That Would Explain It.

The New York Times published this story today about the influx of American students in foreign universities, with a special focus on the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews. While I've encountered a number of foreign students studying abroad for the year or semester during my time here, there have been a few Americans that I've bumped into along the way that are studying here permanently. I can't say that I would've liked to have started and ended my college experience at Edinburgh (mainly due to the teaching style and because I would like to work in America after graduation), but it does make sense given the lower cost of tuition here. Plus, Edinburgh and St Andrews have great reputations on the international stage.

Death Cab

Death Cab for Cutie is one of those bands that I've liked since high school that have gone from indie to not-so-indie-anymore. And while some might have turned their sights from the band as the masses latched on, I'm still very much a fan of Ben and the gang, and was really happy to find out that they would be performing nearby.

Death Cab performed Friday night at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange just about 15 minutes out of the city centre. The venue was nice enough. A Glass House sized hall nestled between a row of town houses (I sort of feel bad for the residents) and an ASDA (that would be the UK version of Wal-Mart). DCfC being such a popular band, I expected the venue to be arena-sized, but we were actually pretty close to everything.

The opener was a Scottish band called Frightened Rabbit, who seemed pretty popular with the local crowd. I only knew one of their songs...but enjoyed their catchy shrieking nevertheless. ('I Feel Better' was especially good.)

Death Cab themselves were very good. What was interesting, I thought, was the nonchanlance with which Ben Gibbard and the band made their way to the stage. For one of the biggest singers/songwriters in the past five or so years, they did not act like it. (He even traded in his trademark horn-rimmed glasses for contacts?!) No theatrics, just music. They barrelled through about an hour and a half of their more well-known tracks, starting with 'Bixby Canyon Bridge' off of their Narrow Stairs album and ending their encore with 'Transatlanticism.' The high point: the crowd joining Gibbard and his guitar for a hushed, almost transcendant version of 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark.'

Election Night in Edinburgh

Since I've been in the UK, I've been asked a lot of questions. About the economy, about my political loyalties, about voting. I've heard Scots and Germans, Japanese and Indians talk. About Iraq, about bailouts, about race. And in every case, the conversation has always led to Obama.

Although it was 1 AM GMT before any returns were reported or any states called, the University was absolutely buzzing. It was standing-room-only in pubs across the city and at one University party 600 people showed up to watch the map light up on the big screen. Eyes would narrow as the Eastern states were colored precariously blue or red. The world was watching.

Today, the reaction around campus has been amazing. I've been congratulated no less than ten times today. There's a sense that a change is upon us. And Edinburgh is happy to see it.

When I first applied to study here in the fall, when I first realized I'd be here for the elections, I felt sort of disappointed. But I think being here has really imbued me with a sense of hope far greater than I'd have back home. America has reason to celebrate today. But we are not alone.

Rankings

Every year, The Times, a London-based paper, publishes The THES - QES World University Rankings listing, you guessed it, the top universities in the world. And, coming from Pomona which is too small to compete in these rankings, I was happy to see that the University of Edinburgh(#23) made the top 25 this year.

Here's the top 10:
1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Cambridge
4. Oxford
5. CalTech
6. Imperial College London
7. University College London
8. UChicago
9. MIT
10. Columbia

Other notable list-makers:
17. Stanford
30. UCLA
38. Melbourne
40. NYU
58. UCSD
59. UW
60. WashU

British Cold Remedies

Dealing with the sudden temperature fluctuations and coughing classmates over the past few weeks, it was almost inevitable that I would come down with a cold of some sort this fall. Being so far away from the nearest Target or CVS, I've been familiarizing myself with over-the-counter British cold remedies. Here is a list of three of my American go-to's and their British names:

Tylenol Cold (Acetaminophen) --> Paracetamol
Cough Syrup --> Chesty Cough Syrup
Cough Drops --> Cough Sweets

I've also been taking Fisherman's Friend cough drops. They are basically menthol lozenges with a bite, the kind of thing that clears out your entire respiratory system upon inhaling. It's remarkable how effective it is in treating a sore throat and suppressing coughs. Apparently, it is available at a limited number of locations in the States. Definitely glad I found them.

The Deep-Fried Mars Bar

A Scottish invention and symbol for national health problems, the deep-fried Mars bar is a sight to behold. It is exactly as it sounds: a Mars Bar (think the heavy caramel and nougat of Snickers minus the peanuts) dipped in heavy batter then cooked in hot oil, most likely lard. To borrow a line from Campbell's: Mmm Mmm Good! And good for you, no doubt.

