3. Newcastle

This third trip was a lucky one as one of the participants pulled out the day before.She was Zainab; my senior. There was some fuss about some people who could not go. As she wanted to avoid being criticised, she asked me to take her place and enjoy the trip. Together with Zainuddin and Jayan, we boarded the mini bus; courtesy of Moray House, and left for Newcastle.

On the way we stopped at Holy Island. The narrow road connecting the place to the main road reminded me of Bagan Pasir Laut and Sungai Burung in Perak, where it would be flooded during high tide. The same happens here. We went to an old building up a hill overlooking the calm sea. Then we visited the small town on Hold Island which sold souvenirs and foodstuff. I did not buy anything because there was nothing special to me.

As we were crossing the narrow road to reach the main road, the tide was coming up and certain stretches were covered with water. We were lucky in fact or else we could have been stranded on Holy Island.

We reached Newcastle, parked the van in town and we went wandering around. Like any other town in the United Kingdom, the buildings are old and gray. Apart from the more modern shops and shopping complexes, everything was the same. Incidentally Newcastle is in England and not in Scotland. This means we had crossed the border into England.

At the shopping centre I had my lunch of hot soup, pie and salad. It was nice to fill the cold and empty stomach. After that we wandered around the shopping centre. It was huge and there were many people milling around various departments.

Next we wandered around town and took some photographs. We then visited a castle or part of what was left of it. We left Newcastle at 4.00 pm and reached the halls at 7.00 pm.

After a nice warm shower and a cold late dinner, I slept due to tiredness.

2. The Borders

During this break each student was only allowed two outings. The second trip was to the borders; the area around the border between Scotland and England. This time I joined 12 others in a van or rather mini bus provided by the college. It was another long journey. There was snow everywhere, along the sides of the roads, on the fields, farms and even the trees. It was a sight to remember, as everything was white. The drive was smooth except for the snow that slowed us. We managed to visit Peebles, and Melrose. Unfortunately as it was winter, many of the tourists spots like castles and farms were closed. I bought a Scottish cap and took a few photographs with the snow capped mountains as the background.

1. Aviemore

It is a hill resort in Northern Scotland. The journey was a three hour trip by bus. On the way we stopped to visit a factory that produces paper weights and glasses of all kinds; wine and ordinary glasses. The paper weights were beautiful and of various sizes. The glasses too were beautiful and hand crafted. All these were rather expensive so I did not buy anything. Anyway I was not really interested in them but I was more attracted in the skill of the craftsmen going about in the process

of making their products. It was a real experience watching them handling equipment and producing paper weights of real quality. I took a few photographs there.

The journey up the hill to reach the resort in Aviemore was terrible, with turns and windings, snow bellowing down due to the wind, thus making the coaches crawling up the way. There were two coaches because everyone from the two campuses were allowed to go along this trip.

At the hill resort we were only allowed about an hour to enjoy ourselves. I walked about in the thick snow covered ground. We watched people skiing along the slope. Some of my friends wanted to try the skis but due to the time limit, they gave up the idea.

I had my lunch of packed breakfast cum lunch, with a flask of hot chocolate. I had bought the thermos flask the day earlier. The restaurant was packed with skiers and visitors. Anyway I enjoyed my meal and left. Later I took more photographs to remind me of this visit.

I met many Chinese tourists, probably from Hong Kong because I recognised the Cantonese accent and Malaysians who were from London.

Leaving the resort, we went to the town of Aviemore, a small town at the foot of the hill. There were some shops and pubs and B and B along the one road that goes right through it. I bought a few postcards of the beautiful scenery around Aviemore. We left the town at 3.30 pm and reached the halls at 6.30 pm just in time for a nice dinner.

18 December 1993 to 9 January 1994

This was the first term break of three weeks. It was also the winter break. The local students have gone home. Parents and guardians came to fetch their children. It was fun to see them carrying everything; books, clothes, shoes, boxes and other stuff and loading them into cars and vans.

The foreign students were left on their own in the halls. I went to college as usual to work and to read in the library. It was lonely and quiet as there were very few students. The only ones left were the foreign students who could not afford to go home or go travelling.

