H is for Haggis (n.)

Ex. “Have you tried haggis yet?”

I’ve done it. I’ve had haggis. I’ve done both the most daunting and the most Scottish thing I could possibly do. Basically I can go home now.

Just kidding I’m totally staying

So I had haggis! It wasn’t as momentous/gross as I expected the experience to be (sorry Scotland but you know). I wandered into the kitchen Wednesday night and my flatmates just said “We’re having haggis tomorrow. We’re doing it.”

I have three flatmates (Hi guys you’re in my blog surpriiiiise): one is from the Netherlands, one is from Norway, and one is actually Scottish. Obviously we look to the Scottish flatmate for advice and counsel on all things Scottish, one of which is how to actually make haggis, because I can’t speak for the rest of us, but I didn’t even know what it looked like before we actually had it on plates in front of us.

To answer basic questions I had before this meal:

What actually is haggis?

Essentially, ground up parts of a sheep that aren’t used for anything else. Yeah that means that. Yeah that too. That is then combined with oatmeal and spices, mostly pepper, and traditionally packaged in the sheep’s stomach, but now is usually in durable plastic wrap. If you think about it, it’s pretty green, as well as being a hearty and cheap alternative to whatever you’re used to eating.

How is it cooked?

The kind we had was inside said plastic wrap. You cover it in tinfoil, put it in a pan and put a little water in the pan. You then stick it in the oven for an hour and fifteen minutes.

How do you eat it?

When it comes out of the oven, you cut open the wrapper, and essentially it’s just cooked mushy ground meat. The traditional haggis meal is “haggis, nips, and tatties,” or in American English, haggis, turnips, and mashed potatoes. 

Haggis, top left; nips, bottom left; tatties, bottom right

However we did find this gem which is now posted on our wall-o-recipes in the kitchen:

Turns out, haggis is super delicious. If you’re going to Scotland and I tell you to have haggis while you’re here, it’s not for novelty value – it’s because good food is good food. 

Sidenote: there’s an “American” section (read: couple of shelves) in Tesco, and they had poptarts. Obviously I had to buy them, seeing as how my flatmates had never had them. They weren’t so keen on them. Maybe because I could not for the life of me tell them what poptarts actually were. At least you can tell someone what haggis is made of.

Oh America. You and your weird sugary wiles.

In more boring news, classes finally started! Being in a full time job followed by what seemed like an endless orientation, it was nice to be in school again. I like school.

I’m taking three classes, all of which are not what I had expected but will most likely be good/for me. For instance, in my Music Technology class I’ll be using a program called Pure Data, which is like a step beyond writing code. It seems like I won’t be using it a whole lot in real life, but I will have all kinds of background knowledge in how audio software got started (read: liberal arts education = seeing silver linings in educational mishaps). I’m taking a Scottish literature class where I will be doing way more reading than I maybe ever have, and it looks to be a challenging but rewarding class (again, thank you liberal arts education). BUT the class I’m most excited for is my Music in Social Contexts class. The thesis of the class is that music is a social activity, and since venue management is basically figuring out how to make the best possible social and musical experience, I’m kinda freaking out.
MUSIC MAJORS: GET THIS

1) I had to pay £15 to use the practice rooms for a semester

2) Faculty doesn’t teach – my advisor gave me a list of names and phone numbers for teachers people generally use AND I have to pay for lessons myself

3) The music building is no longer home and people stare at me like I don’t belong and I don’t know anyone and I don’t have any friends and I don't like it at all

4) The pianos are jaaaaanky. Here’s a picture. 

Maybe they just got bored? Lazy? WHYYY

I miss the music building. Real life needs a cut and paste option.

C is for Ceilidh |kay’-lee| (n.)

Ex. Have I been to a ceilidh yet? It feels like all of fresher’s week has been a ceilidh!

That’s actually a totally incorrect usage so sorry about that – ceilidh is Gaelic for “dance or small gathering”. The word ceilidh has since evolved to describe a traditional Gaelic folk-dancing party, basically. Scottish children learn these dances in their primary schools (IMAGINE HOW CUTE THAT MUST BE) and then they teach them again when they start uni. Apparently. It's a big deal. People ask you if this is your first ceilidh and if you say yes, they will usually say, "ach, you're in for a treat." 

