Surviving Freshers Week

Posted on September 27th, 2009 under Uncategorized

I am pleased to report that I have survived Freshers Week (I still have four and a half hours to go, but I’m an optimist).  It’s been a crazy ride, complete with ceilidhs, academic parents, and a first-hand tour of the NHS (National Health Services), in that order.

When I came here a week ago, I didn’t even know what a ceilidh was, now I’m an enthusiastic (or maybe it’s a short, passionate infatuation, but I hope not).   A ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee, don’t worry, I didn’t know either) is traditional Scottish dancing.  It’s similar to country western dancing, where couples dance together sometimes and also join together to make larger formations.  It’s marvelous.  The music is catchy, and I must admit, that young men look very dashing in kilts.  My favorite dances so far are the Flying Scotsman and Strip the Willow.

While at a ceilidh this past Wednesday, I was adopted by my academic parents.  Here at St. Andrews, third and fourth year students adopt freshers.  The size and intensity of the families depends entirely on those involved.  There are five daughters and one son in my family and we’ve already established a chant and clan colors (blue and gold).   Academic parents become very important during Raisin Weekend in November.  During Raisin Weekend, your mum dresses you up however she pleases.  From what I’ve heard, this can be anything from one of the Mario brothers to member of a Chinese dragon.  You then head over to your dad’s, where he gives you a raisin receipt.  This item, whatever it is, is your ticket into the infamous foam fight.  Live animals and stolen objects have been banned, but your raisin receipt could still be anything from a door (which were quite popular last year) to an egg on a spoon.  Once you get there, it’s into the foam fight for you, good luck.  Of course there’s more to Raisin Weekend than what I’ve just written, such as the reason it’s called Raisin Weekend at all, but a little suspense never hurt anybody.

Since I’ve been finding out about exciting things like raisin receipts all week and enjoying other festivities, I neglected to take care of a small cut I got on my ankle from some poorly fitting shoes.  This cut did not get better on its own as I assumed it would.  Yesterday morning, I put two and two together and realized that the swelling and discoloration on the same ankle meant that my benign little cut was now infected.   (Don’t worry, of all things in St. Andrews I hope to photograph and post here, my ankle is not one of them).  The irony of all this is that I walked all the way to the hospital, to the chagrin of the doctor when I got there.   He wrote me a prescription for some antibiotics and advised me to keep my feet up ( and to call for a taxi on my way out).  I’m pleased to say that my foot is doing a lot better and I hope to make exponential progress in time for classes tomorrow morning.

Holding up quite well in Scotland,

Katie

A Different World Over Here

Posted on September 23rd, 2009 under Travel

I have been thoroughly enjoying my time here in St. Andrews.  The people are being very friendly and the weather has been quite agreeable as well.  You can tell the students, especially the American students, by the amount of jackets or coats someone is wearing.  The local people think the weather has been exceptionally warm and are enjoying it, while the Americans, including myself, are bundled up in cozy jackets.  I love walking around the town, which is absolutely beautiful.  Stone buildings line the cobblestone streets housing kilt makers, golf shops and cafes.  I made the mistake of remarking to someone that I feel like I’m living at Hogwart’s, the scenery, architecture, and the idiosyncratic traditions feel like they are right out of JK Rowling’s novels.  (My interlocutor told me this is a very American thing to say, so pretend I didn’t mention it).

My body is getting to close to being fully adjusted to the time difference here.  One thing I didn’t expect about jet lag is that your mind adjusts before your body does.  I thought that I was adjusted a few days ago,  but my bodily clock wasn’t quite there yet.

There are a myriad of subtle cultural difference that are felt before they are seen.  Accents, fashion sense and sense of humor all fall under this category.   I’ll never be as precise as Dr. Higgins in Pygmalion, who is able to tell someone where they are from down the neighborhood just by listening to them speak, but I’m beginning to hear the regional differences.  And just in case you are wondering, leggings, scarves and boots are all the rage over here right now.

Katie

Getting to Scotland

Posted on September 21st, 2009 under Travel

This past Saturday I left Maryland around one o’clock with my mom headed for Philadelphia.  With two 23kg suitcases  (that’s about 50lbs) a backpack and a purse, I got on a plane headed for Paris.  I’m not sure why it’s cheaper to fly from Philly to Paris to Edinburgh than directly to Edinburgh, but I’m not complaining.  I made the connection smoothly and was soon in Edinburgh.  From there I took a shuttle to St. Andrews with a handful of other student, completing the last leg of the journey.

The shuttle getting to St. Andrews was by far the most beautiful leg of the trip.  During thehour drive through the countryside, we rode through rolling hills of freshly cut hay bails, sheep and horses.  Old stone fences lined the outer edges of the fields leading the eye back to the stone farmhouses nestled among the trees.

The town of St. Andrews itself is equally beautiful.  I hope to get out sometime in the next few days to take some pictures.

