living "in halls"

Dear drunk people in the corridor,

SHUT UP AND GO TO BED. I REALIZE IT IS HALLOWEEN BUT IT IS ALSO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SAVE IT FOR THE WEEKEND.

Love,
Jane

Life

Sorry for the silence on the blog. The fact is, life has been rather slow around here as of late, in the best possible way. I no longer feel like a tourist in this place anymore, I really do live here, and with that comes a certain forgetfulness in terms if taking photos or noting differences from home. I am in a rhythm, and there are times when I have to physically stop and take in what I'm doing, where I am, the moment I'm experiencing and tell myself, Remember, remember, these little moments that make up the grander whole, they are significant. This is what your whole time here comes down to. Do not forget.

All that to say, here is a little glimpse of my life here right now, a few moments if you will, courtesy of instgram of course (because what else is instagram good for than capturing those moments?)...

[Left] I don't think this even needs a caption

[Right] Finally found my way to the used book store in St. Andrews, had to stop myself from buying up the whole shop

Attempting my coursework (and not getting very far, as can be seen on the left)

[Left] Coffee dates with girls I've know for what is really only a month and half, but feels like much longer

[Right] Having to wear my hair up most days (thank you wind and rain)

 

Visiting a friend at home in her village, about 40 minutes outside St. Andrews

I am so excited to see you all in person in December!! I hope you are all well...

Sunday Night Playlist

I've just learned how to embed Spotify playlists so this might become a thing, you never know.

And if there happen to be any random UK people reading this who have been officially traumatized by recent events in Downton Abbey, I recommend The Paradise as a quality, fluff filled panacea.

National Museum

Last Saturday a couple of my fellow postgrads and I were lucky enough to be able to tag along (aka be in charge of) a group of undergrads who were being taken into Edinburgh to the National Museum. A really lovely day... Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities and it was so nice to get out of St. Andrews for a while and to walk around a proper city. After the museum we visited St. Giles Cathedral and the Dovecott Tapestry Studios, all though unfortunatly I have no pictures of either.

 

Hoping to visit again soon...

 



we definitely ate lunch here:)

Reading C.S. Lewis instead of doing my course work

"If ever the book which I am not going to write is written it must be the full confession by Christendom of Christendom's specific contribution to the sum of human cruelty and trechery. Large areas of "the World" will not hear us till we have publically disowned much of our past. Why should they? We have shouted the name of Christ and enacted the service of Moloch."

 

-C.S Lewis, The Four Loves

The Cathedral

Walking through the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral is a strange and haunting experience, not because the grounds have been converted into a massive graveyard, but because the building itself is something of a skeleton, a hollow shell of what was once a thing of grandeur and majesty. So little is left of the Cathedral it is almost impossible to imagine what it would have been like to worship inside its walls.

The cemetery aspect evokes another feeling in of itself. I am not one to find graveyards frightening, in fact I find them rather beautiful, and only sometimes sad. In the Victorian era it was considered romantic for young lovers to meet in graveyards, something about new life coming out of death, I think. I understand that, to some extent. As you walk among the dead, you become keenly aware of your own life, the blood pulsing through your heart, your ability to run and laugh and love.

 

I hope all of you at home have been able to escape the hot weather. It's starting to get colder here... the days are shorter and your hands freeze when you walk out at night. The season of 3pm sunsets is almost upon us...

Love to you all xx