Home again, or Tha an t-àm a' dol seachad air sgiathan na gaoithe

As the title suggests, I am not writing this entry in Edinburgh, but back home. I came back at the end of May and I must confess straight-away that although it’s great to be with my family and in my home country again, I do get a certain sense of dislocation from the geographical and social environment in which I had spent no less than 9 months.

This is why the best moment of the last month has been a class reunion weekend with my old friends from Open Gate, where I was finally amidst people who I know and get on with well once again: I have spent so little time in my hometown Uherský Brod since I was 11 that I barely know anyone here. This is what I present to the reader in defence of my perhaps slightly selfish statement that I can’t wait to return to the university town in August.

The school year doesn’t begin until mid-September, naturally, but I plan to fly in early as this is when me and my friend can move into the flat we will be renting for the year. Finding accommodation has probably been the most stressfull university experience so far. Uncontrollable fusion and fission of groups of potential flatmates, daily painstaking scrutiny of real estate websites where one sees properties disappear before one’s own eyes, viewings attended by 5 groups, the “winner” being determined by a race to the agency office, kitchens in which one can’t turn around, an all-permeating suspicion of students, especially non-British ones, paperwork, tears. And how did it end? We found a flat through friends. And it’s really nice. The relief that flooded me as I signed the tenancy agreement is beyond description. At least I know now that flathunting in a university town is no laughing matter and will probably start looking for a new place already in December or so.

This joyous event was closely followed by the commencement of the exam period. It wouldn’t be accurate to say I was scared per se – my assignment grades from throughout the year indicated that straight A’s were well within reach –, but who doesn’t get nervous before an exam? Luckily the dates were very well spread, so I could revise each subject in turn. What I found especially enriching (both academically and socially) were study sessions with classmates: like a group of soldier friends preparing for the final push, knowing they’re all in it together. I was mostly apprehensive about the “writing” sections of language papers, but it has been proven true that if one has a clear idea of what one did over the year and what one’s plans are for the summer, one always has something to write about at the beginners’ level. There’s very little I can say about the exams. I revised for them as much as I could and wrote them as well as I could. What more can a student do. When I was done with all papers, I only had a couple of days before my tenancy expired to pack my room up (I stored some things at friends’, took some home and gave some to charity – this wasn’t an easy process either) and say goodbye to my friends.

The anxiously awaited results started appearing online from the second week of June. To my great delight I discovered that I had indeed attained straight A’s: more precisely two A2’s and one A1 (the highest grade possible) for the result of  95% in Gaelic. A week later, my department contacted me to announce I had one two prizes, which will appear on my university records. Finally, soon after The Kellner Family Foundation communicated to me that they would continue supporting me in my second year at university. This has left me overjoyed and more motivated than ever. That, too, is why I want to return to Edinburgh so early. Get ready for the next, tougher, year. Hopefully find a summer job and cover the increased living costs with my own money. And so on. A quarter of my time as an undergraduate in Edinburgh is already history and there’s still so much I have to experience and learn.
 

More blog articles

All news