Rotary Trip to Scotland

It’s noon here in Glasgow, but only 7am back in NC. We left Newark airport at 7:40pm, and landed in Glasgow at 7:30am local time. But that was only 2:30am NC time. Needless to say, we’re all a bit wiped. Adrienne managed to sleep a lot on the plane, the rest of us not so much. We’re all committed to staying up until 9-9:30 tonight so we can get onto a normal schedule tomorrow.

Our departure from Greensboro was fun and friend and family-filled. We even got a “wave” done for us, mostly by my family but with a couple others roped in. Newark was three hours of wishing three hours were past, but we learned more about each other and ate some decent food in the airport shops.
The plane was a giant sardine can, but got us where we were heading. There was an interesting list of possible movies we could have been shown, including “Mission: Impossible III” and “RV”. Of course we got “Duma” - the heartwarming tale of a boy and his cheetah. Really. Although I’m just guessing on the “heartwarming” part, because I didn’t really watch it until the last ten minutes.

It was very cool seeing the sun rise as we flew east and got close to Scotland. We flew over several islands before we hit Scotland proper, but I don’t think I saw Ireland. The approach in to the airport featured lots of open country speckled with little sheep dots, the occassional small town and some impressive mountains - also speckled with little sheep dots.

We were met at the airport by the District Governor Neil Fraser, rotarian Geraldine O’Donnell and our liason Mike Kelly. They shuttled us to Glynhill hotel, a very neat place, with a great breakfast.
We are now settling in to our rooms, and will probably wander off to a local mall to kill time/keep moving/stay awake for the afternoon before having dinner with Neil and Geraldine.

We found WWE wrestling and “Pop Idol” (the original “American Idol” done here in GB) on the TV, and I’ve been watching “Robot Wars” (you know - where people build little remote control robot cars that can smash/cut/pummell opponents robot cars until someone is the winner) with English announcers while I’ve been writing this. And we just saw an update on a cricket match!

Right. I’ll write more when I’ve slept.

Today was a much clearer day for me. It started after what was supposed to be an 8-hour sleep turned into a 10-hour sleep when I turned off my alarm. Turns out I really needed the 10 hours so I’m not complaining.
Our wonderful liason Mike met us around 10-11am (he got here around 10, we finally were ready to leave at 11) along with a transplanted American named Henry. We drove to Edinburgh (that’s “Edin-boro” for the Americans in the crowd), had a spot of coffee with a nice man named Chris and took the bus to the city proper.
Edinburgh is quite a fantastic place to walk around in, and we had fabulous weather today - sunny and not too hot. We took a guided tour of the unique/interesting/bizarre new Parliment building, then walked around and through Edinburgh castle. Quite breathtaking.
We had to be at a Rotary meeting at 6 for half-6 (um, get there around 6, dinner is at 6:30), but we had time to hit a drugstore to get me some gel shoe insoles, and a pub to get me a real Guinness. Yum.
The Rotary meeting was about what you’d expect: we met some folks and chatted, I tried to get a computer with Japanese menus to connect to a projector, we had a nice dinner and then learned of the art of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Right.

So, ok, there was another Rotary-sponsered person at the meeting. Actually, no, there were two: one from Germany and one from Japan. Both were ambassadorial scholars, which is a one-year foreign study scholarship sponsored by Rotary. The Japanese woman was the speaker for the meeting and did a great presentation on the Japanese Tea Ceremony. And I wasn’t able to get her computer to talk to the projector, but someone else was.

We had a nice trip back to the cars on the upper deck of a double-decker bus! That was fun, especially when we got to our stop and I almost fell on my face coming down the stairs.

Scottish language note for the day: “still water or fizzy?” means non-carbonated or carbonated. I was asked the question after I’d requested water and said something like “Yes, I’d still like water”. Everyone found it quite amusing.

Scottish travel thrill of the day: apart from the double-decker bus, traveling around a traffic circle while on the left side of the street will really get the adrenaline flowing for us “right-siders”. I think I’ll get used to it at some point, but I keep thinking we’re going to have a head-on.

Jason

http://actcasual.com/scotlandpics/scotlandpics.html

Today started off with Will Smith waking me up via an iTunes alarm on my computer. They have a different electricity “language” over here and my alarm clock doesn’t speak it. So I’ve had to rig up my computer to wake me up.
So, I went and got a brief workout in here at the hotel, and then had a quick shower and breakfast.

We were met around 11 by Andy Slater who gave us a projector, dvd player and any cable we might need for our presentations over the next few weeks. We then headed into Glasgow with 4 Assistant Governors and Andrew, had lunch at a great hotel restaurant in the middle of the city - I had an amazing chocolate mousse with the best vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had on it. And then we took a bus tour of the city, on the top of a double-decker. With a recorded tour played through headphones, and not always in sync with where we were, and with a very catchy bit of music to fill the gaps. Glasgow is a fascinating city, and we’ll be back there at various times to visit museums and (myself only) the RASMD (Royal Academy of Scottish Music and Digtal arts (or maybe Dance, I’m not sure)).
It rained for the first time today, but in spurts and not for long.
Bruce MacPhearson and his wife hosted us for afternoon tea/coffee (I had apple juice) and then we headed to Kirkintilloch for a Rotary meeting and our very first presentation! We had one minor glitch while testing everything - the batteries in the remote were dying - but it was soon rectified and we were ready to go for after dinner.
The dinner was great - they made a special dish for Adrienne because she made a mention of liking vegetarian food on her bio, and made sure the main course had no wheat so I could eat it! How hospitable. After dinner it was showtime and we ran through our presentation with little difficulty. We were well received and have an idea how to improve for next time.
Tomorrow we have two presentations: a lunctime matinee at our hotel and then a dinner show at a club about 10 miles away. We also move in with our first host families tomorrow, so that will be a new adventure.

