So it begins.. sort of...

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Dissertation. The icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the--oh wait, it's not like that at all, is it? Sure, next week is the last week of classes (quite possibly the last classes I ever sit in as a full-time student, but then again, that's what I said five years ago) and throughout the summer we're supposed to devote the equivalent of a full-time job's worth of research hours to this big paper due at the end of August. It's a third of my entire assessed work, so it's a big deal. I finally sat down with my supervisor and hashed out a few of my ideas, which at the moment are naturally disjointed, sprawling, and rather fuzzy round the edges. One does a bunch of reading to grasp the topic and try to formulate some sort of thesis, then continues to read and starts realizing all of the endless branches of thought, and then keeps reading to narrow down.

Read read read. But I'm feeling really good about this topic and the direction it's (so far) taking. It's only a shame I probably won't make it to North Carolina this summer, but one never knows. Fancy a research trip to the hot Appalachian wilds from mild old Scotland? ;)

One of my essays is due tomorrow, another one next week, and then a double-sized one is due in a month. I have nine days of my internship yet to complete (major delays, not too happy about it, but so it goes) but I look forward to being able to put all of this term's coursework behind me, get working on my dissertation, enjoy the summer weather, and oh, TRAVEL.

Cheers!
Kate xx

Fair warning

Over the past week, sick as a dog, I tried my best to get some reading in during times when I could see and think straight (which wasn't very often, but I really did try).

(An update on that whole sickness thing, by the way: after visiting the doctor on day four-and-feeling-worse I was told that I didn't in fact have pneumonia, but did have some sort of viral infection and was prescribed antibiotics in the event that it did affect the lungs. So essentially, all the symptoms of pneumonia without the actual part that makes it pneumonia. Go figure! It was very miserable and weird. I hardly ever get sick, so when I do I tend to come down with the dumbest things. But I'm about 90% out of it now and feeling much, much better!)

I ordered a book online a few weeks ago, ostensibly for my dissertation and some background reading on Black Mountain College, but more or less just for a really interesting memoir about a time and place I find more and more I wish I could have been a part of. Fair warning, I'm probably going to be writing all sorts of stuff about this great experimental arts college as the summer goes on because it's going to be my sole academic focus. Go figure, I've chosen an incredibly American subject to study while I'm in Scotland! Alas, another example of how being abroad can give you a new perspective on home, even if Black Mountain, NC is quite a ways away from my own in WI. ;)

This book was awesome. It's certainly not one for everybody, but if you're acquainted with some of the players at BMC (artists and writers like Franz Kline, Charles Olson, and so many more) then Fielding Dawson's memoir is like a mini goldmine. The Black Mountain Book is essentially a string of anecdotes written in an off-the-cuff sort of stream-of-consciousness style, but the author offers really illuminating insights into his experience and the workings of this college. I'll certainly be rereading it to parse out names and other items of interest, but for a quick, fun read, I'd definitely recommend it.

Good morning, Edinburgh

The guy in the center of this photo was standing there drinking a cup of coffee, taking in one of the nicest little views in Old Town. This is one of the million reasons why this town is A-O.K.

Perhaps my brain got a little warped over the holiday break or something, but it's clear that taking the 10 day trip home, in order to return refreshed, really did the trick. Or it's a trick of the light. Either way, it's good to back in Edinburgh. I've said it about fifty times, but I really am happy to be back to a routine of classes. Perhaps after working a regular full-time job for almost five years, I've become more accustomed to having to be somewhere most days at a certain time. Over the six or seven weeks that I was on break, even though I was 'busy writing a paper' and traveling a little, I felt aimless and sort of stupidly useless. But now! The sun is out, the temperature has been more than tolerable (crossing my fingers it stays that way), classes are off to a good start, and it's good to see everybody again. And I'm taken again, anew, with the beauty of this city.

This term, I'm taking two classes that are strongly related to curating. One is a history of Scottish Art since 1960, which is to say most of the artists we will be studying are still alive and working, so there's the added dimension of display and the process of the artist as well as the historical significance of their work. I'm also in a class called the Cultures and Politics of Display which will explore the theory, politics and types of exhibitions. This museum and gallery-geared work is much more up my alley than the heavy theory and methods-based approach last term, so I'm pretty stoked.

I'm betraying my art nerdiness here, forgive me. Like I said, the sun is out, so it might be a trick of the light. ;)

Cheers!

Kate xx

Remember, remember...

Remember, remember the 5th of November. So the saying goes, and it is indeed Guy Fawkes Day/Night... also known as Bonfire Night. Tonight there's to be a big fireworks display at Meadowbank Stadium, and although I'm probably not going to go into the stadium, I may traipse around outdoors (weather permitting) to see if there's a spot to catch them from.

November is also Crunch Time. I feel it deserves capitalization because, as of yesterday, my first essay is due in one month. It so happens that I just wrote the first page yesterday, and although I would like to call that a coincidence, it was more a result of sudden panic. (When was the last time I even wrote a research paper? I don't know.)

My classes also finish up at the end of this month. (This seems awfully quick.) I believe my internship will probably continue more or less through the break, or as time allows, but I think it's good to spread it out. Where that's concerned, I have no set routine at all (yet), but plenty of work to do (eventually). But the overall routine of this semester has been, well... almost nonexistent.

