I've only been interested in Scotland since about the day after I was born, so not that long, right? Truthfully, about the time I began to read (4 years old) I began reading about places. I thought of places I wanted to go to of course, but because I am one who tends to live in a fantasy based reality, I formulated a detailed interest in the home of "my people", Edinburgh, Scotland. No place else will do.
Stringfellow (my last name) has a rich and interesting backstory like most surnames. My father's line came from the Lowlands of Scotland, the area bordering England, so there were English Stringfellows as well as Scottish...sort of like the Red River separates Oklahoma and Texas, to be born on the north side of that border is best; always best to be on the right side of history if at all possible. Boomer Sooner!
With it's personal haunting history Edinburgh has been in my dreams, my thoughts, my writings, my hopes for decades and now it seems I may have the wherewithal to make it happen in a reality based reality as well as in my mind. I will probably still need to hire a guide or join a church immediately so that I can find friends who will show me about when it happens. I aim to stay a minute when I do go, not one to board a plane back for the states too soon. I have work to do. I have things to see. I have things to learn, and I have a culture and people I want to love. (fair warning)
Housing will be the first thing to contend with, followed by employment. The two may have to go hand in hand, but my thought process is to work from home so that I may be able to so as much on my own as possible and not be late for work because I missed the bus! I won't be able to drive for a while since I have no idea how to do that in a country where even the steering columns are on the other side of the car. No one will want me behind the wheel in Edinburgh! I'll be safe and take the rails or bus until I gather enough outsided-ness to think beyond the rather orthodox mentality set firmly in my skull presently regarding driving on the left.
No doubt because Edinburgh is a larger city there will be plenty of places for me to choose from, but it isn't exactly by the sea. I wanted to be closer to the water and near the bigger city, so I may find a place where the rails go straight into the city without too many changes. Before that happens I'll need to study the currency exchanges, how to buy tickets to ride, where to buy food, how to pay utilities, and a host of so many more things that I won't want to find out on the fly. I prepare and I prepare well. This will be a calculated move for sure.
I'm being told I could go as early as January 2021 if I wanted to take on a position of teaching English. The Scottish government even has a partnership with a teaching union or organization that will willing to pay costs and expenses of the flight and first month's stay if a person signs a one or two year contract. Before taking that plunge I would need to know more about the students and potential hazards of accepting a position I can't wiggle out of easily; being an American I may come off as being a bit brash and being terminated wouldn't be best. I must take it all into consideration. (I am brash, I will say that, they wouldn't be mistaken if they thought so.) I just don't want to end up jobless the first week.
Edinburgh has everything I'll need really, though I know I'll travel the heights, depths, widths and every inch of Scotland, Edinburgh will be the one place I would never mind calling my home. Of course, I'll try to find every remnant of the 13th century Stringfellows and Strongfellows that I can find. I want to make that connection, but I'll be open to new friends with new names and bigger, brighter smiles. Maybe some of them will even think I'm the one with an accent and ask me to say "thank you" a few more times. It seems to make my friend from Northern Ireland happy when I say "pink", "think", "thank" and "really". She giggles. I giggle at her, and we move forward.
Just a lot of planning at this point. If you're from the area, please feel free to email me and let me know where the best and worst areas are. Tell me where to stay away from as well as where to visit. Tell me there's more to eat than what I'm seeing online because seriously, I'm not sure I can do haggis...not without lying about it to the host. I will try a few things, as I don't mind experimenting but there are those lines that I draw which will not be crossed. (Scottish stubborn from the beginning) WISH ME LUCK! (Who am I kidding, luck is for the Irish! Scots do things. We don't hope. We do!) email: jude.stringfellow@gmail.com
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