I had a whisky tonight (a celebratory drink from Thorns for our first presentation going so well) that was unlike any I’ve had before. Glenmorangie. Here’s my attempt to describe the taste:

It went up instead of down.

Most whisky I’ve had will have a bit of a bouquet that gets up in the sinuses a bit, but the brunt of the flavor hits the throat and travels downward. This one had a light, almost ginger, flavor that jumped up into the sinuses, sparkled for a bit, and then stayed up in the mouth and throat as you swallow. Very tasty and interesting.

Before retiring, Adrienne was taught the fine art of Spades, with Adrienne and Melissa taking on Bill and myself. I don’t want to say who was winning when we called it a night, but it was the boys.

Scottish language note for the day: “restroom” means “bedroom” or “place where you rest”. Which makes sense. “Gents”, “Ladies” or “toilet” means “place where you go the the bathroom”.

Scottish driving adventure of the day: we were heading into Glasgow and were stopped at a light or something. I was in the back seat, fairly oblivious to the trip, mostly looking at buildings and such. I happened to look left out the window as we started moving and saw a bus coming at us at high speed, and only about 20 yards away. My thought was “wow, it’s just like Universal Studios tour where they stop the bus on the train tracks and a train barrels down on you. I’m glad we’re moving”.
I found out later that the car following us, which had Thorns and Melissa in it, followed us through the intersection and just barely made it! Melissa said she looked over and all she could see was the bus driver’s shoes.

So, until next time. Which may be a couple days out, or tomorrow. Not sure what sort of internet access I’ll have at my host families’ homes, so we’ll play it by ear.

Thanks for all the comments!

Peace

Jason

Wednesday September 13th
=================
Morning and Afternoon
—————
Today we said goodbye to the Glynhill Hotel - at least for a couple weeks. We’ll be back September 26, and then also on our last night here before heading home.
We had a lunchtime presentation for the Paisley Rotary Club at the Glynhill. It went well from our perspective, but the hotel was swamped and we were crammed into an odd space, not the room they are used to.
I was then taken by Ross Anderson out to his B&B that he runs with his wife Janet. It’s the East Lochhead B&B and is wonderful.
www.eastlochhead.co.uk
We went for a walk with his three dogs up to the local town of Lochwinnoch. I learned all sorts of fascinating details about the area (a local castle was once owned by Robert the Bruce’s family) and then it started to rain a bit. Of course at that point we were in town, and it only made sense to stop in the Brown Bull pub to get out of the rain. And then, of course, it only made sense to have a pint. So we did. The Brown Bull allows dogs, so our three charges were quite happy in there with us.
They have a beautiful, yet camera-shy mare and also some interesting sheep, lots of land and a great view of the local lochs, one of which abuts the property. They have a Jacob’s ram - it’s got four horns, and frankly defies description.
There will be a better photo posted at some point.
I couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay.

Evening and Night
————
Our Rotary meeting this evening hosted by Gryffe Valley was wonderful. Some very lively conversation, and they received our presentation well. I’ll be having quite a time tomorrow on my vocational day touring some local music establishments with a couple of their more colorful members.

When we got back to East Lochhead, Ross offered me a nightcap of an unknown whisky (straight from a cask, as part of a Whisky Society he belongs to). Very tasty, pungent yet light. One of my favorites so far, but unfortunately will be gone forever once the bottle is gone. I’ll explain why if you ask.
We had a terrific talk about local and national politics both here and in the US, slow food (www.slowfood.com) and other topics.

It’s a little odd being without my group for the first time this trip. It’s nice to have some private time and meet new people, but I also miss the company of Adrienne, Bill, Melissa and Thorns.

Thursday, September 14 - morning
===============
Had some wonderful organic porridge made by Janet this morning. It’s raining today, and it’s rather nice to look at, but I haven’t been out in it yet. Lots of sparrows come to the birdfeeder outside the kitchen, and even a little brown mouse pops out of the bushes for some crumbs.

Scottish language note of the day: much like the South in the US, accents vary from region to region (and town to town). Jillian - who is temporarily filling in as housekeeper at the B&B - has a very strong accent. It’s wonderful to listen to, but I have to really concentrate to follow what she’s saying. She’s a local. Ross and Janet are originally from England, and have completely different accents.

Jason

The Gyffe Valley Rotarians asked us some population questions we couldn’t answer at the time. Here are the answers from Melissa’s notes:
North Carolina total population: 8,683,242

Guilford County total population: 443,519

Greensboro is in Guilford County, and I imagine most of the population is there.

Jason

OK,
I’ve moved pictures into an easily-updatable website, which unfortunately is a little hard to navigate:
http://www.actcasual.com/scotlandpix/index.php?cat=10001

I’ll try to streamline if I have a chance.

Jason

Thursday September 14th, afternoon and evening
—————–
I was picked up by Angus around noon, and we took the scenic route over the moor into Houston, where Nigel lives. Angus told me a lot about the history of the village we went through, and it was a very enjoyable ride. I was then left with Nigel, as Angus had to go to a meeting.
Nigel is quite an interesting man: he has been a barrister, cop and fighter pilot. He plays many instruments and we spent the afternoon playing and singing together. He has talented children as well, and his son Kyle let me listen to his band’s CD a bit - pretty impressive stuff.
Angus rejoined us in the later part of the afternoon with his accordian, and we played more music until Adrienne was dropped off and it was time to head out to the folk club. We went into Glasgow to a club, had dinner (I tasted some of Angus’ haggis, which I didn’t like but was told it wasn’t very good) and then watched a concert.
First up was a local fiddle group (including Angus’s lady-friend Anne) which was quite enjoyable to listen to. Then came an Englishman singer/songwriter whose name suddenly escapes me. He was very talented, but chose soothing songs and we all nearly fell asleep. So we left at intermission and heading back to Nigel’s to sing and play some more, this time with Anne and her fiddle. I sang “Amie” (by the Pure Prairie League in the early 70s) a well-known song in the US, but they’d never heard it. It’s bluegrass/country and has a lot in common with Celtic music. Nigel in particular really seemed to enjoy it. In turn, I got to hear and play many Scottish and Irish songs.
It was a great day.

