Exploring the Scottish Highlands

Last week was Reading Week here at St. Andrews University, a lovely town on the east coast of Scotland famous for being “The Home of Golf.” I’m spending two semesters here at the University where I’m continuing my studies of Physics. I am really enjoying the university, but I was glad when Reading Week came along as it is a whole week off of lectures, a wonderful tradition in my mind! The week is nominally used for revising and catching up with your lectures, but most students, particularly the young ones, travel. This is what I chose to do, and on the 6th of November, I set out for Edinburgh where a five-day tour of the Highlands began.

Interestingly enough, our first stop was none other than the quaint little village of… St. Andrews. Here, we had about an hour to “see the sights.” A fellow St. Andrews student and I played tour guide and even sampled the pseudo-Scottish pseudo-delicacy: the deep fried Mars Bar. Surprisingly, it was tasty enough, and I found myself wishing that I had delayed trying it until I was about to leave so I couldn’t eat more than one of these heart attacks in a bag.

From St. Andrews we ventured north, up towards the Highlands. I’ve received many questions regarding the difference between the Highlands and the Lowlands, so I’ll take a moment and explain that here. Geographically, the two regions are divided by the Highland Fault Line or the Highland Boundary Fault. Looking at any map will show you this line without difficulty; it is where the mountains start. The “high” in “Highland” is derived from the elevation not the latitude, after all! Culturally, the Highlands and Lowlands are very different, due in part to the isolation that the mountains produce. The Lowlands have been more influenced my England and Europe. For example, the “traditional” clothes worn in the Lowlands would have been the same as the current fashions in Europe and particularly France. Only in the Highlands was the plaid worn. Now, of course, the kilt -- the modernization of the plaid -- is worn by Highlanders and Lowlanders alike, and that’s a good thing!

After a stop at Dunkeld to see the amazing cathedral and some very unique trees (The Duke of Atholl who owned the land fired the seeds of many different species of tree out of a cannon to disperse them) we headed on to Pitlochery where we spent our first night in the youth hostel there.



The next day we headed north again. Our first stop was at a place called the Queen’s View. Queen Victoria, the site’s namesake, had good taste!



We also saw Killiekrankie pass, site of the first Jacobite uprising in 1689. The scenery was so lovely that I had a hard time paying attention to the history! I was very lucky in taking this tour right as the leaves were changing. It was amazing!
Then it was straight on to Loch Ness, were we saw everything except Nessie, the famous monster of this huge, dark, and -- it must be said -- rather mysterious loch. Three of us opted for a quick swimming dip in, and were relieved to have mugs of whisky-hot chocolate waiting for us on shore to help warm us up!

After heading to the hostel in Inverness for a hot shower and a change of clothes, we headed out for a night on the town. We found a great pub that had live music and a great atmosphere and spent most of the evening there. This place was great! It was lit mostly by large, serviceable candles, the floors and all the furniture was all wood and had clearly been there for some time. There was a group of people playing traditional music that were just sitting at a table in the centre of the room. There were three fiddles, a small set of bagpipes, and a wooden flute, quite the traditional ensemble!

The next morning it was up early again and we were off to Clava Cairns. (As the sun sets here around 4:00, you have to get up early to make the most of the daylight!) Clava Cairns is a Pictish site that has three large stone mounds each of which is surrounded by a circle of standing stones. It was really a neat place, and we were the only ones there.

We also stopped at Eilean Donan Castle, site of the filming of many famous movies such as Highlander and even scenes from The World is Not Enough, the 19th James Bond film. We were told that this is the most photographed castle in Britain, if not the world, so I figured I’d help them maintain their claim!



From there we drove on to Skye, an island off the west coast. We spent the night there and got up early, of course, to explore Skye the next day. The weather was really awful while we were there; we almost got blown off a cliff! It cleared up in the afternoon, though, and we went to the Farie Glen, an awesome place complete with miniature landscapes and a castle -- all natural, I hasten to add. The Little People have good taste in scenery!

From there, we drove back down to Edinburgh and the trip ended. I caught the train back to St. Andrews and was surprised that I was sad to come back to St. Andrews. I love this place, and didn’t think I would ever be sad to come back to it!

Trying to find the words to sum up Russia

It is difficult to say everything I want to say about so large a country as Russia in just a few short paragraphs, but for the sake of my friends back home who would like a nice little summary of my adventures, I'll try…

After spending two and a half months baking in the sweltering St. Petersburg summer, I decided it was high time for a change. Russia being the land of extremes that I have found it to be, it is no surprise that after all those tank-top days in St. Petersburg, I now find myself bundled-up in every possible way against the friggedness of Siberia.

While Irkutsk is one of the most southern of Siberia's cities (only one degree of latitude north of London), we still get our fair share of cold. September and October weren't bad – an occasional snow day here and there, but for the most part the weather was surprisingly good. I spent as much time as I could at Lake Baikal (THE lake – the one that holds 20% of the world's fresh water) and other outdoor destinations. I had this image in my head of huge snowdrifts and such. That may soon happen, but not yet. I'm still debating whether these trips will be repeated in the next two months – it'll be absolutely freezing, but you only see something that beautiful once in a great while, right?

