Monday, December 14, 2009

Reflections

Alrighty folks! Thanks for sticking with me for these 6 and a bit months! This will be the last post until after the holidays.

I'll do the usual rundown of the adventures of last week. On Monday, my friend and I were volunteering to go to a secondary school to talk about careers in physics. Since she comes from an engineering background and worked in the industry before doing an instrumental PhD here, and I have stayed in academia, studying pure physics and mathematics and doing data analysis and programming, we made a good contrasting team. We went to this school in particular because we have a colleague in the solar physics group whose girlfriend teaches these classes. There were four classes total, grouped into two groups; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. These students are about 14 years old and have just chosen to take physics as their primary science. It was really funny to observe how two groups of students who are the same age can vary so drastically in maturity level. The first group were relatively quiet, but they all seemed interested in what we were saying. No one's attention seemed to wander out the window or to their notebooks and they were responsive to our stories. The next group was your stereotypical bunch of rowdy Glasgow boys. But it was not even like something we could fight. Simple rowdiness is no problem, but when you ask people if they have questions and they're asking questions indicative of a much lower maturity level, like 'how much money do you make?' or 'do you get to fly in space?' there's not much you can do in response. We didn't mind to much though, we got a day off of work and figure that if we got about 4 or 5 students to be excited about physics as a career, that's more than the usual amount who go on to study it at university. I believe we reached that goal with the first crowd. The teacher of one of the first classes had me speak to one student in a different year in particular who wanted to study astrophysics at university. He was in his sixth year and was consequently applying to programs at thsi time and wanted to know what it was like and the best way to go about it. Those are the times I really like speaking to this age group.

We were done at about 2:30 and did not really feel like going back to the department for the rest of the evening. She was planning on making this new Greek recipe that night so invited me over to help and partake in the consumption of said recipe. We went shopping at a Sainsbury's, which is more like a Safeway than any other supermarket I've been to here. Though this was a little out of the city (I miss having a car!) and so there was more space for a proper supermarket. We walked in and it turned out that the new Harry Potter film had come out on DVD (I know! I wasn't even aware of it!) and it was on sale for £7 as supplies lasted. She had to witness my sad, lingering, obsessive behaviour as without question and little regard to the fact that the £10 note in my pocket was supposed to last until Friday, I grabbed a copy off the shelf and kept on walking like it was no option. Glad I did, of course, as that was the cheapest I was going to find it and I can no longer watch US DVDs easily over here. But yeah, that's just shameful justification.
Anyway, she had this great lemon, dill, garlic marinade recipe for lamb neck. So we went back to her flat and attempted to make this marinade, with little failure, only a little. While the lamb was marinading we checked our emails to make sure we weren't missing anything important at the office then settled down to watch this British comedy, "Black Books" that I had been meaning to watch for a while with a bottle of wine. It was again, a great, fun evening.

On Wednesday I met up with this same friend, her boyfriend and another couple at The Belle, just a few doors down from my flat for some drinks. I had presented my pre-holiday work and 6 month update at our telecon that day and so was in the mood for a mild celebration. I really love The Belle, but the reason that I hardly go there is that it's so tiny that you have to have the patience to stand around for about 20 minutes stalking tables before one frees up. The entire pub is about the size of my parent's living room and it has a warm fireplace and dark stone walls. It's a brilliant environment, just very tiny.

Friday I met up with a girl I had met in Millport and a few times since at various parties we all had had. We had been meaning to get coffee together sometime and decided to go to Tchai Ovna, right by the university. I had never been to this coffee house before, but had heard great things. It was down a tiny little alley, a few streets away on the other side of the university. It was a lot like the tea house in Boulder, but more like a run-down shack. It smelled of chai tea and hookah and was filled with a hodge-podge of seats, cushions and couches. It reminded me so much of Boulder, I really loved it. And like the tea house in Boulder, it had a full binder filled with different teas you could choose from, almost like a wine list.

That day, the solar physics crowd went out for a special pre-holiday lunch and had a considerable chunk of money left over. They decided to all go to the pub at 5:30 that night and it was the first time one of my friends had been out in a few months as she's writing her thesis. Everyone took it upon themselves to make sure she had a good time. And a good time was had. We went to this shady looking pub on Old Dumbarton Road called The Rogue, you know, no windows, one working door, etc. It was fairly empty, but with a group of people, that's the idea situation as you can practically take over the whole pub. Which we did. It was a whole lot more people than usual since it was also all the solar physics students as well as all the gravitational waves people. Then (as my friend put it) the booze train left the station. Anyone who did not participate was quickly left behind in the dust, with no sympathy. It was a great time though, had by the passengers on said booze train.

The next day, she called me at 2 in the afternoon and I went up the road to her flat for a nice fried breakfast. Fried eggs, sausage, beans and tattie scones. Hit the spot. We chatted for a few hours, nursing the headaches and remembering the last night, laughing about the last night, then trying to forget it again. Then I went home to get all fancied up for going to Beauty and the Beast that night with a friend. It was at the Scottish Exhibition Centre and was the touring UK performance. It was an interesting experience going to the theatre here. This would be the equivalent of going to the Denver Performing Arts Centre and about half the people are just dressed like they would be going to the cinema. They serve crisps and Irn Bru as well as drinks and stuff that you can actually take into the auditorium and eat while you watch the show. It was a super fun performance and the funniest thing was that the only person with an American accent (which was obviously fake) was Gaston, the vain, obnoxious one. What can I say? It worked. Wild applause was given for Chip who was played by a little Glaswegian boy. But yeah, it was a great show and all the cynical Scots were enjoying it in the end.

Yesterday I went to the city centre to do some last shopping. The air is so cold here that the moisture is just freezing, leaving a thick, hovering fog. I got back, made some tea and packed for going to Colorado.