Friday September 15
============
Today we met at Alan and Liz’s house (where Adrienne is being hosted) and left as a group to take a boat tour into Glasgow. That was a fun trip, with lots of interesting information about the ship building that took place there. It was about 20 minutes on the boat, and the weather today was beautiful - one of the best days so far.
In Glasgow we took the subway over to the Kelvingrove Museum and spent some time there. Much like the Smithsonian, but on a smaller scale. I spent most of my visit in the Ancient Creatures wing, but did manage to see the kitschy Elvis statue. I also managed to walk under a full-sized Spitfire airplane without noticing it until it was pointed out to me by one of our Rotary guides.
For lunch we went to “A Play, A Pie and A Pint” - a lunch theater show. Your fee gets you lunch, beer and an hour-long play. We saw “Sea Change”. It was well done, and the opening line is the title of this post, with a bit of liberty taken on the second word which was not “really”. It was also very heavy and somewhat depressing. Something about the future and having to kill to stay alive, and the sea coming to take everyone anyway. They do 15 different shows in 15 weeks, with different directors and cast. It’s a great idea, actually.

Melissa and I popped into the Town Hall building at George’s Square - amazing interior design (I will post pictures) -
Outside we ran into two mounted police officers. They posed for pictures and were very polite and were thrilled to take one of the Greensboro PD patches Melissa has. Their horses were enormous - I can’t remember what breed though.
We caught up with the others at the People’s Palace and Winter Garden. This is another museum, this one about the history of Glasgow and her citizens. Some fascinating stuff, but by then we were more interested in the ice cream they were selling.

Alan and Liz hosted a dinner party last evening for all the Team and our host families. Great food, a wonderful meringue pie and good conversation. Alan made sure I always had a drink, so I was quite knackered by the time it was over. I started with beer, had a tall gin and tonic, then some Glenmorangie whisky and finally topped off with a nice port. I made a point of not standing up until I had to, but managed to walk OK when the time came. No ill effects the next morning, either.

Jason

On the right under “Blogroll” you will find links to the pictures page, as well as a link to the movie I made last month (Gi Ho Lo).

Enjoy.

Jason

Saturday 16 September
==================

After a quiet morning at East Lochhead, it was time to say goodbye and move on to the next Club. We were met at a nearby hotel by members of the Strathendrick Rotary.
Bill and I were taken by a Rotarian named Bill to the house he shares with Anne in Deanston - which is pretty far out in the country. Some great scenery and castles seemingly everywhere. (Which brings to mind the phrase I keep hearing: “you’ve seen one castle, you’ve seen them all”.)
After settling in we went on a quest to get me a sweater. At a wool mill in a nearby town we had out first encounter with a Highland Bull - this one was the mascot of the mill and rather large. Highland cattle have heavy fur that makes them look almost like sheepdogs, or a man wearing a very bad hairpiece, and Hamish was no exception. Bill snapped some pictures, but I had left my camera in the car. Sorry.
Bill loaded up on clothes at Hamish’s shop, and I got a couple sweaters at the next mill down the road.
Then it was off to the William Wallace Monument - a large stone tower on top of a hill right next to Stirling University. You have to walk up the hill, and then walk up into the tower on a narrow stair with barely room to pass anyone. The story of Wallace is laid out on written displays, an interesting re-enactment via a movie talking to a dummy that had an actor’s face projected onto it (you may need to read that twice to sort it out), and a guided audio tour on a telephone you could carry around. Fascinating stuff, and the view from the top was spectacular. The spot of the monument was chosen because this was where Wallace watched the English army marching toward the Stirling Bridge and devised his strategy for defeating them.

A quick side note about “Braveheart”: on one hand the movie is not loved by some Scots because it was shot in Ireland and has a non-Scot in the lead and takes some dramatic liberties. One the other hand it stays pretty true to the story and tourism to the Monument (and Scotland) has increased dramatically since it came out.

There was a “Room of Heroes” in the monument celebrating various important Scots from history, one of which is George Buchanan. He taught Mary Queen of Scots and her son, who became king. What we found most interesting was that the presentation made a point of the following: you were not allowed to lay a finger on royalty, so Buchanan would offer to tutor the peasant children in return for being able to beat them when he was frustrated with the Prince.
Anyway, it turns out this is his 500th birthday and a big celebration has been going on all week. We went to a Ceili last night as part of the celebration.

A Ceili is a party with dancing (there was also poetry and singing - I’m not sure if that’s a standard part of it or not). It was mostly Scottish “line dancing” with a couple waltzes thrown in. It was a great time! The dances were easy once you figured out the patterns and everyone was having fun. I kind of taught Adrienne and Melissa how to waltz, though it was more of a “Jason Waltz” than a “Real Waltz”. There was a copious amount of alcohol, so for the second night in a row I was a little wobbly-legged. Though the dancing helped clear the head, and today I feel fine.

Our host Bill allowed (made?) Bill wear his kilt to the Ceili. He was a dashing figure, and there is lots of footage of him getting dressed and dancing and drinking. The camera was on quite a bit during the Ceili, but I was dancing and not running it, so I can only imagine what I will see when I watch the tape.

