Things I will miss...

The semester is over. Most of the students left earlier this week. My family and I left on Saturday for adventures in Europe before returning to Wisconsin. (I am finishing this blog up in Bordeaux, France.) Although I have much to look forward to, such as seeing family and friends, digging in the garden, and cooking in my own kitchen, there is much that I will miss. In no particular order, here are things that I will miss:

Public transportation!!!! Buses, trains, and ferries can get you to many, many places on this island and beyond. 

Indian food! Oh, how I will miss delicious Indian food in every town. Seriously, even in tiny towns in the Hebrides Islands had at least one Indian restaurant. Rony and Bombay Lounge in Dalkeith, you will be missed immensely.

Having my students as a captive audience. I can plan field trips much easier when students are here most of the time. Also, I did not hear very many excuses about how there was no time to meet together for team projects. 

Dutch Shultz made a neuron

Chris and Tyler make snowflakes for presentations on activities for young children

Students made monsters as demos for activities that promoted development in young children

Students lead a hula hoop game for the class and local children

The backyard of the Dalkeith House! Although I am excited to get to my yard and my garden at home, it’s hard to beat this one, especially when I don’t have to mow the lawn. The trails on the 840 acres, the old oaks, the llamas and pigs, the North and South Rivers Esk, Montagu Bridge -- the gigantic wedding present from the Montagus to the Queensberries. 

Bluebells blooming

The accent. I love the lyrical Scottish accent and many of the terms, such as “wee bairns” (small children) and "knackered" (tired) and "mind the gap" along with various versions of that saying.

Bagpipes. Yes, I will miss bagpipes and fellows in kilts.      

 

Does a scene get much more Scottish?

Bagpipers & drummers -- not in the traditional dress. I had a video, but it will not

Okay, these are not bagpipes, but how can I resist the Portobello Street Band?

Portobello Street Band for a May Day Parade

                                

The cheese. Yes, that may sound blasphemous from a Wisconsinite. However, the cheese here is fabulous! 

The money -- not the exchange rate, just the physical money itself. The pound coin has some nice weight to it. The twenty pence and fifty pence coins are heptagons (7 sided). The bills are colorful with pictures of famous buildings and people, not just the queen. Also, each major bank mints their own notes, so the designs on the same denomination are different depending on whether it’s a Clydesdale, Bank of Scotland, or the Bank of England. The banknotes may be blue, pink, or a combination of colors. Each denomination is a different size, so the notes are easier to identify for visually impaired individuals. 

Museums, gardens, and galleries. Most museums and galleries are free. That within itself is awesome. The museums and galleries that we have visited have been top-notch. There are tons of hands-on learning activities at the museums, and the displays are thoughtful and at times mind-boggling. Not only have students visited them for field trips, but my family has visited them for school and fun. Of course, at this point Seryahna and Djanko are “museum-ed out,” but I keep reminding them that we do not have museums or galleries in Rice Lake. Nor will we have the opportunities to see original paintings by da Vinci, Dali, Monet, Degas, van Gogh, Botticelli, Seurat, Gaugin, or countless others. To see paintings from the 14^th century as well as current masterpieces – what a gift. 

Botticelli

Unsure of the artist for this beautiful portrait

Gaugin

Art in the making

Rodin

Lantern versions of Terracotta Warriors, although I do not think that they have found children or pregnant women in the tombs yet.

Lantern versions of the Terracotta Warriors

Djanko at the Mining Museum

Seryahna participating in a hands-on project

Djanko and an Andy Goldsworthy sculpture

The blooms in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh

An Andy Goldsworthy sculpture

The independence debate. Aye or no? Whether Scotland will become an independent nation is a question that has been debated for hundreds of years. This year on September 18, people in Scotland will vote in the referendum for independence. The arguments for and against are passionate. Questions about huge topics remain. Would Scotland be able to or want to keep the pound sterling as its currency? What would independence mean for child care and education? What about jobs and job security? If the vote is no, how will the relationship with Westminster continue to evolve? No matter the outcome of the vote, it seems that Scotland will not be the same. As a world citizen, I find this debate fascinating. After all, international boundaries and relationships are dynamic.  

Global awareness is present even in the halls of the bathrooms in a St. Andrews restaurant.

What from this experience will I take home? Wonderful memories. New ideas in the classroom. A more global perspective. An appreciation for my home, work, students, and colleagues. And much, much more. After all, it will take some time to fully comprehend my experiences here. However, I do look forward to sharing them with all of you.

Moving forward, my family and I will finally go to the continent before stepping back onto New World soil. We will visit France, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy before returning. These new adventures will also provide food for thought when I return to the routine of home. We are extremely excited for our setting out and returning home.

