Scotland and the Highlands

The Southwestern group set off to Edinburgh via train Thursday morning, meeting at London’s King’s Cross station. Guide Bob, wearing a kilt, met us at the Edinburgh station and led us on a coach tour of old and new town. We quickly settled in at the Point hotel before dispersing for walks and pub meals. (See Thursday's Edinburgh photos here.)

Friday morning, all enjoyed a full cooked English breakfast: scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, tomatoes and baked beans! ...the haggis was yet to come (see Friday's photos here). Who knew what adventure lay ahead of us when, at 9 a.m., a quiet looking man called Martin gathered us in the lobby. He was our new tour guide, coach driver and comedic historian (all at the same time!) Martin was a self proclaimed “wild and sexy” Scotsman insisting everyone answer roll call with a fierce battle cry, “Ayeeee!” (to which the captain approved, “close enough to Arrrgggghhhh fer me tastes.” He set the tone for what he would continue to remind us was a journey into Scottish history: merciless battles, violence and death.

As we reached the Abby in Dunkel, the Captain rested in a tree by the river while students explored.

We stopped in Aviemore for lunch. Then, we continued on to the Culloden battlefield to hear the story of the Jacobites’ last attempt at rebellion and restoration against the English in 1745 under “Bonnie Prince Charles”. One mate commented, “I feel so bad for the Jacobites! They were so close to winning Scottish freedom and then just got slaughtered.” (Captain Ruter learned about the tactic called ‘Highland Charge’ which worked in theory as Highlanders charged down a steep incline, but which proved wholly ineffective when trying to charge across a flat, boggy marsh...only bringing merciless battles, violence and death).

Now near Inverness, we made a mad dash to the Loch Ness for a 60 minute “3-hour tour” (images of Gilligan’s Island floating through the captain’s mind) in search of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster! Back on the coach, Martin – king of wild and sexy Scotland and all knower of Scottish history (battles, violence, and death...) – taught everyone our now classic Loch Ness hit song, the refrain of which was: “What’s that coming over the hill? Is it a Monster? Is it a Monster?). And along we went, singing into the Highland dusk.

By now, the group had collectively seen 17 white horses. Martin assured that by Scottish legend, this meant we had all earned the prospect of finding Deep Scottish Love (“but only if everyone will claim that love way wavin’ thar fingers inta the air... arrrrgggghhhh...” protested the captain).

The captain and his mates liked the Hostel where we bunked for the night. “It felt like camp, but with a pub and a musician” one reported. Another commented on dinner’s feature of baked potatoes with haggis (or chillie con carne and “salsa” for the less adventuresome). Nearly everyone at least tried haggis, “it’s not as bad as I thought it would be; it’s only bad if you know what it is.”

We were captivated by more stunning scenery on Saturday. (See Saturday's photos here.) In spite of the Highland rain, everyone hiked. One student described, “it was astoundingly beautiful and serene.” Some filled water bottles with mountain water, others enjoyed wild blackberries along the path. Overall, a good time was shared. Yet, in order to avoid a Deep Scottish Rebellion by the now thoroughly soaked crew, Martin changed our picnic plans and drove us to Fort William for Morrison’s grocery story café. No one complained about the long wait for a hot chicken soup lunch indoors.

Through the afternoon, we saw the lochs, Ben Nevis (the highest peak in the British Isles), crossed the Atlantic ocean (well, actually a bridge over a high tide from the Atlantic...), and William Wallace’s legends from Brave Heart (after which Martin played his favorite soundtracks for “freedom” and even created an on-coach light show to the music). We passed the Doone Castle, where Monty Python films were made. And along the way, we even stopped to meet Haymish, a “har-ee coo” (a very hairy Scottish cow!!).

Martin returned us safely to the Point Hotel in Edinburgh. Sunday morning, everyone explored Edinburgh before meeting promptly at 2:45 for our coach transfer to the train station for the train to New Castle and back to London. With great dreams of doing home work on route home, almost everyone was thoroughly exhausted. Our 6 hour journey passed with naps, post card writing, a bit of reading, some music, and a few more naps. (See journey home photos here...)

A good trip was had by all.

Time She's 'A Movin....

Oh, so much is going on in London that Captain Ruter's days seem shorter and shorter (not that the sun hasn't also begun to show fewer and fewer hours of each day as the calendar moves into fall). Activities everywhere.

First, there's homework to keep up with. Between reading, museum visits, personal budgeting, and theater performances, the captain keeps himself quite busy.

Second, there's regular life with his mates...at each turn, someone's celebrating a birthday. "We're all a needin' ta do our warshin', we are, and these blimey warshers rnt like the ones at home, noooo. Some a them, they warsh and dry in the SAME machine, they do!" So agreeing who's turn is it to wash or whose dishes remain in the sink or who had longer than whom in the bathroom presents those lovely challenges of daily living the Captain had grown accustomed to managing on his own when living alone aboard his ship.

