Windy Days

Autumn has fully arrived in St. Andrews, bringing the gusty winds with it!

There is nothing quite like wind off the North Sea! Though this wind appears to becoming from the south west... not even from the highlands! Sometimes when you are walking down the street, you are stopped in your tracks by the force of the wind! A group of girls just walked by outside, giggling as the "stiff breeze" almost blew them over! The trees are bending, and there are more green leaves on the ground than yellow...the wind is pulling them right of the trees before their time.

I've completely given up on using an umbrella in this weather. No sooner do you put it up, than the wind blows it inside out! Wellies (Wellington boots--rubber boots that come up to your knee) are a necessity here this time of year. The rain that comes with the winds ensure that you get all wet. This soaking comes not so much stepping in puddles, as wind blowing the puddle to splash you! And the red wool robes of the undergrads are certainly being used more often now!

The wind pushes the clouds so swiftly that the sky alternates between blue and grey every five minutes. It will be nice and sunny when you go into the shop, but when you come out, its raining and miserable. But by the time you get home, its blue again...

Now that Autumn is here, winter isn't far behind! It should be here next week...

Bowler Hats, Umbrellas, and Tuxes. Oh My!

St. Andrews is certainly a unique place.  A couple nights ago my housemate Mary and I were walking down North Street when we were passed by a young man sprinting... in a toga.  On a Tuesday evening.  I didn't even bat an eye, but Mary must have made a face because the young man responded saying "I know, I know!  This is a bit unusual!"  I didn't miss a beat and shouted after him: "Not in St. Andrews!"  To which he simply nodded and smiled while disappearing around a corner.  Mary just looked at me like I was nuts.  Poor girl.  She's new to town.  She'll get used to it soon enough.

There is a fashion culture here that is decidedly unique to the town in term time.  The undergrads--as much as their drunken singing in the wee small hours of the morning, their milling about on the streets, their crowding into coffee shops, and their generally obnoxious behavior (tossing water balloons) may irritate me--certainly bring life to the town.   Their clothing alone is enough to color the town with character and flair that is unrivaled, often drawing the response of a simple head shake and a "only in St. Andrews..."

Scarlet robes (see post for 26 June) can be seen fluttering down the street, worn over street clothes during the day, and possibly concealing a tuxedo or formal kilt in the evening.  Any given weekend (starting on Thursday) it is not uncommon to round a street corner and find yourself in the midst of a group of tuxedoed young men and dolled-up young women on their way to a soiree. 

Balls, formals, and fancy dress (the British term for "costume") parties aside (of which there are many here), St. Andrews has its own sense of style.  I wish I could include photos to give you a visual idea of what I encounter as I traverse the cobblestones every day, but alas, I don't have the nerve to take pictures of random people on the street! So you will have to use your imaginations...

There are the really posh, private-school, wealthy types (sometimes called "Rahs"), with their expensive designer clothes, double popped collars, body warmers (which Americans would call "poofy vests"), perfectly coifed and gelled hair, and Abercrombie and Fitch looks. (To my readers out there who are fans of Twilight,  think Edward Cullen's style...) 

Then there are your typical, well-groomed, understated, British types, with their tweed or corduroy jackets paired with jeans and leather shoes, with button-up shirts and sweaters.  Sometimes they have trim, neat hair, but usually its a floppy "Hugh Grant-like" look.  (My housemates and I watched Notting Hill the other day, and one of them commented that she saw a younger version of Grant's character walking down the street that afternoon!)

(Speaking of Mr. Grant... I actually did see him in St. Andrews, at the Dunhill Links Golf Tournament held at the Old Course a couple of weeks ago.  I also saw Samuel L. Jackson, Huey Lewis, and Tim Henmen.  My housemate, Lisa, got hit by a ball tee-d off by the heavyweight champion of the world--Wladimir Klitschko--and lived to tell about it!  And for those of you who actually follow golf, I saw Justin Rose, Colin Montgomery, and Paul Casey.  I WILL include a slide show of the Dunhill Tournament at the end of this post!)

Ok, back to St. Andrews fashion....

We've also got the fashionistas who look like they took one of everything in their closet and wore it all together: a dress over skinny jeans, with a button-up shirt, a cardigan, a jacket, slouchy boots, 3 scarves, and hair that looks like a flock of birds made a nest of it...  And nothing matches. OR, they look like they are wearing nothing at all--wearing dark tights, and oversized shirts like they are dresses (that aren't really long enough to be dresses...) , with big belts and slouchy boots.  Or teeny tiny mini skirts with tank tops, cardigans and eight scarves... in the below 40 weather...  I foresee a  cold and flu epidemic coming.   Now don't get me wrong, there are certain pieces of these outfits that I love individually, or paired together; like the scarves, cardigans, big belts, and jackets.  Its just when they wear EVERYTHING at once...  But college kids will be college kids, and you can't fault them for keeping up with the latest trends, even if this old geezer doesn't get it!

