Site visits to the Welsh and Scottish government centers are among the tenants of the Hansard Society Scholars program. These built in trips were a huge draw to the program as I have always wanted to visit both Scotland and Wales. While Cardiff left some things to be desired, the things I learned in our lectures at the Welsh Assembly were invaluable, which left me with high hopes for our visit to Edinburgh.
Scotland has been on my bucket list for years, and after finding out that my internship placement was with two MPs from the Scottish National Party I only became more excited as our trip approached. As with the trip to Cardiff, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the city. Everyone I know who had visited before me seemed to come away enamored with Scottish culture, but I was never able to get a good sense of the place until visiting myself.
Edinburgh is a patchwork quilt of old and new: the buildings, the stores and the people are all a mixture of different times throughout the past few decades (or in some cases, centuries). Around each corner you’ll find castles and bastions surrounded by contemporary retail outlets and 19th century homes. It creates a fantastical atmosphere that I haven’t yet found anywhere else. Through both sun and rain, Edinburgh shines. As a university town, the city also presents an eclectic mix of people of all ages and from all over the world (fun fact, Scottish universities are free for Scots, though others have to pay tuition).
Some of the highlights of my trip were:
- Sitting in on first minister’s questions in Scottish Parliament. This is definitely the political nerd in me, but this was one of the most interesting things I’ve witnessed in a long time. Compared to the questions session we watched in the Welsh Assembly, this was less tame and also tackled a wider range of issues. It was incredibly cool to see Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, in action. The sessions are free and open to the public.
- Edinburgh castle: this blew Cardiff Castle out of the water. With sweeping views of Edinburgh and the surrounding mountainous landscape, the castle sits upon a hill near the center of the city. It is visible from almost any point in the city and spreads a sense of regality throughout the cobblestone streets.
- The Palace of Holyroodhouse is perhaps the attraction I was most excited to visit while in Scotland as it was home to Mary, Queen of Scots after her return to Scotland in the 16th century. I had planned to visit the palace after the end of our lectures on Thursday, but found that the last entry to the museum had already passed. Luckily, our train back to London on Friday wasn’t until the afternoon, so I woke up early enough to arrive at Holyroodhouse just as it opened. Queen Mary is one of my favorite historical figures, so I was overjoyed to see her residences in person.
- After touring Holyroodhouse, I made the trek up Calton Hill, one of a view famous lookout points over the city. Edinburgh is located fairly close to the sea, and Calton provides visitors a spectacular view of both that and the inland city. From here I could also see Arthur’s Seat, a more substantial high point that some of my fellow scholars hiked that morning at sunrise.
- The Elephant House, the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the first book in the legendary Harry Potter series, was located just a few minutes walk from our hotel. Myself and a few other Harry Potter fans spent a wonderful evening here, watching the sunset over Edinburgh Castle with some traditional Scottish meat pies. All of the tables in the cafe are actually desks, and visitors have been leaving notes in the drawers since before Harry Potter was published. The writer in me loved this, so naturally I had to leave a note of my own.
In sum, my time in Edinburgh was lovely. Our group seems to have reached the conclusion that it is a simply comfortable city, and most of us, myself included, have said more than once that we could see ourselves living there.
After spending the week relaxing back in London, I am preparing to begin my internship in the House of Commons. I am lucky enough to have significant work experience under my belt, including but not limited to my co-op in Belgrade, Serbia, but I am still nervous to enter a new office. To prepare, the program gave us all “internship packs” describing our placement and the roles and expectations for interns in UK Parliament. There is a section dedicated of office culture that describes some of the differences between traditional work environments in the United States and United Kingdom. First is humor; the pack describes British humor as incredibly dry and “characterized by sarcasm and self depreciation.” Having gotten used to British humor in the social scene, I’m incredibly curious to see how this presents in a professional environment.
The second part of this section refers to something called “the British reserve”, which is essentially a culture of shyness amongst Brits in social situations. I have yet to see this in London, so I’m not sure I’ll encounter it, but I truthfully don’t know what to expect. What really struck me was the bullet denoted by “tea culture” which explains that being asked to make tea is a much more social task than it is grunt work in British offices. As a tea drinker myself, I am incredibly excited to be in an office that values it.
As I write this, approximately 12 hours before I will begin my internship in Westminster, I can’t help but think about my past work experiences. From working as a grocery store clerk or camp counselor to researching in Serbia and living the 9 to 5 live in Manhattan, I’ve been lucky enough to learn a lot. However, I know that this experience will be unlike any other. Next week I’ll be talking about British office culture and sharing some more info on my coursework!