Meeting Geza Vermes

Posted on September 16th, 2009 under Travel

I had been looking forward to this past weekend for long time. I was already excited to visit a good friend in Charlotte, North Carolina when I chanced upon a blurb on the internet saying that Geza Vermes would be giving a lecture in Chapel Hill during the time I was there. I called my friend right away to ask if it would be possible for us to attend. She would not able to go because of class but she encouraged me to use her car and take advantage of the opportunity.
On the sunny afternoon of Monday, September 14th, after a few tintinnabulous skirmishes with her burglar alarm, I was on the road from Charlotte to Chapel Hill with blue skies in front of me, good old American rock and roll with me and a dust trail raising behind me (just kidding about the dust trail, but I was driving tall, taking full advantage of the 70mph speed limits).

I made the journey in good time and arrived early enough to get a bagel and a cup of coffee before heading into the quickly filling auditorium. Jonathan Hess, Director of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, welcomed the audience to this Eli N. Evans ’58 Distinguished Lecture, “Sixty Years of Wrestling with the Dead Sea Scrolls.” It was a notable moment because the honoree himself was present for the occasion. Jodi Magness, professor of Religious Studies and UNC Chapel Hill, then rose to introduce the speaker, Mr. Geza Vermes.

Mr. Vermes has been working with the scrolls from the very beginning. Born in 1924 in Hungary, he was studying in Belgium when he had his first encounter with the scrolls shortly after they were discovered in 1947. His professor walked into the classroom carrying a photograph of Isaiah. Vermes recalls that with “youthful recklessness he wanted to solve the mystery of the scrolls.” He could not have known then how much he would contribute to that end.

Vermes’ lecture surveyed the history of the scrolls from their discovery to the present and highlighted some important things that have been learned about Second Temple Judaism. He peppered his talk with memorable personal stories. He spoke with an even, warm voice, from behind which a humorous side flashed out from time to time.
The eventful history of the Dead Sea Scrolls still reached a milestone when the first English edition was published in 1962, a mere 255 pages. Vermes was editing the edition and received an advanced copy. Upon taking it out of the wrapping, he nearly fell over when he saw that the cover photograph of the scrolls was printed upside down! He called the artistic director immediately. After hearing what had happened, the director replied that he would do something in time for the next printing if Vermes insisted, even though the scroll was more aesthetically pleasing this way.

In 1987, 40 years after the initial discovery, only a meager trickle of research had been released. Vermes noted that the group of editors “practiced slow-motion editing by proxy.” By this time, rumors of conspiracy were being murmured that the scrolls were suppressed by the Catholic Church because of threatening content. Emanuel Tov was appointed and established a team of 60 editors, including Vermes, to breathe “the breath of life into the comatose research.”

A lot has happened since then. New editions of the scrolls number nearly 600 pages and scholars have been busy proffering their hypotheses about authorship, provenance, and interpretation. What started with the discovery of a shepherd boy has blossomed into an academic discipline in its own right. In that time, Vermes has taught at Oxford, published numerous books and edited the Journal of the Jewish Studies.
He once visited an exhibit of the scrolls and was asked if he was any relation to the Geza Vermes who had written on the scrolls. On another occasion, Vermes was at an exhibit when a tour guide learned his identity. The guide exclaimed, “I thought Vermes was text book!”

In 1992, a portion of the scrolls were displayed in Washington DC. Vermes was invited as the keynote speaker. 4Q285 was part of the collection. This scroll’s claim to fame lies in its reference to the “pierced messiah.” The President of Israel, who was in DC for the opening of the Holocaust Museum, was invited to a private viewing of the scrolls. Before he arrived, police dogs were brought in to sniff out any possible threats. One of the dogs went berserk around the display 4Q285. Vermes joked that the dog had found something truly explosive.

After the lecture, Vermes invited questions. I asked him if he believed the Qumran community represented an offshoot of Enochic Judaism. He replied that he did not see the themes in the Book of Enoch as strongly represented among the scrolls. However, the Qumran community did hold to the same calendar as the Enochians. The upside is that according to this calendar, all the holidays fall on the same day of the week every year. The downside is that this calendar doesn’t work.

After the last question, the audience gave Vermes a warm round of applause. The crowd began to dissipate as people filed into the lobby to head home, buy books or just mingle in discussion. After the line had gone down, I joined the congregation of people waiting to get their books signed by Vermes. He greeted me with a smile when he saw me. And exclaimed, “Oh, you have one of the old ones!” when he saw my red hardcover edition of The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. He asked me where I went to school and I replied that I went to Eastern University and studied the scrolls under Dr. Carl Mosser. He signed my book, “For Katie, with the best wishes, Geza Vermes, 14/09/2009.” I was so excited that I couldn’t listen to the radio on the drive back to Charlotte. My mind had so much to digest the drive didn’t seem like anything at all. God has been very good to me and all I can extend to him is an offering of praise.