Third, he continues to go on field trips (a clever approach to teaching and learning that his teachers assure him is advancing what he's learning while abroad). In an effort to demonstrate the embeddedness of business and commerce into society over centuries of time, the teachers arranged a walking tour through sections of London. Students saw where the tea and coffee trade of the world emerged. They heard stories like the British obtaining Hong Kong in 1842 after 3 years of opium wars over the tea trade. As the story goes, tea was a British staple and silk quite valuable. The East India Company had a monopoly on the Asian market where tea and silk came from. But China began wanting more money than the market would bear or the company could pay....and so the East India company became quite entrepreneurial and smuggled opium into China from Bengal in order to generate enough cash to pay for tea, silk and other goods. In 1839 the Chinese confiscated all of the opium in British warehouses. The British saw this confiscation as theft and declared war -- The captain rather appreciated that audacious spirit! Later, around 1864, the Hong Kong Bank was founded in order to facilitate trade among regions, enhancing the political and financial empire of London and the Eastern empire abroad.

The students also walked by the site of Jonathan's coffee house in Exchange ally. This, their guide explained, was the general market for stock jobbers in 1694. By 1685, Edward Lloyd had opened a coffee house for sea farers on Tower Street. It quickly became the place for news (Lloyds News) and soon, Lloyd saw an opportunity to underwrite ships and cargo. The area has been in the center of insurance ever since.

The captain has acquired a new affinity for coffee and a renewed love of tea --- and he thinks about the American's Boston tea party with new eyes now.

Then there was a trip to a brewery. In addition to tea and coffee, beer is a cultural focal point in England. With tiny houses, there's hardly a living room to enjoy. And so the English walk down the street to a local pub and enjoy friends and laughter and stories and playing darts and watching "football" (really, the captain knows they mean "soccer", but he's trying to fit in). The local pub has a cultural as well as a commercial purpose. Indeed it helped the captain in class too. When back in the classroom discussing corporate finance and characteristics of money, he understood "durability" of goods when he remembered the tour guide explaining the shift to the beer industry with the discovery of hops as a form of natural preservative; a keg of beer suddenly had a significantly longer shelf life making it easier for an inn keeper or pub master to buy beer in a keg and sell it to customers over weeks instead of only over days.

And now, the captain and his mates are off to the great lands of the north. Today, they leave for Scotland! (The captain hopes to meet his long lost relative Captain Rhubarb...only time will tell.)

The lot are off again to the bonnie hills of Edinburgh with more adventures to report next week.

Shakespeare's Globe

"Blimey mate, tis a strrrrrrrange building that one is! "

The captain and his classmates toured the Globe theater last week and attended the play Mid Summer Night's Dream last night. They learned that the building itself is completely reconstructed (recently!!) after hundreds of years and multiple rebuilding-from-fire. The columns on each side of the stage are made from a full oak tree each. And the roof remains open as artists and architects suppose it originally was -- "nice fer air but a near reach ta RAIN," worries the captain.

The captain enjoyed two particular ways the guide explained we continue to be influenced by this space. First, he noted that he and his friends' tickets said "standing," what the guide called "groundlings." "A theater wher' we go a wonderin' an standin' round wherever? (Me mother'd never a let me do that in me wee yrs." The guide explained that words we still use regarding social class -- such as "that's beneath me" or "has his nose in the air" are seen in the level of the theater a person could afford. The most expensive tickets are at the top and the least expensive are on the ground.

A second word the captain liked was window, what the guide said originated from "wind hole," a hole in the building on the proper side such that wind would pass through and cool or clean the air. He thought he could simply sit here in the wind hole for a very long time.

At the play last night, the captain found a soft place in his heart for theater. Puck had become "in dispose" and the actor told the audience the cast would "do the best we can" (said with a guffaw and a swagger that the captain rather appreciated). And indeed they did. So reminiscent of the captain's early days in theater, when performance was representational (rather than an attempt to closely imitate some reality), our replacement Puck appeared on stage carrying a script. Actors told each other where to go, where to stand, as needed, and the show went on. "Blimey, ah tis a strange buildin' but yer don't be seein' acters the likes of them no more." And the captain looked forward to going there again.

Bath fieldtrip

The lovely town of Bath, even in the rain, holds significance because of ancient Roman Baths. This complex was built 2000 years ago. The guide previewed what the captain and classmates would see in the complex, "everyday life of the Roman City and ancient treasures from the Temple of Sulis Minerva, goddess of wisdom and healing."

The captain meditated on this profound place, before deciding perhaps he too would attempt the ancient rituals...just maybe, these baths would instill him with wisdom of the Oracle and so he dove in!

"The baths themselves still bubble and steam with water from the hot spring," the guide told him. In Roman time, the legend goes, a pig wallowed in the springs. The healing and cleansing properties of the water removed the spots of the pig and left the pig shiny and clean. Observing this, a soldier with leprosy decided he too might benefit from the healing wonders. And so he too soaked in the sacred waters and emerged clean of ailment. A public alter, complete with animal sacrifices such that augurers could foretell people's future, still stand at the site, along with elaborate designs for how the wealthy would bring servants to attend to their needs, scrub their skin, and leave them to do business with others so wealthy.