The rest of the time...

Well, spring break came after the halfway point of the semester. That timing meant that this last part of the semester has been even more of a whirlwind. 

The day before classes resumed was Mothering Sunday here in Britain, the equivalent of our Mother’s Day. Despite that it was supposed to be a day all about mothers, we paid homage to a father, the father of modern geology. We walked along the trail at Siccar Point, the spot where James Hutton found proof for this Theory of the Earth (published in the late 1700s). Just the name itself sounds pretty daunting and all-encompassing. Hutton proposed that geological processes occur over millions of years, not thousands. Siccar Point juts into the North Sea, its jagged rocks clearly composed during different time periods millions of years ago.

Siccar Point

Unconformity at Siccar Point

Djanko at Siccar Point

Siccar Point isn't just for geologists. Rock climbers use the cave, as you can see by the hanging carabiners.

The ruins of Twizell Castle, a spot we found after leaving Siccar Point.

Twizell Castle in England, near the border of Scotland

Once we were back into the swing of school, Ahmyn, Seryahna, Djanko, and I went for a walk with some friends on the north side of the Firth of Forth from Kinghorn to Kirkcaldy. Our friends chose this walk along the shore because there are fossils to be found. We found plenty of fossils, sifting through the sand, rocks, and shells finding hints of unimaginable years that have passed. We also were thrilled at discovering more recent remnants, such as beach glass and beach pottery. The walk was such a treasure trove that Ahmyn and the kids took my sister's family there when they visited.

Izzy, Djanko, and Seryahna collecting fossils near Kinghorn

Just another day at the beach...

With the students, we explored other echoes of days long past on a field trip to the Borders area. First we stopped at the ruins of Melrose Abbey, founded in 1136, almost completely destroyed during the 1500s. Walking among the ruins renewed my amazement at how small we truly are, what a tiny speck in time. Thinking about masons who built this beautiful abbey almost 900 years ago and what their lives were like built a bridge for me to the past. I also chuckled thinking about structures that we build today, wondering whether any parts of them would last for 900 years and whether we would even want them to have that type of endurance.

Melrose Abbey

Melrose Abbey

A gravestone at Melrose Abbey

A Celtic cross in the cemetery at Melrose

From Melrose Abbey, we traveled about 11 miles and hundreds of years to Bowhill House, which was built over two centuries after the last monk of Melrose Abbey died. Bowhill House is one of the homes of the Duke of Buccleuch, the owner of Dalkeith House (aka, my current landlord). Although I find Dalkeith House impressive enough, Bowhill is a showpiece. The house is home to quite of collection of miniature portraits, full-size paintings, fine pottery, books, baroque furniture, hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, and more. Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed in most of the house. For more information, view the website at http://www.bowhillhouse.co.uk/.

Copper pots in the Bowhill kitchen, each one numbered according to size

Dutch is fixing the mannequin's hair while Ahmyn reads about the pillar of sugar.

Renee, Seryahna, & Djanko check out the various kitchen equipment.

Next, we stopped at Abbotsford, the home of famous writer Sir Walter Scott, a kinsman and friend of the Montagu Douglas and Scotts (the family names of the Duke of Buccleuch and his ancestors. His home was grand, too, but in a very different way. Sir Walter Scott was also a keen collector, but not of fine ceramics and portraits. He collected battle armor, weapons, grotesques (gargoyles without an opening for the mouth), statues, and various trinkets tinged with legend and lore. Building the home bankrupted Scott, but he was able to pay off his debts by writing, writing, and writing.

Abbotsford

Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott

In the entrance

Int the entrance

Armor in the entrance

Sir Walter Scott, himself

Hand-painted Chinese wallpaper

One of the grotesques adorning the home

Abbotsford

Part of Scott's weapons collection

All of the stops on the field trip and many of the adventures that my family and I have embarked upon have impressed upon me a broader sense of history and time. I will admit, I am not a lover of dates of wars and kings and other important events. However, I do appreciate history at my fingertips. I literally can touch time. I can sit on a stone that was hewn before Europeans settled in the United States, or I can see the kitchen where servants cooked in Stirling Castle hundreds of years before Rice Lake was founded. Plus, I have had wonderful geology lessons here. Yes, I know that I could get a sense of some of these things back at home, but I have found hands-on opportunities on an almost daily basis. After all, I am in a house where Queen Victoria has slept. 

Statues outside of Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle kitchens

Tour guide in Stirling Castle with my family that visited

My time here is fleeting. We are leaving in a matter of days. However, my memories from here will last my lifetime. That lifetime, though, is but a drop in the ocean of time.