My Chevening Month – February: Head Over Heels with Scotland
It is truly fitting that my Chevening month fell on February – traditionally the month of love and romance. It was a chance for me to revisit all the reasons why I decided to study in the UK and, more importantly, why I chose Scotland to be my home for the year.
Despite my hectic schedule balancing my academic and personal responsibilities in Edinburgh, I was fortunate enough to have spent some time exploring two beautiful cities – London and Glasgow. I am pleased to have been able to remain true to the promise I made to myself midway through last year – that I will create meaningful stories for myself and nurture my sense of wonder through travel.
These are the souvenirs from #MyCheveningJourney that I will keep for the rest of my life.
My February began with me joining hundreds of volunteers to help Trees for Cities, a UK-based non-profit, planting thousands of trees at Marnham Fields in the London Borough of Ealing. The activity was part of a larger initiative to create an edible urban woodland and provide more green spaces for the community. You can read more about my experiences in this blog post.
My weekend in London was even more exciting because of the birthday party of fellow Filipino Chevener, David Garcia, who is currently taking MSc Geospatial Analysis at University College London. It was a fun-filled night in Camden as we all played party games and ate home-cooked food like Filipino sweet-style spaghetti and lechon kawali (crispy fried pork belly).
Interestingly, it has been said that if there is one definitive Filipino quirk it would be that we love to hold parties, whether or not there is a special occasion. While birthdays are always considered a special occasion, I have to agree with the previous statement in general terms. Quality time with friends, hours of laughter, and stories over good food are always cause for celebration.
There is nothing quite like connecting with newfound friends midway through our shared journey, recounting the details of our unique experiences so far, as well as sharing our hopes for what will be the last few months in this life-changing Chevening experience.
I also joined Cheveners based in London and Bristol on a quick trip to Surrey for the ‘Love at the Tudor Court’ activity at Hampton Court Palace, one of only two surviving palaces of the many owned by King Henry VIII. Produced by Historic Royal Palaces in collaboration with Scaffold Shakespeare Company, we were able to watch Elizabethan ‘courtiers’ show off their dancing skills, exchange Shakespearean sonnets, and play lute songs popular during the Tudor period.
We also spent time exploring the Hampton Court Maze, also known as the UK’s oldest surviving hedge maze. It was an intriguing, albeit extremely challenging, experience. We all felt a deep sense of achievement when we finally reached the centre after numerous wrong-turns and dead-ends. We can now say to ourselves that we successfully conquered what is considered ‘the most famous maze in the history of the world.’
During the latter part of February, the University of Edinburgh celebrated the Festival of Creative Learning which allowed students to enjoy a week-long programme of events free from our usual class schedules. I decided to spend a few days in the nearby city of Glasgow where I was lucky enough to see many of the sights on consecutively sunny days.
Walking the Glasgow mural trail, featuring fantastic street art, was an adventure because I was able to visually enjoy the unique sense of humour of the city. I also had the chance to visit the Glasgow Necropolis, a breathtaking Victorian cemetery, that sits atop a prominent hill near St. Mungo’s Cathedral.
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My visit to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum was particularly special as it was my first time to see original paintings by important French artists such as Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh.
However, of all the things I have seen in Glasgow, or Scotland for that matter, my favorite memory so far would have to be my two hour walk through the breathtakingly beautiful Pollok Country Park. As Glasgow’s largest park, Pollok can be described as a balanced mix of extensive rugged woodlands and manicured gardens that used to form part of an old estate and the ancestral home of the Maxwell Family.
After my brief Glasgow trip, and as I walked back to my flat from the Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station, I saw my favorite street art installation located in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town. It is a ten-metre long illuminated quotation from Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote: ‘I shall tear up trees with my bare teeth! I shall crush mountains with my fists! I shall go crazy – for love!’ Very romantic.
The art installation is part of the Words on the Street project being run by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, ‘celebrating the power great books have to inspire great artists and Edinburgh’s strength as a center for books and publishing.’
My realization so far? It is actually very easy to fall in love with Scotland. Despite the unbearable cold at times and the unpredictable weather, it began with a wee sip of Irn Bru, a carbonated drink affectionately described as ‘Scotland’s other national drink’ after whisky.
Then that feeling of butterflies after chocolatey bites of teacakes and snowballs; and, finally, the certainty of falling head over heels occurred after many weekends spent exploring the windswept coasts of the Isle of Skye, the majestic mountain ranges of Glencoe, and the rest of the Highlands, as well as the warmth and hospitality of the Scottish people who have welcomed me into their home.
I am currently inspired to make the most of my remaining months in the UK. They say time flies when one is having fun – and right now I am having the time of my life. If I were to view my life as a book, then Scotland has definitely given me, and continues to give me, meaningful stories that fill significant chapters in a journey that I have written for myself.