The Great White North, Eh?

So, this morning, I accomplished one of my life-long goals. I was mistaken for a Canadian. Now, one might ask "why is that a big deal?", "how could one tell?", "whats the difference?" or "Canada..hmmm. oh! you mean America's hat?" And all of those questions would be valid points. The reason that being mistaken for a Canadian is important to me is that everywhere I go here, I am immediately known as a American. People ask me where I am from, and when I say the U.S.A they look at me like I had replied, "planet earth". Of course your from America, but where in America? Apparently, there is a large neon sign that is constantly behind me that flashes "U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A! I AM FROM THE U.S.A!" I of course try to fight the stereotypes of America abroad as much as I can, but I still can't seem to escape the stigma.

"Stereotypical American, Or, How the rest of the World Sees the U.S.A" (Sorry Nuge, I love you, but sometimes...)

Except today. Today, (my last day of class with this professor), he asked me what university in Canada I attend and where I was from (in Canada). He thought I was Canadian! My cultural camouflage is finally starting to take effect! Now granted, in retrospect, I was sorta cheating today. I was wearing my wool lined bushwhacker jacket, which definitely looks like something a lumberjack (Canadian) would wear. My current state of beard and hair makes me look like Wolverine (my personal favorite Canadian), and my professor, no matter how many times I correct him, still thinks my name is Wayne (true fact: half of all Canadians are named Wayne). But still, it wasn't like I was listening to Celine Dion while wearing my Gretzky hockey jersey, Molson in one hand, bottle of Maple Syrup in the other, riding a Moose. He had a chance to look at me, take a full cultural appraisal, and he choose something outside of the U.S.A! 

Now, I have joked alot about stereotypes in my blog. But the reason I think I keep coming back to them is because I think cultural is core to understanding people. And so many people I think take it for granted. As a traveler (can I say that without sounding pretentious?), I've seen that there are two ways that you can approach culture. It can be your backdrop (literally look how many people take picture with the Eiffel Tower in the background), or it can be your travel partner. At the end of the day, both approaches will get you the stamps in your passport, the miles on your boots, and the sweet photo-album. But one of them is passive. It takes what you know about somewhere, and it lets it be your crutch. And, ironically enough, it makes you end up being the stereotype yourself. Specifically, I am thinking about a guy here named Mike. He's another exchange student from the U.S.A, but hes from San Diego. He is the walking American stereotype. He's overweight, drinks to much, is constantly late, and he seriously contributes to our Scottish history tutorials by talking about McDonalds (THE GOLDEN ARCHES NOT THE CLAN!). The other way though, is take what you know, and push it up against what you experience. Sometimes it holds, and sometimes stereotypes stand (the Irish!) and sometimes you find yourself totally rethinking what you thought you knew. I've eaten almost nothing but Indian food this week (all of it has been excellent), bought from guys in turbans speaking in a brogue, and had curry served to me by members of the Tartan Army (Scots rugby fans). And its been really cool. And I think it doesn't happen enough.

Anyway, that's whats been rattling around in my head this morning. I'll leave you with some pictures I've taken this week. Sorry about how some of them are blurry. I'd like to blame it on my camera, but I think its more that I have the steady hands of an epileptic on red bull. Seriously, good thing I am not a surgeon, or I'd kill someone.

 

The Meadow is a park near campus. Great place to go for a walk or take "one's daily constitutional"

The Meadows part of the Meadows. Brilliant!

More of the Meadows. It was a (surprisingly) nice day out, and I bet the Meadows are a great place to go relax when its warm out.

 

 There is a word for a tree lined way like this. I don't know what it is, but I think these are really cool.

The Old and the New.

 Just what I was talking about. This place is right next to campus. And they sell excellent food.

What I really have been doing...

