name:
Katrin age: 21 location: Reykjavík, Iceland nationality: Icelandic msn: trinagunnars (at) hotmail (dot) com reading: Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen. Old Arcadia, by Sir Philip Sidney. listening to:My iPod watching: Buffy DVDs, How I Met Your Mother and Gossssssip Girl likes:sleep, Pepsi Max, YAs by Meg Cabot, TV and my late cat, Joakim dislikes:Techno, math, fish
Yes, last day of the year today! Not much to say, really; just that so far I haven't made a New Year's resolution that I can't keep - nor one I can keep, because that's not the point of New Year's resolutions, anyway - and I highly doubt I will have made one by midnight tonight. No, wait, I've got a couple! They are: I will not quit blogging (you're jumping up and down with glee and excitement for the upcoming year of regular updates of my life right now, aren't you?!), I will buy the Little Miss Sunshine DVD as soon as it hits the UK shops, and I will go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at the cinema, even though Keira Knightley annoys the hell out of me after the last one.
See you next year peeps! Love, Katrin.
QotD: Jack Houriskey: "God gave us alcohol as a social lubricant. To make men brave, make women loose." - Just Like Heaven |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 12:55:-
Friday, December 29, 2006
I give up...
... I just have to get that post out there. I admit it might not be that interesting; but because I wrote it late on the 25th, it becomes more obsolete with every day that passes, and I don't want it to get lost, like many never-before-seen posts I've written through the years. Yes, years. So here goes: So what have I been up to these last 4 days since I got to Isafjordur? Well, in short, I've eaten, I've hugged relatives, I've eaten, I've opened presents, I've eaten some more, and played UNO! That was fun, even though I lost by quite a few points...! Starting with Friday. I did not end up having to drive (or, rather, be driven) up north - or west as we like to say here, even though it is in the north direction. My flight was only delayed 4 and a half hours , and I only waited at the airport about two hours. Which, really, is nothing. While waiting I had a nice chat with the young woman who was sitting next to me in the waiting area, who had been waiting since 11 AM, and she had a flight booked the day before! She had barely missed two flights to Akureyri, because she was too far back in the queue, but then as I finally was about to board my plane, it had been announced that there were two flights to Akureyri, one of which she was going to be on. Even though I had only known this woman one hour, and didn't even find out her name, I felt happy for her. She had been travelling in South America with her friend for three months, and then on her way she'd flown from Mexico->London->Amsterdam->Keflavik, and then she was finally going home. But then when I'd got to Isafjordur - it always surprises me how short the flight is, only 40 minutes! - and was talking to my grandma on the phone, she told me that all flights to Akureyri had been cancelled because of the bad weather. I then felt really sad for that woman I had talked to! But enough about strangers having trouble getting home for Christmas. I had a jolly good time on Friday - first realtive-visiting and stuff. That was nice. Hugging ensued. There's always a lot of hugging when you haven't seen people for months, especially when you're living in another country. On Saturday we went to grandma Haddy and grandpa Joi's house for skate/stingray, cooked the traditional way as it is in most homes/families in Iceland on the 23rd of December. It stinks. No, I mean it: the stench is so horrible that everybody wears dirty and/or clothes they don't care about, and then as soon as they get home, they take a shower and stuff the clothes into the washing machine, because it's so unbearable. And yet they eat it. Well, most of them. I personally hate it. I tasted it once about a dozen years ago, and ever since then, the closest I dare come to this fish dish is when I'm sitting by the table on which it is, while eating my (this year) hot dog and dessert. But you get used to it - much like when you're working in a fish factory! - but then you get home and you realise how bad you smell - exactly like in the fish factory! I stayed at home that night - the night before Christmas! - just chilling in front of the TV, with my laptop in my lap and watching a Bette Midler movie called Isn't She Great? about the author of The Valley of the Dolls. It was interesting... Well, what I saw of it, at least. On the morning of Christmas Eve I woke up within an hour before we left for my step-uncle Gretar and his Swedish wife Pernilla's house for a Swedish Christmas lunch of herring. It was nice - the whole family meeting there; stepmum Kiddy's family I mean, of course. Then they would all come to our house in turn, later that night. We had a delicious dinner (but of course we did!!!), and there were eight of us dining and opening prezzies together; Dad, Kiddy, Danni bro, step-grandma Ninna, stepsis Sandra Bergmann, her boyfriend Elli, his son Baltasar, and obviously me. There were so many