Annabelle's Highland Adventure

Location: GP Hall, Hillhead Student Village, Aberdeen Date: October 27th, 2018 "Learn and practice a traditional craft, then share and/or teach the craft."            Having fun at the dance practice I attending at the beginning of the year and then participating in a ceilidh made me realize how enjoyable Scottish country dancing was. I've never been a dancer; my only experience was an exceptionally painful year in ballet when I was about four years old. However, something during the ceilidh really connected to me and made me want to learn more. After recognizing this connection, I decided to learn more country dances.           Ceilidhs in Scotland are equivalent to dinner parties or BBQs in America. The gatherings did not originally begin as dances but were simply used to celebrate weddings or other important events. Dancing became more popularized by 1945, as it was featured in media and television shows more oft...

Location: Stonehaven Time: October 16th, 2018 Map of Stonehaven, UK Analysis:            The small village of Stonehaven may appear to quite, but there are plenty of the sight-seeing points of interest around the town, as well as the most praised fish and chips shop in Scotland. To make this map, I talked to a couple of the locals walking around as a well as explored the streets to try and discover how much of the town was residential and how much was used for business purposes.             To begin the process of discovering the village, I started off with a few simple questions. These sample questions are outlined below: Are you a visitor or a resident? What is your favorite part of the town?  Do you shop around Stonehaven or outside of town? Photo of The Bay Fish and Chips shop (My photo, taken for Viva Trips) The purpose of these questions were to establish a basis of how well the per...

"Identify 10 symbols in the culture. Describe the symbol and write a sentence or two about its meaning and significance. Symbols may range from an actual object in the culture to the significance of facial expressions or the meaning of wearing one’s hair down, etc." Kilts: One of the most famous pieces of outerwear is the Scottish kilt. Their rise in popularity was due to it being used to make farming and fighting easier and to lessen sweat from these activities. Now, it signifies patriotism and loyalty to both family and country.  Thistles: Thistles are the national flower of Scotland and a point of pride for local businesses, and citizens. While no one truly knows the origin or reason as to why it became the national flower, the plant represents the people; its exterior is prickly but the flower is also quite humble and beautiful when in bloom, just like the residents. Bagpipes: Bagpipes in Edinburgh (My photo) Another traditionally Scottish i...

Location: The Bobbin Pub, Aberdeen Date: October 4th, 2018          A friendly hug, kiss on the cheek, and "xxx" at the end of the a text message are all acts of affection that have very different meanings. University students in the UK, whether they are residents of the country or people from around the globe, have adopted certain unspoken rules of how someone should show affection or amiability to one another.            During my club meetings or hanging out at The Bobbin with friends, I was able to feel my way around the social rules that dictate how someone can appropriately express friendliness or love to someone else. One rule that I learned is that a recipient of a text should always leave at least two or three kisses (i.e. "xxx") at the end of a message to show that it was well-meaning and in good intentions. If more is sent, then the recipient of the message should match the number of x's. If someone sends a message w...