On the 18th of September, Scotland voted, at last, on the question of independence. With baited breath, I on one side of the Atlantic, and Scotland on the other, stayed up as late as possible to see the results come in county by county. I've long held my own opinions back from the Independence Referendum topic; as a foreigner when I was living in Glasgow I did not feel as though I had a place to say what my own opinions were. When asked, I'd likely respond with: "It's not my place to say" - but in the last two months, I felt as though I had a small right to an opinion, having witnessed specific issues play out firsthand and having lived in the country itself for an entire year. I decided to support the Yes campaign, despite the fact that I could not vote, even if I had still been living there at the time of the vote. I won't get into the particulars of why, but I still hold onto the idea that my friends, and Scotland as a whole, deserve the chance to have a brighter future, and I respect everyone's right to vote no matter what they vote for. So as the results came in and they were overwhelmingly No, I was a little disappointed. However, I do hope that the result will cause Scotland to surge forward and build the future it deserves.
I wanted to be in Scotland during the Referendum; however, the night after the vote it became increasingly clear that I was glad I was not living in Glasgow at the time. From media coverage and friends still in the area, the backlash of the vote was raging quite disconcertingly in Glasgow's George Square in particular. So it seems as though the aftermath of the vote will be just as interesting as the lead up to the vote. Nevertheless, I do still wish to return to see the Hebrides again and all that I have not gotten to see before.
Until then, I'm enjoying some startling bits of reverse culture shock. A few days after my return, I bumped into someone accidentally in the store, and when the employee had apologized in the southern-Pennsylvanian, almost actual backwoods kind of southern, accent - I was taken by surprise immediately. I'm still not particularly used to people I don't know in public speaking in American accents. For an entire week, I added and subtracted five hours from my watch whenever I glanced at it for the time and fell asleep at early hours and woke up way earlier than I had to wake up. The first time I went into a grocery store I had to stop and remember that this much food even existed and, hey wait a minute, why were there more than three aisles? Surely a grocery store doesn't need that many aisles when the Sainsbury's on the corner dealt just fine with only three! I got annoyed when I had to drive for 10 minutes to pick up milk when we were out instead of walking for 10 to Tesco's. Handling cash felt like handling bits of cloth and plastic instead of weighty coins and paper (and I'm still not used to the notes being the same size again). I found food I forgot existed and when I drank soda for the first time since I was home it tasted like a gulp of sweet sugar (way too much sugar) instead of the soda I was accustomed to drinking. Just this morning, I had Lucky Charms for the first time in over a year...
But the best part is, I forgot small charming bits of my area that were entirely different from Scotland and that I enjoy taking pictures of now to send to my friends (looking at you Màiri and Lottie) and I think about the stories I'd tell about my home if they were to ever visit, just like they did for me when I was there.
I miss Scotland incredibly much and I'm determined to find my way back. But until then, it's digging (starting the end of this month!), books, and good ol' reverse culture shock. As for the blog? Well, one chapter has closed temporarily, and the next one will open. Hopefully, I will be able to write about the things I do in archaeology and experience out in the field. So - until next time...
| Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, PA: from the top of the Pennsylvania Monument |