Aside from Haggis, this deep fried treat is among the most publicized of Scottish must-try's, served in tourist-frequented Royal Mile "chippys" (shops that will deep fry really anything--we're talking seafood, pizza, kebab, and, shockingly, potatoes). Having had a deep friend Twinkie at the Maui County Fair once, I was expecting something akin to that sour, greasy mess of a heart attack, but it was actually quite nice...initially. The melty chocolate and crispy batter coating made the bar taste sort of like the fudge-y crust of a deep fried ice cream sundae. And, included in the cost, came the free after taste of animal fat, a ubiquitous film of grease and a feeling that can be described onomatopoetically as "blehhhhhck."

Don't know if I'll be doing that again anytime soon. But, being in Scotland, I guess it was worth a try.

A Palace, A Wheel, A Wall

As I mentioned in the Falkirk Wheel post, I went along on our final Pomona-led excursion yesterday that took about 15 of us to the towns of Linlithgow, Falkirk and Stirling. All are smaller towns between Edinburgh and Glasgow and are about an hour away from the city center.

In Linlithgow, we visited Linlithgow palace, a large Renaissance complex where Mary, Queen of Scots and Scotland King James V were born. The palace was in surprisingly good condition and the vibe inside, I felt, was much more personal than at most of the castles that I've been to. It sits on the shore of a small loch (read: lake) that was teeming that day, despite the rainy conditions, with fishermen and sailors.

Second on our agenda was Falkirk. A former center of the Scottish Industrial Revolution, home to the relatively new Falkirk Wheel and an ancient border town of the Roman Empire, Falkirk definitely had a lot of interesting history. In addition to the Wheel, we visited the Antonine Wall, proving that Romans really weren't ones for proper word usage. The "wall," built 2,000 years ago to mark the Northwestern boundary of the Roman Empire, is actually a 60 km long ditch with mounds of earth on either side about 10 feet high. Yeah, I don't know how that would've stopped anyone either.Finally, Stirling and the Stirling Castle. Most of the castle dates back only to the 15th century (so young, I know). Scottish monarchs, including Mary, Queen of Scots, were crowned here and it came under siege by the Jacobite Bonnie Prince Charlie in his 1746 campaign to retake the British throne. I was far more impressed with Stirling Castle than I was with Edinburgh Castle. More scenic, more buildings, though it did lack the royal bling.

Falkirk Whee!

Yesterday, I went along on yet another Pomona-sponsored excursion where, under the guidance of our Study Abroad Liaison and fearless leader Tom Barron, we travel around this great nation looking at things that we should be looking at. This week: Lilithgow, Stirling and Falkirk. (Pictures and details of the trip to come in subsequent posts.) But first, this.

Above are two pictures of the Falkirk Wheel. I generally do not have any invested interest in architecture and engineering, but I was very impressed by this giant thing-a-ma-jigger. Built in 2001 and christened by the Queen during her Golden Jubilee in 2002, the structure transports ferry boats between the Lowlands two great canals: the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal. The canals were used in the 1800s by the growing industrial companies around Edinburgh and Glasgow and had fallen into disuse by the mid 1900s. In the late '90s, the Scottish Executive decided to refurbish the canals and construct this massive structure to help connect them. Today, it's mainly for use by tourists and casual boaters on holiday. (Apparently, inland boating holidays are kind of a big thing here.)

Sorry for the Bloviation

I recently wrote an editorial for the "Comment" section of The Journal, a student publication here in Edinburgh, addressing the prevalence of US presidential election coverage on this side of the pond. Just thought I'd share, a snippet:

The presidential election brings promise of change in the international political system amidst a crumbling economy and ongoing military strife throughout the globe. For Scots and Americans alike, the election presents the chance for a sea change in international politics as usual, and a 180-degree move away from the policies of the Bush Administration. It’s an opportunity to stop and rectify the damage done to the world economy, to relations between the United Kingdom and the United States, and to Iraq. In an increasingly globalized world, America’s success is the world’s success.

You can read the full text of the article here.

"Highlands"

Another weekend, another Pomona-sponsored excursion. This time: the Highlands. Sort of. Under the direction of our trusty advisor and ever-reliable source for all things Scottish, Tom Barron, the Pomona contingent took a day-trip to the southern highlands this past Saturday. We started with a 2 hour bus ride (possibly the most nauseous I've been since I've gotten here) to the small village of Comrie. From there, we hiked for about 3 hours to the "Devil's Cauldron" which sort of reminded me of an O'opu-less 'Iao Valley, and a monument atop a hill dedicated to some lord. Even with the mist that seems to hover everywhere in this country, the view from the top was pretty great. Following the hike and a Pomona-sponsored lunch, we drove a bit further north to Loch Earn, a relatively small lake (Loch = Lake) cradled between a series of nearby peaks. And finally, a trip to a bridge over rapids in a river so brown it looked like coke. A great trip, though I was later informed by my Scottish flatmates that I had been nowhere near the Highlands. Go figure.

Like A Brick.