Scottish language note of the day: “Water” n.: something that disappears when your host is offering you a drink. As in:
Host: “Jason, what’ll you drink?”
Jason (thinking about the beer and whisky he just drank, and knowing there will be more at the Ceili shortly): “I’ll have some water”
Host: “We don’t have water, what’ll you drink?”
Jason: “Gin and Tonic.”

Scottish driving tip for the day: someone needs to widen the roads a bit.

I just got this email about my neice, who had a gymnastics competition yesterday:

“Hello from Raleigh,

Rosemary took 1st place all around at the Judge’s Cup. 6th in vault,
3rd on bars, 2nd on floor and 1st on beam.”

Woo hoo!

Jason

Bill and I were allowed to sleep in to recover from the Ceili, though I was up at 8:30. After a calm morning, we decided to try to golf, even though a steady drizzle was coming down.
We met our host’s son Graham at a local course and paired off: Bill and Bill vs. Graham and myself. Bill and I were using borrowed clubs - one of which was a Big Bertha driver. I drove straight and far every single time. Unfortunately the rest of my game was bloody awful and Bill and Bill won the match.

When we got home, Bill and I cooked dinner. Grilled steak, with grilled potatoes and onions and grilled mixed veggies (mushrooms, peppers, onions and garlic) and some fresh beans that tasted like snow peas. It was quite good and quite a hit it seems. We really enjoyed the chance to cook, especially American-style.

After dinner I made everyone watch my movies - it seemed to go over well, especially “Gi Ho Lo” (link on the left). Then Bill and I had a chance to watch a little American football. Jets vs Patriots so not much of a game, but the “local” announcers are quite amusing in their inexperience.

Scottish word of the day: “drech” - a descriptive word for bad weather. Rather onomatopeic. I’m not sure I’ve spelled it properly.

Scottish dance of the day: “Dashing White Sargeant” - two groups of three people do a series of semi-complicated maneuvers back and forth. Quite fun, but even more fun when I found out Bill was calling it “Dirty White Sargeant”.

Monday 18 September
==============

Today was a vocational day. We dropped Bill off at a local school to learn about the community model they used there, then it was off to Glasgow. I had an appointment with some folks at the RSAMD (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) at 2, so we had lunch and I was shown how to find the train station so I could get home after, then it was off to the RSAMD.
I met with Jackie, the HR director, and got a nice tour of the place from Dee. Then I met with Sharon, who currently works with the Youth Outreach program, but was a recent grad of the Scottish Music program at the Academy. She gave me a brief explanation of Scottish music, then told me some place I should try to get to to hear some live music. I hope to get to one next week.
Unfortunately none of the digital media/film department was there. I left a copy of the DVD with Jackie, and hopefully someone will surface when I’m still close enough to go visit. We shall see.

The train ride home was fun. A bit of an adventure since it had started raining pretty hard, and I was never totally sure if I was on the correct platform (see “Scottish language note” below), but I made it OK.

We had a presentation to do for the Strathendrick Rotary this evening, at the Black Bull Hotel, which was right next to where they held the Ceili. First they had a very good speaker from the bird preservation organisation they have in Great Britain. We almost didn’t want to follow him, but kept ours short and to the point and acquited ourselves well.

One of the bartenders at the hotel was the most beautiful Scottish woman I have seen in Scotland so far, and I even got up the nerve to tell her that. She kind of giggled and said “hardly”, but seemed to appreciate it. Was I with it enough to get her name or take a picture? Of course not. Baby steps. And at least I know where she works.

When I was in Glasgow, I saw something I really appreciated: they have these kiosks that used to be used as shelter for the police when they were on patrol. About the size of two phone booths. Some enterprising soul has converted the one I saw into a mini coffee shop. Called “Copuccino”. That’s brilliant! There’s a picture in the “Glasgow” section of the pictures page linked on the right.

Scottish word of the day: “Milngavie” n. - the station farthest northwest on the downtown Glasgow run. Unfortunately for any foreign visitors, it is not pronounced even close to how it is spelled.
“Mil-guy” is how an articulate Scot will pronounce it, so you can only imagine what you’ll hear train announcers saying. Fortunately Scots are very polite and helpful, and I was able to get confirmation that I was on the right train from numerous people.

Scottish travel note for the day: make sure you know how your destination is both spelled and pronounced before you attempt to get there.

What better way to wile away the free moments I have in Scotland than by trying to find a better way to publish pictures on the web?
Well, let’s see, there’s sleeping, whisky drinking, golf, walking…

Right. That was a rhetorical question.

Anyway, I’ve used a new backend for the pictures, and it’s a bit more user-friendly than the last one. The link on the right has been updated, and here’s a URL you can cut and paste:
www.actcasual.com/scotpix/main.php 

Someone please tell me you like this one so I can stop trying to improve it. Lie if you have to.

Wednesday 20 September
================

Today we were picked up by Robert and whisked off to Roger’s to be driven to the meeting point with the next Rotary Club. There was quite a diversion (detour in American-speak) that made what should have been the last quarter-mile into a 6 mile jaunt. But we got there in the pouring rain and were met by Mike Kelly, our GSE liason here in Scotland, and Henry and taken to an old mill for a tour.
Because of Adrienne, we got an in-depth talk and tour of the facility (Adrienne is a museum curator - it wasn’t because she’s cute, although she is). Thorns linked to it on his post if you are interested.
I have officially been the farthest out at every club we’ve been to: I was a good 20 minutes from everybody at club #1, a half-hour (with Bill) at #2, and now another 20 minutes (this time with Thorns). We are staying with Mike and Liz in a nice house out in the country.
We had a quiet dinner, and then I retired early. Unfortunately I ended up being up half the night in the bathroom with a stomach problem.

