November Recap

I have a little time on my hands in between frantic essay writing to mention a few trips I have taken recently to Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as a few thoughts on life in Stirling.

Earlier in the month I took a quick trip over to Glasgow with some friends to look around the city. Compared to the capital Edinburgh, this city (the largest in Scotland) was much more spread out and appeared more modern, although I still managed to see some wonderful architecture. We meandered into the city chambers to see what is allegedly the largest marble staircase in the world, then peeked into the awe-inspiring Glasgow Cathedral before riding the bus out towards Hampden Park, Scotland’s national football stadium (with 52,063 capacity, it is larger than Martin Stadium but not anywhere near the massive Husky Stadium). Here we stopped for a tour; while my friends and I are not fans of “football” in the UK sense, we enjoy stadiums and sports in general and had a good time seeing the locker rooms and field.

Glasgow City Chambers

Myself outside of Glasgow Cathedral

The beautiful interior

Hampden stadium

Giant foosball players in the Scottish football museum

The next day some of us revisited Edinburgh (my favorite city of the two) and walked up Calton Hill for an absolutely beautiful view of the city. For lunch along the Royal Mile, I had a memorably huge piece of fish and chips! That day I also saw a lot of the “new town” area of Edinburgh and took a walk down Princes Street.

Probably my favorite work of architecture in Scotland, the "Gothic rocket" or Scott Monument in Edinburgh

Myself on Calton Hill

The Dugald Stewart Monument on Calton Hill

The National Monument was never completed

A street performer along the Royal Mile

St. Giles' Cathedral

Back in Stirling, I have stayed busy between finishing up work before the exam period and enjoying a few festivities, namely a huge Thanksgiving dinner put on by a few residents of my hall that had over 60 people on the guest list from several countries and the most varied, amazing spread of Thanksgiving food I will probably ever eat! I contributed sweet potato biscuits and enjoyed trying everyone’s favorite meals from home. The other nights that week I had fun out with friends, including my first official attendance to a Scottish ceilidh (pronounced like kay-lee) where I learned a few traditional reels and other dances. It was a lot of fun and I got to go to another just two nights after; this time I had at least a faint idea how to do the dances beforehand! This second ceilidh was part of a Christmas part with the hall, and I had a lot of fun getting dressed up with friends (for girls, the suggestion is just to wear a nice, semi-formal dress and shoes you don’t mind dancing in; for guys, it is optional to rent out a kilt with its corresponding formal-wear jacket!).

Part of the Thanksgiving spread

Friends and I at the ceilidh

While the past few days I have been frequenting the library to work on essays, I have also just finished up classes last Tuesday and had my very last show with the student radio, Air3. My friends and I also climbed up the Wallace Monument for the first time – after mounting a skinny spiral staircase up 246 stone steps, we were treated with a wonderful view of the town, campus and the distant scenery, obscured somewhat with Scottish mist and rain.

In the studio for our radio show!

The campus from the Wallace Monument

I officially am in the last stretch of my study abroad experience, and hopefully I will be able to do everything I haven’t had a chance to see yet! Next weekend I will be visiting the Isle of Skye on a three-day tour, and this weekend my goal is to see London again, providing essays are completed. I can’t wait to come home but I can’t believe my trip is almost over!

Prompt 6: Rethinking Stereotypes & Critical Thinking in Scotland

Cougs Abroad Blog Squad provides an excerpt from an article titled “Slashing Stereotypes,” in which a student studying abroad expressed how he was able to dispel his stereotypes of his host country and replace them with new understanding by talking with locals and learning more about the country’s history. The prompt asks me consider what stereotypes of Americans my host country, Scotland, holds, and conversely what stereotypes I had of the residents of Scotland that have been dispelled or confirmed from my experience here. The cultures of the UK and the US are very similar in many respects, and while I have been here I haven’t picked up on any surprising American stereotypes apart from a poke at our consumerism and “super-sized” industry. In my own experience of stereotyping the Scots, I have found the easy-going attitude that residents are often pegged with is mostly true, but that the concept of “friendliness” is a bit more complex and deserves some interpretation.

In Stirling, my American accent and mannerisms often don’t get a second glance; beyond some playful banter with native students about which words are correct (do you cook on a stovetop or a hob? Is she wearing a sweater or jumper?), my culture is no novelty to the UK, as the English language allows for a lot of similarities between us. I have met Scottish and English students who have seen more American TV than I have, and quite a few people who are very well-versed in American politics (the same is true of some of my American friends in regards to British politics). The University of Stirling itself has a high percentage of exchange students from all over the world, and in several of my classes there are other Americans and a lot of possibilities for interaction with English and Scottish students. However, there is often the stereotype that American portions in every aspect of life – cars, food, etc. – are larger, a statement that in most cases in relation to Scotland is completely true (especially cars; unless you are driving a maintenance vehicle or a larger taxi, your car will not be bigger than a compact). I have heard no remarks about my country while abroad that were vicious or unfounded; while I can attribute this experience to kind, humorous and tolerant friends, I believe that in general the American stereotype in Scotland is no different than our own stereotypes of ourselves.
The one reoccurring stereotype I gleaned from reading about Scotland and its inhabitants is that everyone (the all-encompassing and difficult “everyone”) is friendly. Coming in to the country, I stereotyped the locals as easy-going, genial, helpful, and amiably inquisitive; while I have found that there are many extremely pleasant people in Scotland, the general sense of “friendliness” is instead honesty and a directness, particularly in professional situations, that I am not accustomed to at home. Employees in restaurants, stores and various other occupations on my campus as well as other towns in Scotland can be what appears on the surface as blunt but are really expressing a sort of honesty that would be seen as rude where I am from at home (I cannot speak for the entirety of the US, as the size of the city, the side of the country, etc all play a factor in attitude of a person in a business situation). I have often been surprised by a blatant response to a question directed to an employee, and even professors employ a sort of brutal honesty I didn’t expect from the easy-going Scots. I feel that employee-customer relations in the States exemplify a cautious political correctness and high expectation for positive, efficient service that I have not seen valued to the same degree here. In short, from my experience the average person in Scotland does not “beat around the bush,” and this sort of friendly yet surprising honesty was not what I had has a stereotype when I arrived.

Just as I learn more about the country I am already in my last month of my stay. I hope that in December I will have even more chances to broaden my understanding of the culture and residents of Scotland.