Scotland has just played Norway in football and won 2-1. This means that Oslo has been filled with Scotsmen for the last two days. The men in kilt are usually quite close pubs. As I pasted a couple of them yesterday afternoon I realised that I connect kilt with the smell of beer and these men both had the look and smell of a true Scotsman. And I was surprised of Norwegian characteristics!
Something that probably anyone who have lived abroad notice quite quickly is the change in climate from what one is used to. Compared to Oslo, St Andews was wet and with a uniform weather; there was only Spring and Autumn - not Summer and not Winter. I loved the fact that Spring came early to St Andrews. Last year I could report on Snowdrops outside my office on the 20th January (However, I could also report on snow on 27th February).
This year we are having a mild winter in Oslo. It is hardly any snow; making it difficult to go skiing. Yesterday the sun was shining and the it was spring in the air. I wish I had taken a picture. I had expected to miss the British Spring, but if the weather is continuing to mild I will not need to.
Last night I went to the University Carol Service; held in Holy Trinity Church as the University Chapel was not big enough. They had printed 1500 service sheets and run out of them quite quickly, so I would assume there were almost 2000 people present. I find this quite amazing as St Andrews University only has about 6000 students. This means that about a third of the students went to church to celebrate the comming holiday. That would never happen in Oslo.
This is not a proper posting of Saint Andrean Adventures. They naturally stopped when I moved back to Oslo. However, I am traveling back to St Andrews on Sunday to submit my dissertation and this has made me think about Scottish weather and clothing.
I need to pack and I realised that the clothes I wear here in Oslo is not the same as in St Andrews. In St Andrews my wardrobe moved in two different directions - towards the more conservative and towards cool urban Scandinavian. The first to blend in and the second to strike out. Packing for a ten day visit, should I go being me or should I adopt one of my St Andrean identities? ... I am not quite sure if I have a choice, as I have to take what is clean and that is my St Andrews clothes.
Second clothes issue has to do with the weather. After two winters in St Andrews I have now finally after one month of winter got equipped for Norwegian winter - and that is in fur. It is the only thing to keep warm in. I am quite conscious about the environment and would never wear fur to feel glamorous. I have never bought any leather clothes or furs, but enjoy wearing old relatives' old sheep skin clothes and furs. I would never think of wearing fur or sheep skin in Britain as there are too many "animal-lovers" there. I do not suppose it will be cold enough to be needing fur either, but the thought of getting negative comments is enough for me to avoid the problem.
This week I have seen many sorts of fur in Oslo. I suppose sheep skin and mink are the most common, but I have also seen rabbit and seal. Rabbit is quite uncommon for a whole jacket - think of all the animals needed - and killing of seal is a controversy even in whale hunting Norway. I suppose I make Norwegians look like barbarians now, but at leas wearing sheep skin must be seen as good for the environment; to use both the meat and the skin.
Since I am not in St Andrews any longer, this post might have a strange headline, but I felt it most appropriate to put it in the category of Saint Andrean Adventures as the topic is being a forreign student.
I am, or used to be, a fairly good cook, but as I have spent the last two years in a catered hall and the holidays with my mother's cooking my cooking skills have been put on hold. When I needed to make myself a dinner in St Andrews it was very convenient to grab some ready made dinner; Tesco has a lot of "put-in-the micro"-food. Firstly they were quick, secondly, I would not end up with a lot of ingrediences I would not be able to use before they turned bad, and thirdly, they were reasonably priced.
Now, while not feeling to well, but believing I still needed to eat something to get better, I really wanted the opportunity to just grab a meal. Alas, ready-meals are not the thing in Norway (you can get them but the choice is bad and the price high). To some extent I am proud that Norwegians still cook, but it suddenly seemed like a problem not getting my microwave-"Sweet'n'sour Chicken with Rice". The only option for ready meals are frozen pizzas, and I have had two this week amongst them Grandiosa the most eaten dish in Norway. However, frozen pizza is not very nice and I now feel the urge to cook. I think I have to go by the green grocer on my way home to get some vegetables for a stiry fry or a soup.
As I am soon leaving St Andrews, there is a few things I wanted to do before leaving. First of all I felt I had to see St Rule's Tower. It was one of the first things I was told everbody that comes to St Andrews do. And I have been here for nearly two years without being on the top. As I ascended the stairs I was reminded of my trip to Cologne a few year back when I found out that I had inherited my mother's fright of heights...
But I managed to reach the top:
The picture became a bit blury because the wind was so strong that I had problmes in holding my camera.
And then it was time to descend... It was not as bad as descending from the bell tower of the cathedral in Cologne, where I was stuck on a platform for half an hour trying to regain my courage to continued down [I would like to say that I did mamage to get to the top of the bell tower and that it was more then 600 steps to the top]. The houndred steps went quickly and I was back on the ground with less wind, but still sunshine.
