Edinburgh 19-21 June '09

19/06/09 - I arrived in Edinburgh today by plane and got through customs without a hitch. I caught a cab to the Caledonian Backpackers, where I am staying and got myself settled in. Then I jumped a bus, in an attempt to have a look around and potentially find my way to the University of Edinburgh Department of Scottish and Celtic Studies. However, I missed my stop and ended up traveling to the end of the line and back! It was good though as I had a look around and figured out where I need to go tomorrow.

20/06/09 - When I woke up this morning, I felt rotten. I had a really runny nose and decided that I needed to get some medicine to get me through the day. I did a bit of googling on Google Maps and found a local chemist and supermarket to do some shopping for a few bits and pieces. Then I came back and looked up on Google Maps the way to George Square where the University's Scottish and Celtic Studies department is. I then left the hostel at (what I thought was) 10am, to meet Wilson McLeod at 10.30. I managed to get there in good time without getting lost, and let myself into the building. It ended up that I had set the time on my mobile wrong when I arrived yesterday and it was actually 11.30am not 10.30 so unwittingly I was an hour late!

When I finally found Wilson's office, the door was open and there was no one there, so I went in and sat down. A minute later, Wilson walked in the door and just about had a heart attack, as he didn't expect to see someone sitting in his office. Ended up he had heard me come in downstairs and taken a different route down to greet me. We had a quick chat, mostly with me talking about the situation around Maori language revival in New Zealand. It hadn't been long and Chrisma Bould came in to take me away for lunch.

Before I left, Wilson gave me some literature from Alasdair MacCaluim from the Scottish Parliament. Unfortunately, I was unable to meet Alasdair yesterday due to the changes in my flights. This included a book written by Alasdair called Reversing language shift: The social identity and role of Scottish Gaelic learners and a information booklet on Gaelic in the Scottish Parliament.

Chrisma and I walked to the National Museum of Scotland and had some lunch before she took me around the Celtic and Gaelic collections. It was amazing! It really showed me how little I know about the deep, rich and long history of this place. There have been so many influences on the Scottish people, and their language, with the English being only a recent arrival, following those of the Romans and the Vikings, amongst others. We also stopped in at church called Greyfriar's Kirk that holds a Gaelic service each Sunday and picked up some Gaelic religious literature.