Even Nature Celebrates

I've been holding onto this photo for months now -- since spring, so it'd be a shame to not share it. It is was one of my favorite photos -- until Mark said it looked like a ghost. I was mad at first because I liked the photo so much. Then I saw he was right. Then I was really mad because that was all I could see. Then I used my editing program and took out the "eyes." Then I liked it again. I guess this little guy was trying to scare off the photographer that day.

500th Birthday!

(Two posts in 3 days - I know!)

Even after two years of being here I am still amazed that I daily work at an institution that has been around for over 500 years. And Mark's office overlooks the now 500 year old King's College Chapel. The first weekend of this month there was a big weekend celebration to commemorate the impressive birthday of King's. Also to mark this special occasion there has been a display in the Old Town House where I work from time to time. It's called "Images of King's: The artistic portrayal of King's College, Aberdeen." I've enjoyed looking at the very old paintings and drawings of how King's used to look "back in the day." The paintings are also some of the ones used in a the new book King’s College, Aberdeen: history, building and artistic portrayal and is now on my "to-get-before-leaving-Aberdeen" list.

The painting above is my favorite of the exhibition. Having learned this year that photography is all about light, I gather painting is the same. I love the light in this one!

If you are in Aberdeen and enjoy art, you should "come have a look."

Wind Factor

Since living here we've discovered classifications of wind. Who knew they existed? On checking one local weather website (a nearly daily occurrance at our house, and more so when photo shoots are scheduled) we noticed they always categorized the wind speed with ratings like F4 or F5, and then a brief description of that wind speed. Our personal favorite classification (which we see far too often) is the F5 "Fresh Breeze." Take today, for instance, it is an F5. Friends, that ain't no "breeze" out there! Earlier I was walking to my car (yes, praise the Lord for such a luxury on a day such as this) from my office and was literally being pushed from behind by the wind. The wind was gusting so hard it put me into a brief jog. I do not classify that as a breeze. More along the lines of nearly a hurricane. And for the 3 minutes I was outside, my "trouser" legs were soggy. I need fully body rain gear with this wind/rain combo.

Up until about 2 weeks ago, I thought that perhaps Scotland (or the whole of the UK) had made their own classifications of wind just because there is rarely a day without it. Kind of like how I've been told the Eskimos have many descriptions of snow. They get it so often and with varying degrees so it needs to be explained just which one will be encountered on any given day. So that was my theory on wind speed ratings here.

But that theory was debunked when I discovered a website talking about the "F" numbers and the wind speeds, complete with each number's description as well.  Apparently these "F" numbers make up the Beaufort scale. Wikipedia's chart is exceptionally helpful as you can see the effects on the land, as well. Based on my observations we are more likely to be in the F7 or F8 category today. And for what it is worth, I'm not sure I've ever seen it at F1 during our time here. The F2 days are far too few, though are so very nice when we get them! (Incidentally, we miraculously had one on Saturday when I photographed 6 families outside. That was a HUGE praise!)

Other than just being a meteorological nerd, I often have my eye on the wind reports because of the loudness in our bedroom. Remember this post almost exactly a year ago? Yeah, it's been a long year of wind.  I can pretty much determine ahead of time now if I will need to sleep in the living room (my solution for getting some sleep on noisy nights) depending on the wind speed and direction. For instance, anything constantly blowing over about 25mph in a South or South-East direction at night (probably a good 10 times a month) and I'm pulling out our fold out chair for a bed because our slates are bound to be jumping. Last night it was so bad I even had a hard time sleeping in there.

All told, perhaps the thing I will miss LEAST about living in Scotland is the WIND (and our slates)!!

This Week's Cultural Lesson

I have been exposed to yet another part of the British culture. Once again by way of a student worker (though techinically she's graduated and  is working with us as a full-time staff member now). Ayme came in wearing a Blue Peter Badge (more by way of a joke) and was proudly showing it off to me. Too bad I had no idea what it was!