An awful picture, but you get the idea

Seriously though, my time in Scotland so far has basically been a really long party. You have lots of friends because everyone’s your friend during the first week of school, and there has just been a bunch of stuff going on. Seriously. University of Edinburgh’s Freshers’ Week boasts of over 700 events. The events range from city tours to night-club-type events to pub crawls. To my knowledge, there are a total of 4 big ceilidhs. Most of Freshers’ Week is free and pretty much all of it is fun.

Throughout this week, too, is the opportunity to acquaint yourself with the city. Between going to events, friends’ flats, getting groceries, and somehow finding your way home, you get to know the city well. Turns out when I said “Edinburgh is so walkable,” I was ignorant to how big Edinburgh actually was. The only parts of it I have to navigate on a regular basis aren’t as large as they could be, but it still takes about 20 minutes to get from my flat to the main part of campus (I’m glad I chose a small school for the rest of my time at college). In spite of it being a bit bigger than I was anticipating, there’s a measure a pride that comes with kind of knowing my way around after being here a week. The beautiful statement still stands.

The Old College. Looks like the rest of the city. I KNOW

The other part of Scotland I’m falling in love with is the drink culture. I’m sure there’s a real name for it, but I feel like I’m constantly drinking something – coffee, tea, cider, etc. They told us if we’re going to budget, that’s the thing that’s gonna kill us, just because that’s just what you do. Living in the Northwest has made me realize that beverages are the best conversational medium, and it’s awesome to be in a place where that philosophy is a given. It’s not just like, Northwest afternoon coffee; it’s all the time.

Sign for the coffee booth I frequent on my way to campus. They know my name already.

More updates to come, including classes. Woo!

And I included pictures this time so quit whining 

W is for Wee (adj.)

Ex: After being in Scotland for two and a half days, I only know it a wee bit.

Basic overview:
I’m currently doing my program’s orientation before everyone else’s orientation, so that means hanging out with around 45-50 American students from all over the US, but mainly from the Midwest (to whom it may concern, just a bunch of people are from Wooster! They were thrilled that I knew it). After that, I move into my dorm/flat and then proceed to fresher’s week, which is a big deal in the UK. It’s crazy and has a reputation, etc. On the following Monday, we start classes.

The last few days has consisted of walking around, and then learning about things you’ve seen, from monuments to accents to social norms. As far as accents go, there is actually a good representation of various UK accents in Edinburgh. We’ve been informed that lots of Scots don’t consider Edinburghers to have a true Scottish accent. Most of the stereotypical, barely-English Scottish accents come from Glasgow (an hour west) or from northern Scotland. In Edinburgh, you can still hear it, but it’s only in a few vowels or r’s.

The city is so walkable and so beautiful. There are old buildings for miles with parapets and towers made of old beige brick but every now and then you’ll see a boxy new development with tons of glass. Our hotel is right next to the Royal Mile, which i wouldn't call a tourist trap but definitely a tourist destination. The area is called Old Town and is equally divided between cashmere/tartan/kilt shops and pubs. It’s delightful. Parallel to this is Princes Street, which is in New Town. My favorite Scottish story yet is that there was a bagpiper who was busking on Princes Street playing Scotland the Brave (obviously), and as we kept walking, there was a point where we realized it was strange that we could still hear him playing. Then we realized there was another bagpiper playing the Scotland the Brave just a couple blocks down.

Classic Scotland.

The weirdest part about being here is that I’ve been thinking as much about America as I’ve been thinking about Edinburgh. How American should I act? What are people assuming about me because of my accent? Does it even matter? It also includes changing a lot of my American things just slightly – getting an outlet converter, getting a new phone, using different currency, getting used to the cost of living. Principle among these things though, is looking the opposite way when crossing the street. Like in any large city, people cross the crosswalk when the light isn’t green, but I tried it once and almost got run over because I wasn’t expecting a car to turn towards me. It's weird how intuitive that seems to be until it's turned on its head. I think this is the greatest danger Edinburgh has presented thus far, because, Mom and Dad and others who may worry, Edinburgh is actually quite safe. You just have to be smart, like in any large city.

I think at this point, all I want to do is to be here as long as it takes to get to know the city well. It’s the perfect size and it has a great vibe. Usually when I travel to cities to see the city, I leave thinking I wish I knew it better, and it’s an incredible blessing to have that opportunity with Edinburgh.