There and Back Again, part II

So, my discovery.

I was walking down a funny little street, and came upon a used bookstore. There seem to be quite a few in St Andrews, but this one had a window full of books on the Middle Ages, so obviously I had to go in. I browsed for a little while, and found some interesting books, including a medieval mystery which had been recommended to me by a few people but which I had never gotten around to reading; that will be waiting for me at the end of the semester. But the crowning event of this stop came as I passed by the "Sports and Leisure" section.

My eye, on going through a section of books on sports, generally glances through the titles looking for the word "tennis." To my surprise, amid countless tomes on gardening and golf, I spied that beloved word on the spine of a short green book. The first sign: a book on tennis. Upon looking closer, I saw that the full title was "The Art of Lawn Tennis"; I had never heard of tennis being referred to as "lawn tennis" until I came to the UK, so to me the term seems inherently British. That was the second sign. At this point I pulled it out to look at it closer. The book looked quite old, and upon turning the first few pages, I discovered it was published in 1920 - definitely old. This was the third sign that this book was something special.

But what made this book go from "fun find" to "must have" was discovered when I flipped to the title page. And this is what I found:

The Art of Lawn Tennis

by
William T. Tilden
Champion of the World

"Champion of the World." Who these days has the gall to call themselves "champion of the world" in a printed text? It sounded so presumptuous I almost laughed. Then I did laugh, when I turned the page back and found a photograph of the author on court caught what looks like mid-pirouette, with the description beneath: "William T. Tilden: champion of the world in action."

Despite this whole "champion" business, the book is actually quite interesting in its mix of being sometimes outdated and being sometimes completely accurate, useful and sometimes profound. Despite the fact that 1920s tennis was obviously very different from today, the competitive element of the game cannot have changed much. And as this player was (as he subtly points out) a very good player in his time, he obviously knew the game and what was needed to be a champion. So amid advice such as taking a shower without pause right after a match so you don't get rheumatism or references to "the colonies", there are also pieces of the book that are rather remarkable. For me, in just flipping through the book, one sentence stood out - "Singles is a game of the imagination, doubles a science of exact angles." I've never really thought about the difference between the two games like that, but on pondering it a bit more throughout the afternoon, I think he's completely right.

So this book has turned out be not only a source of outdated entertainment, but also, perhaps, a useful tool in my own pursuit of the perfect game.

Now, you'd like to think this was the end of my story. BUT WAIT! There's more. First of all, I returned to the cathedral, which doesn't merit all that much discussion as I have already commented on it above, except that earlier I had asked a docent some questions about the site, and she didn't know the answers because she was new; she told me to come back later because the other docent knew a lot more and was, she pointed out, an archaeologist. And so my ever-growing list of archaeology careers goes up to...three! That's right, folks. I am starting to think this may not be the best field to go into.

Alright, so this is really the last element of my trip. I was taking a walk along the seaside and considering taking an earlier train back to Edinburgh, because it was 4, so most things were closing, and my train wasn't until 7:44. I didn't really know what else to do except walk around, and my feet were tired because I'd been walking around all day.

BUT THEN!

I saw a sign that brought joy to my heart. I had stumbled across the St Andrews Aquarium! This may seem a bit random, but I really love aquariums, and I'm not sure why. I love land animals, but fish don't seem to have as much personality, and inherently don't interest me as much when I read about or study them. But for some reason I find them strangely fascinating to watch; I could watch them for hours swimming back and forth. So I was quite happy when I found that this aquarium was still open for another hour, and I followed two other young women inside for some ichthyological enjoyment.

The other visitors swiftly left me behind as I sat mesmerized in front of the Amazon tank for 10 minutes. Fish are all so different from each other, but when you see them all together in a large tank like that they do seem to have a kind of community. Maybe they do have personalities. I definitely spent another 10 minutes staring down a little fish in another tank before it swam away; maybe it was examining me as well. There was a small octopus, which was very cool, and also a gigantic lobster hiding under a rock, which I didn't even notice until I read the sign which said there was a lobster in the tank.

Tragically the shark tank was being cleaned, so there were no sharks (I say that sarcastically, I am not a shark fan), but oddly enough in the same room there was a meerkat arena. Meerkats in an aquarium...but now there were some critters with personality. I knelt down, and instantly three of them scampered over and examined me closely with bobbing heads. They were pretty amusing, I spent a while with them.

There was also a seal, swimming back and forth on his back in an outdoor pool. I think seals are just about the cutest animal. Maybe it's their huge eyes, or their round heads, or their fat bodies, but they are seriously adorable. The sign said there used to be two seals, named Laurel and Hardy, but a recent storm had washed Hardy out of the tank into the ocean, and he was now living with a colony of wild seals; they were keeping tabs on him to make sure he was adjusting to the wild after living in captivity. I thought that was a good thing, but what about poor Laurel? I think he needs a friend.

The final room was tropical fish, and I found myself watching the lionfish for the remainder of my time. Those fish are incredible. They look so delicate, and their coloring is so precise; in parts they are even see-through. The detailed tendrils of their fins are beautiful when they move through the water. Of course they are highly poisonous, but quite fascinating to watch. They may be my favorite fish, other than the nudibranch.

After the aquarium, I went on a walk back down to the cathedral and went out on the jetty, as I now had a little time to kill before going back to the train station. It was nice seeing the cathedral ruins in the light of the sunset, and the jetty was peaceful at that time of day. I spent my remaining time processing my day, mostly about my impressions of the town, and also of the parts of the university I had seen as well. When I applied to study abroad, I applied to both Edinburgh and St Andrews. I ended up choosing the former mostly because it was in a city, and I was eager to experience that kind of living at some point; also a city generally has a lot of monuments and museums, and is a good place for striking out on adventures elsewhere, so I figured it would be a good place to experience Scotland for just one semester. I have not regretted my decision.

The only shadow of a regret is that, had I gone to St Andrews, I could have taken Old English this semester, which has somehow become the love of my life. I was enthusiastic about my courses here though, so, to soothe my distressed medieval soul, I ended up bringing my slim student edition of Beowulf over with me in case I got the bug to translate. But fortunately I discovered that the University of Edinburgh library has a rather nice collection of Old English texts, which I have already raided more than a few times. So with that problem solved, my attention to Edinburgh is complete and unwavering.

Yes, St Andrews has beautiful old buildings, it's true; and actually the town itself reminded me a bit of Northampton, plus a few hundred years of recorded history - it was lively and homey, not too big but not too small, and felt quite cozy. But again, this being my one semester away from Smith, I was looking for something completely different, and I have found that in Edinburgh. I would love to go back to St Andrews though, perhaps for a few days; it is a great town, and I deem this a successful and fun trip.

And I also feel inspired to go visit more places. I feel that I am prepared to go experience Scotland more fully, now that I have cracked open my shell, and, looking back, I think I really needed all that time in Edinburgh to adjust to life and get ready to explore. But now not only am I ready, but I know I'm ready. So, Scotland, here I come!

After my coursework, of course...

Yes, I know it's not the greatest picture of me, but how else do I prove I was there >:(