Monday 3. October - Sunday 9.October
HUH- autumn has yet begun with stormy weather and rain. The houses
in Edinburgh are not particularly well insulated so there is a draught
from the windows and you really need a warm sweater and warm socks
when you sit down.
The week hasn't been that interesting. I'm trying to catch up my
reading- there is an awful lot of reading to do. Time is very short
for the writing I have to do. I have to write three essays to be submitted
in December so I don't have much time to think of subjects to write
about. Still I'm trying to do some other things beside studies.
Thursday was again Gaelic day and we were introduced to Iona our
teacher, a very nice and humorous younger woman who makes the teaching
quite interesting. It is funny to learn Gaelic although the grammatical
rules are complicated and it is hard to remember how the words are
pronounced. The gap between spelling and pronunciation is very big
and maybe is Gaelic one of the languages with the most complicated
and illogical spelling system at all.
Iona doesn't give us any rules for pronunciation yet for she says
it would be even more confusing for us. Instead we have to get used
to the language and listen to it and just by repeating over and over
again the same words learn to pronounce them.
Saturday I spent with Li Wei at the National Scottish Library at
an exhibition about Scotland during WWII. It was very interesting
and there were certain things I didn't know about the situation of
the country. There was a well organised cooperation between Scotland
and Norway during the Occupation years. For example there was something
called the Shetland bus. It was a route between Norway and the Shetland
Islands a sailing and bus route which helped Norwegians escape the
German occupation in Norway. Many people from the resistance movement
in Norway saved their life that way. The Norwegian King Haakon held
a speech for the Norwegian people just very short before liberation.
That speech was taped and played at the exhibition and it was pure
Danish. I think I have heard that King Haakon spoke a Norwegian very
close to Danish.
Sunday I made a trip to The Botanical
Gardens in Edinburgh; a nice and peaceful place (if it
wasn't for screaming kids) very close to Broughton High. A trip to
and from that place makes the legs strong and the bottom tight I hope.
Here some of the streets are very steep but nevertheless people bike
upwards without any trouble. When I have a bike I cannot do that without
having a heart attack I think. I'll better find a smoother way to
Broughton High but that is impossible.
Maybe this week will be a little more interesting and exciting. I'm
very sleepy and wish you all good night and sweet dreams.