Postgraduated!
Dec. 5th, 2008 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
major_clangerHaving looked at the transport options in the end it made most sense to fly. Yes, I know I'm trying to minimise that, but my concern is mostly to do with the very long-distance trips that cheap flights encourage, and I'm also happy that I've identified a reasonably credible carbon-offset scheme for such flights as I do make. Expedia coughed up a route that took me out from London City (very convenient) and then back to Heathrow Terminal 5 (less so, but a chance to see the pretty architecture.)
Me being me I got to LCY way too early, so sat down in the departure lounge to read the book I'd bought with me. By sheer chance the next on my to-read pile was Ken MacLeod's The Night Sessions; I had no idea I was about to start a book set mainly in Edinburgh! So, very appropriate, and I was amused later in the day to find myself walking past a key location. The flight ended up being delayed by an hour, but was nice and smooth, as was the airport shuttle bus that got me to the city centre. Then a short walk over to the McEwan Hall, where I was fitted with my gown. That left about an hour before we had to be seated, so I went outside into the milling crowd of graduands and guests in Teviot Place to see if I could find my fellow students.
That turned out to be easy - the bright blue hood of an Edinburgh LLM was hardly inconspicuous. I quickly hooked up with a dozen or so of my classmates, and indeed it soon became clear that even on my very-international course the majority of the LLM class had either stayed in Scotland until graduation or come back for it - in one case from China! Plenty of catch-up chat ensued until the subtle hint of a loud cornet call hinted that it was time to file in.
The order of ceremony put the School of Law first, so I was in the second row and called up fairly quickly. Edinburgh confers degrees in a very distinctive way: as your name in announced, you walk smartly up to the Vice-Chancellor, bow your head, and he taps you on it with John Knox's Orbital Space Bonnet. Thus having been formally marked as ex-students, we proceeded off the stage where our certificates were handed to us. (We can apparently buy an old-style Latin version if we want, although I'm not entirely convinced I need such a thing).
Alas, there was little time to socialise afterwards as most of my fellow graduates (as we now were!) had to find their parents or partners in the scrum and head off to whatever post-ceremony arrangements they'd made. The one slight disappointment was that there didn't seem to have been any sort of course reception for graduating students; when I graduated with my MSc from Surrey, the Centre for Satellite Engineering Research laid on a nice buffet beforehand. But even so it was a very nice ceremony and good to see so many of my friends getting the reward for so much work.
Me being me I got to LCY way too early, so sat down in the departure lounge to read the book I'd bought with me. By sheer chance the next on my to-read pile was Ken MacLeod's The Night Sessions; I had no idea I was about to start a book set mainly in Edinburgh! So, very appropriate, and I was amused later in the day to find myself walking past a key location. The flight ended up being delayed by an hour, but was nice and smooth, as was the airport shuttle bus that got me to the city centre. Then a short walk over to the McEwan Hall, where I was fitted with my gown. That left about an hour before we had to be seated, so I went outside into the milling crowd of graduands and guests in Teviot Place to see if I could find my fellow students.
That turned out to be easy - the bright blue hood of an Edinburgh LLM was hardly inconspicuous. I quickly hooked up with a dozen or so of my classmates, and indeed it soon became clear that even on my very-international course the majority of the LLM class had either stayed in Scotland until graduation or come back for it - in one case from China! Plenty of catch-up chat ensued until the subtle hint of a loud cornet call hinted that it was time to file in.
The order of ceremony put the School of Law first, so I was in the second row and called up fairly quickly. Edinburgh confers degrees in a very distinctive way: as your name in announced, you walk smartly up to the Vice-Chancellor, bow your head, and he taps you on it with John Knox's Orbital Space Bonnet. Thus having been formally marked as ex-students, we proceeded off the stage where our certificates were handed to us. (We can apparently buy an old-style Latin version if we want, although I'm not entirely convinced I need such a thing).
Alas, there was little time to socialise afterwards as most of my fellow graduates (as we now were!) had to find their parents or partners in the scrum and head off to whatever post-ceremony arrangements they'd made. The one slight disappointment was that there didn't seem to have been any sort of course reception for graduating students; when I graduated with my MSc from Surrey, the Centre for Satellite Engineering Research laid on a nice buffet beforehand. But even so it was a very nice ceremony and good to see so many of my friends getting the reward for so much work.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 10:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 11:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 11:31 am (UTC)I totally disagree with you about flying though. I think flying short hops when you could perfectly well have taken the train at the cost of more money and/or personal inconvenience is much worse than flying long ones where you have no option but to fly because there are oceans in the way.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 11:56 am (UTC)I still maintain that the issue about cheap flights is that they encourage very long journeys that would be carbon-heavy by any means of transport, but are only practical or affordable at all because air transport is so relatively cheap. Having said that, it is also true that short-haul flights similarly encourage long-distance commuting because it simply isn't practical by other means; that isn't something I'd consider reasonable.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 12:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 12:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 06:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 11:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 04:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-08 02:55 pm (UTC)But I have to wonder if those hoods are functional (in case of rain, or chill winds) and if a lining or trim of fur (rabbit, if not fox or ermine) is reserved for LLDs, perhaps along with velvet, rather than broadcloth, for the fabric.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-12 08:37 am (UTC)Nice frock, by the way; definitely your colour.