blurry picture of the Welcome Reception. |
Then, we proceeded to talk for 15 more minutes until Stirling's Summer School Manager, Sterling Yates (yes, it's like the "Meredith from Meredith" thing at my college), called for our attention. He talked about five minutes about safety and the Head of the School talked about five minutes about Scotland and Stirling, and then they were done. We were encouraged to "enjoy a good drink and a good chat" until we wanted to leave at the end of the hour. Very different from what I was expecting, but enjoyable, nonetheless.
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| View of city from Stirling Castle. |
The next day, Sunday, we had a full day of information sessions and tours of both the campus and the city of Stirling. It was really neat and I learned a lot of history. We toured through places like Dunblane, Bridge of Allan, Bannockburn, and Doune. We ended at the Stirling Castle esplanade where we had a beautiful view of the city.
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| Robert the Bruce with an ominous cloud. |
We finished the exhaustive day by going for a quick shop in Thistle Center, the mall in Stirling's city center. There wasn't much time to look around, because most stores close by 5 or 6 here. Then we headed over to Tesco for some food shopping. Now, Tesco is like our Walmart. They are everywhere and carry similar things. There is even a Tesco Express on the outskirts of town that we can easily walk to from school. But I'm positive that we made someone's day when we trekked back to where the bus had parked. We trudged down the streets and between houses, encumbered with our grocery bags, in a two-by-two procession. We must have looked hilarious! But, we made it, much to everyone's relief.
Then, yesterday, classes started. I have two classses: Scotland on the Screen (Mon. 9-10, Tues. 11-1) and Green Politics: Theory and Practice (Tues. 3-6). My first class wasn't that bad. I had to find some books in the library to read, but the only reason it took me a while is because it takes me forever to take notes. I don't know how the Green Politics class will go today, however. But I can look forward to the fact that I only have class two days a week! Classes only run Monday through Wednesday. Thursdays are left open for optional, pre-planned excursions for all International Summer School (ISS) students (we're going to St. Andrews this Thursday). And Fridays are for class-specific excursions (my Scotland on the Screen excursion is this Friday - we're vising Doune Castle, where they filmed part of Monty Python, haha).
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