Famous Sallies

Days 2 and 3

This is St Salvators Hall (more commonly known as Sallies), the building where I live. At breakfast on day 2 (porridge) I learn it's pretty famous. Some people who have lived in this building in the past include Prince William and Kate Middleton (it's where they met), which is why, I hear, one of the bathrooms is bomb-proof. Sallies is also the token residence hall of St Andrews - when people think St Andrews dorm life, they think Sallies. Many people I've talked to think it's the best dorm to live in. Reasons for this, I've gathered, include a strong sense of community, a busy social life, a good formal ball in March, I believe, and possibly the bomb-proof bathroom. Sallies is also conveniently located just off North Street, one of the three main streets in town, and near most of the University's academic department buildings and the library. Personally, I was happy to learn of its proximity to the two English department buildings, which are both right next door. Handy during rainstorms.

Speaking of rainstorms, the weather here is crazy (or batty, as they like to say). Now, I'm from the Midwest. In Wisconsin and Illinois, where I live and go to school, respectively, they're getting about 20 inches of snow, I think. Work has been cancelled, school has been cancelled, classes have been cancelled. And we never cancel things because of the snow. Our joke is, "Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes." I know bad weather. For the Midwest, the above quote is a bit of an exaggeration, though not as much of one as some non-Midwesterners might think. Here, it is not. On my walking tour of part of the town this morning, which lasted an hour, it was first sunny and raining, then gray and windy, then gray, windy and raining, then gray and windy, and finally slightly less gray, slightly less windy, and not raining. It is now, only about two hours later, decently sunny, and fairly dry, and I'm sure there were many intermittent stages in between, while I wasn't looking.

An American girl complains to me, "That's it. I'm bringing a hairbrush with me in my purse at all times." I'm thinking of going the opposite direction and not even attempting to brush my hair in the first place. The brush's weight and space was a waste in my suitcase. And because of the dampness and rain, I'm already used to having curly, frizzy hair.

The walking tour I take around town on day 3 is a good way of getting myself oriented. St Andrews is small - as I mentioned earlier, there are only three main streets, and there are also some narrow alleys between buildings the people here like to call streets - but has several cafés, pubs, shops, and a fair number of people for its size, many of them students. The best part is the architecture (excluding the University library, which was built in the 60's). The second best part is that one of the University bookstores is called BESS (really, all capitals). I feel right at home.

After the tour, I go to the University travel office along with a couple of other JSAs. There, we can sort through and pick up brochures for trips all over the UK and Ireland, as well as pamphlets of bus times to Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, etc. The office also offers deals and student discounts. I wish they had these offices at home, though they would probably only be able to get students to Chicago and Peoria, not nearly as exciting as some of the destinations advertised here - London, Dublin, Loch Ness, the highlands, etc. Everything here is so close to everything else.

Unfortunately, this also includes toilets, showers, and other necessities, which are a little cramped, though I suppose I'll get used to it, practically having to keep my elbows tucked into my sides to fit in the shower stall. The beds are smaller, too, than what I'm used to (and I sleep on a pretty small bed by American standards). Last night I rolled over and literally felt the bed tipping towards me. It's a country in which it's difficult to be six feet tall, but I figure if the burly Scotsmen can handle it, so can I.