presents, that even though Baltasar saw to that we were all opening some at the same time, it took us about an hour and a half to finish! I got some good ones, I have to say. Cousin Sandra Run and I then went to midnight mass together, which was wonderful. It is not a tradition in our family to go to mass on Christmas, but for years when I've spent Christmas in Reykjavik I've always gone to midnight mass with mum and co., in the Cathedral, and it really doesn't feel like Christmas until then. And so Sandra Run and I decided to go together, and it was great. The peak of the night, I have to say - it even beat the present-opening! It's the hymns, I tell you. I love singing the Christmas hymns! One of the things that I miss most about Iceland - singing Christmas hymns in choir. Today I woke up at noon - I slept through the alarm clock! I think I'm just making up for all the hours of sleep I've lost during the last few months at school... I watched the second half of Santa Clause 2 (Tim Allen... yay!) and then the second part of Home Alone 2 (not a sarcastic yay!!!) with dad. That was nice and Christmassy. I'm not sure if I should feel embarrarssed admitting that the endings of both Home Alone movies always make me cry...! We went to dinner at my step-uncle Siggi and his wife Stina's house (and they smoke, and even though they only smoked outside, the house smelled, and so do I now... grrr...). We had smoked "hung meat" of sheep. Now that is a Christmassy dish. It was wonderful. Then after dinner we all played cards and board games for a few hours - I played UNO, then another group played this board game called Catan, and another group played some card game called Manni. I lost gloriously, while step-uncle Nonni won gloriously. It was really fun - it's always fun getting together with the extended family and just play cards. UNO, to be more specific. Oh, and did I mention that there were 21 of us, including the kids? Not everybody played, obviously; we were 8 playing UNO, then 3 playing Catan and Manni each. Aaaanyways. It's way too late for me. I have to go to bed. I'm staying up late tomorrow night as well, so I better get some good sleep. But I don't want to wake up too late either, because I want to watch some Christmassy TV.... Good night and Merry Christmas everyone!
So that was it. The video above is for the song "Naked As We Came", by the brilliant band Iron & Wine. Highly recommend it. |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 20:11:-
Katie Melua - Just like Heaven
For some stupid reason I can't post a new blog entry! I've tried a few times - I wrote a long-ish one on Monday night, but I can neither post it nor save on my blogger account! Rats! I want to blog! So I'm just leaving this message to tell you all (yes, I know you're reading this; the counter gives you away!) that I have not forgotten about my blog what with all my holday fun in Iceland... Partly because I haven't been having a LOT of holiday fun. Sure, there's been some, but there's also been boredom. Lots of it. SO. In the meantime, enjoy this video of Katie Melua's performance of "Just Like Heaven" on Davina. |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 00:00:-
Friday, December 22, 2006
Update an hour after last post
Just heard that I am booked on a flight that leaves at 1 PM - hopefully. Also talked to dad, who said that my uncle Nonni knows a woman whose daughter is going to rent a car and drive, so I could also get a ride with her. I think that woman might be my uncle's step-mother-in-law, but I'm not sure... What did I tell you? SMALL COUNTRY!!! Seriously, everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody. |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 11:34:-
The weather on a small island in the North Atlantic
Now I know for sure that I am in Iceland. Oh yes. Reason? Bad weather. Well, maybe not bad per se - not as bad it was yesterday, at least; crazy wind and snow - but bad enough that I am not on an airplane on the way to Isafjordur right now. Apparently it's winds in the mountains or something - or that's what some guy told my dad. He assured me, though, that the weather is getting better, don't know what to believe. He said this yesterday as well. That it would be better today, I mean. I have chosen to be in a better mood today; yesterday I was thoroughly annoyed by the crazy winds and the snow (which usually I wouldn't mind at all; I mean, who doesn't love snow? I haven't seen real snow in quite a while. I don't love it, however, when my flying to Isafjordur depends on the weather), but now I choose to be positive. They are "checking" at the airport every hour to see if the weather's good enough, and if it won't be before some time today, I might be able to get a ride up north (a 6-7 hour drive btw) with my step-mum's co-worker's daughter-in-law, who apparently is my age. Dad had said he'd secure me a ride with a trucker he knows who's driving in the afternoon, but then he found out he's already promised three people a ride in case of no air traffic. And he's only got one seat... But he did manage to find me a ride. Well, I guess it was Kiddy, but he and dad are kind of a package, having been married for 15 years.