Then came the 10 or so minutes of catching this daft American up to speed on this rather big children's program run by the BBC. Here is the BBC site where children can go and find out how they can earn the famed Blue Peter Badge. From what I can gather, children have to submit letters or do things to impress the "presenters" (hosts of the show). It seems it must be somewhat challenging to actually get a badge so that's why it was a big deal Ayme had received one. The awards have been given out since the early 60's so have quite a heritage by now. The coveted award also allows the under 16 children to gain free entry into some of the larger attractions in the UK, like Legoland. In searching the net to find out more, I uncovered a scandal with the badges from a few years ago. People were selling their badges on E-bay offering free entry into the attractions at a minimal cost! The BBC now also awards an ID card along with the badge to stop such falsifications.

The final thing my co-workers mentioned was all the bloopers that would happen on the show as a result of it being broadcast live. They specifically told me one of the most memorable occurred when they had an elephant relieve himself on national television. I had to look it up. See for yourself.






P.S. If you see any spelling errors (here or in the future) please ignore! I'm a terrible speller and since Blogger has "updated" some features it has decided to take this feature away. Grrrr....

It's Time for an Update!

Two weeks without blogging and it feels like maybe 2 days. Okay, slight exaggeration, but the past two weeks have flown by, been full and wonderful and tiring. Thought that maybe I should write about some significant and also random things. So here goes, in my fav, bullet point style:

• I've been home all day with a man who looks like he was in a pub brawl or domestic dispute. Your choice. Said man claims to be my husband, but looks more like a creepy man I can't look too long and hard at without scaring myself. Poor guy has a swollen eye that is half shut. Due to it being a "bank holiday" (more on that later) he hasn't been able to see a doctor to find out what in the world is going on. I think Mark was just jealous I had the day off work and decided to poke himself in the eye so he could stay home "sick" too. In all seriousness, we'd really appreicate your prayers that his eye would heal soon and he would stay HEALTHY. Mark's been sick waaaaaay too much this year and really can't afford much more time away from his thesis.

• As mentioned, today is a lovely, random day off work. They call them "bank holidays" or "local holidays" but in all my digging I still can't quite figure out why they have them. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about time off work, it's just counter-intuataive to this American to have a day off when you aren't actually celebrating something. At church another member and I were discussing various cultural differences regarding holidays and I brought up this point. He was surprised we didn't have "local holidays" (each city or town here has their own days and they don't always coincide with the neighboring towns), but only really national holidays. I mentioned the fact that when we have days off we are usually celebrating something. He sort of took offense at this. I think they just celebrate the seasons instead. There are two days off in the spring, one in July and one in September (and of course ones for Christmas). Note to self, be careful how I talk about this in the future :)

• I received an orchid as a gift (same time as the chocolate on the previous post) and while I have been known to have a green thumb, I've been leary of killing the orchid. It's my first so I've had to do some reading and talking to friends to make sure I'm doing everything correctly. 

• Turning 31 was MUCH easier than turning 30! I'm grateful. I had a delightful and restful few days on and around my birthday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, cards, gifts, etc. Mark obliged my one birthday wish and took me to Dunnottar Castle to get some photos of the castle as the sunset. Too bad the clouds creeped in. But, I did get these and the one below, so the evening wasn't a total disappointment. Just means we have to go again to get the shot I'm looking for :)

• It's been a full few weeks of welcoming new students/families to the University, both at work and also personally amongst my group of friends and our Aberdeen Women's Fellowship. I look forward to this time of year, so I've enjoyed the opportunity to meet new folk and help them settle in to Aberdeen.

• The nights are quickly becoming darker and longer. The longer summer nights are but a faint memory. There is nothing exciting about this except that it signals that the time for us to go "home" for the holidays is creeping ever so closer! We are both now under 2 months to go before being back on US soil! (I say both because we are leaving about a week apart. Mark will go early for 2 conferences while I stay behind and work and then we'll be reunited on the Monday before Thanksgiving.)