In a week of looming economic darkness, a hint of light for Americans abroad. The falling exchange rate hit an all time low this week, dipping today to $1.73 per pound. (That's almost 25 cents lower than when I left California in August.) The figure above shows the downward trend since early July.

With the £500 billion British bailout and interest rate cut announced today, however, that may change in the very near future. That the value of the GBP is falling like a brick against the USD in a time when the US economic infrastructure faces ruin shows just how central the American economy is to the rest of the world. For now, I'm withdrawing while the rate lasts.

Language Barriers

Aside from my struggles deciphering the Scottish and, more specifically, Glaswegian accent, British English is not all that different from what I'm used to back home. There are some weird variations in language, however, that still perplex me from time to time. Here are some examples:

Firstly, there is an obvious difference in the spelling of words that is sometimes surprising. I feel there's an odd fascination with unnecessary vowels:
Medieval --> Mediaeval
Skeptical --> Sceptical
Defense --> Defence
Theater --> Theatre
9/28/2008 --> 28/9/2008
Color --> Colour
Maneuver --> Manoeuvre

And some terms are, well, just incomprehensible from the American English. These are all terms that I feel really self-conscious about both saying and not-saying when conversing with my peers here.
Line --> Queue
Bathroom --> Loo
Dinner --> Tea
Cigarette --> Fag
Stove --> Hob
Z --> Zed
Dish Soap --> Washing-Up Liquid
Fries --> Chips
Chips --> Crisps
TV --> Telly
Cell Phone --> Mobile
Trailer Trash --> NEDs
Vomit --> Sick
Sketchy --> Dodgy
Cup of Tea --> Cuppa
Little --> Wee
Shrimp --> Prawn

For a more academic approach, turn to the ultimate linguistic source.

I've Got Mail!

Checked the mail today and was pleasantly surprised to see a postcard from my good friend C.S.H. (You can read her stuff here and here). It's from the Body Worlds exhibit that she recently went to in Los Angeles and, disturbingly, shows a rabbit's Circulatory System in 3D. It's interesting, but a bit jarring to see on my wall everytime I look up from my computer screen. In any case, it was great to hear from a friend...

If you want to join in, here's my mailing address:

6/1 Darroch Court
St Johns Hill
Edinburgh
EH8 9TS

Student Journalism Alive & Well In Edinburgh

As a student journalist for Pomona's The Student Life, I have been interested for some time in getting involved in student journalism here.

The University of Edinburgh's student paper, Student, has been an Edinburgh institution since the 1870s and was founded by famed author and alumnus Robert Louis Stevenson who later went on to pen "Treasure Island" and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." I recently attended one of their staff meetings last week and hope to write for the Features section over the course of the next semester. Coming from a hard news background, though, I'm not sure whether or not I'll be able to pull off the wit and candor necessary for proper feature writing.
Emerging just last year, The Journal, is a growing student-led publication bringing together young journalists from across Edinburgh's many university and college campuses. I applied for an editorial position in the 'Comment' section and have an interview in the coming days. Unlike Student which tends to focus on Uni-specific topics, The Journal seems to take on a larger scope, including everything from student and Edinburgh-centric news to what's going on nationally and globally.

Music!

Courtesy of last.fm and my good friends at POP!Music, I'm slowly beginning to compile a list of bands I'd like to see that are rolling through Scotland (that would be Edinburgh and Glasgow) over the next few months. The list, as expected, is not as saturated as say a list of bands playing back in Los Angeles might be, but it's decent...

Note the lopsidedness in the concert distribution between Edinburgh (the city I live in) and Glasgow ( a city about 30 minutes to the West by train). It's a good fall to be in Glasgow, I guess.

October 2008:
1 - The Hold Steady - ABC Glasgow - Glasgow
11 - British Sea Power - ABC Glasgow - Glasgow
12 - CSS - Liquid Room - Edinburgh
18 - Jenny Lewis - Queen Margaret Union - Glasgow
21 - Fall Out Boy / Boys Like Girls - Queen Margaret Union - Glasgow
- Mogwai / Fuck Buttons - Edinburgh Corn Exchange - Edinburgh
23 - Tilly And The Wall - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut - Glasgow
29 - Vampire Weekend - Barrowlands - Glasgow

November 2008:
4 - Oasis - S.E.C.C. - Glasgow
6 - SIGUR ROS - Carling Academy Glasgow - Glasgow
9 - Okkervil River* - Oran Mor - Glasgow
- MGMT - Barrowlands - Glasgow
14 - Death Cab for Cutie - Edinburgh Corn Exchange - Edinburgh
16 - Kanye West - S.E.C.C. - Glasgow
25 - McFly - S.E.C.C. - Glasgow

December 2008:
5 - Coldplay - S.E.C.C. - Glasgow
7 - Kings of Leon - S.E.C.C. - Glasgow

*I apologize to Okkervil River for the faux pas that I am about to commit, but their new album, The Stand Ins, is just so good it deserves sharing! Get it on RapidShare here. Stand-out tracks include 'Lost Coastlines' with its bubbly melancholy, and, a personal favorite, 'Bruce Wayne Campbell on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979', an epic ode to an '80s glam rocker lifted off too soon.