This shows how tiny Iceland is; there is always somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who, for example, can give you a ride to Isafjordur two days before Christmas. Especially in small towns like Iso (population of 2779, last count...) where everybody knows pretty much everybody, and whence so many people move down south to the capital. This gives the people who still live in Isafjordur quite a few connections, as exhibited by this arrangement. And it is quite convenient in situations like this!
OK, I am going to be positive. Yes indeed. Tonight I will be going to bed in Isafjordur, and that's that.
Rebekah's 18th birthday is today (congratulations!). She celebrated on Monday by inviting a bunch of us to this place called Lazer Quest, and then to Pizza Express (yum!) for dinner afterwards. This lazer thing is kind of like paintball, only not as messy and physically injuring. You wear a sort of a vest/pack which has lights and some kind of sensors on it, and then of course a lazer gun. Don't worry - it's not real! Then you are let loose in this labyrinth, which is completely dark aside from some light things (the names of which I've forgotten - they're the ones that illuminate all bright things, like e.g. white clothing; they're not called UV-lights, are they?), and if you're playing a solo game, you're supposed to shoot just anybody you come across, aiming at the lights on their vests. Which is rather fun, I have to say, if not a bit nerve-racking, because it's easy to get quite startled when somebody comes up behind you in the dark! Then if you're playing in teams, you aim at anyone whose lights are the other colour - there are red and green; I was green, so I tried to shoot any reds I saw. Which is a little bit harder, but fun all the same. Afterwards, you get a print-out of all your score - who you hit and who hit you, and your rank. That was quite neat. I think this would actually be good for soldiers to practice teamwork; practice not to shoot the wrong people! I mean, if I weren't against all that shooting and warfare stuff... But it is kinda fun, I have to admit!
The food at Pizza Express was certainly deee-licious. I had a pizza called "Foresta", which had Portobello mushrooms (whether they were from Portobello in Edinburgh or if that's just their name I do not know), chicken, rosemary and garlic oil. I quite like rosemary, I must say!
Rebekah's mum, probably conspiring with the people at Pizza Express, had decorated the table (they had a few tables pushed together to seat all 13 of us) with bits of present-wrapping-ribbons, two birthday balloons, Christmas chocolate, and Christmas crackers. I've never pulled a cracker before, so this was sorta special for me, so I've kept the crown/hat, the note with the riddle ("Who's the most famous American married woman?") and the toy (a baby-blue hair clip) as souvenirs. Pathetic? YOU might think so, but coming from a country where crackers are not common, this is new for me. So there.
Anyways. There was delicious chocolate for dessert, which - like the chocolate - kinda tasted like Smarties!
Time passed so quickly, that when it was all of a sudden approx. 10:30 PM, it still felt like 9 PM! I walked home with Emily and Kimberley, and part of the way with some of the others.
Well. It was a delightful evening. I've been having a few of those lately! Last night I joined a group and went to the Jazz Bar, which was delightful. Just tonight we had a "mini-Christmas" at home, as Matti and I won't be home at Christmas. So tonight we opened some of our presents - all the ones that we had here, including the ones from mum and Bjorgvin. I got a Bose SoundDock for my iPod from them!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know, that thing that you can connect to your iPod and it's like a stereo, with some awesome speakers and sound quality.
Yes, well. It's totally late, considering that I have to get out of bed at 6 AM tomorrow, starting my journey to Iceland from Waverley->Glasgow Queen Street->Glasgow airport->Keflavik International Airport. Big day, yes. So good night I say, and maybe I'll check in tomorrow or later.
Bye peeps!
QotD: Bart: "I knew it! Inside every hardened criminal beats the heart of a ten-year-old boy!"
Only my iPod is a 30 GB Video... which I got last Christmas!!!! |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 21:41:-
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
This is post number 601!
I'm at school right now, and for some silly reason, I can't open my blog! Apparently, it's:
The requested document, http://pantaleon.blogspot.com/, will not be shown. Reason: Found in Denied List (Sex/Acts). Entry causing block is blogspot.com.
