so, i was in scotland recently. i have been there before with friends, but it was more camping and driving around the west, north coast. this time i was invited to give a paper at the work employment society conference of the bsa at aberdeen university. its a triennal event and internationally recognised (even tho i didnt got into their journal because of my bad english writing. one of the papers i submitted while in germany...maybe because nobody really can make sense of my confusing things. who knows. if these are my only worries, great...!?!). my papers was due on thursday, the 13th of september, and i went to aberdeen on the wednesday before. the train journey was already a highlight. it was along the coast and long enough to get some work done. it reminded me of my trip through america a few years ago. it was almost like going up the no 1 highway alongside the pacific again. there was supposed to come someone with me but it didnt happen. i wish i could have shared this with someone. it was some of these moments where you think, great this is why im here. it just makes you happy, no matter what else happens. aberdeen was great. i stayed a bit outside, near a mcdonalds and a lidl. still fun. aberdeen looks a bit like iceland. the town is somehow cuddling itself to the mountains. it ducks into the valley and its greyness is really attractive. its not the prettiest town in the world, for sure, but it is quite attractive. i really am in love with it. i want to go there as soon as possible. the presentation went fine. i saw some familiar faces around ( i guess at some point, you always meet the same persons at conferences...and they will be your only friends...;) )but rather false than no friends. i had a serious discussion about my paper with someone from finland. there were quite valuable comments on my paper. on that eve, i went to the conference dinner where there was nice scottish music and talks. not like the usual stuff, where you only get tuna mayonaise and chicken sweetcorn sandwiches at conferences. it was really worth the money. of course, i did some sightseeing around the conf. aberdeen is the port for many oil and gas rigs in the north sea. the coast is europanised, meaning that a lot of funding has gone into recultivating old ship yeards. it is quite nice out there and i even managed to nick a golf ball from a golf range. no one caught me. meanwhile i was preparing to become the next king of scotland, but without that head off part. it worked well and we even had a dinner to praise royalty... but im distractive now. back to scotland. i love aberdeen. its a strange city and somehow dismissive on a first sight. but behind its face, its attractive and one of the most beautiful cities of the world. one should defo go there once in a lifetime. I love it.
on the following friday i went to edinburgh to have a bit more of a holiday. i cant say anything coz im still speechless. i have been to edinburgh before but only to the princess street part. this time i had much, much, much more. i saw holy road park. the quays, high street, leith,... it was breathtaking. im really serious now. it was breathtaking. i could have sit down and died there, with a broad smile on my face. the sun was setting down, mirroring in the new scottsih parliament and holy road park, from which you could overlook the whole city. it was more than amazing. i didnt thought it would be like that before. i didnt really do. i was surprised and overwhelmend. at that moment something changed in me. i dont know yet what, but something did. it was amazing. this is really all what i can say. im really in debt to the conference organisers for inviting me. for the people giving me such a great time over there. i cant express my graditute enough. now its going sentimental: i would like to thank michel hall for her laughing, lara for her caring, my parents for saying its a state of emergency, bsa for considering my already known paper worthwile, john for his unexpressed comments, gnrail for taking the traditional route, the dancing queen for texting back, the orange something for being in my life, my brother for being my brother, my friends here and there, for the mentioning of "you cant buy really shoes before you try them", the soul who needs to let catch up the soul, dave the punk, frau t., emss, yvonne, ms fagin. its strange. there are so many people in my life i would like to thank and still there would be only one who i would mention. anyhow. im not starving for going sentimentel now. its not the time and place right now. scotland was really nice and i defo want to got there again. it attracted me and made me falling into love with it. i never thought so before but aberdeen and edingburgh are a few of the cities i could live in immedialy. like vancouver. seattle. hamburg. flagstaff. chicago. st jordi. wustrow. frisco. quebec. freyburg.
im crying now deep inside my heart. i really do.. scotland was really moving, more than i could ever express in a post in my blog... if i could be able to stop the time it would have been there... i cant go into detail anymore, have a look at the pictures. it was certaintly one of the best times of my life. there are defo others, but this was great as well.
Not even a queen on those ones
In an academic world you sometimes have to turn your head to find the truth... Aberdeen University (and I right in the middle)
Big smile there
Scottish Parliament, Rebus would have been amazed and Queen Mary anayway
Nice one, a bit like Amsterdan
Inspector Rebus would be attentive there
p.s. im a bit lazy now, tho i have quite a lot to write here. maybe not sophisticated, high-flying stuff. but yet. i try to do a post on my germany stay (pics are already uploaded, for weeks) and the stats thing soon. i have very nice graphs for the stats of which im very, very proud of and happy about. they really make me smile.
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