To the Americans & my family: Happy Belated Meatball Night & Happy Thanksgiving!
To All: Happy Holidays!

The air is crispening and the daylight dwindling, must mean winter is approaching us ❄️ Another Wednesday night in St Andrews means sports socials! This particular evening, the ‘Phoons indulged in our second annual Jahangirl Phoondaloo dinner 🍛🌶️. According to the groupchat, “This is one of our two formal get-togethers over the year and includes us all enjoying an infamous vindaloo together as a team-building experience. For those unfamiliar with indian cuisine – a vindaloo is considered the spiciest indian dish.🔥🫑🌶️” For those who had not earned their ‘Phoons tie yet, they paid their dues by eating the secret (actual spiciest) menu item, Phaal. 

Thanks to pint(s) of Cobra, I finished my vindaloo with only a few tears shed and a body temperature increase of 3 degrees celsius. In allyship with the golf team, we paraded over to T-Squared Social, and took over a golf simulator (the ice hockey setting is either literally impossible, or the tendy is programmed like Marc André Fleury in the 2018 All Stars Save Streak competition).¹ Additionally, the local lore on T-Squared is contentious 1) it replaced the old movie theater – now the closest cinema is in Dundee (25-30 min drive) 2) the name makes minimal sense given that the establishment is a collaboration between Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods and 3) all that said, the food is decent and atmosphere chilled, soooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The next day, Lucas gifted me a s’mores cookie from Spoiled Life (second best, behind Chatham Cookware). This was momentus because Lucas spent the past 9 consecutive days checking if they had them in stock, and he managed to secure the last few. Fueled with sugary goodness, we drove to Leuchars. The Bobbys took advantage of the flex train tickets and roamed around the city for the afternoon (Lydia’s first time!). Lucas guided us to Waterstone’s, a four-floor bookstore/cafe that looks up at Edinburgh castle on Princes Street (10/10 would recommend. Added bonus: the location is a 5-8 min walk from Edinburgh Waverly). The Emory to St Andrews Bobbies plus Josh (St Andrews to Emory Scholar 2024-2025) enjoyed UMI Japanese before the Bobby Jones Alumni Reunion at Brewhemia. 

To kick off the weekend, I dropped a group from Deans at Leuchars, where they began an adventure to see Billy Martin in Glasgow! I had my first car close-call when none other than my freshman teammate (airpods in) gallivanted into North Street. Shoutout Needham Driving school for the defensive driving tactics. Stay alert St Andrews drivers, especially around exam time, you never know what someone is trying to get out of.

At long last, Welly Ball, my most highly-anticipated event of the year rolled around! St Andrews societies (aka clubs in American) throw Balls for fundraising or general celebrations. The Balls usually have some sort of theme or dress code (Welly Ball = cocktail attire + ‘wellys’ aka rain boots; Movember ball, Mermaids Christmas ball, etc ). Before we get into the details of the night, I must explain the ticket-procurement method because it is nothing like anything I’ve experienced. The Balls have two parts: dinner & afterparty. A ticket to the dinner secures your spot at the afterparty. Tickets go on sale in waves, but you have to be in the know about the drop times via Instagram or society emails or word of mouth (I struggle in this regard because of my semi-infrequent instagram usage). Securing a ticket feels a bit like first-year Emory class registration because you must refresh a second after the hour strikes, the site crashes, and you’re probably being put on the waitlist. I did not succeed in grabbing tickets in any of the rounds, but lucky for me, David was trying to increase his scholar brownie points & has great karma and managed to grab tickets for all four of us (shoutout)! Shortly thereafter, he tragically realized that his mandatory scuba training overlapped with the ball and he wasn’t able to make it 😦

Left: Lucas fell asleep before the pre even started.. his bedtime is usually 10pm. Thankfully, he rallied.
Right: I almost didn’t put this in because this photo does us dirty; however, may the record state we got ourselves dressed and organized by 4pm in order to take pictures in the daylight. The function started 7 hours later.

We took busses from South Street to the venue in the countryside. We only arrived for the afterparty, but there had been an entire dinner set beforehand. Extending off from the countryside house, they pitched tents with dancefloors and bars. For a better sense of the venue and more information about the event check out this article. ²

Thank goodness for Lydia B’s stellar foresight because we booked sauna seats at East Sands for 10am. There is no better hangover or fatigue cure than completely sweating everything out and shocking your system by sea dipping. After the sauna, on the way to study, Lydia K and I accidentally stumbled into some sort of parade. Subsequent research (ahem, a wee google search), informed me that November 9th is Remembrance Sunday. This annual parade commemorates the fallen British Armed Forces who served in the two World Wars and all the wars thereafter.

After a hectic slew of assignments, readings, and events, I took the next weekend to rest & rejuvenate. Courtesy of recipes from home, I made pasta and meatballs, and had enough leftover to share with David and Lydia!

That night, we drove to Dundee’s Caird Hall to support our friends Sarah and Elise who sing in the St Andrews Choir, Scotland’s largest choral society. They performed the Dream of Gerontius, which renowned English composer Sir Edward Elgar adapted from John Newman’s poem. The piece charts the journey of a soul passing from life to death. There was something about this evening concert which elicited the same feelings of driving to piano/cello/violin recital growing up. So festive & fun.

Speaking of friends supporting friends.. my ice hockey team had our last game of the semester against Manchester. They endured the 40+ min bus ride to Kirkcaldy, enjoyed the local brew scene, and cheered through an absolute massacre. 14 goals in the first period. 19-0 final score (makes Berwick look amatuer). This was a painful game to play as a goalie, still a reminder of how important the mental game is, ey? I just managed to crack double digit saves, but I’m pretty sure Gabe just stopped counting. No matter a shut out is a shut out.

In other active news – with the sun setting between 3:30-4, I’ve grown to enjoy afternoon sunset runs when Lucas and I aren’t gymming @6:30. The wind can be a bit unmanageable by West Sands and the Old Course where there isn’t any buffer between the road and the sea. Thankfully it’s not cold enough for your wind-stricken tears to freeze on your face.

The arrival of a pool table in Deans Court has elevated the common room to living room status. Although we do not enjoy a roaring fireplace (the UK is very sensitive to fire – I wonder why….³), we enjoy snacks, hot beverages, card games, good company, and games of tennis ball catch.

I experienced my first Meatball night and Thanksgiving away from home this year. Truth-be-told it was bizarre and a wee bit sad not to reunite with dear friends and family; however, I made sure to celebrate in my own way! Of course, I made the aforementioned meatballs (I think I’m going to scale up next semester for a residence-wide event…). On Thanksgiving, David and I played pickleball, then, in typical American fashion, split a hot honey Domino’s pizza for dinner. Deans Court graciously organized an in-house formal complete with a Thanksgiving dinner spread, champagne, group activities, a bangin’ playlist, and high-quality company. The best nights always end up in a chat or debrief session in the dimly lit library.

Ciao Ciao for now – Next Installment Coming (very) Soon!

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97dAoBTCLdg&t=6s ↩︎
2. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5368283/st-andrews-welly-ball/ ↩︎
3. https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/museum/london-fire-brigade-history-and-stories/fires-and-incidents-that-changed-history/the-great-fire-of-london/ ↩︎