Solitary Scotland?

Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the UK.  For now.  For a different opinion, see Renton's Rant in Trainspotting.  Architecturally, it wears its history on its sleeve.  It's got a castle, a palace, the Old Town and New Town.  Its terrain is made of extinct volcanoes.  It sacrifices itself every August to become the amazing madhouse that is the Edinburgh Fringe, a month of theatre, comedy, music and most types of performance.  Living in Edinburgh Zoo are the UK's only two resident pandas.  For now.  As the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh houses the country's parliament, a modern building opened in 2004.  The devolved parliament governs education, health, agriculture and justice.  For now.

When the south wanted to secede from the Union in 1861 war broke out in America.  When the governing party in the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party, suggested independence from Britain a referendum was put on the cards.  Current plans by the SNP are to hold the referendum in autumn 2014.  Though I don't think it's fair to describe David Cameron as the Abraham Lincoln of the UK, he is urging Scots to vote against independence saying, "Together we are actually stronger."  In response a spokesperson for First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, described Cameron's argument as a "threadbare case for an outdated nation."

What would Scottish independence mean?  Will there be conversations about ownership of the North Sea oil (if there's any left)?  Will Scottish Parliament look after a new Scottish military?  Will you need your passport to go to Scotland from the rest of the UK (which you do not currently need)?  Could it also mean an import tax on Irn-Bru and haggis will raise their prices in England, Wales and Northern Ireland?  Will Scottish Pounds (which already look different from English and Northern Irish pounds) inflate at a different rate from Great British Pounds?

Will Scottish Gaelic be brought into the national curriculum?  Currently only 1.2% of the population over 3 years old speak it.  In Ireland, Irish is taught in most schools and teachers must exhibit a certain amount of proficiency to be employable.  21.7% of the Welsh population can use the Welsh language.  Could a surge in Scottish nationalism revive the language (these facts come from Wikipedia, so make of them what you will)?

With the pandas on loan (sounds nicer than 'leased', which is the word the BBC used) to Edinburgh Zoo for at least 10 years, will China and Scotland develop a relationship separate from the one between China and the UK?  What will that relationship be?  What will the relationship between Scotland and the UK become?

Personally, I don't think I know enough of the reasons behind the SNP's proposed referendum for independence to take a stance on the issue.  Historical cultural differences between Scotland and England aside, I understand that though the SNP proposed the independence referendum in 2007, they delayed holding it in 2010 out of concern that there wasn't enough support.  In Scottish Parliament's General Election in 2011 the SNP increased its majority over Scottish Labour and the Conservatives.  Perhaps this has brought more confidence to the SNP bringing the referendum forward again.  I wait with interest to see what happens as 2014 approaches.

Arthur's Seat, conquered last spring

As an outsider on this issue, I would like to list a few things that I think make Scotland great.

• Robbie Burns
• Nessie
• Irn-Bru
• Tartans
• Ceilidhs
• David Tennant
• Neeps and tatties

 Whether it's separate from the UK or not, I stand by Mike Myers when he said, "If it's not Scottish it's crap!"

-Claire

Tenterhooks- a True Story

If a person is on tenterhooks, they are in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety.  This originates from the hooks or bent nails that hold cloth stretched on a tenter (thank you, dictionary.com).  On a side note, a tenter is a frame that cloth is stretched on so that it dries evenly.

The reason I bring up tenterhooks is because I was thinking of the excitement of getting ready to come over to London.  I know that you have packing to do, flatmates for find, money to sort out and summer jobs to wrap up, too.  But I remember being in your position.  With all that going on, I just wanted to get on the plane and come over to London!  My anxiety wasn't painful and there wasn't really any uneasy suspense, but I was waiting impatiently for that departure date to arrive.  I was so ready to be in London!

Everything I'm about to relate truly happened.  You can ask my mom.

There are only a few highlights of my own departure and arrival in London as a study abroad student that flash across my memory.  I knew what I wanted to pack, and I had everything laid out in organized piles in my room at home.  Of course I knew that they needed to be in a suitcase to get them over to London, but there they sat in my room until around 2am the morning of my flight (I think I was leaving O'Hare around 10am to connect to my transatlantic red-eye from Newark later that day) when I panicked and chucked my neat piles into my duffel bag and backpack.  I think I spent a lot of time sitting on my duffel, struggling to get it closed, and not a single moment of that night sleeping.  Another memory was my arrival at O'Hare.  My mother came with me to the check-in desk, and while I was waiting I was going through the checklist I had been sent.  I had my acceptance letter to show at the border, but I had completely forgotten to ask my parents to write me a letter of support to say that they would help me financially, if I needed.  So, very quickly, while waiting to check-in, my mom scrawled a note on the back of Bill's big summer quiz, which used to be posted to students in a big pack of papers (only some of the questions have changed in the last decade), to say that she wouldn't let me go broke while abroad.

