"Reading" Week

Well, I've been here for seven weeks now and still love it. We have this whole week off of class, it's called "reading week", which implies that we are meant to be reading, but of course, no one does. It really ought to be called "traveling week", because that is what everyone does. So tomorrow morning my friend Katie and I are flying down to London for 3 nights, and then taking a seven hour long train ride through England and Scotland on friday to spend a night in Edinburgh. I am ecstatic, needless to say. We have an extensive list of things we want to do while in London, and there is so much on it I am not sure we can achieve it all, but we will try! I will post when I return! 

One Month Anniversary

I am one lucky girl. That is the thought that was floating through my head as I strolled through town today, listening to the church bells ring the hour in the great stone tower. That thought actually floats through my head a lot. Like during a meeting for UNYSA last week, when we were brainstorming events for AIDS week in December, and I was able to draw on my experiences from high school and this past summer to give ideas and advice. And as I was making dinner with a huge group of friends, in a kitchen that overlooks the Royal and Ancient golf course. And as I listened to an expert lecture on Humanism during the Northern Renaissance. And then of course, at the Opening Ball last Friday night which deserves a paragraph of it's own...

Since the day of my arrival here in St Andrews, there has been a group of guys outside the Union hounding my fellow students and I about buying tickets to the Kate Kennedy Charity Opening Ball. I finally gave in and bought the 28quid ticket ($55!!! which is why I was hesitant, but it was worth it). So the night of the ball arrived, and my friends and I all crammed into one bedroom and fixed each others hair, and got all dressed up. It was raining, so we took a taxi into town and a man in a kilt greeted us and held an umbrella over us as he directed us towards the welcome tent, where we were all handed a flute of champagne and a yellow rose. We were then led to the main tent, where we joined a few hundred beautifully dressed people mingling and sipping on overpriced drinks as we danced and chatted the night away. It was like a movie. 

I have a group of really great friends, who make life so much better. Last night we made two dinners, haha. The first was tacos and the second was PANCAKES!!! It was so delicious. I haven't been missing American food much, but tacos and pancakes have been what I have been craving most, so it was a really good night. Our weekends usually consist of some culinary adventure, and then the 15 minute walk into town to hang out at the Union or curling up in the TV room and watching a movie. 

And of course, there is the copious amount of studying I am expected to do. I have found my favorite spot in the library, where I can spread my work out and focus for a few hours. And I know all the best coffee shops in town, where I rejuvenate with mochas and scones. Overall, I am really enjoying my classes. History is my favorite, and daily I am reassured in my decision of that as my degree. Hebrew continues to be challenging and fascinating. International Relations...well, hopefully I'll learn to enjoy it. 

Today is my one month anniversary here in St Andrews. I feel like I have lived here for much longer. I love it here. I do miss home, but I truly feel like I belong here, and I thank God he led me to this small, quaint, gorgeous, lovely place. 

Any news from home is always appreciated, as are letters and care packages :) 

Lots of love xoxo

    

First Day of Class

I woke up feeling ill and absolutely dreading the day. I really did not know what to expect but everything turned out alright. I love my courses! I began Modern History and Hebrew today, and my first International Relations class is tomorrow. History is a huge class, about 300 people in a large lecture hall, while Hebrew is a nice small group of about 20 and is really relaxed and a bit informal. My teacher told us to call him Drew, he doesn't like to be called "Mr so and so" apparently. We began to learn the alphabet today, practicing our letters and such. I am very excited about Hebrew. It reminds me of my high school New Testament Greek class, which I loved, and I have a feeling I am going to love Old Testament Hebrew just as much. 

It was a typical Scottish day. Grey sky in the morning, then cleared up a bit, and then rained spottily in the afternoon. There was a massive rainbow over the town, it was quite picturesque, I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out. It is supposed to be in the 50s all week, and rain everyday. I have learned to carry an extra layer and an umbrella always. 

I went to church at the University Chapel yesterday. It was beautiful. It is held in St Salvators, which was built in the mid fifteenth century, with huge stained glass windows, and traditional seating where the rows face each other, not the front. A number of students were wearing their Academic Gowns, heavy red cloaks that are to be worn for special occasions. I have ordered mine but it hasn't come in yet. After church there was a reception held by the University Principal, during which we all mingled and sipped our glasses of wine (what a life!). Afterwards I went over to the Societies Fayre, where over 150 clubs had set up booths and tried to persuade students into joining their group. I joined the History Society and got a laminated membership card which entitles me to special lectures and field trips to historical sites, apparently we also get together and talk about history and play things like Jeopardy. Basically we get to be dorks together, which is great. I gave my email to a number of other clubs but didn't commit yet, a few were the photography society, OneWorld (an activism group for social justice and the like), Azibo (which works with a charity in Africa and focuses on orphans and AIDS victims), Sustainable Development, Hillwalking (which looks awesome, they lead hikes all over Scotland, there is one every week) and a bunch of others that I cannot remember now. I'm not sure which ones I'll seriously join. 

