Another day in St Andrews, the Caird Hall Gathering in Dundee and memories of Christchurch

They say you can’t visit St Andrews without running into someone you know and thus far this has proved true for us. Last weekend we ran into someone from Daniel’s school also attending the offer holder day. Yesterday Daniel and I were there again and the strangest of coincidences happened. I didn’t technically know the person but, well, let’s just say it’s a small world.

It was a long and busy day as both the kids had activities: Daniel had the second offer holder day in St Andrews – this time just for computer science students – and Elizabeth participated in the Caird Hall Gathering in Dundee. All four of us left Aberdeen early on Saturday morning. Elizabeth and Ben stopped in Dundee with Daniel and I continuing on to St Andrews.

I’m impressed the computer science department in St Andrews put on a special day just for their own prospective students. It was fully scheduled with two sample lectures, student tours, Q&A sessions, a programming activity and they even provided lunch with an excellent vegan selection. I got to attend the two sample lectures which was fun for me given I haven’t sat in a computer science lecture for over 20 years. The topics were software architecture and machine learning.

The day started at 10:30am. We arrived early and mingled in the department common room with other parents. A mother and her son arrived shortly after we did so I said hello and we started talking. She was from Northern Ireland and had flown over the night before especially for the event. She asked me how we came to live in Scotland so I explained that we moved after the Christchurch earthquakes. She then said she had a friend who died when the Pyne Gould Corporation (PGC) building collapsed. I knew immediately who it was as this is the second friend I’ve met of hers even though I never met her myself. I’ve deliberately avoided using names here for privacy reasons.

When we lived in Christchurch Daniel went to the same kindy as a boy who lost his mother in the earthquakes. One particular day at kindy is forever etched in my memory and I can’t recount the event without getting teary. It was customary at the end of each session at the Christchurch kindy for the children to sit on the mat and listen to a story as the parents arrived to collect their children. On this day the teacher was reading a book that had a mother in it and after mentioning the mother, a little boy called out, “I don’t have a mummy”. The teacher responded instantly with, “Yes you do and she loves you very much!”. It was heartbreaking and I’ve never forgotten it. I learnt yesterday that the boy has grown into a wonderful and talented young man who was head boy at his school. It’s comforting when we lose someone to think they’re somehow watching over us and if that’s true then I’m sure his mother is very proud of him.

I met another friend of hers coincidentally when we first moved to Aberdeen and in Elizabeth’s class was a girl whose mother also lost her friend in the PGC building in Christchurch. It was the same woman, the same mother of the little boy who I never knew but somehow I keep crossing her path.

Eighteen people died when the PGC building collapsed during the Christchurch earthquake on February 22nd, 2011. The building was constructed in the 1960s to standards of that time. A forensic analysis found the collapse was due to “comprehensive buckling failure in the shear core.” The space where the building once stood is now a green space with benches and a memorial.

It was nice for Daniel to have someone to talk to yesterday as we four new friends all hung out together throughout the day with the boys heading off to partake in their programming activity together and the two mothers wandering around the sights of St Andrews. I took the photos below on this walk. They show the castle ruin overlooking the sea and the remains of the cathedral.

In the late afternoon we were all back together for a University tour with a student ambassador and it was fascinating. Being such an old university – 1413 – it has retained many endearing historical traditions. In the cobblestones next to St Salvator’s Chapel are the initials PH which stand for Patrick Hamilton. He was a local abbot burnt at the stake outside the chapel in 1528 for heresy during the reformation. Any student who steps on his initials today is doomed to fail their course. The good news is the curse can be lifted by swimming in the sea at sunrise on May 1st or by running three times around The Quad backwards and naked. The first option is very popular; the second, not so much.

Student ambassadors wear a red cloak as can be seen in this next photo. How the cloak is worn gives an indication of what year the student is and what courses they’re studying. First year students wear it fully over both shoulders. Second year students have it slightly open and more relaxed on the shoulders. Third year students have it entirely off on one shoulder and fourth year students have it off both shoulders. In the third year which shoulder is revealed also indicates which course the student is studying: down on the left for humanities; down on the right for stem because your heart is on the left and science is always right.

Meanwhile over in Dundee Elizabeth was having a lovely time playing the violin in the Scottish Culture & Traditions (SC&T) under 25s performance group. She only joined the group in January and this her first trip away with them so she wasn’t sure what to expect but it was a terrific day with lots of excellent music. It’s nice for her to have the opportunity to play with others which isn’t something she’s had much experience with because her school doesn’t have an orchestra. I can’t share any video or photos of the group for privacy reasons but I can share this little snippet of audio that Ben recorded which gives you an idea of the sort of music they play together.

They arrived in Dundee a little early because we dropped them off in the morning on our way to St Andrews so to fill the time Elizabeth insisted on cake as a second breakfast. It looks like Ben got himself a slice too.

Ben took some nice photos of Dundee.

This statue depicts the true story of when a polar bear escaped from an exhibit in 1878 and ran through the high street in Dundee sending terrified residents fleeing in all directions.

This next statue is a green dragon, the symbol of Dundee.

We arrived home at around 8pm all very tired but satisfied after a good day.