So, some people had inquired about what I have been doing, and I have come under accusations of "wasting my time"," having to much free time", "being boring", and "not going out and making anything of your life, you lazy bum!", all of which are entirely untrue and unfounded. I however, have not be entirely forthright with my explanations of what does occupy my time, and I feel the need to finally come clean about my activities in Edinburgh. This is what I have been doing:



That's right. This video, shot in Edinburgh, is of me. I have taken up the moniker of Danny Macaskill, and spend all my days doing awesome bike tricks. You may accuse me of not looking anything like the man in this video, but I can assure you we are the same person. I wanted to keep my totally rad alter ego a secret, as not to cause worry to anyone who may have concerns about me doing back flips off of trees on a bicycle, and as not to inspire jealously in my friends who wish they could be as awesome as me. Also, there is a still a bit of discrimination about guys who bike without seats that abounds in our modern society, despite the fact that we have a black president now. But I felt the need to free my conscious. Some secrets are just too hard to bear.

Seriously though, isn't this guy awesome? A good chunk of the video was shot on my campus, by buildings where I have class. My history lectures have yet to be interrupted by a gang of trick bikers however, but I figure it is only a matter of time before one of them does a 360 through a window into our class room or lecture hall (despite the fact that my classes are all on either the 4th or 8th floors).

Thanks to Jayson for originally showing this to me.

History Made Real!

This evening, as I was enjoying my dinner, busily tucking into what has now become the dining hall's staple supper meal of potatoes and shoe-leather, and particularly enjoying tonight's particular variation of shoe-leather, whose luscious texture, wonderfully anonymous brown gravy, and delectably pink undercooked and E.Coli-ridden center made me savor every bite in my mouth, before spitting the wretched stuff back on my plate, I began to contemplate the historical significance of my meal. Every bite of potato I took (in substitution for the "meat" I wasn't eating) made me appreciate more how the potato famines of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries that decimated Ireland and parts of Scotland. I could totally understand, how, if this one crop failed, people literally had nothing else to eat.  It'd be like the Eskimos running out of seal, but at least they would have snow cones. Here I was, living this history! And this made me remember that I had not shared all my photos from Ireland. So, enjoy these picture from the Dublin, while I go find something else to eat...

This may be my favorite picture. I know it's kinda underwhelming, but its a great picture of the mix of Dublin, old and new, sacred and profane, high culture and blue collar, breweries and not breweries...

 Cool picture of a church. I don't want to be stereotypical, but I seriously think this is St. Patricks...

Or maybe this was St. Patricks...

Or maybe this dark spooky one was St. Patricks... Funny, I don't remember my trip being so Catholic-themed... Oh, well at least I stayed in...

OH THAT'S RIGHT A MONASTERY! (That's my friend Erin in ecclesiastical awe of our hostel.)

On an unrelated note, a storm has rolled, bringing howling wind and a bit of thunder, in that is making tonight feel a lot like the setting for the beginning of a scooby doo episode. I love Scotland!

Back, from outerspace....

Well I am back. Haven't blogged in a while, which is partly my fault, partly the fault of the recent trials and tribulations I have had to endure. Fear not though, for while being faced with a grueling gauntlet of paper writing, sickness, disease, coursework, presentations and parents, I bravely fought them all off so I could return my life to some source of normalcy. Normal enough anyway. Normal as it gets for me. I was going to see if I could drudge up from my memory some funny story of anecdote from the last couple of weeks, but instead I figure I'd just show off some pictures. Because, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand lazy writers.

When I first starting writing this post, I was here. It's a small park on campus called George's Square. Nice little spot.

Now I am in here, one of the student union type places. Yes that is an indoor palm tree. Yes, the Scots will do anything sometimes to convince themselves they are not in Scotland. But despite what the indoor palm tree would lead you to believe, Scotland is not a tropical paradise and thus being outside typing in the wind was absolutely miserable, thus my going indoors to the sky dome type thing. Although really most of the time its a cloud dome.

This is Edinburgh Castle, flying to the dismay of many, the Union Jack. I recently went to Edinburgh Castle (twice), and got some of these pictures.

A shot over Edinburgh's New Town (I think).

Another shot over New Town I think, with what I believe is the Port of Leith on the Firth of Forth (confusing Scottish for "place were boats go into the North Sea") in the back.

Highland Regiment war memorial. Inside Edinburgh Castle is a large monument to Scottish troops who served during the Great War, as well as a regimental headquarters, and a military museum.

I have to go to class now, but check in tomorrow for some more pictures I've found.