"unlucky!"

I mentioned a few posts back that we have come across new words and phrases during our time in Scotland. Possibly our favorite is "unlucky". I noticed this one back in August when Will had his first football game. A player would take a shot on goal, only to be stopped by the goalie, and at least one person would call out "unlucky!". The interesting thing is that this expression would also be used if someone fell on their face with nobody around- "ooh, unlucky". It seems to be primarily a sports-related phrase however. We don't see people at the market who find the last box of Crunchy Nut cereal gone, suddenly sigh and say "unlucky!". Needless to say, we have adopted this phrase for all parts of our life here in Scotland. Got soaked on the way home? Students a bit obnoxious today? Wii out of batteries? Sprained ankle? That's right- "unlucky!" As you can see from the picture, I had a little setback this week. I play football on Wednesday nights and Friday afternoons after school. Unfortunately, this past Wednesday night,  my body went one way, and my ankle turned the other. A few days of elevation and ice has got me on the mend, but I have most certainly been "unlucky!".

Tree lighting in Dunfermline: Where giant afros meet bagpipes

Seeing as there is no Thanksgiving holiday this week, Christmas got kicked off a bit early for us here in Dunfermline. We have traditionally enjoyed taking the kids down to the tree-lighting ceremony back home in Sebastopol, and figured we shouldn't miss the local version this season. We hit a local chippy for supper, and then made our way down to "The Glenn" to check out the celebration. Huge crowds lined the streets and High Street was rockin' as the Song Kings performed Motown hits prior to the arrival of Mr. Claus. The parade included war veterans, motorcycles, student groups, pipe bands, and of course Santa himself. All in all it was a fun way to start the holiday season and we're looking forward to our Scottish Christmas.

Ainsley now has taken a liking to Motown music thanks to the Song Kings.

There were some radio personalities from Kingdom FM there to MC the ceremony.

"Sammy the Tammy", mascot for the Pars, was also there to fire up the crowd.

Here is High Street after the parade.

Edinburgh: bits and bobs

Since we've been in Scotland we have learned a number of unique words and phrases that the locals use. In fact, I have on ongoing "Scottish Dictionary" in my classroom whenever I hear something from the students that I'm not familiar with. One such saying that we hear often is "bits and bobs", which roughly means "this and that" or "odds and ends". Today was a "bits and bobs" kind of day. However, our afternoon of random errands led to some fun discoveries and visits in Edinburgh.

We have discovered that Edinburgh has a Saturday morning farmers market. We were thrilled to wander through the stalls and have lunch below Edinburgh Castle. Local produce, delicious cheese, hamburgers, amazing apple juice, and lights-out milkshakes guarantee a return visit soon.

Will with Greyfriars Bobby. Popular legend has it that this little dog spent fourteen years guarding the grave of his owner before dying himself.

J.K. Rowling was a frequent visitor of The Elephant House cafe while she was writing the early Harry Potter books. We couldn't pass up an opportunity to visit another Harry-related site. Other Scottish writers such as Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith have also been spotted here.

Here's an inside shot of the cafe. Through the windows is a beautiful view of Edinburgh Castle.

After our visit to the Elephant House, we discovered we were right next to the new Scotland National Museum. We spent about two hours on the ground floor (there are five floors) visiting the Science & Technology,  and Animal Life exhibits.

Ainsley working hard to pull her seat up with the pulley.

Future astronauts

 

Will is channeling his inner Jackie Stewart (Scottish race car driver in the 1960's/70's)

For 5 pounds you can have antlers attached to your skull.

"Glamis thou art" (Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5)

Literary quotes have never been my strong point, but seeing as we visited a famous Shakespeare location, I figured I would work it in for the latest blog entry. This past weekend "Team Scotland" (the five U.S. teachers who are currently on exchange in Scotland) met at Glamis Castle in Perthshire to do some sightseeing and share some stories about our teaching exchanges. At lunch we realized that this would be the last time the five of us would be together in Scotland, as two of the Fulbrighters are only here for a term and will be returning home next month. As always, it was fun to spend time with teachers who are going through the same experiences as you, and can appreciate your struggles and triumphs.

Photographs are not allowed inside the castle, but we can share our exterior shots. The two interior photos are from the Great Scotland website.

Glamis Castle was the childhood home to the Queen Mum.  She felt it was important that one of her children were born in Scotland, and so she went there shortly before the birth of HRH, The Princess Margaret. Glamis has been the family home of the Earls of Strathmore since 1372 and sits on 1,400 acres of beautiful countryside. The castle is also the setting of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

View as you arrive at Glamis (pronounced "Glams")

Now this is a dining room!

The crypt, with 10' thick walls. This is where the servants used to live and work.

Lions are a popular feature at Glamis, as Sir John Lyon was first given the land in 1372. Images of Lions can be found in every room of the castle, with the exception of the chapel.

Mary Queen of Scots stayed at Glamis in 1562.

Team Scotland (teaching in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dunfermline, Aberdeen and Crieff)

Visiting with a Highland Cow

Arthur's Seat

                   Will wanted to take a short-cut to the walking path.

This past weekend marked the 3-month anniversary of our arrival in Scotland. The time does tend to go quickly due to the fact that we're so busy with school, teaching, and life in general. We've really tried to maximize our time and see as much as we can during our stay here, which also means the weekends are full of activities as well. Even though it does get a bit exhausting at times, we know we have a unique opportunity and we're determined to make the most of it.

