Daniel goes to St Andrews

We installed Daniel into his living quarters at the halls of residence in St Andrews today and spent the day gathering the necessities including the traditional red gown, worn by students at the university since the 1600s. He looks very smart in it.

The gown – we’re calling it a Wizard’s cloak – is not compulsory but most students get one. They are not cheap at £165 but you can get second hand versions for less and they are well made from 100% wool with a velveteen collar. History and tradition are part of what makes the student experience at St Andrews so rich and I like that they’ve clung onto these when most other universities have abandoned them.

We all had a bit of fun trying on the gown.

We had a quick peak inside St Salvator’s Chapel which was a very quiet refuge away from the throng. Indeed I’ve never seen St Andrews so busy and packed with people. The population of the village likely quadrupled with not just all the students returning but all the parents and siblings of 1st year students.

Daniel’s room is in a modern wing of University Hall called Whitehorn Hall. It’s a nice room with a pleasant view. The only downside is it was stiflingly hot and being modern the window only opened about 5cm.

I’m hoping the problem is just that the room has been shut up all summer and now with the 5cm gap at the window it will cool down otherwise it will be a very unpleasant place to sleep. Scotland doesn’t do hot very well as we’re not used it. There’s no air-conditioning and most places are built to keep the cold out rather than let it in. I worry that as the climate warms over the next decade we will find buildings like this unbearable without expensive air-conditioning. At least winter is coming so it should be cooler in a month or so.

University Hall is a lovely 19th century building that was originally opened as the very first halls of residence for female students in Scotland. It is now mixed sex and several buildings have been added to the grounds. This is University Hall from the outside.

And some of the inside.

We caught the train there and back today instead of driving for a couple of reasons. An engine light came on in my car a week ago and I took it to the mechanic who couldn’t find an issue but managed to get it to turn off. After a couple of days it came back on again so now it has to go back but I couldn’t get an appointment until next week and because we don’t know why the light is on I didn’t want to risk getting halfway to St Andrews with all Daniel’s gear only to have the car conk out. Modern cars have so many sensor lights but the sensors themselves seem to malfunction more than the thing they’re monitoring.

The other reason was to show Daniel how easy it is to get there and back on the train in the hope he’ll do it regularly and come home on weekends as it was very easy. An added bonus was I got to do some knitting. I do like train travel. The traffic in St Andrews was pretty dreadful too.

I think Daniel is feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness. He’s never spent any time away from home other than on short school trips so it will be a big change for him. Fortunately we’re not far away and Ben has a trip planned to St Andrews in October to give a talk in the maths department.