I should of course also have taken some picktures of the cathedral grounds, but I forgot about that. I was just happy to be on the ground in sunshine. However, I did remember that it was a picture I wanted to take:
Adam Ferguson (1723-1815) was my favourite when I did a course in Scottish Enlightenment Historiography last year, and he is burried in the cathedral grounds. His momument is on the wall facing the sea and has this portrait of him. Ferguson's works are often seen as being an early form of sociology, by I think he lack something to call him a modern historian.
As the ticket to St Rule's tower also includes entrance to St Andrews Castle, I had to pay it a visit too. But as this was not on my "to-do"-list and my memory card was full I did not take any pictures.
However, on my "to-do"- list was a final sandwich from Butler & Co (They do not seem to have any home page, but if you are visting St Andrews they can be found in Church Street). A sandwich is not the right word; they make toasted wraps. My favourite is "Writer's Block" which is filled with smoked turkey, chilli jam, brie, mangetout and oak leaf lettuce. While waitig for my wrap I found this chocolte which I also had to try; KSHOCOLÂT with orange and cardamom, and also has to be recomended to everyone.
I cannot remember Beatrix Potter’s books on Peter Rabbit very well from my childhood, so they cannot have been amongst my favourite books. However, what I do remember is that I found the pictures very sweet, but ignored the stories.
One reason why I found the pictures adorable was, in addition to Potter’s lovely drawings, was the objects themselves; the rabbits. I did not see many rabbits when I grew up and the ones I saw were either pets in a cage indoors or lived as pets on farms kept outdoors in an enclosure in the summertime and in the barn during the winter. I had never seen I wild rabbit until I was 19 and visiting in southern Sweden. It therefore never occurred to me that Beatrix Potter wrote about animals she saw daily. I thought Peter and Benjamin and all the other rabbits were fictional creations portraying humans and that Potter had chosen to “dress” her characters as rabbits and that they could as well have been dinosaurs, teddy bears or talking cars.
So when I came to St Andrews and started seeing daily (my record is seeing 45 on the University playing fields last summer while on my morning run), it suddenly occurred to me that rabbits are a part of British daily life in more rural places. And that they probably are a problem for the keen gardener and that the story of Peter Rabbit stealing carrots for then to be chased by the gardener, do not only need to be an illustration to children on not to steal, but can be a “true story” from the rabbit world.
Even though they make a lot of problems, rabbits are still very cute, and they are well portrayed in Potter's books. I went past a baby bunny yesterday that was the size of a fist and I had to stop and look at it. (And I have never been an animal lover). I also have rabbits outside my bedroom window and I can easily imagine Beatrix Potter sitting at her desk watching the rabbits and write stories about them.
Something that has surprised me about the British society is the nine o’clock start to the day. This might be more visible in St Andrews than bigger cities, which probably is alive more around the clock.
By a nine o’clock start to the day I mean the fact that shops open at nine, offices open at nine, the buses start running normal routes at nine, the gym opens at nine and first lectures in the morning are at nine. In Norway I am used to shops opening at nine or ten, offices open at eight (and people starts work before that), buses start morning/rush hour routes from half five, gyms and swimming pools open at six or seven so people can use them before work and morning lectures are at eight.
It is not difficult to get used to British life because activities mainly starts later in the day; and who would not like to get up an hour or two later? I am now afraid that my daily pattern has changed and that it will be terribly difficult to become a Norwegian early bird again.
I used to get up at 5.30am for my last years at school as I had to be at school at eight and the train took one and a half hour. Now I find it difficult to be ready for breakfast at eight. The strange thing is that I do not go to bed that much later. So I suppose I just sleep away my days now.
I also miss my morning trip to the swimming pool. There is no better way to start the day. But on the other hand I have found the “enjoyment” of the gym in the afternoon when my brain does not work anyway.
That offices do not open until nine has not been a problem, as my days starts later too. However, I pity people in offices here working to five or six. I would rather start the day at 7.30am and finish at 3.30pm, but I suppose that is just what I am used to.
In St Andrews, the finalists' last exam is celebrated by friends pouring water, lemonade champagne and, in some cases, egg and flour over the candidate. (The university has, of course, put up posters with "Only Water", but I suppose the point is to make it a bit messy). I do not need to sit any exams, so I have not had this "pleasure". This picture is take from my office window as my work was interupted by screams. It is taken at some distance, but it is possible to see the white clouds of flour and large bottles of lemonade in the air.
Being in a different country has made me more aware of beautiful things. I think it is so that when things are a bit strange or unfamiliar you notice them more. On the other hand, I have also started noticing more things when I am at home, because that too has become a bit unfamiliar.
These are some of the pictures I have taken this week, and they are all things I would not have noticed before.
Clouds on a blue sky. The weather is so unreliable in St Andrews that you appreciate the lovely days when they are here.
The Rhododendrons in Kinnburn Park. Rhododendrons never make it in Eastern Norway. The winters are too cold. To see such a variety is an overwhelming sight when you are not used to it.
Night sky over the North Haugh. I grew up with hillsides, and am not used to the sky like it appears on the coast. I am amazed every morning and evening by the fantastic colour and cloud formation (This is of course every day without rain, fog or greyness)