Thursday 21 September
==============

I begged out of the morning activity (a visit to some historic town on the coast) and slept until about 11. Liz stayed behind with me and made sure I was functional (I had fresh ginger in hot water for breakfast) and then we set out to meet the group at Culvearn Castle. While everyone else was getting the history of the place from the curator, I wandered around and looked at seabirds. Then we all took a tour of the castle. Pretty interesting stuff. You can actually rent rooms and have a vacation at the castle if you want. I have no idea how much that costs, though.

We had dinner at the Taj - a wonderful Indian restaurant owned by the brother of a Rotarian (formely co-owned by the Rotarian). We had a room to ourselves and even got to go back into the kitchen. Very good food, I highly recommend it if you are in the area.
NIFTY SURPRISE #1: Adrienne and Melissa showed up at dinner in full Indian garb, both looking extra beautiful. I didn’t bring my camera so pictures will have to wait until I get copies off the others’ cameras.

After dinner we walked down to a local pub to see if there was live music. They were setting up when I got there and
NIFTY SURPRISE #2: I got to play a couple songs for everyone! My international pub debut. It went over well, the team had never heard me sing before and seemed quite impressed. Here’s what I played:
“Amie” - Pure Prarie League
“Handle With Care” - Traveling Wilburys
“This & That” - Michael Penn

Again - pictures will follow. I just wanted to post this while it was fresh in my head.

Scottish word of the day: “brae” - hill

Scottish correction of the day: “Ceiledh” is the correct spelling of the party we went to on Saturday.

Tomorrow will be a full day and I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to post again. Be strong.

Jason

Thursday 21 September
===================

Started the day off with some nice rain. We had a 9am tee time (I told you I had a busy day) and stuck with it despite the rain. “We” is Bill, myself, Henry (Bill’s host) and Andrew (a Rotarian who lives two doors down from Henry). The weather broke by the third hole and it became a beautiful day. Layers were peeled off and fun was had. Well, except that I played some of the worst golf of my life. But, hey, it was bad golf in Scotland!
Bill played very well - he’s quite good for not playing very much. It was Bill and Andrew vs. Henry and me. Andrew was on fire on the back nine - par, birdie, par, par at one point. He parred the last hole we played with a 40-foot putt from the fringe - even though he had to take a drop because he lost his ball on the drive. Henry and I muddled through - he was much more consistent than I was, but my bad play coupled with Andrew and Bill’s good play sealed our fate.
Bill and I relaxed at Henry’s for a bit, and then had vocational visits. I got to spend a little over an hour with one of the more sought-after musicians in Scotland - Ian Muir. He’s an accordian player and bandleader and specializes in Ceilidh music. We discussed traditional music and dances, he showed me how an accordian works and I got some insight into what Ceilidh had evolved into. Very interesting, and he’s a great guy. His wife and young son walked in at one point, and the first thing his son said was, “I think I hurt my bum.” That was funny.

We had a presentation at the Prestwick Rotary club this evening which, despite some odd quirks with the DVD player, went over well. There was a piper who started off and ended the evening, which was quite a nice touch.
After the meeting we went back to Henry’s for a drink, and I got to catch up with Adrienne and Melissa.

Tomorrow we are off to the Stranrear club, which is about as far south as you can get in Scotland.

Scottish weather note of the day: wind here means business. It nearly blew some of us off a cliff at the castle yesterday, and played havok on some golf shots today.

Jason

There are now pictures of Adrienne and Melissa in full Indian regalia, as well as pictures of me performing at Flanagan’s. All can be found in the “Rotary/Fun” section of the pictures page (which is linked on the right).

There’s also a picture of Bill in a Kilt I put on there yesterday.

Thorns and I are wondering what we’ll be dressed in. Liederhosen? Leprechuan garb? Kimono?

Jason

Friday 22 September
================
We had a leisurely start to the day with time for Thorns and I to get our laundry finished. We said goodbye to Liz and set off with Mike for Stranraer - which is about 50 miles from where we were. We took the coast road down and saw some great scenery. Scotland is full of great scenery.
We met our new hosts at the Stranraer Golf Club for lunch. After lunch the options were:
A) go see the sights in Stranraer
B) play golf

So don’t ask me about landmarks in Stranraer unless they have sandtraps near them. Bill played in a group with a couple of our hosts (Hugh and John), and Adrienne, Melissa and I got to play with Ian. It was very fun. The 5th hole in particular is spectacular. It was rated one of the most difficult holes in Scotland - you hit off a tee that’s about 100 feet above the fairway, with trees below and to the left, and the Loch to the right. I had no trouble - hit a great drive straight out onto the fringe of the fairway - but the trees were fed by our group.
Someone quoted a golfer who described the hole this way: “Oh, that damn hole - $#@! on the left and water on the right.”

After golf we got to get settled. I’m staying with John and Gail and their adorable 3-year-old daughter Robyn. They also have a mammoth Burnese dog named Katie. Gail is a world-class curler, and there are curling stones everywhere.
John and Gail hosted everyone for drinks, and then we walked a block to dinner. After dinner we went to a silent auction that had a non-silent part called by Ian. It was a fundraiser, and pretty fun. John tracked down a guitar and they had me end the silent part by singing a couple songs for everyone. I wasn’t amplified, but it was still fun.
I entertained a smaller group in the back of the room for a while, then we all went over to Melissa’s host family for more drinks. I sang some more, but finally stopped.
Quite a fun day!

Saturday 23 September
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For some unknown reason I woke up at 7:15. My alarm was set for an hour later, but I couldn’t fall back to sleep. More on that later. I also had kind of lost my voice. Can’t imagine why.

