Having been in Scotland for a month now, there are a lot of things I’ve noticed they do differently here. England proper might seem like America across the ocean but older and with accents, but in my experiences so far in Scotland, there really are some cultural differences. For example, have you ever heard of ceilidh dancing? Well, neither had I. It’s pronounced “KAY-lee” and is a traditional Scottish dance done at weddings, school dances, and prom. It’s reminiscent of an American square dance. If you’ve seen Tangled, the dance scene in the kingdom is a perfect example of a ceilidh. (Random, I know, but Disney got the moves from somewhere!)
One of the most interesting things about being somewhere with cultural differences is seeing their version of traditionally American things. One example is American food. At KFC there are no biscuits; instead there are fries. Bagels are kind of like Einstein’s bagels but with many options for toppings, including pesto sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, brie cheese, and bacon. Pesto bagel aside, the best Scottish version of an American tradition was the Super Bowl.
When I saw that Teviot, the Edinburgh University Student Union, was hosting a Super Bowl event, I didn’t expect much. To tell you the truth, I had never watched the Super Bowl before. I know, I know, I’m a terrible American. Blame my family or something. But I decided I wanted to show some good ol’ American pride and watch some football. So at 23:00 (also known as 11 p.m.), my friends and I entered Teviot.
So Cultural Difference Number One: There are many Edinburgh University Student Union buildings, and each one of them has multiple school-subsidized bars. Teviot has seven bars, including the Library Bar, the Loft Bar, the Teviot Underground, and the Sports Bar. The drinking age is 18, so almost all university students can drink. I personally doubt they card anyone with a student ID, so probably any University student could, and often does, decide to have a pint of beer or hard apple cider with lunch. Culture shock much?
All of the aforementioned Teviot bars connect and were packed, showing the Super Bowl on at least 10 huge flat-screen TVs and projected on two massive pull-down screens. I wondered what percent of people were American, but when I asked one group of guys, they said they were mostly from London, though one was an exchange student from a college in Waltham (small world!), and one guy’s mother was originally American.
Everyone was super into the game. Most people in my room were Packers fans, but I think it was divided rather evenly. When Christina Aguilera sang the national anthem, people were cheering, and I’m pretty sure a handful were saluting. There were pints of Guinness all around.
At half time, they brought out a buffet table and loaded on meat pies and nacho chips with tubs of sour cream, guac, and strangely sweet salsa—but no plates or napkins to put them on. As the waiters unloaded the carts, guys stole large tubs of chips and dip and brought them up to the balcony (where we were sitting) and handed them to us shouting “pass them around!” That’s one thing I love about Scotland: People don’t always follow rules (like stealing tubs of chips and dip from the buffet table), but always with good intentions (like sharing!).
The Super Bowl went until 3 a.m. Edinburgh time, and at that point we were exhausted. I know I don’t have much to compare to, but this was my best Super Bowl experience ever.
xxx (as they do here in Britain––everyone, including guys, ends their messages and texts with at least one “x.” Apparently anything less than one is considered rude!)
Rebecca
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Brandeis chapter.