If you have noticed anything on my blog which resembles anything of a sexual nature or pornography, please let me know; I do not want people to think I'm running a porn site here!
Yeah, that's basically it. It's just a funny thing. |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 12:32:-
Monday, December 18, 2006
JGHSCCC
Yes, I am finally going to sum up last Thursday's James Gillespie's High School Christmas Carol Concert.
The day went something like this: I came to school for registration, armed with only my purse (much to the surprise to my little brother, who seems to have the short term memory of a fruit fly...), and then walked to the Usher Hall with Kirstie and Rebekah. We had choir rehearsal at approx. 9:30, and I think it took at least a half hour just to get everyone seated in their proper seats. It was this whole big thing. If you've ever been to the Usher Hall, or seen photos, you'll understand (I might post some here, when Mr Caddell, who was the designated photographer of the concert, has put them up on the JGHS website. Obviously, seeing as how I was in the concert myself, I could only take photos in the dressing room...). After choir, I had Senior Vocal Group, and at about half-ten, I think, we went a group of us to Caffe Nero and had some hot chocolate (and I had a cookie, too!), until we had to be back to rehearse for the big finale item with the other choirs; all put together, there were the P7/S1 choir, S2/S3 choir, and then the Senior Choir. All doing the same item. I just have to feel sorry for Mrs O'Brien and MRs MacQuade, who directed it. But it was fairly simple, and went OK, in my opinion.
That rehearsal was finished just past one, and a whole big group of use went to Jimmy Chung's, this Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant - for only 5.99! Mmm, I ate so much that when I had dinner at 6 PM, I could only eat one part of the chicken we had, still being so full from lunch. Actually, that piece of chicken was the only thing I ate for the rest of the night, not counting the handfuls of Special K cornflakes I snacked on at Svetlana's at 2 AM.
But I digress. Like I wrote in my last post, my German teacher pretty much ordered me to skive for the rest of the day, so of course I grabbed the opportunity and went shopping. I actually managed to finish all my Christmas shopping! YAY! A whole week before I go to Iceland.
The concert went good, I think - my only regret is that the choir and the vocal group's performances were over too quickly! It would have been so good if we'd had like a full itinerary, like in e.g. the MR-choir (uh-oh, I feel nostalgia coming on...). You know, it feels kinda nice when your throat is all sore after an hour and a half's singing, and you feel kind of... accomplished. It was just so much fun and it felt so good. I wish I still had that.
Oh well. I make do with what little I do have - which is quite good. At least it's something!
After the concert was finished, though, the night most certainly wasn't. In fact, it was just starting.
We headed down to ____, where Svetlana lives, and there the party started. Well, not so much to say about that, except there was some good stuff (NOT that kind of "good stuff"!) thieved, and took loads of photos. As in, loads. About 64 I think, excluding those I deleted. I may well have photographed pretty much everybody who was there - whether I knew them or not! But unlike the photos I took at Rachel's party, I actually knew the names of the people in them... well, most of 'em at least.
I went home late late - though not nearly as late as some people, who didn't even leave at all! I walked with a few people who live in the same neighbourhood and/or direction as me, and had a nice good chat with Fiona the Kiwi (this is the word she prefers, she told me!). I actually just met her at Rachel's party and then again at Svetlana's, but it's real fun to chat with her.
Anyway. On Friday morning I had an opportunity to get a bit more rest in the library in first period - as usual! We didn't really do any studying in English, which was good, since I was going on 4 1/2-hours of sleep. No wonder I just had to nap when I got home. I napped so much, in fact, that I didn't get much time to actually study, even though Fridays are supposed to be my study days. But it's not like I'm complaining or anything...
Well, enough for now. And just so you know; I have been trying to add some pix to this one and the previous posts, to brighten them up a bit, but the blogger add-a-photo thing is acting up or something. So sorry! Not my fault!
QotD: Pinky: "I've been thinking. I don't really want to be an elf."
The Brain: "You've seen too many Christmas specials, Pinky." - Pinky and the Brain (Brain Brain Brain, Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain, Brain Brain Brein Brain, Brain.)
Sorry, not much to tell today. I actually had a great weekend - aside from, erm, sleeping position, or lack thereof - and did actually not have a banging headache on Sunday, as I expected (and, I assume, everybody I conversed with on Saturday would've expected...). More on the weekend on my bebo.
