Things Cost a Lot in Edinburgh
It turns out I was wrong about the hot air balloon club; their advertising was deceptive, and it was just out of my price-range, all told. But if hot air ballooning is your thing, it becomes affordable if you commit. The same can be said of motorsports, archery, skydiving, shinty and wind-surfing, or whatever strikes your fancy, really. I joined cross country.
In some ways, Edinburgh University is different from Swarthmore like any large university would be. The larger accumulation of resources distributed around a greater number of people means that there is a huge variety of things to do, but there are far fewer free events going on and a lot less nurturing from the university.
For instance, the introductory meeting for the Hill-Walking Club was probably attended by 200 people, an unthinkable grab for the Outsiders; however, the amount of gear they needed you to bring on each trip was pretty much a deal-killer. I managed to pack everything in about 75 lbs of luggage. I didn't quite find room for my snowpants and gators. They might take epic trips each weekend, but when you go with a Swarthmore organization, you know it's going to be heavily subsidized.
As I was looking at the membership fees for clubs, doing the mental conversion from pounds to dollars and sighing, I felt deeply appreciative of Swat, where everything at least feels free, because the costs are already sunk.
But that is the key, because the Scots don't sink any costs. Upon graduating, Scots who remained in the country used to pay around £2,000. Following the Scottish Nationalist Party victory in 2007, they pay nothing for tuition. The same hold true for EU students, but not, ironically, for those coming from the rest of the UK. Students from outside the EU pay significantly higher fees. As one of those who pays an American college for room, board and tuition to study abroad, I might be in the running for “person who is paying the most to go here.” My Scottish roommate is getting a much better deal.
But to compensate, his family pays much higher taxes. One of the interesting things about being here is that it's like the whole economic debate we have in America is just lifted and moved to the left. For a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with an historically strong welfare state, people in the UK just accept a much bigger role for government institutions in their lives than we do. Hospitals are state-run, universities are almost all public, the trains are thorough.
While Democrats bend over backwards to avoid being painted “tax and spend liberals” after Reagan's 1984 landslide, the Liberal Democrats run here on, essentially, a “raise your taxes and buy more stuff” platform. They've started advocating for a cut in the income tax for the lowest earners, but even that was a struggle. Maybe the bailout will have a profound influence on the way people see government for decades to come. But I like the discourse here. Also, the politicians use bigger words. That was especially evident in Tony Blair's recent interview with John Stewart.
I'm having a really good time. I keep meaning to travel more, but it's hard to leave Edinburgh. We're in a hip part of the city, which means that right as my flat eats dinner, brigades of women whose dress belies the weather begin to pass by. They've even started coming out before the sun sets! I guess I was wrong when I thought they were vampires.
From Wednesday to Saturday, it's like the student section of the city turns into a giant party. This is fortunate because I only have class Monday-Wednesday. I think that if if rained less we'd be getting sick less, for as I have learned, a whiskey jacket is not a permanent accessory. It's a Monday and I'm about to meet Carey Pietsch '10 for a pub quiz. I'm bringing along my Scot so we don't get creamed in the football trivia section.
This weekend Carey and I went to the city of Perth for a day of pastries and sight-seeing. We were intending to go to Loch Leven, a castle in the middle of a lake, but ended up just talking to the most incomprehensible Scot I have yet met and eating delicious food. More travel is definitely on my agenda; I just have to pull myself away. Maybe after the course is over it'll be easier to get out. For now, I'm content to experience a new city.
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#1: 9/30/2008 at 8:11 a.m.
I like the bits about comparing life there with life back at Swat. Great article, keep it up!
— Rio | Unregistered, Swarthmore
#2: 9/30/2008 at 8:12 a.m.
It doesn't help the vampire impression that everyone in the UK has incredibly pale skin from being exposed to sun for about 10 minutes every month.
Sounds like you're having a good time, Seth. Come visit Ireland if you ever get a chance to travel!
— Andrew VB | Unregistered, Non-Swarthmore
#3: 9/30/2008 at 6:19 p.m.
I went to Edinburgh during the spring semester. January-March it was way too cold and dark to travel anyplace (plus most touristy type stuff was closed). Since you're there in the fall, definitely do your traveling early in the semester, before it starts getting dark at 3 in the afternoon and so so cold. My favorite places to travel while there? St. Andrews is fun for a day trip. Glasgow too. I had a great time in Ireland... Isle of Skye is gorgeous. London is not far at all, especially on the train. There were a million more places that I wanted to go and didn't get the chance. I also went to Egypt as part of a trip run through a club at Edinburgh so hey you never know where Scotland might take you, even beyond the UK and EU.
Lucky you being in the hip part of the city-I lived in the dorms, which I thought would be a nice transition from Swat, and it was-but it was kind of in the suburban part of the city. We did have Arthurs Seat in our backyard, which is a nice climb if you get the chance.
— R | Unregistered, Non-Swarthmore
#4: 9/30/2008 at 6:42 p.m.
Seth,
I'm over here in jolly London. Trust me, you have no right to complain about living expenses.
We should have a Swat class of '10 UK meet sometime.
Cheers,
Keith
— Keith B | Unregistered, Non-Swarthmore
#5: 10/1/2008 at 8:47 p.m.
hi seth- nice column! i miss you. nat
— Nat Litton | Unregistered, Non-Swarthmore
#6: 10/2/2008 at 2:57 a.m.
Rio, thanks a lot, I really appreciate it! Andrew I'm definitely heading to Ireland, but when are you Cecelia and Johanna coming to visit us on the mainland? Keith, I feel your pain. I guess I would get a job if I were at LSE for a full year. Or just hope that attending the top econ school in the world will insure that you'll be filthy rich for the rest of your life, student loans be damned. On the plus side of getting a job, given the current financial situation in the states, getting a foothold in England doesn't seem like such a bad idea. And Me you Carey and Liz could probably meet up pretty painlessly at some point, meeting at some midpoint via train. That'd be fun!
Thanks for the advice R. I'm going to London with my parents later this month, and I'll definitely try to get to Skye and St. Andrews. St. Andrews, according to Nat "Donnie" Erb-Satullo '07, who is currently finishing up a masters in archeology at Oxford, is "a bit of a running pilgrimage," given the iconic scene from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariots_of_Fire. I actually just ran up Arthur's Seat this morning, and probably half of Cross Country practices are up and down the hills. My friend in Pollocks says it sucks. I'm happy to be where I am, even if it's occasionally loud when I want to sleep.
Nat I miss you too! Am I going to get to see you in the Spring or are you too busy giving Barack all his ideas/electoral tactics?
— seth | Unregistered, Non-Swarthmore