Today is my last day at work. Tomorrow is our Christmas lunch in the department. It runs all day starting with drinks at 11am in the common room then moving on to a fancy lunch, then moving on to a pub. Needless to say, I am already ready to go as my taxi is picking me up at 6:30am the next morning.

I do have to say, my life has really turned around these last few months. It is a bizarre change, and one I probably could not have anticipated, but I am lucky for it. My social life has blossomed; with people giving me Christmas cards, saying they will miss me, looking forward to the ceilidh when everyone returns. I really could not have asked for a better department to join and a better city to move to. The department is filled with good, honest, welcoming people who are down-to-earth and enjoy having a good time with each other. This city is filled with genuine, happy people who despise conformity. Even the West End, where I live which is considered the "wealthy" part of Glasgow, most of the people you would never guess could afford such a living. They are simply happy for where they are and recognise the struggles others have in life. My university is really everything I could have wished for; including the giddy child in me who gets excited every time I walk through the main building, due to it's resemblance of Hogwarts. I was thinking about this this weekend when I was shopping by myself in the city centre. I remember being there back in June, not knowing anyone, hoping that no one would think that I did not live there, worrying that someone would talk to me and I would not understand them and would look like a "typical" American. I was so filled with doubt; really hoping I would eventually fit in. Now this time, walking through the city centre, I know where I am going; I run into people I know and I am filled with warmth at the familiar site of Buchanan Street, hearing my favourite street performers playing and seeing the happy faces of all the Glaswegians.

My life now consists of such vastly different things than it used to. I now am occupied with the World Cup events, when my friend and I will get to go to a Glasgow Warriors Rugby match, which pub to go to on a Friday night, if I should go home for a quiet evening or join my friends just down the road, when I will have the £17 to go to the Highlands for some hiking one weekend, what I'm going to eat at Mr India's next week, and the list goes on. Things I never thought would be in my conscience, but had always hoped would be. If I am in my room crying over an idiot man or over a bad turn in my research, listening to Janis Joplin and drinking whisky, I am doing so in Glasgow, Scotland and things are not and can not be as bad as they seem. I am so fortunate to have tested myself in this world and succeeded with the resources I had. My success in moving overseas snuck up on me in these last few months and now I finally can call Scotland home, which is all I really wanted for Christmas.

Happy Holidays!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Feuerzangenbowle!

The holidays are now officially upon us. Not much has happened this week, so I'm afraid this will be a rather short update. The weather is now officially freezing. We have not had any snow yet, but people are starting to wish for it as it's definitely in the air.

This week has mostly consisted of massive amounts of work, trying to get ready for the holidays. Panic has gripped the department for that reason exactly and people are scrambling to get as much done as possible before Christmas and Hogmanay celebrations commence. On Wednesday I managed to escape for some curry with folks, which was lovely. It was the usual mention of curry at coffee, leading to a massive round of sarcastic, Christmas themed emails about the curry angel leading it's people to feast. The food was fantastic (as usual) and our Mr India was happy to see us follow the star in the sky, leading us to mass amounts of Chicken Tikka and bid us tidings of spiced onions. This was, of course, followed up by some Laphroaig at the usual Tennent's.

Thursday, escape was not so lucky as I finally had to convince myself to do some real, mass amounts of work. My friend who is finishing her thesis stayed late as well and we had dinner in the common room and left to walk back together at 9:30 that night. A full 13 hour day in the office. I did get lots accomplished in the way of work. My programs are running successfully, leading to much silent cheering and happy dances at my desk. My supervisor seems pleased with my progress and applications for funding in January should be very strong. Hopefully, this will also mean that I get an internal publication done by the end of the holidays.

On Friday, we had a Feuerzangenbowle (fire-sugar-drink) party at a friend from Germany's house. Before the party, however, we rushed out of the department at 5pm sharp to watch the World Cup Draw at the Common Rooms. This was to find out who would be playing whom and when during the summer. Lot's of people were there watching it and they had it on the big screen. After they did this, a few of us headed to the party. Since it is St Nicholas/Sinter Klaus weekend, the Germans, Swedes, Dutch, etc celebrate with mulled wine and various Christmas goodies. I learned how to make proper mulled wine, by cooking wine on the stove, with apples and spices, then ladling flaming sugar and rum slowly into the mixture. It was super warm and cozy and a great party. They also had gingerbread and baked apples for everyone.

The next day, the mulled wine had left me with (surprise surprise) a massive headache. For my future reference, there actually is alcohol in mulled wine and it cannot be consumed like apple cider. Just a personal note. I was meeting a friend down in the city centre to do some Christmas shopping. We met up, went our separate ways and thankfully, since she hates shopping as much as I do, we met up two hours later and went for tapas at a Mediterranean bistro in town; mostly to pamper ourselves after spending so much money and braving the crowds. I also was calmed by the presence of Clanadonia playing on Buchanan St again. Oh, how I love watching big, hairy men in kilts bang on drums. I love it, I do. That made the shopping a little better, and I still love Glaswegians. It was very Christmassy on Buchanan St and, despite the crowds, it was still fun.
After shopping, I ran back home and dropped off everything before running out again to a friend's house for dinner and a Star Trek marathon. This girl has been a Star Trek fan for years and wanted to watch them with someone. It was fantastic. Her love for McCoy and my love for Spock led to some brilliant episodes and some really great laughs.

Today was devoted to Christmas cards and cleaning. As I am leaving in just about 9 days, I figured I really should clean up the place. Thankfully, it looks great now and I can pretty much just focus on work next week (so it will be even more boring in a week) before leaving for the good ol' US of A. Til next time! Ta ra!