Tomorrow night is the James Gillespie's High School Christmas Carol Concert at the Usher Hall. Because of this, there will be rehearsals all day at Usher Hall, and since I am in both Senior Choir and Senior Vocal Group, I will have to go to reahearsals from approx. 9:30-10:sth, and then again from 12:30 to 13:00. I'm going to miss English, but I told Ms Malcolm, my German teacher, that I could make it to German in 5th and 6th period; however, she was all, 'Oh, don't bother; just do whatever you like, relax, you don't have to come to class - you've been to every single lesson since school started, so you can just skive, this once. We won't miss you. I won't tell...' and so on. I totally don't mind skiving German, but I wouldn't mind going to class, either. It would be interesting to see what "junk from their rooms" the guys will bring to Philipp's speaking lesson. That's actually what he said; something like a secret santa, except we (well, they) were supposed to find just any old junk or crap from our (their) bedrooms, wrap it, and bring it to class. You know, a Christmassy thing!
Well. I'll blog about the JGHSCCC and the evening on Friday or on the weekend. ttfn.
QotD: Kate Collins: "My family still observes a cocktail hour with a vengeance." - Eulogy |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 23:03:-
Friday, December 08, 2006
Ice ice baby!
Today I went ice skating for the first time in at least 3 years! And it was good fun, though I was a bit wobbly on the skates, at first. I went to town with Rachel, Alina (German exchange student) and Juulia (Finnish), and we shopped a bit before meeting some of Ally and Juulia's exchange student friends, from Italy, Norway, and later Australia - and OK, there was one Scottish guy - and went to the ice skating rink in the East Princes Street Gardens, where there's this Winter Wonderland. 8.50 pounds for a pair of skates and one hour on the rink. Is it a rip-off? I don't know, seeing as how I haven't been skating in years, and I have my own skates. Or my mother's old skates, rather. But I guess it's alright, because - as far as I know - this rink is only there for about a month I think, throughout December and a bit into January. So there's not much time for a bit of skating.
Anyway; it was good, though after less than an hour my feet were totally killing me. Skating in a circle in the same direction for a long time really puts more pressure on the right foot, causing searing pain. It was good to get back into my own (sort of high-heeled) shoes. It was about 8:30 PM when we were all finally ready to leave - and we (well, at least Rach and I, to my knowledge) had not had any dinner yet! So she and I parted with the rest, who were going to MacDonald's - of all places! Even though we were right next to the annual German Christmas Market! - and went and got some dinner in the form of Bratkartoffeln (mine with an unpleasantly-tasting pickle) from the German Christmas Market. Aside from the pickle, it was delicious. Though I think I could have found anything gastronomically pleasing by then, considering how starved I was. I hadn't eaten since 2 PM. 6 1/2 hours without nourishment. Ooof.
It was way colder on the way back than it was while we were skating (surprise surprise!), so we caught a bus back for a part of the way - and it was sooooo nice and warm! Mmmm. Now I'm lying in bed, in my pj's under the duvet - such an incredibly therapeutic sitch when your toes are cold and your are feet hurting. I'm feeling nice now.
Heather McCallister: "Eleven, including me. Five boys, six girls, four parents, two drivers, and a partridge in a pear tree." - Home Alone
|
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 23:34:-
Monday, December 04, 2006
Free Hugs Campaign
This is so cool! I wish I'd see that man - it does seem a bit weird to hug a stranger, but it's just sweet! Read more: http://www.freehugscampaign.org/ |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 23:44:-
Time for a new sidebar picture - the other one was 3 years old!
|
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 23:10:-
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Forgot one more thing
Yes, I suddenly remembered one thing that I was going to include in my post about the St Andrew's Day ceilidh. Well. When the last band was playing, most of the guests had consumed quite an amount of liquor. I believe I mentioned there were a lot of tourists there. And that last hour, a bunch of those tourists were standing right in front of us. And one of them was quite the dancer. Britney-style. To folk-ish music. Have you ever seen anybody dance Britney-style to folk music? It's weird. And funny. Hilarious, in fact. OK, that was about it.
