Golf Lessons and Scottish Holiday Celebrations

Greetings Friends –

Things have been going quite well here in Aberdeen, and I hope that life is good for all of you back in Texas. Here are a few things that have been happening on this end:

Golf Lessons

Last Friday, three classmates and I attended our first golf lesson at the Murcar Links Golf Club. It’s quite a beautiful course located along the coastline on the Northeast edge of the city. My colleagues and I are part of a pilot program sponsored by the graduate arts school at the University of Aberdeen.

Here's a view of the Murcar Links Course (notice the North Sea in the background):

Essentially, they’re sponsoring us to take weekly golf lessons from the club pro, and in January we’ll receive a free one-year membership to the club. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! :) The club pro, Gary, is an excellent instructor, and I’m so excited to learn to play in the country that invented golf. Amazing fun!

Guy Fawkes Night (a.k.a. Bonfire Night)

On Tuesday night, my flatmates and I went down to the beach to watch the fireworks in celebration of Guy Fawkes Night. Guy Fawkes Night (more commonly known as Bonfire Night) is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Surprisingly, the event is a big celebration in Scotland and England. Fraser, my Scottish roommate, shared his view that the Scottish celebrate because the plot nearly succeeded in destroying parliament. When we asked him why the British celebrate the holiday, he shared his view that they celebrate the fact that they stopped the attempt to blow up parliament.

Here are some of the fireworks:

And here’s a picture of my roommate and I trying figure out how to stay warm (yes, that's a scarf wrapped around my face):

If you’re interested in learning more about Guy Fawkes and the notorious plot to blow up the English Parliament, here’s a link with additional information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

Upcoming Charity Ceilidh Event:

This Friday I’ll be attending the Aberdeen Deeside Rotary Club’s annual Charity Ceilidh. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, a Céilidh (pronounced "kay-lee") is a social event with Scottish highlands music and dancing.

The word céilidh is Irish and Scottish Gaelic for 'visit'.’ The traditional Scottish highlands music is provided by an assortment of fiddle, flute, tin whistle, accordion, and drums. In addition to raising money for local charities, dancing and celebrating at the event with local Rotarians should be great fun. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes.

That’s everything for now, friends. Please have a great week and stay in touch!