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 Packing. House cleaning. Celebrating the holidays. Packing some more. A by-no-means hassle-free trip to Edinburgh, Scotland.
So much for winter break. Welcome to the freight train that is Lisa Geyelin’s life, which for the past month has been spent as a Landscape Architecture student at Heriot-Watt University/Edinburgh College of Art.
“I had almost no time to think about being nervous or anxious, which was probably for the best. I only had one moment of panic — the day after Christmas when I woke at about at 6 a.m. feeling completely overwhelmed with the thought of leaving in a week,” she recalled. “As soon as I started tackling the list, all was fine. Basically I spent my time organizing my life and narrowing down the piles of books, drafting supplies, and clothes that I would need for the next six months. After only one month, I’m quite sick of the limited amount of clothes I ended up being able to fit.”
Fortunately for Lisa, all of her preparations for her semester abroad were completed by about 11 p.m. the night before she left and, “I managed to get off to the airport without problems.” Of course things went a bit less smoothly while in transit.
“When I arrived at the airport, I waited in line for over an hour to check in and then found out that my flight was delayed another hour. I had some leeway with my connection in Dulles so I managed to make it,” Lisa said. “The flight over to Manchester was fine, but I couldn’t sleep at all because I was too excited. Manchester was a bit of a hassle and I almost missed the flight because I had no idea which gate to go to, but somehow it all worked out and I arrived in Edinburgh at 8 a.m. to the worst gales Scotland has seen in 20 years. The landing was a bit hairy.”
Lisa didn’t take too much time to rest before putting on her walking shoes to explore the city.
“It was pretty windy, but it really wasn’t as cold or dark as I had been told and the sun came out almost immediately. I met up with a friend of a friend later that day who ended up being a real godsend,” she said. “She took me around the city, let me stay with her for a week while I looked for a flat (that’s apartment for those of us not overseas), and basically made what could have easily been a very stressful and expensive experience, quite painless.”
After a month, Lisa is now secure in her own flat and has a “flatmate” or two to go along with it.
“I have never walked so much as I did in that first week looking at various flats all over the city, trying to get familiar with all the different neighborhoods. After living on my own for the last seven years, it’s a bit of an adjustment to have housemates but it is going pretty well all in all,” she said. “The Heriot-Watt campus is very different than what I’m used to at Ambler — it’s right in the center of Edinburgh. It kind of a maze since it’s been added on to piece by piece — maybe that is a bit like Ambler after all.”
Because it is an art college, Lisa said, there are a wide assortment of exhibits throughout her adopted campus featuring sculpture and paintings and exhibits on photography, printmaking, and fashion.
“It’s a wonderful place to work. It is much smaller than Ambler in terms of acreage, but the student body is probably about the same size,” she said. “The studio itself is quite large and the class is terrific; all post-graduate students from all over the world — China, Greece, India, the United Kingdom — with previous degrees in everything for geology to architecture.”
Lisa’s project while in Scotland will have a lasting impact long after she’s returned to the States.
“It is just getting started after 10 years of planning and my part is to design a new urban park for an area on the edge of the city that is undergoing substantial new development — both residential and institutional — with a large amount of money being set aside for the design of a central open space that will knit the surrounding developments together and connect to the city center,” she said enthusiastically. “Right now I'm still in the process of getting the site analysis nailed down and firming up the concept. The course is an independent study, so we don’t have scheduled classes per se. Four days a week, we have different tutors come in for desk critiques and there are weekly lectures on professional practice and current projects in landscape architecture going on around Scotland.”
Lisa has taken to the independent nature of the work quite naturally.
“I really enjoy the opportunity to get feedback from so many different people. For me personally, I enjoy the freedom of being able to travel a bit here and there when I have the chance,” she said. “I’m planning to tour the countryside and then I’m going to Spain for a week so I’ve been quite busy trying to get a good bit of work done before that. There will be a study tour to Athens, Greece, in March, and I'm joining another class on a tour to Barcelona in April.”
In addition to her Major Design Project, Lisa has sat in on a seminar on the contemporary history of landscape architecture and tagged along for a class tour of the Royal Botanic Gardens.
“The Major Design Project is intense the days are going by very quickly — we’ll see how much time I have for the extras. Part of the project includes writing a 20 to 30 page report on the process, including all research that is done in conjunction with the design, so that will certainly keep me busy,” she said. “I think the experience of working on a real project, meeting with city council and presenting my design ideas to them, as well as compiling the Major Design Project report will be a great help to my career. The opportunity to work on a project in another country is invaluable and gives you a different perspective on design, which I’m really excited about.”
So, any culture shock while getting used to her new surroundings?
“A little. When I first went to the supermarket I couldn’t find anything because things aren’t grouped the way they are in the states,” she said. “Otherwise, I have been mostly just reveling in the experience of hearing different languages and accents everywhere I go and appreciating the incredible amount of history and the layers of the city that have built up over hundreds of years.”
She’s also braved a sampling of the local cuisine and entertainment.
“I've tried the haggis. It’s quite good if you don’t think about what is in it — cow innards mixed with oatmeal served with mashed potatoes and turnips. I’ve tried the ‘neeps and tatties’ (mashed turnips and potatoes) and I’ve tasted a bit of the whisky but not too much which is probably for the best,” she said. “I’ve read some Robert Burns poetry and I am going to a Ceilidh — a traditional Scottish dance — so I’m making the most of it I think. I haven’t made it to a football or rugby game yet but it’s on the list.”
Still, even with few waking moments to think too much about home, Lisa does miss her family and friends.
“I miss my cats too and a decent shower — there’s no water pressure here at all,” she said. “The experience here has been great so far and I really couldn’t imagine a better way to finish up my Temple education. I am a bit sorry not to be graduating with my class (she’ll be in Scotland well past the May graduation day) but I have to say it seems worth it for the amazing opportunities this time is providing.”
This is the fourth part of an "A Year in the Life” series featuring Lisa Geyelin. Lisa, who lives in Wayne, received a B.S. degree in Landscape Architecture in 2005.
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