We had a full day ahead of us, heading down the coast to the Mull of Galloway and the farthest point south in Scotland, in a small bus so we got to travel together.
But first, we went to a botanical garden and looked at some nifty plants. I took far too many pictures, which will appear in their own gallery on the pictures page when I get a chance.

The trip down to the Mull was interested - the closer we got, the narrower the roads got, and we had to chase cows out of our way a few times. We had lunch at at restaurant overlooking a cliff and the sea to the west. To the east was a bay, and if it was clear enough you could see five kingdoms from the spot - west to Ireland, north to Scotland, south to England, south east (?) to Wales and straight up to Heaven.
I climbed the lighthouse with John and Macolm - the winds at the top were fierce and I had to hold on to my glasses so they wouldn’t blow off.

We then traveled around the bay to a whisky distillery called Bladnoch. We had a tour from the owner, and it was one of the most remarkable events we’ve participated in. Raymond (the owner) is an Irishman, and he told interesting, funny, and odd stories the entire tour. I have it all on video and should be able to make a very entertaining movie out of it. We got to taste whisky from the barrels - some good, some not so much. They make one whisky that is finished in a rum cask, and therefore has a rum taste to it. Very good.

After that we went back to Malcolm’s for drinks, and the on to dinner at a local hotel. I was dragging by the time we got our main course, and pretty much crashed at the table. I didn’t fall asleep, but I was pretty beat. That from waking up too soon, and having too much fun the night before.

Sunday - Ireland!

Jason

Here’s my host John with Bill on the tee overlooking the fairway:

Sunday 24 September
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We had to get up fairly early to meet at 9:15 to catch the ferry across to Ireland. I still had vocal issues, but got plenty of sleep and felt fine.
The ferry is a monstrous boat that can hold 75 trucks (lorries) a bunch of cars and lots of people. We were going upwards of 45MPH for most of the trip as well. Very nice inside with lounges, bars, kids cinema, store, etc. A good way to travel.
We got to Belfast around noon and took a bus tour for a bit - up to where the troubles were. As the tour guide said, “10 years ago you wouldn’t want to walk in this area, let alone be on an open-topped bus. But now it’s a tourist attraction!” There are painted murals and graffitti all over from both sides of the conflict.
Well, that was enough heavy stuff for the day, so we got off the bus and found a pub for lunch and a Guinness! The Guinness was great, and I was pulled behind the bar to attempt to demonstrate how to pour a half-and-half (Harp on the bottom, Guinness on top) as they had never heard of it (”That’s a waste of a good Guinness”). I was not successful, but the barmaid was cute so I don’t mind.
I thought it would be fun to down most of my second Guinness (”chug” has a totally different connotation here that I won’t get into on this blog), and it was until about 5 minutes later when everything started spinning. Melissa took advatange of my disoriented state to get me to go shopping with her. Fortunately my banter and weak bladder kept us moving and not in women’s clothing departments. I was hoping to find “Irish” stuff, but the area of Belfast we were in was like any other shopping district in any other city. So I bought some gum and a candy bar.
We headed back to the ferry after an hour or so, and back to Stranraer. We had dinner on the boat, and more beer (Murphy’s Stout, because they didn’t have Guinness). Ian handed out goofy presents to each of us - I was given a tin whistle so I could still make music even without a voice.
When we got back, we were all invited over to Hugh’s house (where Bill is staying) for drinks. I had a couple whiskys, and then they broke out the slow gin and Glayva (a sweet whisky liquour). I became very profound. But I did see a shooting star when I went outside to get some air.

Scottish phrase of the day: “Hasten ye back” - seen on signs as you leave villages/towns. Means the same thing as “Y’all come back, y’hear?”

Jason

Monday 25 September

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We had an appointment with the Stranraer police at 10:30. They had an elaborate, informative and fun tour of the precinct planned for us, including the first-ever tour of the Port Authority security room.

Our guide had a set schedule for us that he pretty much tossed after we kept the Superintendent a little long by asking questions. Ian thought it would be funny if one of the traffic policemen made me blow in a breath-alcohol tester. Everyone else thought it was funny, too, but I blew a zero. Ha.

We got to see how the traffic police cars work, the armoury, the crowd-control equipment, surveillance cameras and a holding cell. Quite a slick operation, and everyone was friendly and quick with a joke. The port authority security set up was an eye-opener: they record every license plate, driver, passenger and person that goes on or off the ferrys on video. They could have pulled video of us getting off the boat Sunday, but we ran out of time.

It was a very interesting, fun, informative tour.

We had to do our presentation for the Stranraer Rotary at lunch, and after many goodbyes were taken up the road a bit to the Alloway Rotary. They get us for one night only, so it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I visited with my hosts Ron and Robin for a bit, then we had another presentation at the Alloway Rotary meeting. There was time for a nightcap and a little more visiting after the meeting, but then off to bed.

Tuesday 26 September

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Ron had to take a friend to the airport this morning, so I for to visit with Robin at breakfast. Interestingly (and conveniently) Robin knows several folks with wheat allergies, so she had plenty of wheat-free food here for me to eat. After breakfast we will take our leave and be dropped at the Glynhill Hotel in Paisley.

For a free day.

Yay.

It’s been fun meeting everyone and doing everything, but today will be nice to not do anything. We have three more clubs to visit before the conference, so we’ll be ready and refreshed for that after today. Depending on how much we drink.

Scottish word of the day: oops, sorry, it’s my day off, no more thinking allowed.

 

Jason

Tuesday, 26 September

What happens on the day off, stays in Vegas.