Finlay MacDonald Band

When you think Scottish music, you generally turn immediately to bag pipes and fiddles. Coming across many a street performer piping 'Amazing Grace' in his finest kilt in my first few weeks in Edinburgh, I was beginning to think that it was more of a novelty to the Scots - say what the Hula is to some in Hawaii. (There are, I've been noticing, a lot of parallels to be drawn between the fight to preserve Highland Culture in Scotland and the fight to preserve the culture of the Hawaiian Islands...but I'll post on that later.)

A couple days ago, however, while playing cards with a couple of my flatmates, Brit rock and other assorted tunes humming from one of their iPods, the twang of bag pipes blast through the room. It wasn't the New York funeral type music we're used to. Not the wafting, melancholy of a lone Scotsman...but a lively, almost jazzy melody underscored by pulsing beats not so far from the techno I'd grown accustomed to in Spain. While I suspect there are a number of outfits making neo-Scottish folk akin to my first taste of the genre, the band I'm most interested these days is the Finlay MacDonald Band. (Check out their MySpace page for more samples.)

Brilliant stuff coming straight outta Scotland.

Storming the Castle.

As part of Fresher's Week, student groups have been making daily trips up to Edinburgh Castle - one of the city's supposed must-see attractions. And despite the huge demand to get in, a friend and I were able to sneak in with a Uni group, saving £12 in the process (which, I must admit, is a bit pricey).

Aside from Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags, Edinburgh Castle is without a doubt the most recognizable blip in the city's skyline. Seen from the streets of Edinburgh, the castle, perched upon it's Castle Rock, has quite a majestic presence. Rising about 400 ft. from the Princes Street Gardens immediately below, it's a fortress inhabited by a shifting cast of Scottish royals and military figures dating back to the 9th Century BC. Featured on the premises is the birthing room of Mary Queen of Scots and an exhibition of the Scottish Honours, one of the most complete set of crown jewels anywhere in Europe.

While the history of the location was very interesting to learn about, I really felt that the charm of the castle had been slightly diminished by contemporary attempts to draw tourist business in. Take for instance the "vaults" (read: dungeons). Just being down in the cellars is definitely illustrative of what being a POW must have been like back in the days of the American Revolution, but with the added hammocks, cheesy prisoners-talking-in-accents soundtrack and prop food rations, everything down there just sort of felt like Disneyland. I don't know if it's just because I'm more used to seeing replicas than originals in SoCal and Vegas, but everything just seemed a bit too commercialized there for my taste.

Pirates of the Caribbean flashbacks notwithstanding, a very interesting location. The historical center of the city...and for free!

Russell Brand & Me Favorite Scot.

Because I'm in a posting kind of mood, I thought I'd share this interview of Russell Brand (most recently the host of the American VMAs and one of my favorite British comics) that aired last week on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. They speak a little bit about the US vis-a-vis the UK, and a wee bit about the Edinburgh Festival. Won't be going to the Gilded Balloon anytime soon.

The Digs.

A couple of months back, I mentioned that I am living in the Darroch Court flats while studying here in Edinburgh. Ironically, the picture that I posted back on August 10 shows the exact entryway to my flat--enter through the right door.

For an accommodation at a University so large, I must say that I am very impressed with the facilities. There are 5 of us living in the flat. Everyone has a single room and we all share a common room (dining room/kitchen) and three bathrooms. And, unique to Darroch, we have a two-in-one washing machine/dryer right in the flat, meaning we don't have to lug our clothes to any basement to use shared facilities. Very convenient. My flat is also very central with the main academic quad within just 5 minutes on foot and the state-of-the-art Centre for Sport and Exercise literally right next door.

It's no Oldenborg, but It'll do. It'll do.

Class.

I'm finally registered and ready to go with my classes. I'm majoring in PPE (Philosophy-Politics-Economics) back at Pomona, so I thought I'd keep consistent with my California curriculum at the University of Edinburgh.

Here's what my schedule for the semester is looking like so far:

Introduction to Philosophy 1 (MWF 10:00 - 10:50 AM)
International Cooperation in Europe and Beyond (MTh 4:10 - 5:00 PM)
The Scottish Economy (T 4:00 - 6:00 PM)
Pomona Core Course - Modern Scottish History

After all the Fresher's Week festivities, I'll be happy to settle in and start classes. Buying books is going to be painful, though.