Winter in Scotland

Some photos of our yard under frosty conditions. The air is so damp that any drop in temperature causes frost to form on everything, but it has stayed green all winter - a nice change from Minnesota. The other pictures are from our favorite local park called the Pentlands - it is filled with over 30 circuit hikes. The walks are much more varied than back home. On the same walk, you might walk alongside sheep or horses, go straight up a hill, see a waterfall, pass really old cottages, or through small villages. Sometimes it is very muddy and you have to be creative (see how the girls got arond a muddy stretch).

Hibs v. Rangers

Over the break, I was able to experience a UK premier league football/soccer match - the Scottish premier league. It was everything I hoped it would be: crowds forming around pubs along the route to the pitch, tension mounting, police separating the local Edinburgh (Hibernian "hibs") fans from the Glasgow Rangers fans to prevent fighting. In the arena, local and away fans are also separated into different parts of the stadium. Once in the stadium, no alcohol is served for obvious reasons. The match was fantastic and full of atmosphere. From the moment the game started, everyone was standing on their seats, and the songs poured out. There was a song for everything and every player on both sides - a goal scoring song, a bad ref call song, etc. Some of the
songs were 'blue' and not for mixed company. Rangers, the far better team, won 2-1. Leaving the stadium, the police made sure the entire Rangers contingent had exited the stadium before we were allowed to exit. Pretty wild stuff. Following the match, we all went to the Scottish story telling center to hear some local folklore and songs. All in all, a great day.

Canary Islands and Christmas

We spent 10 days in the Canary Islands (Lanzarote ), an Island in Spain. The island has a volcanic landscape of black rock was dotted with green fuzz. Many sites on the island were designed by Cesar Manrique. We toured the national park, Timanfaya, took a camel ride, and saw the most incredible rainbows. We hiked one volcano crater and left our names “written” in rock. The girls spent a lot of time playing on the beaches and collecting shells, sea glass, and peridot. Santa managed to find us (much to Claire’s great relief) and we all enjoyed a vacation of sand and sun.

Settling In

Four months into our adventure and life seems more familiar and not so foreign. We have found the pleasure and charm in our surroundings. We remember to look right, then left when crossing the street, we cross an intersection on the diagonal, and have discovered that pubs are friendly places. Here is a list of words that are now popping up in our speech.

New words we have learned (or new uses):

Trousers----DON’T say pants unless you want a glare
Jotters------ notebooks
Traybakes-- bars and brownies
Rubbers---- erasers
Lift--------- elevator
Roundabout- rotary
Lorrie-------truck
Bonnet----- hood of car
Scheme---- plan or curriculum
Theme----- conference or meeting
Offers------ sales or specials
Jumper----- sweater
Coach------- tour bus
Contraflow-- lane switch on the highway (as if the driving on the left is not bad enough)
Top-up------ top off or fill up
Mobile------ cell phone
Trainers---- sneakers
Turn-ups--- cuffs
Aubergine-- eggplant
Queue------ line up (and they love to queue)
Tariff------- rate or cost
VAT-------- sales tax which is a brutal 17.5%
Bacon rolls-- bacon on a flour roll--these really need to be imported
Wee a fabulous all purpose word: the wee ones, have a wee look, take a wee walk, etc

Christmas Pageant

Last night we attended the primary two “Christmas Carols Around the World” at Sciennes Primary School. Claire was an angel (clearly typecasting) and did a fabulous job! It was a lovely and festive evening and it was a clear example of differences in Scotland:

It was a Christmas pageant, not holiday or winter and it was all Christmas songs including “Away in a Manager”.

Prior to the performance, which was in the school assembly hall, wine and mince pies were served. This is a lovely way to experience school performances!

The front row of seats was reserved for the parent volunteers that helped with the event, what a great way to acknowledge the volunteers.

Thanksgiving

Our first visitors have come and gone. Jane (Aunt Jane) and her friend Lynette (or as Lily says Ninlette) were here for 2 weeks. Bryana (our former babysitter) was here for 1 week. The enthusiastic greeting that Hannah gave Jane was something to witness. We were fortunate to have them here for Thanksgiving, which we celebrated in American style (Jane supplied the pumpkin). It was great to have familiar faces here, it made the house here seem more homey –or as they say here homely. It was sad when they left, but we are keeping busy with all the many holiday activities in Edinburgh, the girls have seen some Christmas pantomimes with their school and we took in ice-skating and the Edinburgh wheel (ferris wheel) and the Christmas markets on Princes St.

Och Aye, Scotland

Lately, I've been truly captivated by the city of Edinburgh - beginning to discover its nooks and crannies, secrets, ghosts, and hidden charms. It is just a cool place, despite its weather and 3:30pm sunsets ... We're beginning to explore its night life and the amazing array of sweet pubs and fabulous restaurants (we've finally tapped into the right set of places which are far better than anything we have at home). Recent fun things included seeing one of the hottest Scot bands, Twilight Sad, from the "fog-drenched streets of Glasgow" at a little club in town. We also checked out the Royal Oak pub that had room for about 20 people and all the folk musicians that could squeeze in. Pubs are an amazing social event and it took me a while to figure this out. Folks won't give you faux friendliness on the street or out in public, but will warmly greet you and engage in conversation in any pub.

I've also fallen quite hard for football (ehm, soccer). I've scored a ticket in an upcoming Scottish premier league (the Scot equivalent of the English premier league) match between powerhouse Rangers (from Glasgow) and local Hibernian (Hibs) from Edinburgh. There are tremendous sectarian rivalries in Scottish soccer - Rangers (non-Catholic) and Celtic (Catholic) both hail from Glasgow. These are the best teams by far in the SPL and rival the top teams in the English league. Most everyone in Scotland may follow a local team, but can placed either in the Rangers or Celtic camp ultimately. Suffices to say that when an English documentary film-maker wanted to capture the intensity of football rivalry and hooliganism, he headed north to Glasgow to watch Rangers v. Celtic. I've chosen a match that will hopefully have the right atmosphere but without any rough stuff.