WINTER PARTIES

There were:

1.    Christmas Eve party

2.    Christmas Party (Malaysians only)

3.    New Year Party

4.    Last Party of the term holiday

During all these parties, there were lots of food, drinks and good music. At most of these parties, Jayan, Zainuddin and I would end up clearing and cleaning up until 4 am. I had my share of food and drinks and a few dances to while away the loneliness being away from the family.

MOVIES IN THE HALLS

Apart from the tours and visits, there were also video screening in the Conference Room in Darroch Hall and a few parties. The videos were screened every night except Saturdays and Sundays and when there were parties. There were two movies each night, all chosen by the entertainment committee. There were also refreshment like coffee, tea and biscuits. I was always there during the sessions preparing hot water for the drinks and after the shows had ended I would lend a hand cleaning up the place, switching off the TV and the video player.

In fact I had already seen the movies prior to going to Scotland so I just passed the time watching the re-runs. I also had the opportunity of having coffee, biscuits and chatting with friends. I remember very clearly two guys who were practically there every night. They were Mariozzo and Wang. Mariozzo was from Italy and Wang was from China. They were doing a short English course at the Language Institute. I can still picture Mariozzo because he had a bad case of flu and he was taking all sorts of medication. Wang was more reserved and spoke very little.

The Malaysian ladies were always absent except on two occasions where the movies involved love and sad stories.

I would say that I totally enjoyed the sessions and I would have a hand later in the second year. I shall come to that later.

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.