Wednesday, 27 September

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After not getting a whole lot of sleep (the rooms were way too warm and stuffy), we were picked up in the morning and taken to Glasgow to wander around. I was solo for a bit, but thankfully ran into Adrienne and Melissa and we wandered together for a good part of the afternoon. Adrienne knew a good place to get cheap duffle bags, and she and I each got one to use for the extra stuff we are all accumulating.

I met up with a young filmmaker for coffee and discussed independent film making here. He gave me a DVD or some of his films, and I gave him to website for “Gi Ho Lo”. We’ll keep in touch and give each other feedback.

Bill and I met our host Glennis Tavenes in the late afternoon. She showed us our rooms and then took us to dinner with a couple of her friends. Great little pub/restaurant - I had a pretty good steak. Bill and I watched the end of “From Russia With Love” and then turned in pretty early.

Jason

Thursday 28 September
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Glennis cooked Bill and I a big breakfast, then it was off to the first of two Rotary meetings of the day. We were being hosted by two different clubs – Charing Cross and Kelvin – and Charing Cross had their meeting at lunch. Because it was a lunch meeting, we did our “Express” performance to keep it short.
After the meeting, Stuart (president of the Kelvin club and Thorns’ host) took Thorns, Bill and myself to the Trades House in Glasgow. This is the second oldest building in Glasgow that is still used for it’s original purpose (the oldest is a cathedral). The purpose is to be a place where tradesmen to meet and discuss and learn a trade. There are fourteen trades represented, but don’t quiz me on them (cooper is one).
We went back to Stuart’s house to relax for a bit before the evening meeting with the Kelvin club. We had the pleasure of meeting his wife Mary, and one of his daughters, who is a dentist, dropped by also. She had some suggestions on places where people our age might want to go while in Glasgow, but we don’t have time to go this trip. Means I’ll have to return at some point.
The Kelvin meeting was enjoyable – they have a small club and are pretty lively. Our presentation went well, too. They are hosting an Ambassadorial Scholar (Rotary funds school for a year in a foreign country) from Rawanda named Jeannette. Since I would be at the university she was studying at tomorrow, we made plans to have lunch.

Friday 29 September
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I took the bus in to my vocational visit at Glasgow Caledonian University, where I met with various folks from the Media Studies department. It’s a small department and they focus on news and news reporting, but they have some interesting equipment – some of it older than what I used in college fifteen years ago and some of it brand-new. They have fourteen DVX100 video cameras! That probably means nothing to most people, but it’s a $3500 camera that has better image quality than cameras for five times that price. Go watch “Gi Ho Lo” via the link on the right of this blog site to see a DVX in action.
I met Jeannette for lunch and got to hear some of her story. She taught herself English in two months while studying at university in South Africa, and still managed to have good grades while not really understanding what was happening in class. Very impressive.
After lunch I went to the Transport Museum – which has exhibits on transportation (no, really?) and shows the evolution of each form. It’s a good place to visit if you are in Glasgow. I still had a little time to kill, so I walked across the street to the Kelvingrove Museum (which we’d all been to a couple weeks ago). I got to see the original “Christ of St. John of the Cross” by Salvador Dali.
It was raining all afternoon, but my long duster jacket (thanks mom and dad!) and my wide-brimmed hat kept me dry enough. I took the subway back to the bus station, and then managed to remember how to get home on the bus.
For dinner, we all met at Ming’s – a Chinese/Thai/Japanese restaurant in Glasgow. I’d already eaten there a couple weeks back, which our hosts found amusing as they never had and they lived there. The food was fine (Rearn Thai in Greensboro still has the best basil chicken I’ve ever had, this wasn’t even close), and Adrienne and I split some sake. And then we started dancing. There was a piano player playing mellow songs, so John (Melissa’s host) began dancing with Adrienne, then the staff moved a table out of the way, so I started dancing with Mary (Stuart’s wife) and pretty soon there were several of us dancing and it was quite fun. Eventually we got the hint to leave when the staff started to have their own meals next to us.

Scottish arachnid note of the day: I’ve seen hundreds of elaborate spider-webs all over bushes in the morning. Either there’s one very busy spider, or colonies of them in the bushes. We don’t see this in the States (at least I never have), and it occurs to me that this is where Tolkien and JK Rowling got their inspiration for the spiders in The Hobbit and Harry Potter.

Jason

Saturday, 30 September
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We were driven up Loch Lomond to meet our new hosts in the morning. Suddenly the terrain changed and we were surrounded by rolling hills/mountains and trees and water and wow. Our new hosts stopped a couple times so we could take pictures on the way to Lochgilphead, which is where we are staying. We had a nice lunch in a nearby town, and then got to tour an old prison, and take more pictures of the scenery.
I am staying with Tom and Sheena just a few doors down from where Melissa is staying with Sandy and May (Mae?), and just a short walk from “downtown”. Tom and I took the dog for a walk around the nearby area – the local government building is a castle on some amazing grounds. I’ll have to take my camera back out there at some point.
After dinner, Melissa’s family and my family took at walk into the town, where they all tried to get me to hit on local women. Which I did, but was soundly rejected by the only one I was interested in. That wasn’t good enough for my fellow-travellers, so they made me try again, but I had to spend £5 to go into a disco to be rejected this time.
Back at Melissa’s hosts, I was lent a guitar and played a couple songs, and then it was home and bed.

Melissa wanted me to make sure to mention that she is going sea kayaking with an All-World-Champion-Medal-Winning (or something) kayaker tomorrow. Into a killer whirlpool. While blindfolded.
Showoff.

Scottish word of the day: clipe – v. – to tell information about someone that they’d really rather didn’t get out. Nothing really bad, more likely embarrassing.
For example, if someone were to write in a blog that I’d been rejected twice by the same woman, then I could say they “cliped” me.
Wait.