This next bit now causes me to shudder, since immigration is now a large part of my job.  When I arrived in London I hadn't really slept on the flight and I hadn't slept a wink the night before, so I was perhaps a little loopy from lack of sleep.  One thing I do know, there were two border agents at the desk I approached, the trainer and the trainee.  As a result I received a thorough questioning from the trainer who seemed to be setting an example.  I was baffled when I was asked my mother's maiden name, because she didn't change it when she got married.  Then, more importantly, they asked me how much money I had.  That was a much easier question, knowing the contents of my pockets.  "$5," I said.  "$5?" he asked.  "Yes," I said.  No problem, I hit that one straight out of the park.  He just stared at me.  "Anything else at all?" he asked.  "Nope," I said, still batting 1,000.  "You're telling me that you've just flown over from the USA with an empty bank account and no credit or debit cards?" he asked.  "Oh.  Of course I have those.  I thought you wanted to know how much cash I had on me."  Batting 500.  And I completely forgot to show him the note from my mom (though the state of it would probably just have attested to my disorganization even more).  Batting 0.  He rolled his eyes and stamped my passport, and I entered the UK.  In my defense, I hadn't had much sleep, but I'm not here to make excuses for my moments of delinquency.  I was a bit of a numpty that morning.

Me as a study abroad student.  I'm the one in the middle

The moral of my story is this: no matter how ready you think you are, get some rest and don't panic.  The upside is that I'm able to bring experience to my job. 

-Claire

PS- I'm pretty sure it's not usual to be asked your mother's maiden name at immigration.

Jack is Back!

A day that I have been hearing about since sometime in the year 2000 has arrived.  Yes, Jack Hrkach, the first to arrive of our two visiting faculty this semester, is in London, and he's here for a long stay.  As Bill said, the eagle has landed.

Before I was a Theatre History student of Jack's, I remember discussing his move to London.  This is something he has had on the books since before I met him.  As a Brit-o-phile, Jack has been taking students to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival almost every August since 2000, he took a sabbatical semester to teach in London in the fall of 2005 and brought a group of Honors Students to London last March.  He is now taking his terminal sabbatical and spending his last two semesters as an Ithaca professor teaching in London for the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters and helping us organize our 40th anniversary Ruby Juby celebrations.

Claire, why do you know so much about Jack's travel history to they UK?, you ask.  Yes, I was a students of his, yes, Jack is avid about keeping in touch with alums, but more importantly, I helped him fill out his visa application to come over here and teach for the next year.  Student visitors, entering the UK should be pretty straight forward for you.  You have your acceptance letter from Rachel Cullenen, you will have a Student Visitor letter from the ICLC to show the Border Agent when you arrive, and you should have some sort of proof of funds to show that you can support yourself while you are in the UK (as you will have no right to pick up part-time work).  Easy-peasey-lemon-squeezey.  Thus far entering the UK hasn't cost you anything (I don't count your tuition to Ithaca in that statement).  Students coming in on Tier 4 student visas, you've had a slightly more rigorous and expensive process, having applied for your visas before you can come over to the UK.  But once you have that you're good to go.  You had some hoops to jump through, and timing was of the essence, but most of you have been approved and I'm hoping to hear from the others soon.  Whoop!

Jack's arrival in London last August.  That's the enthusiasm of someone excited to be in London!

Jack's visa application to work in the UK was a little more labor intensive.  We spent an hour and a half on Skype working on the application together and cheered loudly when Jack emailed to say that his application had been approved a few weeks later.  Partly because I have a lot of responsibility about immigration issues and partly because I remember Jack planning this extended stay in London since nearly time immemorial, I was so pleased when he finally made it over.  Luckily none of our fall 2011 students had to resort to packing him in their suitcase to get Jack over for the year.

Linda Heyne, when you arrive in London in a few weeks I think Bill's secret code for you will be, the German classical scholar and archaeologist as well as the long-time director of the Göttingen State and University Library has landed.

-Claire