But my favorites, and I mean this with all honesty and sincerity, are the guys who look like they stepped out of "Goodbye Mr. Chips," "Dead Poets Society," or "Brideshead Revisited".  You'll be walking down the street, and suddenly you'll feel as though you've momentarily stepped into 1937!  Loafers, khaki trousers, tweed jacket, sweater-vest, proper tie or even a bow-tie, wire-rim glasses, and 40/50's era hairstyles...  Some even carry briefcases instead of backpacks. I wouldn't be surprised if they are wearing cufflinks!  Last week I saw a pair of them walking past St. Salvators Chapel wearing loafers, khaki trousers, crested sports-coats, with shirts and ties, topped off by bowler hats!  Their look was completed by proper black umbrellas, complete with bamboo hook handles.  And holding those umbrellas?  White gloves.   These guys make me smile.  

A couple evenings ago I encountered all of the styles mentioned in a 5 minute walk to the grocery store!  I love being back in St. Andrews!

(Oh! I received the mark for my MLitt dissertation last week.  I got a "distinction"!  Which is a very good thing!  So this means that when my folks come to see my MLitt graduation ceremony in November, I'll be receiving a degree ranking the equivalent of "summa cum laude"!)

Into the Deep End

Today I was hit by a water balloon.  Yep.  A water balloon.  There I was, minding my own business, taking a walk with my new housemate Mary, enjoying the beautiful autumn day, when all of a sudden, my left side was drenched.  We had been walking past one of the university's most prestigious residence halls--a beautiful edifice known as St. Salvator's Hall (or "Sally's" for short).  I was in no doubt as to where the projectile originated--one of the upper floor windows of the hall.  I must have been quite a letdown for the thrower as I barely paused when it hit me.  I did take a quick moment to look up for the culprit, but he/she was skulking out of my view.  So I shrugged it off and kept walking and chatting with Mary as if nothing had happened.  

Consequently, my healthy distaste for undergraduates has been justified.

I must admit that once the initial moment of irritation had passed (a matter of seconds) that I found the whole incident rather humorous.  The part that makes me chuckle, even as I write this 9 hours later, is that the missile came from "Sally's".  Throwing water balloons at unsuspecting passers-by sounds exactly like something my mom would have persuaded someone else to do while she was in university!  She would have stood innocently by and watched the spectacle.

My day of drenching didn't stop there.  Oh, no.  I'm too much a child of "Great Big Mess" (my mom's childhood nickname, if you can believe it) to get by with only one dowsing.  Mary and I casually walked back to the house where I changed, and then headed off to North Point cafe for a hot chocolate.  You can tell where this is going, can't you?  As I reached to snag one of the marshmallows Mary was offering me, I somehow managed to dump half of my hot chocolate on my left side.  The same side, I might remind you, that had been Undergraduate Target Practice less than an hour before.  And it wasn't my lap that received my beverage.  That would have been too much like right.  Nope, I somehow managed to bathe my shoulder in the chocolate goodness that in a better world would have ended up satisfying my tummy.

I can assure you that I carefully avoided people holding glasses of red wine at the reception following the Reformation Studies Institute's first formal lecture this evening.  I was wearing a cream colored corduroy blazer, and given my track record for the day, I wasn't taking any chances.  The third time was not going to be the charm!

Needless to say, today was quite a way to kick off the first official year of my PhD.

And what a year it is shaping up to be!  I had to hit the ground running when I arrived back in St. Andrews on Sunday.  I have new housemates, new responsibilities at the School, a new office, and a new job!

As most of you know, my friend Lisa and I had been living in a cozy little house in town for the month of August.  While I was home in America for my September holiday the other two housemates arrived!  Mary is a masters student from Harrisburg, PA and is studying Modern History.  Xiaoyan is a masters student from China studying business finance (poor girl, stuck in a house full of historians).  We all get on quite well, and we're settling into the rhythm of living together.  I'm sure I'll be writing more about them all in the future.

As for new responsibilities, one of the professors from The Institute for Scottish Historical Research (ISHR) of which I am a part (in addition to the Reformation Studies Institute) asked me to serve as the Seminar Hostess for this year.  That means I'm responsible for greeting guest lecturers and arranging the refreshments for the seminars the Institute holds every fortnight.  And my friend Siobhan (also in the ISHR) asked me to help her organize the Institute's Reading Weekend in late November. The professors, faculty, and postgrads of the institute will be going to a country house north of Glasgow for the weekend, and will hold an informal sort of conference.  Its a prime opportunity for the members of the Institute to share their research in a casual setting, and for everyone to get to know each other a little better.  Siobhan is in charge of the weekend and asked if I could help her keep things organized and keep her sane!  This should be interesting...

Oh! As a PhD student in the Reformation Studies Institute, I finally get office space!  I just found out today that I am sharing an office with Siobhan and my friend Andy.  I'm very excited!  It will be good to have a place to work that I only share with two other people, as opposed to the carrel in the library that had me surrounded by dozens of people!

I also have a new job!  My friend Lindsay was kind enough to recommend me for a position she held last year watching the children of the headmaster of one of the local schools.  The girls, aged 9 and 12, are sweet, bright, and cheerful.  I will be watching them a couple of afternoons a week, helping with homework, supervising music practice, making sure Otto the dog doesn't run away, and basically ensuring that the house isn't burned to the ground and that the eldest doesn't try to sell the youngest to the gypsies!  So far, I enjoy watching the girls, and so far, they seem to enjoy me.

All in all, I'm excited about this new year, and this new degree I'm embarking upon.  And given the events of this week, I know that the next three years certainly won't be dull!