The subject of this post is from a graffito on our campus, which I particularly enjoy. I'm not going to do multiple back entries. I'm just going to condense everything right here right now.
The week after the highlands, as you can imagine from my last post, was a scary blur. I went out with my friends most nights, and tried to focus as much as possible on work the rest of the time. That Saturday, I was incredibly excited because we were taking a field trip, and I haven't been on one of those in ages and ages and ages. Unfortunately, this field trip did not turn out so well. It was 12 pounds, which is quite a chunk of change, and we got on the bus, drove to the Scottish Crannog Centre along the same route we'd taken up to the Highlands the week before, got there, and when we saw what the Centre was, I think we were all a little disappointed. It was a tiny little building, and a re-creation of a neolithic lake-dwelling. We watched a dude show us how some prehistoric tools worked, and waited for him to finally get some fire made (the most exciting part of the day, by far), and then got taken into the Crannog, where we sat in the dark while a guy talked to us for a while. After this, we were left on our own to explore. I whittled a stick down, we looked at the exhibit 3 times, and had hot chocolate, and we still had an hour and 45 minutes until the bus was coming. There was really no path to hike around anywhere, and the centre didn't really have an indoors area, so we were all sitting around outside, freezing our butts off and trying to figure out how to fill up the time til the bus left. We mostly ended up meandering around the gift shop (the only heated area) until it was time to go. I got home, and pretty much fell asleep straightaway.
On Tuesday, my grandparents came to visit. I was really excited to see them! I have class until 6 on Tuesday evenings, so I didn't get to meet up with them until seven or so. I got moderately lost on the way over (stupid Google maps!), and had to call a friend to direct me there. I finally made it, and had a nice chat with my grandmother until my grandpa came back up from the lobby. We decided to eat at an Indian restaurant, Kismot, that I had been dying to try for ages. We waited forever and a day to get our food, but filled the time talking about plays and Mad Men (I could talk about Mad Men for just about forever!). When the food finally came, we were so hungry, I could have eaten anything. But this was amazing stuff... Kismot is family owned and all of the food is made up from scratch, and let me tell you, the difference is notable. My lamb was so tender and delicately flavored. Ahh, I have not eaten such a good meal in ages.
Wednesday, we went to the National Gallery. Art is interesting, but blogging about viewing art is not interesting. Dinner at the Hotel Bonham was amazing, and accompanied by more family tales. Thursday brought us to the National Gallery and a sushi dinner (yum). On Friday, we went to Glasgow. I'd never been there before, so we got on the train and headed there with the intention of going to the Kelvingrove Gallery. When we got there, we weren't entirely sure how to get to where we were going. I was so proud of myself that on my way to the visitors' center, a man actually came up to me and asked for directions! I pride myself on blending in, and usually I can give simple directions, but knowing nothing about Glasgow, I sadly had to admit that I wasn't from there.
We had difficulty finding the bus stop, so we took the subway, which I felt sort of bad about, considering that my grandma had her hip replaced recently, which means that she doesn't have a very easy time of walking up and down stairs. Then it turned out to be a longer walk than we thought from the subway station to the museum, so I felt bad again. We finally got there, and luckily, Grandma was able to use a wheelchair to rest while we were getting around the galleries. We looked at French and Italian art, had some coffee, and then checked out the other side of the museum, where they have natural history exhibitions. When the museum closed, we went back to the train station and waited until we could get an off-peak train back to Edinburgh.
Safely back on familiar ground, we went to New Town to eat seafood at the Mussel Inn, which was delicious. Saturday, G&G went on a highlands tour, so I tried to get some work done, and then went out with my friends Chelsea, Sam, and Lindsey. It was good to be out and about, and do some dancing! I came back, and went to sleep so I could meet up with G&G for the last time on Sunday. We went to look at the outside of the Scottish National Parliament Building, which is rather controversial because it was 1)not designed by a Scot, 2) went hugely over budget, and 3) does not fit in with the atmosphere of Old Town at all. Here are a few images so you can see:
http://tinyurl.com/3xzwxsk
http://tinyurl.com/32zrqdc
The inside was closed since it was Sunday, so we went on a bus to Leith, which is right on the ocean. We had another delicious seafood meal, and we said a sad goodbye as we went our separate ways.
Tuesday, I went to the Pub Quiz at the Greenmantle Pub, where I attempted to help out the ClassicsSoc team, but ended up being quite useless aside from the few questions I actually knew the answers to, but to which nobody actually believed that I was right. Oh well, next time! It's really mostly about hanging out with the group, because they are all really nice and fun. Well, actually, a couple of the guys got into a bit of a boast-fest, so Amisha, Sarah, and I left the premises.
Speaking of the ClassicsSoc, I finally feel like I've really integrated into something here, and it's killing me that I have to leave so soon. I wish I could extend to a full year, but I know that I have to be in Minnesota for the spring if I EVER want to finish my degree. Edinburgh is amazing, but I think at the end of this, it will be time to go back home and focus on determining my area of concentration, etc. I am thinking a lot about the future and things I would like to do, and feeling more and more like I'm meant to be in the education/communication side of things than the actual science-y bit. I'm still up for learning about the science, because that's hugely important (duh), but in the long run, I don't think that's where I'll end up. I've been working on internship applications (I know, already, can you believe it? A lot are due 17 Dec, which seems ludicrously early).