I have a feeling that I am going to be quite busy between lectures, tutorials, coursework, societies and maybe even a sport (yes, I signed up for a sport, we'll see if I actually go through with it...it's Netball, I played it in Africa and thought it was cool, so I signed up for the University's social league), and I am attempting to get a part time job. I'm feeling stressed out already, but there is a yoga class in town 4 times a week, so I may take advantage of that to relax. 

Here is my term address, if you feel like sending me some love :) 

Jenna Luetkehans

2004 New Hall

North Haugh

St Andrews

Fife KY16 9XW

Scotland, UK

Freshers Week

Pre-sessional Week. Week Zero. Orientation Week. All names for the same thing. The past seven days have been exhausting, due to the many events scheduled that aim to welcome us, inform us and force us to socialize. It is been a blast learning my way around the university, making friends and preparing for school to really start.

The University of St Andrews is quite an international school and I am meeting people from all over the world. During dinner my first night here I sat with a girl from Cyprus, a Russian girl, a girl who has lived in America, Mexico and Berlin and a Scottish girl. Since then I have met people from Barbados, Spain, France, Finland, El Salvador, Antigua, Canada, Singapore, China, Japan, and England, along with a large number of Americans. When a group of people are together at a meal or just hanging out in the coffee shop (yes! there is a coffee shop in my dorm) our favorite things to do are discuss the differences in our cultures and mimic each others accents/languages. I have a horrid English accent, the Brits just laugh at me. But perhaps with practice I will get better. 

Classes begin on Monday, and I must say, I am ready to start. This has been a very fun week, and I’ve made loads of friends and have settled in nicely, but I’m ready to get into a routine. This semester I am taking Early Modern History 1450-1650, Intro to International Relations, and Old Testament Hebrew, all of which I am quite excited about. I matriculated on Wednesday, a tradition that is basically registration but they call ‘becoming a member of the university family’, so I am officially allowed to be here now. I really love this place. I said goodbye to my mom last night, which was horrible, but I am glad to be here. 

Pictures: My room before; my room after; the town and east sands; New Hall, my dorm. Photos courtesy of Carol Luetkehans

  

 

Getting There is Half the... Fun?

Fun may not be the first adjective I would pick when completing that cliche, and journey, battle, and challenge don’t quite seem to fit either. My last 48 hours in the States were hectic as I took care of final preparations, packed my bags, and said goodbyes. When the hour of departure approached it was difficult for me to realize that the moment I had dreamt about for months was actually about to occur. I had anticipated that it would all seem suddenly real when I stepped into the terminal, but I ended up feeling like it was even more surreal than ever. I slept fitfully on the overnight flight from O’Hare to Heathrow (I never have been able to sleep well on planes), and when we landed in London early Saturday morning I was quite exhausted. I shuffled through passport control and security and after a brief breakfast boarded the next flight to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, one of the few that has managed to blend ancient and modern in a pleasing way, and the descent was enjoyable.

Baggage claim (the Brits call it baggage reclaim) was chaotic, as the majority of St Andrews students were arriving that day. I thought that 6 large suitcases and a carry on was a reasonable amount of luggage to bring considering the length of time I would be staying, the lack of Target, and the unfortunate state of the exchange rate, but as my mom and I kept piling the cases onto the trolley a number of people blatantly stared. When I looked around a bit more I noticed that most students had one or two bags, and three was unusual and viewed as extravagant. Needless to say, I was embarrassed. Luckily my mom and I had split the baggage into two trolleys so it looked like I had less, but it was rather obvious that I had overdone it a bit on the amount of stuff. Oops. I never knew I was high maintenance until I began to pack for college. After an hour or so wait, and then another hour in a bus, we arrived in St Andrews and were deposited outside my dorm. Our luggage, however, was not. It finally did show up about 6 hours later, and then we sheepishly lugged it to my room on the second floor, amidst the gawking eyes of my peers. I was hurriedly ushered into a brief information session, where I learned a few things about New Hall and the University in general and then was let loose. We were too tired to do much unpacking, and just sort of stared listless around my single, en suite room (its fantastic!) until it was time for me to go down to dinner. The excitement of arriving gave me a second wind and I managed to go out and have a pretty good time before falling in to bed around 1 AM, grateful that I was finally here.