Speaking of which, I've come to a conclusion in the past few days – a realization that is difficult for a photographer like me to accept. There are some things in this country (and this world) which simply cannot be translated to a photograph. What is hardest about this fact is that so many of my favorite moments on this trip cannot be preserved other than in my memory and in an occasional blog entry. For example, I was on a night train last night from Ulan Ude (capital of the neighboring Buryati Republic) back to Irkutsk when I was suddenly and for no particular reason awoken. I looked out the window (possible at this point only because all the lights in the cabin were off) and saw something quite miraculous – a full moon gave me a wonderful view of the snow-topped mountains surrounding Lake Baikal, while in the sky, framed perfectly in my window, was the constellation Orion. It was one of those "right-place-at-the-right-time" kind of moments, and one that I will probably never experience again. But I think I will always remember lying there, as the train slowly chugged along the lakeshore, staring in wonder at all the natural beauty that was passing by my window. While my studies are interesting and I'm learning a lot about Russian language and culture, I count these moments as the ones that make my trip halfway around the globe the most worthwhile – the moments for which it is worth it to put up with the -10˚C (and lower, as I suspect the temperature will yet drop before I return to the sunny Lone Star State).

I'm not quite sure what to expect from the next month and a half. Exactly how cold is it going to get? How on Earth am I going to be able to pass all my exams (since all my classes are in Russian, including a literature class which covers Dostoevsky and Tolstoy)? And how am I going to handle things when I get back home? By now I've gotten used to hand washing all my clothes, riding the trolley or walking everywhere I need to go, and operating just about 24 hours a day in a foreign language. While I miss a lot of the conveniences of American life, I know I can get buy just fine without them.

China

This is me outside of beautiful Hemu Village. Hemu is a small, self-contained Tuvan village in NW Xinjiang.

I got back last Sunday from our two week trip all around China. We started off going to Northwest Xinjiang (where China meets Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan). Talk about a mix of cultures! Haha! I never thought I would feel relieved to find a person who spoke Chinese, but everyone spoke Tuvan or Mongolian where we went. And then we worked our way back east going down the ancient Silk Road.

One of my favorite stops on our trip was Xiahe; seeing a large group of Buddhist monks all sit in an internet bar and play Counterstrike was pretty awesome. Xiahe is in northeastern Tibet, and has one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in the world. The Buddhists in Xiahe had such a faith and devotion to Buddhism; their faith was their lives. I only wish we Christians would show such devotion in our lives as I saw in these people; the world would then be a very different place indeed.



This is the western part of Xiahe.

And then we got back to Beijing just in time for National Day. October 1st is National Day - the day that the Chinese people celebrate the formation of the Communist Party of China. It's actually a week long holiday. I went down to Tian'anmen square to see the insane floral decorations and just the sheer amount of people. It was definitely something worth seeing. And then my friends and I celebrated this day of Chinese pride by eating dinner at a KFC on the south side of Tian'anmen. We thought it was only appropriate.

So now my week of rest and recovery from my intense trip is over and classes start again tomorrow. But all in all everything here is going very well. I am slowly becoming more accommodated to life in Beijing and the Chinese culture is growing on me.

Oh more good news; I think we are going to go to this place named Grandma's Kitchen soon, and they serve Dr Pepper!

Exploring China

'04 McDermott Scholars James Fickenscher (left) and Liam Skoyles are studying language and culture in China this fall. Here's a posting from Beijing:

James:

Before I came to Beijing, I didn't really know all that much about Chinese culture or the Chinese way of life; all I had heard about pretty much was censorship and cheap food. Little did I know the great and wonderful culture into which I was about to be totally immersed. Since coming I have been completely taken away by the Chinese people and culture. The Chinese way of thinking is so completely different than that of Americans, and I feel that my time here will educate me both as a student and a worldly cultured person. The fact that the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program encourages this kind of experience shows its dedication to the well-rounded development of its scholars and demonstrates its desire to help motivated, great students like you become people who can truly change the world.

Liam:

As I stepped off the plane in Hong Kong, it was like stepping into a fairytale vision in my dreams. I zipped across the harbor on the lightning-fast airport express train and reflected on the previous six weeks: I had just planed, trained, taxied, and rickshawed my way across the Indian subcontinent—convenience stores, air conditioning and sit-down toilets were a distant memory. I shelled out 100 Hong Kong Dollars at the end of the line, the same price as a full week's worth of lodging in Delhi. Hong Kong was everything I missed about the West and at the same time everything I was loath to remember. Well-groomed businessmen brushed past, teens bounced along with shopping bags and the streets were sterilized. However as the memory of thousands of colourful kites flying over Delhi against a fiery sunset waned, a new appreciation of the world's newest superpower dawned. Over ten days I wound my way to Beijing. As I finally walked into the Beijing Foreign Studies University dorm, my home for the next semester, I had fallen in love with this amazing new society. Not to mention the fact that a year of Chinese language study made the taxi ride infinitely more convenient.

