The sun is out and the sky is blue. It's also the final week of exams so at least a third of the towns population won't be enjoying the glorious weather. Three deer stand and watch us walk along the farm track to the shore. It's taken a year and a a half but they seem to have understood that we're harmless and well meaning neighbours. What is even more of a surprise is that the barley that was sown ten days ago is starting to sprout. The fields already covered in a light stubble of green. The sun is turbocharging growth.
'The Scores ' is St Andrews best address and Scotlands most expensive street. A developer has bought a ramshackle old hotel at the 'unfashionable' end and is turning it into six 'luxury' apartments. The demand from Americans who want to spend four or five months here as their European bolt hole remains strong. The roof is now off and a metal brace has been constructed to hold the walls in place. The streets other residents won't be at all happy with the noise and the dust. Not happy at all. A man in a British racing green coloured Bentley mutters under his breath as he has to navigate past a fork lift truck that the builders have unhelpfully left parked on the street corner. The Bentley carries its distinction well. It has none of the ostentatious vulgarity of a Rolls Royce.There's going to be a funeral at the little Episcopal church near the castle. The vicar scurries into the vestry and emerges with half a dozen traffic cones. The sun brings out the day trippers who have a habit of parking where they shouldn't. The vicar has learnt that when it comes to hearses and parking a little precautionary foresight goes a long way.
The cafe owner stops for a wee chat. The Scottish government is facing a vote of no confidence and there are rumours that the First Minister will resign rather than face the ignomy of losing the vote. The cafe owner has found a farmer that grows exotic tomatoes. She gives us a small punnet.
The poor woman at the hardware store has the Sisyphean task of dealing with the pink plastic garden buckets. She drags them out every morning and drags them back in every night. They never seem to sell. However, they do bring a rather jaunty Parisian feel to an otherwise dull street corner.
Another quiet morning when it would seem that nothing is happening but look more closely and the wee town is enjoying the sunshine and springing into life.
9 comments:
Interesting that St Andrews University has focussed so hard (and apparently so successfully) on recruiting students from the USA, whereas so many British higher eduction institutions have opted to attract the Chinese and, in the case of Aberdeen, also Nigerians. Of course not all the university towns have the golf course recognition factor!
Universities would die without foreign investment, likewise independent boarding schools. There are risks, but those are ignored.
I like the robot.
And the focus on overseas fees for sustainability of the sector is a problem when international volatility disrupts the income stream from these countries eg the Nigerian financial crisis. UK institutions are also vulnerable in this respect compared to eg Canada, where overseas students are allowed to bring families. Relying on overseas students plus restrictive government immigration policies is not a good mix.
I will be in St Andrews this week and may buy one of those zingy garden trugs, just so that the poor woman has one less to drag in and out every day. Besides, one can never have too many garden trugs.
I've been looking for one of those plastic trugs, although probably not a hot pink one. I don't know if it's a good view or a bad view, but I thought the Town and Country article was a pretty accurate take on how Americans think about St. Andrews. The Scottish 4-year university programs are a bit closer to the US model, St. Andrews' academic reputation is strong, and the school's outreach to Americans provides reassurance. I follow a forum site called College Confidential, and right now the pressure is on for US applicants to accept or decline their offers by May 1. There are a number of posters who've been admitted to St. Andrews, but so far this year, most report they are opting for the US - at the end of the day, it seems that Scotland still feels too far away for many.
The advantage of a hot pink garden trug is that if you leave it outside, you can always find it! The colour doesn't merge with the greenery as would a traditional weathered wooden trug or a darker coloured plastic one. Those brightly coloured ones are actually sold here as useful storage for children's toys, shoes, in fact anything - my yellow one is used for the dog's toys.
I'm glad to hear St Andrews has been successful recruiting US students. US young benefit greatly from exposure to "the world," US schools have also been recruiting from Europe, Africa and Asia. The more we become comfortable with different cultures the more likely we are to be able to solve problems peacefully. Anyway, enjoyed the Town&Country article.
Robot home care is a little scary...
A soon to graduate high school friend and his parents would like him to go to a local private university. The university has an excellent reputation. The stumbling block is the tuition cost. I wonder how much St Andrews tuition has gone up since the 2017 article.
Is the AI robot a product that you and the super-smart Angelinos are developing? It irons AND makes martinis? I think many Americans are looking for a safe placeb to go given the uncertainty of our political situation here.
Replying to Lizzie comments. There a number of New Zealand college students attending US Colleges. Many on sports scholarships for rowing, tennis, rugby and running. I met my friend at at mother's coffee morning back in 1996 at our local church in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Her younger daughter is now an All American rower for two years in a row. She won a scholarship to a mid-western university and has thrive since then.
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