• While many in the US have been drowning in buckets of rain, we've had two weeks of very little rain and large amounts of sunshine and fairly warm temps. It's been those days that I am reminded of why I love it here. On one such Saturday afternoon/evening, Mark and I hopped in the car and headed for the hills of Aberdeenshire so Mark could do some fishing and I could (what else) photograph! Here are a few favorite photos from the adventure....

 Mark's in the lower left getting his gear ready and Bennachie is the hill range in the background, with Mither Tap being the peak farthest left. We still need to hike that before we leave.

Beautiful purple heather in the glowing evening sun.

 

I love me some b/w reflections and lines.

 

Bennachie again, with maybe Oxen Craig in the distance? I was drawn in by the golden fields as the sunset on them, constrasting with the darker areas around.

 

More glowing sun on flowers. 

More amazing Scottish scenery. Had to go slightly off the beaten path for this, but well worth it. I like the new header version even more (though the header doesn't do it justice, in my opinion). Mark really liked this version, though, so here it is!

•  While we are sad that Jack is not back (until January), it's been nice to welcome other old friends like Gibbs and gang, as well as Office-mates back into our home.

• Planning a surprise get-away weekend for my dear hubby has proved challenging. He knows we are going way this weekend to celebrate his birthday (and just to give him a much needed break after working so diligently the past couple months), but he doesn't want to know where we are going. I, however, keep forgetting that he doesn't know and have had several near misses of spewing vital information. I will be glad when Friday gets here and I can share my secrets!
  

• I'm sure I could go on and on, but in the interest of your time and mine, mabye we should call it a night. Hopefully it won't be another 2 weeks before I write, but we'll see!
  

Word of the Week

I love that even after 2 years here I am still learning more things about the culture and language. Thought I would share with you today's word of the week.  I was just reading the box of some chocolates we were given to us recently. On it there was the word "moreish." I've heard this word at work and gathered sort of what it meant, but never fully appreciated it until I looked it up on an on-line dictionary. It is an adjective used of food in British culture to describe when something tastes so good you just want more. And just so you can see the word in context, the box states, "...this delicious assortment of moreish chocolates captures Throntons quality and craftsmanship in an indulgent moment."

No wonder it was on a box of chocolate. I like this word.

A Wedding: Scottish Style

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to my first Scottish wedding this past Friday. It was of Pip and Alec that I took photos of on Saturday. Mark was bummed he had a NT conference on campus to attend so he was unable to join me for the festivities. And I had some girl friends unable to go as well, so this post is as much for them as the rest of you :) We've all been wondering how a Scottish wedding compared to an American one. And while I do realize that even amongst American weddings there is diversity, and assume the same is true of Scottish ones, I thought I'd still share what I observed as different in this particular Scottish wedding compared to the multiple American ones I've attended.

For starters, it poured all day the day before. Like for over 24 hours it just kept coming down hard and steady. Things were flooding, roads were closing, train lines stopped. I kept waiting for Noah and his ark to go floating by. I think everyone participating in the wedding must have been praying overtime, because around 20-30 minutes before the wedding the sun came out!! It was so great to see again and that way the bride didn't have to get drenched going into the wedding.

In Scotland many more weddings are conducted on Friday's. Often on summer Friday afternoon's on campus there are weddings taking place at the chapel. I'm unsure why this is such a popular time to get married, but it is. All I can figure is that everyone gets plenty of days off work so it isn't such a big deal for all of your guests to take a day off to participate in your wedding activities.

There was, of course, the traditional piper (bag piper, that is) outside the church playing signaling to all wedding was about to start. Sorry, no photo. Couldn't bring myself to be a tourist this time.

  

Another thing you would notice quickly at most weddings here are the hats. Many women, especially the, er, more mature generations, would be wearing hats. At this wedding there weren't too many worn, but some of the weddings I've seen on campus have had nearly all ladies in hats. 

They did have the bride side and groom side, but the ushers didn't properly escort anyone to their seats. Just more of a "go find your own seat" approach. I noticed that even when the bride's mother went down the aisle no one really escorted her. There was an usher with her, but he just walked behind her. 