Anyway, the college with the collaboration of the Halls of Residence (Newington and Crammond) organized a few visits to various places in and around Scotland.

Walking on Snow

From that day onwards, snow fell regularly and I had to walk to college in the snow. There were patches of snow here and there but in the city centre, there was none, probably due to the heat from the buildings and the vehicles.

The fields along the road to college was covered with a thin layer. The bushes were also covered too. From my observation, the layer of snow was thicker in the outskirts of the city. The field at the halls of residence was frequently covered with a thin layer of snow.

Each morning the pavements were covered with a thin layer of grit or sand so that the pedestrians would not slip while walking to and fro. The workers would sprinkle grit or sand early in the morning. The sand provided grip or friction when walking on the pavements.

If there was no snow, there would be frost; a thin layer of solid ice which was hard and slippery. I had to be very careful while walking on the pavements. It was fine on level ground and uphill paths but was very risky and dangerous while going downhill or on slopes.

I could still remember once when I nearly slipped while going downhill at the slopes alone the Pleasance near college. Luckily the pair of boots; Dr. Martens was new and provided me some grip. From that day onwards I avoided the pavements when there was snow or frost. I walked on the road which was rougher.

The Lessons in Detail

1. Phonology of English

In the Phonology of English lessons, I was able to learn more about the correct pronunciation of English. I was corrected and praised at times and I felt that I had learned a lot under Dorothea.

Each time we met, there would be a short lecture on the different aspect of phonology. It would be followed by group work based on a handout. We would practice as a group before having individual practices on the self-recording and monitoring system. Dorothea would listen to me practicing the dialogue or sentences or phrases. We would also listen to our own recording on the tapes.

2. Systems of English

After years of using and learning, Rosemary Douglas really made us dig deep into our thoughts, ideas and books into understanding the various aspects of grammar of English. Now I come to understand that there is no such thing as future tense. It is just a term to express events that will happen in the future. I believe that there are still many things to learn.

3. Information Technology

During the Study Skills, I had the opportunity to use the computers in Demonstration School Room 11. The computers there were the Elonox which were based on the IBM format. At that time, I was really getting into the feel of computers and its usefulness.

During the first term in 1993, I had to attend tutorials and workshops so that I could handle and use other computers like the Apple Macintosh. These were the better and up-to-date versions. They were easier to work with because they have been installed with Claris Work; a software similar to Microsoft Office now. I did not have any problem switching between these computers. Mike Quickfall was indeed a nice and helpful lecturer. He was ever ready to give us a hand when we needed help. I really had a wonderful time attending the lessons.

4. Reflections on Classroom Practice

This was another topic or module that really brought me out of my shell, of assumptions and ideas to the world of reflecting upon all those ideas and make criticisms. From here I was guided to evaluate ideas, hypotheses and views of others.

5. Understanding Organisations

Bob McNie, the lecturer of this module provided us with a lot of facts, figures and information about schools in Scotland; both primary and secondary. All these information were given to prepare us to meet and accept the system of education here. Besides that it wa also to help us in assignments based on facts and information gathered during the visit to the schools.

7. Sports Elective

Every Friday mornings and Monday evenings I chose to attend sports as en elective.

On Monday there was a session on badminton from 3.00 pm till 5.00 pm; usually ending at 4.30 pm. It was really fun knowledgeable learning and experiencing coaching techniques and skills under Alistair Wilson. It was tiring though but it was worth it as a form of exercise/

The Friday session of basketball under Bill; another lecturer was another hectic and tiring session. Skills were imparted and we practiced and played games with the local Scottish students. Chasing, marking and competing with these young local students was really exhausting. But they were always friendly and nice to us. During rest time and in the changing room, there were always chats and friendly exchanges. We would be looking forward to meeting one another in the next session.

The worst part after a module; usually after 4 to 5 weeks was a written assignment or folio. We had to put our ideas about coaching techniques and skills into these assignments. It was a totally new experience. Anyway we created quite an impression by producing wonderful essays with lots of graphics. Here scanning and pasting pictures with the aid of computers were a breeze.