Good Fun in Many Guises

I apologize for the lapse in news the past few weeks, and as so much time has past, I will endeavor to hit the high points and not bore you all too much with my rambling!

Robbie Burns Night (phonetically: Rabbie Berrrrrnnnnns Night):

January 25^th marks the Scottish celebration of their most beloved poet: Robert Burns (most well known in the US for his song “Ald Lang Syne”). Traditionally, this holiday is marked by a Burns’ Night Supper which consists of loads of people gathering for a dinner of “Haggis, Nips, and Tatties” (translation: Haggis, Turnips, and mashed potatoes), dancing, and reading and singing the poetry of Robert Burns. I was invited to two such suppers on Friday and Saturday nights: one, a smaller, more casual affair, and the other more traditional but both quite enjoyable! The beginning of a Burn’s Supper is just chat and cocktails and friendly banter etc. (kilts are to be worn if at all possible). Then the Haggis is brought out (with a piper as an honor guard), on a platter preferably lest the hostess’s hand get injured, and Robert Burns’ “Ode to the Haggis” is read out. It is written in Scots, so it is nearly unintelligible to those unaccustomed to the accent, but at some point, the “king of puddings” is stabbed (as indicated by the poem I can only assume) causing a gentle explosion as the Haggis bursts its casing. Then everyone toasts and tucks in. When the meal is over, dessert, traditionally Cranaken (a mixture of oats, cream, wiskey, and raspberries) is served and then the entertainment begins. Everyone must bring a poem or song to share, creating a lovely Austinian drawing room air. The second evening, we had both a guitar and a fiddle and so spent the majority of the time singing traditional Scottish songs with various levels of pronunciation proficiency. I’ve included the link to one of the videos I took that night.

Musselburgh Races:

This weekend USC treated us to a day at the races. I had never experienced horse racing before this and really enjoyed the experience, especially since USC even supplied betting money, as this was a “cultural experience”. We met at the train station and spent the short trip chatting about our experiences to date and fervently hoping that it would not rain (though one of the guys assured us it wouldn’t as this was one of the few times he actually brought his umbrella). At the stop, a shuttle met us and took us to the track where we poked around a bit and then had lunch together while debating the best strategies for choosing the winner… of the six of us present, only two had any experience at all. Apparently, one should never bet on a white or grey horse or one with too flashy of a name. (Personally, I ignored that last bit of advice most of the time, but then again, I only won once, so perhaps its sound ; ) ) My favorite part of the proceedings was the pre-race parade of all the horses and jockeys. As Musselburgh is a relatively small course, one could get right up to the edge of the ring and really get a feel for the power and grace of each horse and the connection with each jockey. Then it was off to the tote to place bets (or the bookies if you were feeling brave) and the race! We got to watch one race from the announcer's tourToward the end it started getting rather miserably cold, so that took a bit of the fun out of it, but overall, it was a good day… and an excellent “cultural experience”.

6 Nations Rugby:

As many of you know, watching sporting events is on my todo list right above sorting my socks, but I must say, I think rugby has some merit. The 6 Nations rugby tournament began this week and my flatmate and a few friends and I went to watch England vs. Wales on Saturday. Luckily a British guy made one of the party so he was able to explain a bit of the game as we went along… the scrum is still slightly perplexing to me, but I think I prefer it to a hike anyway. :) The real excitement came in the second half when Wales came from behind and got two “touch downs” (sorry the terminology is still a bit elusive) with in 10 minutes… at that point, the whole atmosphere in the pub changed. People who had been chatting, sure of an English victory, became rapt with attention (the Scots route against the English on principle, even when it looks like a losing battle, so you can image the excitement when they did start to lose!) In the end, Wales beat England in the upset of the season that included several Bush-worthy plays on either side and resulted in general jubilation at the 3 Sisters.

Edinburgh Apprentice:

The past two weeks I have been participating in the Edinburgh Apprentice Competition. It is a business competition for students at university, sponsored by the Entrepreneurial Society and Proctor and Gamble (!!!). Our team, the Adventure Capitalists, was one of the 24 teams selected out of roughly 40 applicants to participate and we had our first challenge on the January 29^th in the Scottish Parliament building (arguably the ugliest and most expensive building in Edinburgh-- it enjoys the kind of disdain by the locals only matched by the pyramids at the Louvre. See this link for pictures). We were given a case study created by P&G centered on creating a marketing plan for the launch of a new product targeted at the students of the University of Edinburgh. As soon as they explained the challenge, I breathed a bit easier, after all, I spent basically all of last semester doing just that! We had 55 minutes to read the study and create our proposal and then 10 minutes to present to a panel of judges including representatives from P&G, the Entrepreneur Society, and even one MSP (member of Scottish Parliament)! Needless to say, it was a pretty intense 55 minutes! But we put together a good proposal and presented it with confidence… and then spent the next two hours waiting in anxious anticipation to hear results. When they finally emerged, they split the groups into two larger groups, congratulated everyone on their hard work and “fired” 12 teams… the Adventure Capitalists was not one of them. : ) Afterwards, celebrations were definitely in order, so everyone headed to a nearby pub to enjoy themselves. We fell into conversation with one of the P&G representatives and got some good feedback, some great stories, and a card before the night was out. By the time we left, it was quite late, but we stayed chatting outside my flat for a bit until we were interrupted by a man who engaged us in a theological discussion that touched on nearly every well known philosopher and religious tradition in existence and didn’t end until well after I had lost all feeling in my feet.

Our second Apprentice challenge was to create and sell a service for five hours in one of the student unions with all proceeds donated to the charity of our choice. We were told we would be evaluated on creativity (20%), teamwork (20%), and profits (60%) and that we would have less than a week to plan. So we put together a plan and went at it with a will. We decided to showcase one of the group member’s magician talents and my masseuse skills to provide an entertainment/relaxation service and made 114 GBP selling 3 minute massages and the secrets to nine magic tricks, disclosed by the magician himself. We did very well, profit-wise, in relation to the other groups, but the judges apparently didn’t grasp the strategy behind our teamwork (or perhaps had a different view of the bottom line) and though we out-sold even some of the groups who progressed, we were not one of the 5 chosen to go on. Still it was a great experience and I think we all learned quite a bit. I’m looking forward to the next challenge… whatever that may be!

Looking forward, I am heading down to London this weekend, again with USC, and will have the chance to see the Globe Theatre and “39 Steps” among the other things that Whitney (friend from USC, studying in London) has planned to show me. A trip to the highlands is also in the works for next weekend, and I am in the process of planning the rest of my travels… suggestions and tips are always appreciated! Take care and check out the photos!