Academic Translations

Days 8-10

Of course, every University's education system is different, but here in Scotland, the language used to describe it is more different than the system itself. If someone asks you, "What do you read?" it means, "What's your major?" A course is called a module (pronnounced "MODule") here, and a subject is called a course. So, while in the States I major in English and take courses in that subject, in Scotland I read English and take modules in that course.

While I'm here, I'm taking two honours English modules: Scottish Fiction, and Culture and Society in Modern Scotland. This is actually a normal credit load; for each module I recieve 30 credits. The lucky part is, I'm in class for a total of four hours a week. Yes, four. For Scottish Fiction, I have an hour-long lecture on Monday and an hour-long tutorial (or discussion) on Wednesday. For Culture and Society, I have a two hour session on Mondays. These four-day weekends, every weekend, will be particularly condusive to traveling. Nice.

On top of this, the English buildings (the picture in this post - the building on the left, "Castle House" or "Poetry House," is where I take my classes) are literally next door to my hall. I have already reaped the benefits of this, as the walk I had to take to my classroom on the first day, during the pouring rain, took all of three minutes. I barely had time to get wet.

All the while, though, I thought I'd be taking courses in English, that is, a language I can actually understand. Sadly, I'm not. Here's a bit of dialogue from the short story I just finished reading for class: "The Cunning Speech of Drumtochty," by Ian MacLaren:

"'An' as sure as deith a' didna ken whaur tae luick, for it was a puckle aits."

That's some phoenetic rural Scottish dialect, and definitely not English. Needless to say, the story took me about as long to read as a chapter of Le Petit Prince, in French, did in my AP French class in high school.

However, my courses are interesting so far, and luckily my professors, though both Scottish, are far easier to understand than the stuff they're making us read. So far I've been introduced, broadly, to every major movement in modern Scottish literature, its defining writers, and a history of the evolution from one literary movement to the other. While I know many, many people for whom all this would be far from interesting, I'm enjoying it.

And while I'll be the first to admit to the cushiness of my weekly schedule, it's not all fun and no class here in St Andrews. I have to read Waverly by Sir Walter Scott, in its entirety, by Monday. 500 pages in 4 days: bring it on.

In other, non-academic news, the European club scene, I have discovered, is an entirely different one from that of the U.S. A tiny bar with an even tinier dance floor, instrumental techno music, and a sign above the bar reading "8 shots for £12": a bit different than the frat party night life.