The Runaround

Today was the day of going way further than I had to in order to get to where I needed to go and walking back and forth a bunch of times.

In the morning, I walked from my dorm to the student union to get my gown. Students at St. Andrews wear formal red gowns on special occasions, most commonly on Pier Walks. Traditionally (starting in 1672!) the gowns were used as a sort of student identification to limit the consumption of alcohol at taverns. Depending on what year you are, you wear your gown a different way. Since I am a first-year or Bejantine, I wear mine over both shoulders. Second-years or Semis, wear their gown pushed back onto their shoulders. Third-years or Tertians wear theirs off one shoulder (left for art, right for science). Fourth-years or Magistrands wear theirs off both shoulders, draped over their arms. When I got there, the room was completely jam-packed with people. We were supposed to be measured first, but I could see the used gowns were going fast, so I listened to the size measurement of a girl my same height, then found the very last used gown of my size. I finally got to the front of the queue, which was more like a blob, and bought the gown.

Students on Pier Walk in 1939

I carried it back to the apartment, then headed over to my dorm for a little while. Next I went to the Gateway building, which took way longer than I expected because I took a path that led all the way around it rather than one that went directly to it (I was trying to figure out a shortcut but it backfired). I asked at the door if the Pin Badge and Zine Making was going on, and they had no clue what I was talking about even though it was in the schedule. I went inside and asked another person who didn't know either. I left and went all the way back into town to go to the Library Induction.

I took a tour of the library and watched a video about the facilities they have. It was recently remodeled and seemed very user-friendly and modern on the inside. They still have to remodel the exterior of the building, which currently is a synagogue-like pre-cast concrete structure from the 1970s. I got a printer card, and tried printing out something, which was pretty easy, and then got a snack at the cafe.

I went to the lawn outside next, for the Green Freshers Fair, but did not see anyone so left. While I was leaving, I bumped into some other people looking for the fair, so we stood together for a bit until we saw a man on a bike pull up. He introduced himself, and told us he was going to set up a booth for the fair, so we helped him put up signs and the table. He had a machine that converted his bike pedaling into electricity, and I watched a demonstration of it for a while then met up with my dad.

We walked over to the Art History Subject Talk in the Buchanan Lecture Theater, which I thought was well done and informative. Next we went all the way back to the Gateway Building again for Matriculation and the Document Verification Event. I had to have my passport checked, pay a fee I wasn't able to pay online, and turn in my health documents. At the end of the process, I spotted a small table where they were making the pin badges (they had it after all!) and made one with a St. Andrews logo.

A nice walking street

Next I went back towards the library to go to Upper College Hall in St. Salvator's Quad for the Academic Fayre. I talked to a man about Medieval History classes and a woman about Italian, then left to go to Notemaking for Academic Writing. Unfortunately, I was too late, and the class was full. I went back to the apartment and ate dinner with my dad. We tried to go see the Ever to Excel Film (a documentary about St. Andrews) at the student union, but it was cancelled so we went back and watched a cool show on BBC called How Earth Made Us.

freshers week traditions walking