Annabelle's Highland Adventure

Location: Uig and Portree, Isle of Skye The Cowshed Hostel (My photo) Date: November 13th, 2018           One of the most interesting (and often inconvenient) occurrences that I've come across is the shutting down of businesses on Sundays. I didn't often go out into town on Sundays as this day was usually reserved for doing homework or hiking. Imagine the frustration of wanting to catch up with a friend and finding all the stores in the mall shut down for the day! This phenomena isn't just localized in Aberdeen; I went up to Inverness with a fellow Mines student also studying at the University of Aberdeen on a Sunday, thinking this would be a great outing before the new school week started, but as we arrived, the only shops throwing their doors wide open were the occasional pub and repetitive tourist stores. Overlooking the town of Uig (My photo)           If the weekend is seen as the few days people can take a break from w...

Location: Westminster Abby, London Date: November 6th, 2018            I cannot recall a time that I've ever passed a little hole in the wall shop in Denver, Colorado. With the exception of food trucks, restaurants are buildings where you can drive your car up to a window and order, walk in to order food, or you sit down. In the UK, they do things a little bit differently. On most major streets, there's at least one 'pocket dining' shop or food vendor. Most sell on-the-go foods such as a box of fish and chips or other ethnic treats. Why are sit-down restaurants so sparse?           One explanation for the lack of sitting food vendors is due to the busy schedule of large city residents. This means that meals are eaten while walking to and from various workplaces so as to conserve precious time. This weekend, I spent three and a half days in London exploring the different attractions, such as Westminster Abby, Tower of London, an...

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...

"Attend a traditional dance event and discover the meaning of the dance, music, or narrative being told by the dance."           At the beginning of the semester, I had the opportunity to attend a ceilidh dance on September 8th, at about 8:00pm. What is little known about Scotland is that the people here are always down for a rowdy get-together where they can dance to traditional music. The modernization of the country had left some aspects untouched, such as the ceilidh, which is a dance mainly used for large groups, such as weddings, corporate events, and welcoming in the new freshman at the University.          What piqued my interest in the dance was that my flatmates had seen a flyer advertising the event and had begun to talk about all the ceilidhs that they had gone to when they were younger. They made it seem really fun and a relaxed traditional event to use to submerse myself in the culture. When I got to the dance, I w...