"After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the baths became derelict and eventally collapsed, to be covered by mud and water till their rediscovery by the Victorians...it was not until the 17th century that the Golden Age returned and this site again became the social centre of Bath."

To our delight, the city currently sports an entire collection of original art-pigs (here are Yandi and the captain enjoying one such symbolic art piece). These reminded the captain of his own familiar town of Austin where the city sports art-guitars as a symbol to the music capital. Here, the legend of the pig finding the healing and wisdom properties of the waters is celebrated with pig sculptures! City wide, these pigs can be seen everywhere from prominent display at the Abby and in the park, to tucked away markets and inside shops (see photos). Later this season, the town will auction the pigs in order to raise money for a good cause.

Stone Henge

The group traveled to Stone Henge and Bath this week. Though the weather was "severe" even by British standards (a month's rain due to fall in one day and gale force winds), the tour guide Jeanie assured the group, "but maybe it won't happen...and besides, that's just a fact of life." (It sounded a bit like the other expression the captain has heard in London, "Nothing to grumble about...").

Sadly enough, it took 3 PhDs and 2 students to figure out how to open 1 well constructed British umbrella (see photos). Good construction seemed key though as many students' umbrellas turned inside out as they braced against the winds. But that didn't stop the group from experiencing the significance of the place itself.

Stone Henge, south west of London approximately an hour by coach, is a 5000 year old monument (even before the Egyptian pyramids). Recent archaeological carbon dating suggests that the site was built as a cemetery of sorts. The design and construction however are highly sophisticated. For example, the site has multiple perfectly concentric circles made from trenches dug with deer antlers and stones larger than 50 tons coming from nearly 20 miles away (without the luxury of trucks or cranes or pulleys of course). A "heel stone" aligns to the north with a "slaughter stone" such that at precisely the mid-summer solstice the sun shines through the monument and can appear to rest on its top. And the tops of the largest stones are chiseled such that they are more narrow at the top than the bottom (thereby appearing to be taller than they actually are) and flat on top with pegs such that the lentil stones across the up right stones rest flat and firm. As they stand, the stones create both a lunar and solar calendar.

The monument grew in 3 main phases over 1300 years, students were told. Phase 1 in about 3100 B.C. as a simple ditch-and-bank circle. Phase 2 in approximately 2100 B.C. as a double circle of more than 80 bluestones (each weighing 2-5 tons) that are believed to have come from Wales on a raft across the English Channel (a journey and process modern experts were unsuccessful at repeating when attempted for a millennial commemoration activity)! And Phase 3 approximately 1550 B.C. when the bluestones were rearranged and the larger 50 ton sandstone boulders were assembled (coming from approximately 20 miles away, presumably being dragged and each estimated to need as many as 600 men working an entire year to move).

Impressed, and soaked through and through, students and the captain re-boarded their coach to depart for the historic town of Bath.

Classes Get Underway

Students in Southwestern's 2008 London study abroad program choose between 4 and 5 courses from the following:

• British Life and Culture (everyone takes this),
  
• Business in Society (a social science course from a business perspective),
  
• Commodities and International Conflicts (a cross-listed history and economics course),
  
• Contemporary Issues in Business (a seminar for business majors)
  
• Foundations of Business (a foundational business principles course for business majors)
  
• Global Powers: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Empires: China, Great Britain, and the U.S. (and China Again?) (a cross-listed history and political science course),
  
• Theater Arts in London (everyone can elect to attend theater performances on Wednesday nights regardless of their enrollment in the course), and
  
• World Civilizations to 1500 (a history course).

Some students are also doing an internship as one of their 4 to 5 courses.

Faculty have arranged field trips, walking tours, and theater performances as part of various courses. Already, students are finding overlaps in the course content (while that does not surprise the faculty, Captain Ruter was surprised!). Students also have projects that relate to learning more about their London experiences such as independent museum trips for history or creating and maintaining a budget of their expenses for business class. On many Fridays, students go together on field trips to towns and sites within London (including the Globe Theater, Kew Gardens, and the Tower of London) and beyond London (including Stone Henge, Bath, Brighton, Edinburgh, and Oxford).

The semester promises to be packed with adventure.

Feeling Oriented...

Southwestern students arrived in London on August 22 and have been running about learning the land and ways ever since. Now it's September and classes are in full swing. So here are several of the Captain's adventures to catch up on.

First, everyone got oriented. (The wee captain is in the third row, standing on a mate's notebook and listening attentively.) After hearing about London transportation and safety and events and language and customs and all of the fun activities coming their way, students took a short lunch break before boarding a bus to see the city.

Sean the tour guide led the group through old and new parts of London, stopping for photo opportunities at multiple turns. Photos of students and sights abound. The captain even met another mate (his size), a cat named Zeke who came along for Southwestern adventures. Zeke and the captain have already started planning adventures together. See Zeke's blog at zekedoeslondon.blogspot.com.