Getting on

English Breakfast and chocolate covered Digestives.

Life goes on as normal as possible. This is what I've learned in my first few days in St. Andrews. The person you think you'll be when you move is not necessarily the person you'll become. For some reason I thought that moving here would change me, that I would settle in and feel different but I'm the same as I was back home. I have the same thoughts and feelings, the same habits, the same tastes, the same interests. I am the same person no matter how different I thought I would be. This is a very comforting thought.

Patrick and I are settling into our new "Base" as we call it ("Time to head back to base" is what we were thinking...) and over the past few days we have tried to make the little room feel as homey as possible.  My desk is long and has a lot of surface area to spread out books and papers. I haven't had time to decorate with the postcards, pictures, and posters that I've brought with me, but I have brought along a few of my favorite books and nick-knacks - a little Buddha statue, a small orange cat that represents my Merry, a Damura doll with one eye painted (I'm waiting until I complete my goal to paint the second eye and then set it on fire), and a painting of a dream I once had. These, along with Patrick's Jackie Chan action figure, a few mugs from home, and a little plush Luigi (Thanks Chewy and Anne!) all make the place feel a bit more like home.

My desk: don't be fooled by my note-taking and tea drinking. Only one of those two things is actually happening here.

The flat is small, only a one room studio with a very small bathroom. Very, very small... When we first arrived I was so sleep deprived and grumpy that I immediately hated the place and regretted everything. I may have overreacted a bit but so would you if you see this bathroom. However, it is growing on me, and the more I live here the more fond of it I become. Granted there are still parts about it that I hate (tiny shower in the corner of the bathroom soaks the entire bathroom floor after every shower, not enough hanger space in the closet, hard mattress, not much privacy, harsh lighting) but there are parts that are quite endearing and useful. For example, the kitchen is so much a part of the overall room that I can easily make food or get a drink and go back to my desk. I don't have to climb stairs and I could literally roll out of bed and make coffee if I so inclined. Also, the light switches here are so unique - one has to flip the switch down to turn it on.

Walking to class on a Tuesday afternoon. Lovely weather and a lovely view.

I have been here for a week now and I already know my way around town. I've walked the streets so many times by now that I have a good sense of the layout of this town (or at least the main inner portion of the town, not the outskirts). It is about a 25 minute walk to get from the David Russel Apartments - where we are living - into the center of town. Along the way is so much to look at. There are a number of university owned sport fields along the way, which is probably the most open space I've come across within the town. There is the astronomy building with its four observatories.

Rugby players practicing on the University pitch

Now, I know what many of you must be wondering, because I wake up every morning here wondering the same question... What's the weather like? The weather has been very nice, although it did rain today for the first time (minus a short but heavy rain shower that only lasted briefly). This makes the town a bit dreary, but it doesn't stop the motion. The town is like a working hive and the workers never stop.

The walk home as the sun sets over St. Andrews

I've found that the differences between St. Andrews and back home in the States are only on the surface; only "skin deep". Yes, there are double-decker buses, there are red telephone boxes, the houses have neatly kept front gardens and the people drive on the "wrong side of the road". There are old stone buildings without breaks between them and old ruins right down the street. The grocery store stocks many types of tea but their coffee section is a bit of a bummer.

However the real heart and soul of this town isn't any different from back home, and this is due to the people. The people here are friendly and generous, and I have found that to be true in the many pockets of Massachusetts. Like home, most people will hold the door for you, will say "please" and "thank you" - or "cheers", and will smile and give advice or directions. I've had lovely chats with university employees, other students, and people around the town and they've all been very hospitable, which is a common Scottish trait.

The classic telephone box that I've never seen anyone ever use.

I've met a few other Art History graduate students and we've gotten on swimmingly. We really represent cultural differences that are so prevalent in this university and town- myself from Massachusetts, Kate from Washington D.C., June from Singapore, Franzisca from Germany, Christie from Taiwan, & Catherine from Scotland. They are all lovely, intelligent woman that bring a lot to the department and I know will make my time here and my education worth while.

From left to right: Catherine, June, me, Christie, and Franziska

I hope that as I go along, my blog posts can be more specific and directed. There is so much going on right now that I'm trying to encompass a lot into each post. But now that I'm much more settled in and beginning a regular schedule of classes and study, I'll be able to talk more about specifics and hopefully give you all a better idea of what day to day life is like in St. Andrews, Scotland!

Cheers!


(For more images from this session, visit my flickr page! )