QotD: Daisy Adair: "You are always in your own head. It's like you're talking to yourself." George: [voice over] "Am I?" - Dead Like Me |
-: Trina
illustrated her blog at 23:39:-
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Oh what a beautiful day
I forgot to mention one thing that happened on Thursday night. Can't imagine why I didn't remember it, as it is a very bloggable thing. Anyway. We were standing right next to one of the speakers - really really biiiig speakers - and listening to some band (it was at the beginning of the night) when I suddenly felt something on the back of my neck. Weird. I turned around, and there were a couple of women giggling vigorously. Turned out that one of them had seen the tag on my shirt was sticking out, and she had turned it inside for me. I thanked her, giggling vigorously. It is always funny when a stranger does something like that!
Well. Today was a beautiful day. A heartwarming day. Now I feel that Christmas is drawing near. 22 days! YIKES! I can now listen to Christmas carols and hum Christmas hymns while I'm walking outside, and belt them out while in the comfort of my own bedroom.
There was an advent service/mass for Icelanders at St John's church on Princes Street; an incredibly nice and big church - though somehow not as big inside as it looks from outside. Anyway. There was a small group put together to be a choir this one day - although it only consisted of five people, including me, and the woman who organised it. She is a professional singer, an opera singer, and has an incredible voice. It was amazing to listen to her sing a solo piece. Well, we sang four hymns, and she had asked me to sing alto! I have never before sung alto. And we only had one rehearsal, just before the mass, to run through them; she had a few days ago e-mailed the music to us four others, but as none of the four computers I opened the file in had Photoshop, I could only see the first page, which happened to be the mass programme, which I have sung in mass with the MR choir many times before, so I didn't really need that. But thankfully, another woman sang alto with me - although she hadn't seen it before either, she was a great help to me, and I believe we did reasonably well, considering the circumstances. Out of the twenty or so people who attended the mass, and then us five, she and I were the only ones who sang the alto part. Obviously the church-goers - or those who had enough guts to sing along; which shouldn't be that hard, since at least two of the hymns were hymns that pretty much every person in Iceland over the age of five knows (Nottin var su agaet ein & Bjart er yfir Bethlehem) - sang the melody, i.e. soprano part. So I think we were rather gutsy ourselves, Charlotta and I!
Anyhow: it was great. Really Christmassy. And then after the mass there was a small hot-chocolate-and-cookies reception for the peeps in this room next to the church hall or whatever it's called, where there was much chatting and cookie-eating and hot-chocolate-sipping. That was nice.
On the way out, there was some band rehearsing for a concert that would be in the evening. They were practicing Peter and the Wolf, and there was even a woman narrating the story! It was so cool. That story and music gives me such nostalgia. Lots of nice memories.
After that, I went on a little Christmas shopping mission. It was at about four PM, and it was already getting dark! That was very nice, very Christmassy, and I could better admire the pretty lights in the trees in the Princes Street Gardens. Plus it was just cosy. Chilly and cosy. I was very happy that in addition to a bunch of presents, I found a new Meg Cabot book, Queen of Babble, in Waterstone's. That was neat. And what a difference a little smile can make for a day! A little smile goes a long way, I tell you.
I haven't been to a book shop in quite a while, having been too busy to even go to town. But I assume I'll be going a few times more before Christmas, to finish the shopping before I go to Iceland... in 18 days!!! EEEEK! It's too soon! I haven't nearly got as much English dissertation work done as I should, which means that I will have to be sweating a lot over it during the holidays. Whee. But at least I won't be bored. Because in a small town like Isafjordur, there's not much to do except maybe visit the relatives. Not that that's a bad thing or anything, but I will be spending more than a fortnight there.
OK, so this has been my day. A beautiful day it was.
Bring on the Christmas lights. Bring on the Christmas carols, hyms and classic pop songs. I am ready for the Christmas spirit!
QotD: Cordelia: "I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan."
So yesterday was St Andrew's Day; the day to celebrate Scotland's patron saint. Yay! Last year, there was no celebration that I noticed - I didn't even know it was St Andrew's Day until I read an article in The Scotsman (or heard it on the radio; not to sure - it was a whole year ago!) about how Scots in Scotland don't even celebrate St Andrew's Day by making it a bank holiday, whereas Scots in other countries such as Denmark make it this huge big thing! There was no mention of it at school.
