The semester is finally over; I can't believe how fast this four months passed. I remember arriving to the airport in January with one of my flat mates, we were very excited for the months to come. Now I realize that in the past semester we have done so many things; we have discovered the city, we have met new people, we went to our three classes per week, we traveled around Scotland, and so much more. Amongst the several trips we had around Scotland my favorite one is our road trip to the Isle of Skye during the easter holidays.

A friend from ESDES who is doing his exchange semester in Lancaster came by to Edinburgh and then we took the road in my flat mate's car.

         ESDES's Scottish brigade on the road!

                                (In a Fiat 500 with approximately 100kg of luggage. Boys in the back, thanks girls!)

We first stopped in Oban, a small port town, after four hours of route. We stayed for the night at a hostel called Oban Backpackers. The town welcomed us with the smell of the sea and the seafood, and with the inevitable Scottish rain.

The next day we headed directly to the Isle of Skye. The Scottish Highlands landscapes were astonishing,every 15 minutes we would stop to take some photos of the mountains, the sea or the cliffs. 

Scottish Highlands

After 4 hours by car we finally arrived in the Isle. We stayed at another hostel for the night and the next day we started to discover the Isle. We first went to a place called Neist Point; it is a sort of peninsula with a lighthouse at the end. We were very lucky because it was very sunny, something which is very rare in the Isle of Skye. There were some amazing cliffs at Neist Point; we were blown away by the beauty of this place.

 Neist Point

We were litterally going from hostel to hostel every night, which was cool because it allowed us to stay near to other parts of the Isle and then we could go there more easily. One day before going to a hostel we spotted the most beautiful beach in the world, with Valentin we decided to dive in, even if afterwards we were close to being hypothermic!

Diving in!

In the last day in Isle of Skye we went to its biggest town: Portree. The town was lovely, it was very calm and the people were so welcoming, and we had a royal meal at a seafood restaurant! Then we went to the Fairy Pools which is a place where there is a river with the clearest water that I have seen in the world. There were some amazing waterfalls, it was sunny, so we decided to dive our feet in the water (it was a bit cold by the way!)

The Fairy Pools

After 6 days of road trip it was finally the time to come back to Edinburgh. Now I realize that I have been to one of the most beautiful places in the world, which is located in an underestimated country, form a touristic point of view. Now I can say that I don't regret anything about coming to Scotland, I hope I can return in the near future because Edinburgh and Scotland in general is a place which has left a mark on me.

Scottish independence has always been a sensitive topic. Since the times of William Wallace (1270 - 1307) and the Darien Scheme (1698 - 1700) Scotland has attempted to claim their independence from Britain.

 Sir William Wallace  (Mel Gibson - Braveheart)                                             Flag of the company of Scotland - The Darien Scheme

A referendum will take place on Thursday 18 September 2014 to decide if Scotland should be an independent country. In fact following an agreement between the Scottish Government and the United Kingdom Government the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill was settled on the 21st of March 2013. There are several issues to take into account regarding the Referendum. The main ones are economic issues like currency, continuation of relations with the rest of the UK, and the membership of the country in the EU and the NATO which can be compromised by the independence.

Pro-indepence propaganda

One of the big pro-independence arguments is related to the relationship of the UK with Europe. In fact, because of several EU economic crisis a big part of the Scottish population wants their country to become independent. We can also add that there is a huge nationalistic feeling in Scotland. This feeling has been a characteristic of the Scottish Culture and therefore the inhabitants of the country consider themselves as Scottish and not as British.

We can notice that most of the population is against the independence of Scotland. This fact can be explained by several issues that could make of Scotland a "weaker" country surrounded by economically powerful countries. The uncertainty regarding the economy, the military, the citizenship, the EU and NATO membership, etc. make of the referendum a very sensitive issue. As a consequence a big proportion of the Scottish population is uncertain whether to vote Yes or No.

Against Independence Propaganda

Personally (even if I do not have the legitimate right to give my opinion on this topic) I think that Scotland should not become an independent country. In fact, I think that the decision of becoming an independent country is too risky. There is so much uncertainty regarding what is to come for Scotland that the wiser thing to do is to wait until September and see what happens!

Last weekend I went to London to meet with some friends who are staying in Cambridge. It was an amazing trip; I loved the city, the nightlife and the fact of it being a city with so much cultural diversity. I had a crazy weekend with my friends, but on Monday it was time to come back to Edinburgh by plane.

When I arrived to the Scottish capital airport an advertisement caught my attention: 

When looking at this advert you can infer that the bank is targeting a "very proud of being Scottish" group of customers. In fact the slogan "This Is Home" and the sub-heading "Part of Scotland since 1727" makes me think of a welcoming country on which there is a very strong nationalistic feeling amongst its inhabitants. In fact I have noticed that Scottish people are very proud of being born in this country. When you ask them where they are from they will never answer you back: "I'm from Britain", it will always be "I'm Scottish". Therefore the RBS is taking the Scottish pride into play in order to communicate with people and in order to have a clear differentiation from other UK and international brands.