The dad still escorts the bride into the ceremony, and the groom with groomsmen were waiting at the end of the aisle. However, the bridesmaids and then the minister followed the bride in! (You can just see the bride's sister and maid-of-honor in the back of this photo.) Isn't Pip beautiful?! Her dress was amazing and I'm not sure if I've ever liked a wedding dress quite as much as I liked hers. Might have even liked it more than my own (which I loved). But I digress. There were no ringbearers or flower girls. Not sure if this is standard or just this particular wedding.

Another thing that caught my attention was how there were two groomsman (his brothers) and 3 bridesmaids, but the other two bridesmaids didn't actually stand up during the ceremony (just her sister). (Note large purple hat on bottom right.) Also, decorations much more simple. One large arrangement at front of church and then small arrangements hanging from the columns on either side of the stage (though not sure they are pictured in any of these photos.)

As for the ceremony. It was definitely a worship service, which was great. Lots of singing which I have seen at some US weddings. The thing I found most interesting was how quickly into the hour or so wedding they were pronounced man and wife and got to kiss. There was the giving away of the bride, a song, Scripture reading, and then the exchange of the vows and rings (which the minister [his dad] had and gave to them), the kiss and lots of people taking pictures. Then we kept singing. Then there was a charge or sermonette from the other minister [our church minister, he's pictured above]. During this charge the couple, as well as their attendents, sat down. I liked that idea as usually everyone gets tired of standing and this keeps anyone from wanting to faint. I wish we had done this! It is probably easier to listen and concentrate on what is actually being said. Then again, that might be why everyone gets videos to watch later :)

After more singing the couple, their attendents, and the ministers went to the back room to sign the marriage register while everyone else stayed put and listened to two songs sung by a duet. It felt kind of weird not to have the couple there for so long. Finally they came back, think we sang one last song and had a prayer, and then they got to go down the aisle. Slightly anti-climactic (in my opinion) but joyous nonetheless as you will see below.

Below is my personal favorite photo of the day for it's artistic quality. It paid to be on the back row and have the glass window looking into the vestibule at my disposal. Despite the sunny look, it was drizzling again at this point. In the words of another guest, the day was very "changeable." I love that Scottish description of the run/sun/run/sun/rain/sun pattern on many days here. It embodies the "you can never be quite sure what will be happening in the next moment weather-wise" reality.

I think they were scheduled to do photos outside, but because of the drizzle kept them inside. Seemed very typical. Bride/groom ones, family ones, wedding party ones. Do you see that dress? Lovely. And while we are on clothing, yes it is very traditional and typical of the gentlemen to be in kilts (wearing the tarten plaid/colors of one side of their family) with those socks/shoes and a tux-like suitcoat. Oh, and wearing the traditional sporran which is possibly the Scottish version of a "murse." Awesome. I also noted that the men's lapels were unopened thistles, which is the Scottish flower/national emblem.

And wedding party ones.

Just to give you a better idea of the kilts. Mark was disappointed Alec wasn't wearing a dagger in his sock like you sometime see. This also is a good place to mention other men (other than the groom) at weddings will be in kilts (again sporting their personal family tarten, though at times maybe they just have whatever pattern they like most). Definitely the wedding party men, male musicians and many other male guests who are Scottish.

I was sad that I never got a chance to say congrats to the couple afterwards, but the tea/coffee/sandwiches/cakes (which means, sweet baked goods, not THE cake) reception through the "hall" was jam packed. Plus I think they were still taking photos and maybe even braved a few outside at some point.

The partying would have continued later in the evening with many of the guests attending a ceilidh. Maybe even a dinner? To read more about another friend's wedding experience (though more just the reception experience since she says that usually only family and close friends attend the actual wedding ceremony. I think that because this was a Christian wedding maybe it was different?) go here.

So think that is it. All in all, it really wasn't too different than what I've experienced at American weddings. I'm thankful Pip and Alec invited the entire church to attend their ceremony so that I could celebrate with them, but also gain another cultural experience.