Love actually is all around in Edinburgh.: Cultural Week

A room with a view (To be exact, a pantry with a view!)

This week has been a cultural week for me:

1. Macbeth
William Shakespeare
A co-production with Nottingham Playhouse

I have watched Macbeth in the Lyceum Theatre (http://www.lyceum.org.uk/webpages/show_info.php?id=1030) - my first play at Edinburgh. I read the book in my first year of uni and watched some parts of the BBC version shown in class...It is one of the bloodiest tragedies in Shakespeare's works and one of the very few Shx (we used to use this short form a lot!) works I have thoroughly read. Duncan (King of Scotland), Malcolm, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff (I always think about the cute pig McDull! Haha!) and the three witches......these names bring back so many memories of the lectures and tutorials on English literature - which I almost forgot! :P

Thanks Tom for telling me about the story behind "the Scottish play".

Directly copied from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth):

While many today would simply chalk up any misfortune surrounding a production to coincidence, actors and other theatre people often consider it bad luck to mention Macbeth by name while inside a theatre, and usually refer to it superstitiously as The Scottish Play, or "MacBee", or when referencing the character rather than the play, "Mr. and Mrs. M", or "The Scottish King".

The student ticket for the Wednesday matinee is only 5 pounds! What a cheap deal! Another good reason for being a full-time student!

A glimpse of the Royal Lyceum Theatre (The usher is selling yummy Haagen-Dazs ice-cream!!!!!!!!!)

2. National Poetry Day - 100 Favourite Scottish Love Poems

It was a lovely evening in the Blackwell bookshop nearby - listening to some Scottish love poems emotionally read aloud by the Scot poets with a glass of white wine...not only because the event was free (ha!), but also it was my first time joining a poetry reading event! Below are two of the Scottish love poems:

A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns

O my luve's like a red, red rose.
That's newly sprung in June;
O my luve's like a melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love thee still, my Dear,
Till a'the seas gang dry.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o'life shall run.
And fare thee weel my only Luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

One Cigarette
by Edwin Morgan

No smoke without you, my fire.
After you left,
your cigarette glowed on in my ashtray
and sent up a long thread of such quiet grey
I smiled to wonder who would believe its signal
of so much love. One cigarette
in the non-smoker's tray.
As the last spire
trembles up, a sudden draught
blows it winding into my face.
Is it smell, is it taste?
You are here again, and I am drunk on your tobacco lips.
Out with the light.
Let the smoke lie back in the dark.
Till I hear the very ash
sigh down among the flowers of brass
I'll breathe, and long past midnight, your last kiss.

3. 5/F Fruit Party

Here comes our first "fruit party" with almost all people from my floor in the pantry:

There is a mix of international students in my hall called Churchill House. We have MSc and PhD students from all over the world: New Zealand (2), India (2), Taiwan (3), Sri Lanka (1), the USA (1), Mainland China (1) and HONG KONG (1).

Being a fruit-juice addict, I bought 3 cartons of fruit juice (88p each!) to the party!

Weekend Trip to Stirling

Finally, before I forget, let me upload some photos taken during my trip to Stirling two weeks ago:

Me and Dawn from Washington D.C.

The first Scottish-style wedding I "witnessed" in Scotland

Actor of William Wallace, the Scotland's national hero with the famous victory at the battle of Stirling Bridge. There is a film called Braveheart featuring him (starring Mel Gibson)...but I have not seen it yet!

As said by Jansy, he is a "profressional storyteller" 专业讲古老！