Introduction day to Scottish History

We started our day by going to the collage at 10 am, we were divided into three different groups to study different topics group by group,  the coordinator gave us a brief introduction of the day schedule.

At the first session we had a lesson on Scottish Comics such as the Broons and Oor Wullie, we had a funny game by trying to reorder an unordered comics, during that we learned some Scottish words, after that we took a coffee break.

The next session was about the Scottish language and vocabulary, in this session we learned a lot of words and had a words matching game, we really enjoyed it. We learned that there are three different Scottish accents  which are the Dundonian, the Aberdonion and the Glasegian.

After this session we had a break to try the Scottish food, we tried the Tablit sweet and the Irnbru drink.

The third and last session was about the  Scottish history, we learned about Robert Burns and the celebrations of 25Jan, were Scottish people eat the Haggis and dance the traditional Ceilidh. We studied a Scottish poem called “Address to a Haggis”, finally we saw a video about the dance of Ceilidh.

We had Indian food for lunch it was very delicious, after that we went for a trip to the “Scone Palace” which has an exciting and colourful history, fifteen hundred years ago it was the capital of the Picts. In the intervening centuries, it has been the seat of parliaments and the crowning place of the Kings of Scots, including Macbeth and Robert The Bruce. It houses an outstanding collection of antiques, paintings and rare artifacts and the grounds are renowned throughout the world.  

We had fun this day and enjoyed the rainy weather.

Day in Glasgow

26/ June/ 2011 

In this day, we visited a wonderful city in Scotland which is Glasgow.It is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom .We also knew that it lies on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands. Glasgow is also ranked as the 57th most liveable city in the world and one of Europe's top twenty financial centres and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses.

 While we were on the way, our coordinator gave us a map that includes names of famous places in Glasgow. We took nearly two hours to reach the distance. When we arrived there, some of students went to the center of Glasgow where they got shopping in the John Lewis mall and other wonderful shops around the area, while others preferred to go to the cinema instead of shopping.

We were very happy because of the nice weather and it was rainy day. Also we saw different people from different cultures.

At the end, we took a delicious lunch in Pizza hut and then we at 5:00 pm we went back to the hotel.  

Visiting Law Hill

25^/ June/ 2011

This day we were so excited because it was the first trip for us in Scotland. We had a very nice tour in law hill which is located in the centre of Dundee. When we reached the place, our co-ordinater gave us some information about the place and its history. The law is the remains of a 400 million year old volcano. The law has been a major part of Dundee and its 800 years of development from Fishing, Trade, Defence, Shipbuilding, Jute, Publishing, Education and Medicine, among many other achievements you will encounter during your time here. The memorial was built on the top as a tribute to fallen soldiers from the two World Wars, and on the top is a beacon which is lit on momentous occasions.

Then, we went to take lunch in predetermined pizza restaurant but it was closed. Fortunately, we met lovely and funny old woman who suggested us to go to a nice Chinese restaurant and we have spent an interesting time with her.

After that, we went to the beach and castle. In the beach, we saw a lot of jelly fish covering the beach and some of us drew on the sand and run while others went to the shops around the beach. Also, we saw some children and we talked with them and took some pictures. Then, in castle we took several photos of different corner inside it.

 

We liked these amazing places and we enjoyed a lot and really we didn't want to leave early. This day will be in our memory forever.



First Day in Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education

24/Jun/2011

On Friday after we had our first breakfast in the Invercarse Hotel we gathered all outside the hotel to visit Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education. Our tour guide named Emily Hunter met us in the bus to talk about our day schedule, and then we head to the college. 

We had our first visit to the Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education to meet the staff and to be informed about the summer program.  We had a very warm and nice welcome by Dr. Hussein Godazgar and the staff. They have talked about the summer program and gave us a brief introduction about some of the activities that will be assigned to each group.  In addition, they have distributed printed copies of each day schedule which we have to use during the program. These schedules include detailed information about the time for each day's activity which is really good for us to manage our time.  Beside that Ms Clarie Booth; one of the staff members, talked about some of the main health and safety instructions that we should follow during our study in the college.

We had a short tour in the college. Actually, we found library that includes books in English, but what amazed us is founding another section for Arabic books related to Islam and Muslims.

English Books

Arabic Books

 

After our visit to the college, we went shopping in the city downtown. We had a great shopping time with the other universities’ groups. During our shopping we have talked to some people in the city, this was a great opportunity to know their Scottish accent and to know their lifestyle. In addition, after we went back to the hotel we attended a Scottish wedding party. We took some pictures of the ceremony and we greeted the bride and the groom.  It was our first time to attend a Scottish wedding where the groom was wearing the traditional Scottish dress which is the national dress of Scotland.

{The Scottish Highland Dress has a long history. The original covering of the Highland male was the Celtic feile-breacan or belted plaid. It was a piece of tartan cloth four yards long and two yards wide folded around the waist and held in position by a belt. The lower part fell to the knees and the upper part was drawn over the left shoulder leaving the right arm free for action. In due course the upper and lower parts of the plaid would be separated, the feile-breacan now becoming the feile-beag and the lower part with it's folds stitched eventually became the kilt }

  

It was really great day and we had lot of fun with the other groups taking pictures and enjoying each moment in the city.     

Depart for Scotland

23/Jun/2011

Depart for Scotland 

This day we departed from UAE to Scotland with the other universities’ groups. The program includes 8 groups; 7 groups from UAE universities and one from Qatar. The groups from UAE are United Arab Emirates University, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi University, British University in Dubai, Higher Colleges of Technology, American University of Sharjah, College of Islamic and Arabic Studies in Dubai and Qatar University.

We arrived to Glasgow airport with our Supervisor Mr. Masoud Salah who was with us step by step. Emily, the trip coordinator and bus drivers were there waiting for us. They welcomed us and together we went to Dundee city specifically to the Invercarse Hotel. The staff of the hotel welcomed us and wished us a nice and successful summer. We went to our rooms and we had rest after the long trip from Dubai to Dundee.

UAEU group in Scotland Summer School 2011

Scotland Summer School is an educational program held twice a year which is sponsored by his highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashed Al Maktoum. In this program, several groups from different universities within UAE and Qatar travel to Dundee in Scotland, to study in the Al Maktoum college of Higher Education.