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A First Visit to the UK (Part 2): Edinburgh



Edinburgh


View of Edinburgh city from Edinburgh Castle

This was my first visit to Edinburgh. I found the people friendly and helpful during my tours of the city. The city is easy to navigate. A few times my colleagues and I would walk into the main city centre. Edinburgh is Scotland's compact, hilly capital. It has a medieval Old Town and elegant Georgian New Town with gardens and neoclassical buildings. Looming over the city is Edinburgh Castle (which I will dedicate a separate blog on) home to Scotland’s crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish rulers. Arthur’s Seat is an imposing peak in Holyrood Park with sweeping views, and Calton Hill is topped with monuments and memorials. Edinburgh was founded before the 7th Century AD and became a city in 1633. Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the supreme courts of Scotland. The city's Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. According to hotels.com Edinburgh is most famous for these items:
  • Stroll the Royal Mile.
  • Must-See: Edinburgh Castle.
  • Watch a show on the fringe.
  • Must-See: National Museum of Scotland.
  • Hike to Arthur's Seat.
  • The Scotch Whiskey Experience.
  • Scott Monument.
  • Eat haggis, neeps and tatties.


I was able to do the first two given the tight Conference programme I had.


Highlights of Conference

The highlights of the Conference for me were:
  • Listening to and meeting Dr. Marc Presenky who is famous for the work on "Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants". In this work he argues that children born after the 1980s are Digital Natives and are born with technology. They are at home with technology unlike their parents and teachers (Digital Immigrants) who were born in days before technology was common place.
  • It was a delight to me the President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning. Her address to the Conference was riveting.
  • Meeting my Masters in Education (University of Cape Town) research supervisor Dr Cheryl Brown. She is now based in New Zealand where she is lecturing at a University.
  • Meeting Terry Neal the Commonwealth of Learning Technical Skills and Vocational Development (TSVD) Specialist who was appointed in early 2019.
  • Celebrating with the Open University (UK) the Conference co-hosts who were celebrating their 50th anniversary.
  • Meeting with the diverse Commonwealth participants. It made me realise that the Commonwealth is such a big family!
  • Listening to great and engaging speeches and presentations on Open Learning.
  • Enjoying a Conference dinner where we were randomly placed on particular tables so that we could interact with colleagues we had never met before. It happened that I knew one of the people on my table, Professor Paul Prinsloo from the University of South Africa.
  • Making a presentation during one of the parallel sessions at the Conference. 
  • Enjoying the closing function that high tea with various teas and pastries. There were also special Scottish performances. It was difficult to say bye but like all good things we had to come to terms that the Conference had come to an end. 

Site Visit in Edinburgh and Livingston
On 13th September my colleagues from the Zambian TVET sector and others from various Commonwealth countries visited a workplace in Edinburgh to observe the implementation of work based learning. We then visited Lothian College in Livingston where we had a presentation made and asked questions on our site visit. In the late afternoon we had a meeting you reflect on our site visit and discuss the design of the Skills in Demand project. 




Highlights of my visit of Edinburgh
The highlights of my visit to Edinburgh were:
  • Strolling along the Royal Mile each day and seeing some beautiful sights along the way.
  • Visiting the Edinburgh Castle.
  • Visiting the Grey House the Banner of Truth Trust headquarters.
  • Seeing and entering a Marks and Spencer shop.
  • Doing some shopping.
  • Taking a photo with a Scottish man in Sottish attire. 

Last moments in Edinburgh
Afterwards I interacted with colleagues (new and old) had some light dinner and then went to pack in readiness for my trip from Edinburgh to Birmingham later that evening at 10 00 pm (22 00 hours). I also had at least an hour of sleep and then a bath. In the next blog I will talk about my trip from Edinburgh to Camborne and other UK towns that I visited. 
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