Wednesday, May 30, 2007

No more blue and orange

Just a random note - I just figured out how to change the color of the "navigator bar" at the top of my blog. Now there's no more blue and orange (the most horrendous color combination possible) on my blog! How exciting!
(As you can see, this weather has affected my mood, and I am searching for SOMETHING to make life less gloomy!)

Rain Rain Go Away!

I just have to say that these last two days have been some of the most miserable weather since I've been in Scotland. It has rained nonstop for two days - sometimes heavy downpours, other times a constant, steady mist. The sky matches the color of all the grey granite buildings in the "Granite City" (Aberdeen), and it is chilly too. If this keeps up, I'll be ready to go back to Texas REALLY quickly! I will admit that this is what I expected of Scotland's weather, but I think I've been spoiled by such a mild winter that I am surprised when the weather becomes typical for this area. So I am praying for the rain to GO AWAY!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Hiking in the Rain

Yesterday Amie and I decided we wanted to get out and explore a little in Aberdeen, even though the weather was a little iffy. It was nice and warm when I got up, so I decided to wear capris. I sure regretted that later though, when the wind and rain took over.

We took a bus out to Torry Battery, an old fort built in 1860 on the coast, right by the Aberdeen harbor entrance. On a clear day, you are supposed to be able to see dolphins playing in the harbor. Well, it was clear when we started for the bus, but by the time we got to Torry Battery, it was certainly NOT clear. As we walked on the cliffs along the coast the rain started, and our umbrellas quickly came out. What's interesting in Aberdeen is you can actually see the bad weather (or clear skies) coming - the line in the sky is very distinct, and it's quite neat to watch the rain heading toward you.
We didn't let the weather win, though. Even though the weather didn't cooperate, we still had fun seeing the coast and the fort, and looking for the absent dolphins. We decided this would be a nice walk if the weather was pretty, and we may try it again sometime.

Monkey Ball

In our free time, my friend Amie (a fellow PhD in divinity student) and I engage in the ultimate academic pursuit - MONKEY BALL! Actually there's nothing academic about it. It's a video game on Playstation, and our favorite Monkey Ball game is "Monkey Fight." Each player shows up on the screen as a little monkey enclosed in a ball (hence the name), and in Monkey Fight you roll around on a board trying to punch the other players off the board while not falling off yourself. It's really entertaining, especially the trash talk that goes on as we either fall or knock the other player off.


So, why am I sharing this? Because twice in the last week I had the ultimate victory - a clean sweep of three boards where none of the other monkeys (Amie or the two computer characters) won a single level! It was awesome! There's nothing like Monkey Ball to turn your mind from academics...

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Back to Banchory

This past weekend I went back out to Banchory to hang out with Laurie. I was very thankful that she invited me out, since other plans fell through. I got out there around noon on Saturday, and we promptly headed to Finzean (pronounced "fingen") to meet another friend, Carolyn, whose son was playing rugby in the area. We had lunch at the Finzean tearoom, a cute little place with good food and fun atmosphere, and then took a short walk to a huge burial cairn that supposedly dates to the time of Abram.
After leaving Carolyn and her family, Laurie and I took another walk out in Birse. The countryside was gorgeous, and the path was bordered on both sides by fields with cattle, sheep, and horses. Laurie convinced me that I should stay the night out in Banchory since I didn't have to worry about chapel choir the next day. I didn't have ANYTHING with me - no toothbrush, pajamas, clean clothes, NOTHING! But I stayed anyway. That night we watched Local Hero, a 1980s movie that was filmed in Pennan, a coastal fishing village that we visited while my family was here. We also walked into town for icecream, crossing the river and seeing the highland cattle up close and personal. Actually, I thought I was going to see one of them much closer than I wanted! I stepped up on a tree to get a closer picture of the babies, and the mama started charging over at me to protect her babies! Kind of startled me, but I still got the picture.
On Sunday after worship, we hiked up Scolty hill again (we did this the day after Easter also), taking in the scenery and pausing at the top for a picnic lunch.
It was a gorgeous weekend, beautiful sunshine, and even warm when the wind wasn't gusting. And it was great to get out to the country again, to hang out with Laurie and enjoy the setting. I think some of my favorite times in Scotland have been when I've gotten out of the dull grey of the "granite city" and explored the rich Scottish countryside. I'm going to miss those opportunities when I get back to the States - there's certainly nothing like the highlands in Texas!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

The Burn Biblical Studies Colloquium

I spent the last two days with about 30 other Biblical Studies postgraduate students and faculty at a country retreat centre called "The Burn." It is this huge 18th-century house that was established as an academic retreat by a family after their 21-year-old son was killed in World War 2. The Burn is located on 190 acres of land, and has such activities as putting, croquet, tennis, pingpong, and a labyrinth.
We arrived on Wednesday around 11:00 am, and promptly started presenting papers. Over the two days I must have heard around 15 papers on a wide variety of topics in New Testament and Biblical studies, in addition to presenting my own 20-minute paper. It was a lot to take in academically, but it was interesting to hear what other students are working on, to see how others present papers, etc. My own presentation went relatively well. It was my first real academic presentation (at least in this format), so I was quite nervous. The presentation itself was fine; I don't think I did as well as I could have in answering the questions after I read my paper, but excellence at that comes with time and practice. Overall I was pleased. Now I have to revise and lengthen my paper somewhat for my next presentation at the Scottish Universities Conference on June 21.

On Wednesday afternoon a large group of us took an hour-long walk along the River North Esk on the Burn property. It was a gorgeous river walk, and a great way to relieve some stress. Not surprisingly, Laurie was constantly looking for ways to stray from the main path. She, Brian and I took a detour which led us to a neat ruin in the middle of the woods. Pretty cool!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Alpine Adventure

While in Munich this weekend, Debbie and I took a bus tour on Saturday down to the Bavarian Alps, where we saw two of King Ludwig II's famous castles and the quaint little town of Oberammergau. While we spent a great deal of time on the bus traveling from one sight to the next, I was constantly snapping pictures through the window, because the views of the mountains and countryside were just gorgeous! Our first stop was Schloss Linderhof, a small castle in a valley in the Alps. The tour of the inside of the castle was interesting, but the best part for me was the outside, with the fountain shooting up from the reflecting pool and the mountains all around. When we first got there it was cloudy and drizzling, and we thought the weather was not going to cooperate with us. When we came out of the castle, however, the sun was out, and it stayed that way the rest of the day. It was beautiful!
From there we headed to Oberammergau, a little village that is known for its passion play that it puts on every 10 years. Many of the buildings in this town are painted with murals on the outside. Two of the most famous ones have the stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretl on them. We drove right past them, but I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures unfortunately. We only had about a half hour in Oberammergau, and we spent most of it shopping. They are also known for their woodcarving, so it's a great place to get authentic German gifts.Finally we went to Schloss Neuschwanstein, the fairy-tale castle that was the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was amazing! I've seen Mom and Dad's pictures from their visit to Neuschwanstein when we lived in Germany, but the real thing is so much better! We walked out to the Marienbrücke where the view of the castle is incredible, then took a tour of the inside (again, interesting but nowhere near as awesome as the outside).
On our walk down to the castle we could also see another castle, Schloss Hohenschwangau, a medieval castle that Ludwig lived in as a child. We didn't get to visit this castle up-close though.
I could have stayed there exploring the area and taking pictures of the castles and the mountains all day, but alas, the bus was ready to move on. So we headed back to Munich. But I tell you - if I ever get the chance to go back and spend more time exploring southern Bavaria and the Alps, I will certainly take it. It was by far the highlight of my trip to Germany.