Jason

Sunday, 1 October
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Melissa wanted me to be sure to mention that she went on a 12-mile kayak trip today out into the ocean, around some island, with seals, and had a fabulous time.

One little thing I failed to mention about last night was the amount of beer and whisky I was given to drink. Well, it reminded me today as I had my first-ever hangover! What fun. Fortunately lots of water, fruit and a sports drink fixed me up by mid-afternoon.
So, I got up around 10:30am (by this time Melissa had already traversed several miles of open sea and rescued an entire village from a volcano) and began the day with a bit of a whimper. I was scheduled to go to an open jam-session in the afternoon, and my sole goal was to be steady enough to get there. Fortunately, I was. (Melissa, meanwhile, had already identified several new species of birds and been nominated for a Nobel Prize)
On the way to the jam-session we stopped so I could check out the 14km canal that connects two lochs together. It’s 200 years old and quite a marvel of engineering. It used to be used by major transport vessels, but now is mainly used by leisure boats (all of which could be towed by Melissa on her kayak. In fact, I’m fairly certain she towed a cruise ship back to shore, but details are still sketchy.)
The jam-session was at a museum in the next town and featured about 6 local musicians, of the type you might expect: long beards, fiddles, bagpipes, tin whistles, banjos and guitars. We had a great time, playing along with each other and making music together. I sang a couple songs that seemed to go over well. Thorns and his host were there along with Tom and Sheena and a handful of other Rotary folks. They actually made up the majority of the “audience”. The best thing about it is that my voice held out.
So, we went home and got ready for dinner at Ian and Jean’s house (Adrienne’s hosts). (Melissa apparently had to walk back, carrying her guide and both kayaks on her back, but she still got to the dinner before me.) It was a fabulous spread, and after dinner I played and sang for about an hour without losing my voice. I also had one of my favourites whiskys thus far – Isle of Arran. Very light and smooth.
We drove Carl and Anne home (they live up the street) and of course had to stop in for a nightcap. Turns out I was lucky not to have been out with them the night before or I’d have woken up with a tattoo in Tijuana. We had a fun time identifying 60’s rock hits and discussing world politics, and I had another nice whisky called Bowmore. Fortunately we left before too much whisky flowed.
A very good day. And, in case you didn’t notice, we are all very impressed with Melissa’s skill on the kayak. And I’m fairly jealous I didn’t get to go.

Scottish word of the day: uisge beatha: Gaelic for “water of life”. Whisky.

Jason

Monday, 2 October
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Today I got to go see Ian’s business, which is etching metal. They make finely detailed pieces for models, badges, metal bookmarks, logos for Jaguar and Rolls-Royce and movie props. They made the snitch and other items for Harry Potter, badges for “Batman Begins” and various other props and things for other movies. It’s a very neat process because it’s so simple, yet they can make some incredible items. It got the brain-juices flowing for sure.
After a brief break, I was taken to play golf with Bill and Len (Bill’s host) and Len’s friend Tom. To say I had an off day would be the understatement of the year. Still fun, and I did manage to win one hole. I also continued my trend of 1 or 2 putting every hole that I started the last round I played in Stranraer.
Tom, Sheena and I were invited for dinner at Ian and Jean’s, and their daughter and her husband were there, too. It was a nice meal, and we (Adrienne and myself) heard lots of stories about folks in Lochgilbhead. We ended fairly early for this trip, but not after I had tried yet another whisky, this time Tomatin. The folks here in Lochgilbhead have been absolutely wonderful and generous with their time, talk and hospitality.
Tomorrow we head to Oban – Thorns, Melissa and myself by boat, Adrienne and Bill by land.

Scottish phrase of the day: “First today” – used as a toast when taking your first drink of the day. Or, if it’s not your first, you are allowed to qualify: “First since 5”, or “First since that guy over there yawned” or “First Tomatin”.

Jason

Tuesday, 3 October

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Today we said goodbye to Lochgilphead, though not to all the people. Bill and Adrienne were driven up to Oban later in the day, but Thorns, Melissa and myself chose to be sailed up on Bill’s (Thorn’s host) boat, Quickbeam.

What a day for a boat ride! There were few clouds, and almost no waves to speak of. Also not much wind, which made sailing a little tough, but that’s OK. Seeing the coast from the boat was amazing. It was about a four-hour trip (one hour by car) and smooth sailing the entire way. We each got a chance to steer, and had to help get the sail out and untie ropes and various other shippy tasks. I was at the rudder when we cut the motor and began sailing, and it was quite fun trying to keep the boat heading the right direction when the wind was blowing the wrong way. I did pretty good, too. Melissa had some trouble, though, and she’ll probably kill me for writing this. We nearly stopped a couple times with her in control. Eventually we had to go back to the motor because the wind was the wrong direction. I started writing a romantic sea-shanty midway through the trip, but I still haven’t finished it.

We had tea and lunch on the boat, which was fun. Lunch in particular was being prepared when we first got under sail, and the boat was leaning hard to port. It was funny watching the others try to prepare the sandwiches while sideways (I was steering).

We got to Oban and had time for another tea after we were tied down. Then it was into a dinghy and I rowed us to shore. It was a rubber dinghy with loose oarlocks and I’ll admit to having trouble keeping the oars where they needed to be. Melissa about busted a gut laughing at me, but I got us to shore safely and quickly.

We went to the Oban Rotary meeting, and several folks from Lochgilphead came up to see our presentation since we weren’t able to do it there. Then it was off to our new homes and sleep, because we were getting up very early to go to the island of Iona the next day. My hosts are Graham and  Morvin MacQueen, and they have a great house with a great view of the local golf course.