Differences I've experienced in the academic setup alone are vast and varied -- more than I expected, and not necessarily bad. Just different. For a 12 month program, it has not been nearly as demanding as I presumed, but perhaps that says something about my previous experience at university, or about my workload prior to returning to school, or... I don't know what. But having two classes that meet 11 times apiece, once per week for an hour or two, and one graded essay at the end for each, plus an internship... I mean, I kind of chuckled along when a friend of mine at home went, "That's it? You do that for two semesters, then write a 15,000 word paper, and you get a Masters degree?"

"Well... yes."

I'm well enough into the year (but it's only been about two months, amazingly) to know that my work load next semester will be tougher than this one. That's probably good, seeing that I hadn't been in school for several years and now have sort of been eased back in, as it were. My conscience is constantly reprimanding me for not taking it seriously enough--for not reading and taking notes and writing for four or five hours every day. There are days when I feel like all I do is grab a cup of coffee, wander around, take pictures, go to a gallery or two. Of course there are other days where I hole up in a corner at a coffee shop for a few hours with my laptop and academic journal articles, highlighter at the ready, and pore over whatever it is I'm supposed to be poring over. Those are the days I'm reminded that I'm a student, so it goes both ways.

We also had a "reading week," which was essentially a week off halfway through the semester in order to, well... read. And organize. Or something like that. A lot of people went on trips (myself included), but then in addition to this week off, there was a strike by three university unions against a pay freeze for staff, so my fullest day of class last week was entirely cancelled. As an undergraduate I would have rejoiced at the opportunity for a day off... right now, I'm irritated that I haven't had a proper class in two and a half weeks.

Tomorrow, and there is no complaint here: my Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Architecture class is headed to St. Andrew's for the afternoon. BOOM. Just love it.

So the beginning of November marks a point where academics take precedence. I might not be posting quite as much on the blog while I (attempt to) hunker down and do some real work, but I'll keep the updates coming as much as possible!



Photos are from yesterday afternoon as the sun began to set. The view is from my kitchen, overlooking New Town, the Firth of Forth and the hills of the Kingdom of Fife! One of my favorite times of day, even if it is coming a bit earlier these days... ;)

Cheers!
Kate x

Settling in

I've done sort of an onslaught of picture posts lately, which I think appropriately relates the sort of exuberance that comes with arriving in a new place--especially one of renowned beauty such as Edinburgh. During the first few days I was here, it was almost impossible to go outside without pulling out my phone to take a picture, or if I thought ahead enough, my regular camera. But I thought that now, as I'm closing in on my third week here and things have begun to (gradually) fall into place, it might be nice to start reflecting a little bit on what being here, so far, is like.

Moving is hard. It's hard when you have to move to a different apartment in the same town you were in, or in the same state. It's a totally different story when you move to another country. I did it on my own, which makes it both simpler and more complicated depending on how you look at it, but I try to imagine having a family and all of those implications as well (doctors, schools, etc.) and it just boggles the mind. Or if I had to move furniture, or ship a car. Eep!

There's so much to think about before you leave, and then when you arrive! And of course, at that moment when you're most stressed from the physical move -- the packing of boxes, the flying/driving/shipping of items, and making sure you can get into your new place as hassle-free as possible -- there's everything to figure out. I have the benefit this time around of having been in the UK for a length of time before, so things like supermarket chains and currency I had mostly figured out before. I needed a little reminding, of course, but it's the sort of thing you take for granted at home, and can make settling in, in a new place, just a tad more challenging.

I started getting orientated to my university and specific program right away after I arrived in Scotland, so in addition to trying to stock toilet paper and figure out why ibuprofen tablets only come in tiny boxes of 16 tablets for the equivalent of $5USD, and what the heck a "flat white" is on the coffee shop menu (a small espresso drink with a thin "flat" layer of really velvety milk foam)--deep breath--there's school to think about.

And socializing! Joining a one-year masters program is like being a college freshman all over again. Nobody knows anybody, most people are from quite far away, so going through similar adjustments as you are, and therefore happy to lend a hand, give advice, or, if it comes to it, commiserate. One difference is our age, which is typically somewhere between 23 to 29 with a few later-comers thrown in there for good measure. The other difference between being a postgraduate and a freshman is that a larger percentage of postgraduate students are already married, more inclined to read and go to bed early (and therefore accept midnight bar closing as, well, acceptable), and... smarter. They want to be here (most of them, anyway) and they want to work hard and achieve something. We chose this. However, that's not to say that studious people don't like to grab a cold beverage after mind-bending seminars. Maybe two... or three.

Overall, in the last (almost) three weeks, I've begun to settle in and get a grasp on what's expected of me this year, and what I can expect to get out of it. I'm far from settled in yet -- relationships of all kinds are new and tenuous, classes have only just begun, I'm still trying to decide which grocery store is best for regular trips, and my internship has still to be determined altogether. Things are coming together, for sure. But there is quite a bit of settling in yet to do.

This weekend I'm headed to the Highlands on a see-it-all-quick bus tour just to get out of the city and see some hills. I need some expanse! Edinburgh is not an architecturally tall city, but it's a busy one, and I like space. I look forward to getting out for the day and then coming back to the place that's my own, and will feel more and more like mine as time goes by.

I'm having an amazing time, and it can't be overrated how lucky I feel--and am.

Cheers!
Kate x