But this year, some changes were made. There was this thing that all the schools in Edinburgh (or so we were told...) were doing; raising money for something that supports the school or whatever (it was all very vague...). Somebody at James Gillespie's High School (I don't know who it was, and I don't think that person will be revealing his/her identity, as a lot of people would be prehehetty annoyed with him/her - I even heard some people saying they might feel compelled to inflict physical pain on that person... though I suspect that was just hypothetical) suggested the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years would go on this sponsored walk, and of course us 6th years had to "chaperone" them, as well as the teachers. So everybody was given a sheet with endless lines, to collect sponsors (I don't think a lot of people actually made a point of finding people; probably just parents and perhaps grandparents) and then yesterday we were supposed to walk two laps around Bruntsfield Links - which was estimated to take about an hour - ehemm, at LEAST 600 people were doing this, so naturally it would take a while - but since the weather was so unpleasant - pretty high/strong (or whatever the word is) winds, and kinda cold for people who weren't quite dressed for it, Mr Wallace the head teacher decided to make it just one lap, because he was sure the teachers would have "throttled" him (his word, not mine) if we'd have had to walk two rounds; and I am sure they would have!
I, thankfully, dressed sensibly; I put on my big big down parka that I got before a school trip in January/February 2000 - and it still fits perfectly!!! It's incredibly isolating, though it acted kind of like a kite in the wind, and I am sure that if I weighed but 10 or 20 kiloes/pounds less, I would have flown away. That might have been fun! Since I was so sensibly dressed, I wasn't freezing, and the walk actually wasn't all that bad. We had some good fun complaining about it...
In the evening I went to a ceilidh at the Hub with Sukey and Julia - a FREE ceilidh, I should say, because that was half the fun! It was the first time that I've been to a celidh outside of school. It was actually kinda fun! There wasn't much traditional Scottish dancing, like at the ceilidhs that I've been to - there were three dances, and two were pretty much a disaster... but fun, though! the first one I don't remember what is called, but it's the one where three people pair up, and then they do this dance opposire another group of three, and then move about to the next group. That wasn't too much of a success, as there were a lot of tourists that I believe had no idea what to do. For the first time that I've been to a celidh and am not the one who knows none of the steps (simply put; the worst dancer...) and I was kinda proud of that! Then Strip the Willow was danced twice, and the first time it was a whole big mix-up, but the second time it was good, when the lines were made bigger, so instead of just six or eight (don't remember which one) couples in a group, there were... um... a whole lot more; the lines were from end to end of the dance floor! And that was it of traditional Scottish dancing.
There was enough of music, though. There were, like, five bands playing, and among those two bands, the best bands of the five, in my opinion, which had totally mad violinists - and they were soooo good. They played so fast you could barely keep up with the tempo! I am pretty sure the last one (who kind of looked like one teacher at JGHS!) was either drunk and/or high, because, well, he was cra-ay-zay! This theory of mine was supported by the fact that they were the last band to play, and he several times took a swig out of beer bottles - yes, different brands of beer; it wasn't just the one. But whatever. He was good, so I don't care. And it was so amazing, that both of these bands played songs for about 10 minutes, without pausing - well, not quite true; they'd slow down a little bit every few minutes, so people thought the song was over, and then they'd continue right on. The mad/high/drunk violinist said before their last song (not counting the encore!) that they could go on for hours, but his mother had told him he had to be home early... mmm... yeah right. ;)
I don't remember what that band was called, but the other one which had a mad violinist is called Moishe's Bagel, and they play "klezmer and Balkan" music. It certainly wasn't Scottish traditional! While they were playing, there were at least two or three conga lines going, which was obviously fun. I mean, who doesn't like a good conga line?
When the ceilidh was finished and we went outside, I had this weird feeling. I kinda felt like I was drunk, but I definitely wasn't, seeing as how I didn't actually consume any alcohol (honestly!). I decided it was just a natural high. It has been a while since I danced like that!
While I was waiting at the bus stop, I stood in a doorway to get some shelter from the wind (didn't make much difference, but better than nothing!), and had a nice little chat about St Andrew's Day and ceilidhs with the woman who was standing next to me. That was neat.
OK, so this has been my account of my second St Andrew's Day in Scotland - and it was infintely better than the first one (I assume...).
Michel: "I don't eat bagels. Bagels are like glue in your intestines and ensure that everything that enters your body will remain there until you die."