The city of Edinburgh is so close, but we haven't been back as a family since the first week of our arrival in Scotland. Seeing as Sunday was supposed to have very nice weather, we took the train in and decided to make the hike up Arthur's Seat, a hill in Edinburgh that offers commanding views of the city. The hike is great for families, with a gradual incline on the way up, and at 822 feet it can be done in a reasonable amount of time. It turns out the weather reports were correct, it was possibly the nicest day we've had since our arrival, with blue skies, warm sun, and just a hint of a breeze. As always, the kids loved climbing around on the rocks and enjoying the outdoors.

View of Parliament as we start our walk

View of Edinburgh (Edinburgh Castle towards the left, on the hill)

A perfect area for a little rock climbing

Christa and Ainsley enjoying a quick break from the hike.

Going up is always the easy part.

There is some mythology that Arthur's Seat is connected to the legend of King Arthur, but we didn't see him. Maybe we'll have better luck when we visit Loch Ness.

Heading back down. (There was a wipe-out that was not captured. Nothing a little soap and water couldn't fix)

Another view of Parliament.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Guy Fawkes

Remember remember the 5th of November

Gunpowder treason and plot

I see no reason why gunpowder treason

should ever be forgot

-Guy Fawkes night poem

Obviously there is no national celebration for the 4th of July in Scotland, so we figured we were out of luck when it came to fireworks this year. Fortunately we were introduced this weekend to Guy Fawkes Night, also known as "bonfire night" or simply "fireworks night". Long story short, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Parliament in London on November 5th, 1605. The explosion would have killed King James I (King James VI of Scotland) and other members of Parliament. The men who planned this (Guy Fawkes and friends) were later arrested and executed. People were allowed to celebrate the kings survival by building bonfires, and here we are four hundred years later with another excuse to have a BBQ and blow things up!

Here is a Horrible Histories recap of the event:

On Saturday night we were invited over to our friends the Ross' for dinner (chili dogs!), then a trip to "the Glen" for fireworks. Workmates had been playing down the fireworks all week, telling me it wouldn't be anything special. Turns out it was the best fireworks show I have ever seen. Fireworks were launched from three separate staging areas, and there was a continuous bombardment overhead for about 15-20 minutes. None of this "one at a time" stuff, it was constant with multiple explosions throughout. We were standing almost directly below the fireworks when they went off, and it made for a stunning show. I've included a youtube video I found of the fireworks, but you really had to be there for the full effect. Thanks Mr. Fawkes.

'guising at Halloween

A sample of the kid's candy- Scottish style!

One of our favorite holidays back home has always been Halloween. There is so much to get excited about - carving pumpkins, putting up decorations, figuring out costumes and of course the candy! Being in Scotland this year we didn't know if it was going to be a big deal or not. As it turns out "'guising" , or "trick or treating" as we know it, seems to be growing in popularity- but nowhere near the level we're used to back home.

Back at Apple Blossom School there would be a tremendous build-up to the Halloween Carnival, and each classroom would be frantically rounding up supplies and volunteers for the big night. Instead of a Halloween carnival, Friday night I went with Ainsley to the Halloween Disco at her school. I kind of laughed to myself at the thought of a Halloween "disco", with visions of 70's-era polyester suits and thumping Bee-Gees music. Oddly enough, I wasn't that far off. The disco, which only lasted an hour, was actually a big dance for P1-P3 students (K-2 for those back in the states). Sure enough, we entered the gym to find a DJ spinning the finest sounds of some type of "euro-pop"/Disney soundtrack, twirling and spinning lights, and 150 kids dancing, or at least jumping up and down like spooky pogo-sticks. Conversation was out of the question, unless you went to the adjoining room where they were selling bags of sweets or glow sticks. I'm not sure how I feel about a rave for 7 and 8 year olds, but it was certainly a sight. Ainsley wasn't much in a dancing mood, so we headed home a little early- glow sticks in hand, reminiscing about past Halloweens and planning for the real thing on Monday.

Ainsley as Hedwig the owl.

On Monday night we headed out for the big event. I think we were the first people in Scotland on the streets however, as it was a good half-hour before we saw any other "guisers". We crossed the street to visit a larger housing development, one with many more kids and seemingly better options for sweets. After interrupting a few dinners, it turns out we were a bit early, but not so early that people weren't ready for us. 

One of the aspects of Halloween I really enjoyed, is that when people answer the door they expect something for their candy. Most of the time kids are expected to tell a joke or sing a song before they're given sweets. I thought back to too-many instances where teenagers, who weren't dressed up, would simply shove their pillow cases towards you and stare. I like the idea of earning your loot. The kids were armed with a few jokes, and worked their way through the neighborhood like old pro's. It was also interesting how many homes were handing out peanuts in the shell - "just take a handful", homemade treats and unwrapped candies. We're so guarded back home in the states (although our neighborhood is fantastic) and have heard all the Halloween terror stories of tainted candy over the years, that such a sense of trust was a nice change. No need to x-ray your candy, or peanuts, tonight we hoped.

Everybody got into face-painting.

Hedwig and "crazy guy". (Sounds like a TV buddy-cop show). Will chose crazy-guy over skeleton goalie and skeleton schoolboy. He said to me "I bet I'm the only crazy guy in Scotland". (Its too easy- I'll let you fill in your own joke here)

There may not have been as many kids on the street, and more houses with the lights out than we're accustomed to, but dressing up and filling your bags with sweets can't be beat no matter where you are.