Okay, enough of all this. xx
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
differences
It seems that everywhere I go, I am drawn into conversation about the American higher education system. People are baffled by a number of things related to the aforementioned. Nobody can imagine that I have friends who pay $50,000 every year to go to school, and they wonder how anybody manages to pay back loans. In Denmark, Johan told me that not only is school free, students get paid an allowance every month to cover living expenses. It seems to be relatively similar in both Sweden and in Holland (though, from what I gather, it's not entirely free in Holland). It sounds too good to be true to get paid to go to school, and in a way, I guess it is. Johan was telling me about how so much money gets wasted, because a lot of people will do two years and then drop out, because it's not like they're losing any money or anything. Also, he told me that it's almost unheard of to go to school away from your home because there are only a few universities in Denmark anyway, so you go to the one that lets you into the degree program you want to study.
I feel like I really appreciate the choices that we have in America, though we have to pay (dearly) for them. When I started my college search at the end of my sophomore year of high school, I had, literally, thousands of options, and I could go to study whatever I wanted. In the UK, students know exactly what they are going to do before they finish high school. There is hardly any room to change your degree, and almost nobody does it. My RA actually changed from theology to political science (maybe that's what it was... this conversation happened during a pub crawl, so you'll have to forgive me. It's hard to talk in bars), and she said it was very very hard to convince the university to let her do that. I STILL have no idea what exactly I'd like to do with myself when I graduate. I don't have a specialization area for my major, I don't know if I want to go to graduate school, and I certainly don't know where I would like to do that. These 18 year olds have their lives planned out, and they all seem pretty damn confident about their choices. I changed my major one semester into my freshman year, and while it set me back a little bit, nobody argued with my choice, and it was, in fact, supported.
People looked at me so strangely when I told them I had taken an English class, a Latin class, a few environmental science classes, and a dance class during first semester last year. The liberal arts idea is not a common one around here. I think I would die if I had to take all science classes all the time. Okay, that's melodramatic, but my decision to study abroad and learn about something totally new and interesting is the case in point: I needed a break, especially since next semester will actually be all science all the time. I find it difficult to focus my thoughts on one thing for quite a while without the extra stimulation of concentrating on something completely different. I think that is why I am continuing with my Latin major.
Another major difference: sports. Coming from a Big 10 school such as the U, it's sort of hard to separate athletics from my education. The facilities dominate campus, the athletes are riding around on their scooters, and the student body is abuzz on game day. Anytime I try to explain athletic scholarships to my friends, they just stare at me quizzically. Why would we go to see non-professional athletes when we have perfectly good professional teams? Why on earth would a college pay people to come to the school if they're not the most gifted academically? I suppose we wonder these things ourselves, sometimes (i.e., football players get big scholarships and free mopeds... where is my moped?!), but the athletics bring in money that can be used to support academia (like how Bruiniks worked to get stadium donors to also donate to a scholarship fund). I like having sports on campus... it's a way to bring the students together, but I can definitely see whence the European confusion springs. Without the experience, it's hard to understand why a university would spend so much money on sports!
That's it for now, but this is just the first post in a series highlighting big US/UK differences. I'm feeling a bit better, and tonight I am going to my firstceilidh, or traditional Scottish dance. I might also try some haggis... but it's small steps at first.
I feel like I really appreciate the choices that we have in America, though we have to pay (dearly) for them. When I started my college search at the end of my sophomore year of high school, I had, literally, thousands of options, and I could go to study whatever I wanted. In the UK, students know exactly what they are going to do before they finish high school. There is hardly any room to change your degree, and almost nobody does it. My RA actually changed from theology to political science (maybe that's what it was... this conversation happened during a pub crawl, so you'll have to forgive me. It's hard to talk in bars), and she said it was very very hard to convince the university to let her do that. I STILL have no idea what exactly I'd like to do with myself when I graduate. I don't have a specialization area for my major, I don't know if I want to go to graduate school, and I certainly don't know where I would like to do that. These 18 year olds have their lives planned out, and they all seem pretty damn confident about their choices. I changed my major one semester into my freshman year, and while it set me back a little bit, nobody argued with my choice, and it was, in fact, supported.
People looked at me so strangely when I told them I had taken an English class, a Latin class, a few environmental science classes, and a dance class during first semester last year. The liberal arts idea is not a common one around here. I think I would die if I had to take all science classes all the time. Okay, that's melodramatic, but my decision to study abroad and learn about something totally new and interesting is the case in point: I needed a break, especially since next semester will actually be all science all the time. I find it difficult to focus my thoughts on one thing for quite a while without the extra stimulation of concentrating on something completely different. I think that is why I am continuing with my Latin major.
Another major difference: sports. Coming from a Big 10 school such as the U, it's sort of hard to separate athletics from my education. The facilities dominate campus, the athletes are riding around on their scooters, and the student body is abuzz on game day. Anytime I try to explain athletic scholarships to my friends, they just stare at me quizzically. Why would we go to see non-professional athletes when we have perfectly good professional teams? Why on earth would a college pay people to come to the school if they're not the most gifted academically? I suppose we wonder these things ourselves, sometimes (i.e., football players get big scholarships and free mopeds... where is my moped?!), but the athletics bring in money that can be used to support academia (like how Bruiniks worked to get stadium donors to also donate to a scholarship fund). I like having sports on campus... it's a way to bring the students together, but I can definitely see whence the European confusion springs. Without the experience, it's hard to understand why a university would spend so much money on sports!
That's it for now, but this is just the first post in a series highlighting big US/UK differences. I'm feeling a bit better, and tonight I am going to my firstceilidh, or traditional Scottish dance. I might also try some haggis... but it's small steps at first.
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