“Whit's fur ye'll no go past ye”

It is understandable that after seeing Braveheart with my friends and Disney’s Brave with my younger siblings I had a few distorted expectations. Many of these, however, left me right after I set a foot in Scotland. One of the first to leave was my preconceived idea that Scots are permanently soaked in rain. In fact, it is by far not as bad as people may think. Yes, showers are somewhat more frequent than in the Czech Republic. On the other hand it does not mean that Edinburgh is all dim and gloomy with a depressing wether. The fact that in ten weeks I have yet to purchase an umbrella supports the fact that it is by far not a bad.

But enough about weather. Now on a more interesting topic, the language. Do not let Wikipedia fool you into believing that Scots speak English. Even though the language does resemble English, a strong accent can be quite confusing. Even though I have been learning English since nursery and have competed in many English competitions in the Czech Republic, sometimes I find myself nodding to Scots speaking without realizing what they truly mean. This incapability to understand may appear especially tricky when one asks for directions and goes the opposite way. Despite the language’s seemingly inaccessibility, I have to say that just like Czech it does have its particularities and interesting sayings. The first saying I learned was at a traditional Saturday fair next to the Edinburgh castle. There, one can find various items ranging from organic vegetables to antiques such as a Victorian bell from a girls’ boarding school or all kinds of shiny jewelry. There a vintage ring caught my attention, but before I took my purse out of my bag a woman in front of me was quicker and bought the ring. The woman behind the stand must have been fairly amused by my disappointment and told me “Whit's fur ye'll no go past ye,” which, as I later found out, means that it was not meant to be. I shut my mouth and smiled, which reflected my inner realization that she was right.

One of the most beautiful things about Scotland is its striking nature, which speaks both to athletes and readers of Jane Eyre. I am very lucky to have a room with a view overlooking beautiful scenery including the Arthur’s Seat (an inactive volcano) which is one of the key tourist attractions here in Edinburgh. The beauty of Scottish nature invites one to go on a walk and it is quite hard not to get carried away and get lost while appreciating it. This happens to me all the time and on one of these  occasions I went running and “discovered” a beautiful lake, Scots in kilts playing golf and a large pitch where girls from a local secondary school were playing rugby. Oscar Wilde once said that “Rugby is a good occasion for keeping thirty bullies far from the centre of the city.” This is, however, not the case in Edinburgh, since the lake, the rugby field, the volcano and a medieval castle are locate right at its heart, making the city all the more charming.


Lastly, I would like to comment on the University of Edinburgh which is one of the main contrasts between Czech Republic and Edinburgh. Many of my friends in Czech Republic say, how odd it is to address their university professors as “colleagues”. Many of them describe a newly-acquired sense of responsibility and importance stemming from a rather professional and constrained climate at Czech universities. To my surprise my relationship with my university professors is quite different. At least I doubt that like here, professors elsewhere give out chocolate frogs to students as rewards during lectures or dress up like Spock from Star Trek during Halloween lecture. Not trying to suggest that studying is taken lightly, I enjoy being able to be involved in passionate discussions with my lecturers during economic forums and watching with them stand-up comedians talking about economic principles and fundamentals of cognitive sciences.

Edinburgh is a lovely city to live in. I encourage everyone to come and see for themselves what the Scottish capital has to offer.

St. Leonard's Hall, part of university accommodation