Both:

Everything in Beijing is awesome still, and tomorrow we leave for a two week trip around Xinjiang and even get to go hiking up to the Russian/Chinese/Mongolian/Kazakhstani border!

Wacky Amsterdam adventures

[Chris Affolter ('03) and Hannah Frank ('04) are both spending their fall 2006 semester abroad. While Chris has been studying microbiology and arms control in the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland, Hannah has been ... slightly more adventurous -- taking on Siberia in the winter. Instead of waiting for fate to make their paths cross, Chris and Hannah decided to both take the weekend off from their respective adventures and meet up in Amsterdam for a long weekend of great art, good food, and fun.]



Chris: Where is our hostel?

Hannah: You mean you don't have the directions? I don't either!

(An hour or two of searching later, we were in our dorm room at the Witte Tulp – in the Red Light District)



Chris: Holy ****, when they advertised a view, I didn't know that was what they meant. (Really deep in the Red Light District, the views can be...interesting).

(A little later, and still hungry)

Chris: I'm hungry -- let’s get lunch -- the evil Swiss people in the airport were taunting me with fresh croissants, but wouldn't sell them because it was too early in the morning.

Hannah: How about this cute little bakery ("De Bakkerswinkle")?

Chris: If only they had broodje harring!!!

Hannah: You can get some later. These are pretty good! (Little did we know that we would end up eating breakfast here every morning – it was really that good)

(After lunch and a run to the French fry stand...)



Chris: Where should we go now?

Hannah: How about the Rembrandt museum.

Chris: Grumble. I'm not such a fan of Rembrandt. And it’s not a museum, it's his house. It's a tourist trap.

Hannah: Neat, we get a discount. And this Rembrandt print exhibit is…extensive.

Chris: Yeah, that was really nice. I really like Rembrandt.

Hannah: Snap. Snap. Picture. Picture



Chris: Let’s go shopping at the flea market.

Hannah: These wallets look nice.

Chris: These wallets look used.

Hannah: These wallets look stolen.

Hannah and Chris: ***checking pockets***

Chris: I can’t believe how cheap everything is here compared to Switzerland.

Hannah: I can’t believe how expensive everything is here compared to Russia.

Chris: Of course, the French fries are definitely worth their weight in gold. Let's get some more.

(A few thousand calories later...)

Chris: How about some coffee?

Hannah: The coffee is wonderful here.

Chris: So are the baked goods! This is an amazing brownie.

Hannah: Now it's time for some van Gogh.

Chris: This coll…

Hannah: This collection is fantastic.

Chris: Go-Van-Gogh (DMA reference)

Hannah: I think van Gogh went.

Chris: Did he go get a bike?

Hannah: No, but we should.

Chris: I haven't been on a bike in a long time.

Hannah: That's OK – they'll rent them to anybody. (speeding off through the pedestrian crowd)

Chris: This is fun!

(Once we'd worked off all the French fry fat by riding all over Amsterdam...)

Hannah: Aafke (Hannah's Dutch friend) said to hang out in Vondelpark.

(pedal, pedal, pedal)

Chris: I'm tired, how about a nap in Vondelpark?

Hannah: ***snore***

Chris: ***watches crazy old woman drink a whole bottle of wine and have a conversation (in Dutch) with herself***



Hannah: (Suddenly awake and ravenous) Lunch?

Chris: I want a broodjie harring!

Hannah: You're obsessed with that stupid herring.

(Post-broodjie harring...)

Chris: That broodjie harring wasn't so tasty. I don't feel so well.

Hannah: Your fault. You should have just had more vlaames frites (French fries with mayonnaise).

Chris: I think we need some more coffee.

Hannah: Indeed. Coffee rocks!

Chris: And more vlaames frites.

Hannah: This is the best. Postcard. Ever.

Chris: We have got to send it to the McDermott Office.

Chris: And these fries are fantastic.

Hannah: FANTASTIC!

Chris: Reijksmuseum?

Hannah: Of course!

Chris: Our Lord in the Attic?

Hannah: What?

Chris: The 17th century Dutch Protestant government wasn't so keen on public Catholicism…so they built a fabulous Roman Catholic church in the attic.



Hannah: Fabulous. Snap Snap. Picture Picture.

Chris: I wonder how often people fall into the canals?

Hannah: I don't know, but they smell like the Trinity "River."

(later that night)

Chris: This place reminds me of New Orleans.

Hannah: Only it’s more chill -- not so many drunk frat boys.

Chris: And there's no Lelia. (Gowland, '04)

(on the last day)

Hannah: One last cone of Vlammese Frites?

Chris: Of course! They're FANTASTIC!

Hannah: Did you remember to mail the postcard?

Chris: Crap, I left it on the train...maybe that's for the best.

Hannah: It was so good to see you! Have fun in Switzerland.

Chris: It was so good to see you too! Don't freeze in Siberia! If you die, I'll never forgive you -- wear that long underwear.

Hannah: (Only a good friend would bring Swiss chocolates and REI underwear when you're truly in need of both).