I personally know that Scottish banks (The RBS and the Bank of Scotland) are very strict when you are a foreigner and you try to open a bank account in their bank. In fact they asked me to bring a lot of documents and certificates which were very complicate to get! As a consequence of this I preferred to open my bank account in Santander, an American Bank, which only asked me to bring my passport and my student card. So I guess the policies of Scottish banks favor Scottish people above foreigners.

I think that in France it would be unusual for a company to decide to market their brand by employing a nationalistic approach. This fact could maybe be explained by the bad connotations nationalism usually has amongst its inhabitants. Even if opening a bank account in France is not that easy, I do not think they favor locals above foreigners. In fact I think French banks try to be the more consistent regarding their policies as possible.

Ceilidh Dancing

The Gay Gordons Coreography

Ceilidh dance is performed in some Irish and Scottish social gatherings. It is the ocassion of playing and dancing along to traditional Gaelic Folk music. This ritual is originated in Scotland and Ireland but nowadays it has been spread throughout the world because of the scottish and irish diasporas.

In my Scottish Culture and Society module we had the opportunity of performing Ceilidh dance.It as a really fun expereince. We danced (tried) to dance sme of the most common coreographies like The Gay Gordons (see video above) and The Waverley among others. There was a band with man dressed in kilts, there was even a man who was playing the bagpipe. Dancing along to the music was dificult at first, the pase seemed very fast, and it was quite dificult to get used to the coreography. Despite this I noticed that everyone was smiling and having such a good time! It was really fun, an experience that I will never forget.

Kilts

The kilt is a traditional garment first worn by scottish men and boys in the 16th century. 

Nowadays it is worn on special occasions like marriages, parades (The military Tattoo   festival), etc. I have been speaking to a lot of scottish men and they are very proud of sticking to their tradition by wearing this garment.

 When I first arrived in Edinburgh I noticed that most of the men wearing kilts were in the old town playing the bagpipe. It is kind of a touristic attraction. Therefore the old town has a very interesting atmosphere. When you hear the bagpipes you realize that you are in Scotland!

And for the record: it is true that scottish men in kilt do not wear undrewear! Yeah... do not ask me how I knew this. 

Haggis

Haggis is the Scottish national dish. It is made by several lamb parts like lungs, hearts and liver among others. It is all mixed with oatmeal, onions, stock, and pepper, and then it is encased on the animal's stomach. It is cooked for approximately three hours.

This dish was a meal for the pour, because the fact of being so cheap. But the it spread in every social class becming a national dish of which scottish are very proud of. 

It may sound like a very weird when people tell you the ingredients of the dish fr the first time. But I have tried some haggis in good restaurants and it is very tasty! (Even if the texture is a little bit odd)

Edinburgh Napier University - Craiglockhart Campus

Edinburgh Napier University is one of the main universities in Scotland, along with the University of Edinburgh and the Queen Margaret University.

Napier has three different campuses: the Merchiston campus, the Sighthill, and the campus on which I assist: Craiglockhart Campus.

History:

In 1964 Edinburgh Napier university opened its doors as Napier technical College, taking its name from John Napier (born in 1550) the mathematician who invented logarithms and the decimal points. In 1966 it was renamed Napier College of Science and Technology. And in 2009 the institution was finally named Edinburgh Napier University to emphasize on the fact that it is located in the Scottish Capital. Edinburgh Napier University was awarded with the Queen's Anniversary Prize in 2009 for Higher and Further Education.

Welcoming and integration:

The NSA (Napier Student Association) organized the welcoming events for the international students on the first week. Therefore I had the opportunity to meet with other Napier students in Pubs and Clubs. It was really nice to meet with people from all around the world! 

Class content:

I am currently following three modules: Fast Track Entrepreneurship, Scottish Culture and Society, and English for professional purposes: advanced level.

Fast Track Entrepreneurship is a very interesting module because it gives me a glimpse of the entrepreneurial world. In fact I have to start and develop from the scratch a business. In order to do so I have to do market researches, financial plans, management, etc. The final goal of the module is to write a business plan and to present your project to potential funders.

Scottish Culture and Society is helping me to understand the history and the social rituals of Scotland. I consider this fact very important because one of the main goals of this semester is to experience some cultural differences and therefore become more open minded.

Finally English for professional purposes is a very helpful  module because it is allowing me to improve my english skills applying them to a professional context.

Cultural differences in the classroom:

I have noticed several cultural differences in the classroom, mainly on the Scottish Culture and English module. In fact in this two modules all of the students are foreigners. As a consequence of this when I interact with them I have the opportunity of being discussing about other countries social rituals and about different points of view.

Student interaction, social life; sports, clubs...

Edinburgh has a vibrant student community in terms of social life. In fact there are several clubs who offer student reductions for the drinks and the food, and student parties are organised aswell. I have noticed that the student community is very fraternal and easy going. Regarding sports I have been going to pubs to watch the Rugby VI Nations Tournament (Despite the poor trajectory of Scotland's team!) and the atmosphere that you encounter cannot be described! 

That is pretty much all of the things I have to say about my university and my integration here in Edinburgh.

Next article will be about Social Rituals in Scotland!

- ALS