Still Life, St Andrews

In her 1930 essay ‘Street Haunting,’ Virginia Woolf wrote, “[In one’s own room] we sit surrounded by objects which perpetually express the oddity of our own temperaments and enforce the memories of our own experience […] it is comforting to feel the old possessions […] fold around us; and the self […] sheltered and enclosed again.” Upon reading this quote in my English module and discussing it with classmates, I realised how much of ourselves we store in the things we bring with us. 

I got to thinking about how everyone who ends up at St Andrews has left a childhood bedroom of some capacity behind. I began imagining these rooms: walls still plastered with Post-its, drawers filled with trinkets, and desks littered with old birthday presents and Polaroid pictures. I started to wonder which objects everyone chose to bring with them to a new town, new school, and new room. 

When I asked my friend Leo about this, she responded enthusiastically, “Oh, I am perfect for this. I am SO CONNECTED to my objects.” Hanging in her fifth bedroom (yes, you read that right) in St Andrews is a vintage L’Hotel New Hampshire film poster. She found it in the basement of an old poster store in Switzerland, where she had moved at fourteen. It was her first solo outing in the city, and the purchase reminds her of her newfound independence. She has moved seven times since buying the poster, and with each move the folds deepen, and the colour fades. She has never seen the movie and says she doubts she ever will: “ I fear that it will represent something other than those teenage years in a new place.” Leo brought the poster to St Andrews because it reminded her of a previous time when she started over in a new place, so that she knew that she could do it again.

I’d noticed that my friend Chloe often wears a beautiful necklace with a very unique silver pendant and was thrilled when she chose to tell me about it. The necklace was left by Chloe’s grandmother or Omi. As Chloe recalls, Omi was the life of any party and the epitome of class and style. She learned the story behind the distinctive necklace only recently, when her other grandmother, and Omi’s dear friend, explained that Omi saw a waitress wearing the necklace and loved it. Upon enquiring, it turned out that the waitress' father made the jewellery by hand, and Omi was able to purchase one from him. Chloe enjoys having the necklace with her in St Andrews as a reminder of home and the adventurous life her grandmother lived, as she hopes to emulate the same joy and curiosity in her own life.

I saw the moment Tesa’s eyes lit when she thought of them, the socks her great-grandmother had knit for her. Tesa’s family is Serbian, and she has many fond memories of visiting her great-grandmother, Nada, whose name translates to ‘hope.’ Nada knit Tesa’s grandmother and mother socks, and three generations later, she did the same for Tesa. As Nada grew older, she began losing her mobility, and knitting became a pastime as well as a way to give back to those who cared for her. Nada had a tremendous impact on Tesa’s life, and in a video recorded before she passed away, she gave Tesa some life advice: “Be happy, listen to your parents, and be good.” Tesa brought the ankle socks to school with her because they remind her of her great-grandmother’s values while keeping her warm during the Scottish winters.

Next time you’re having dinner with friends, ask what they carried with them to St Andrews. I promise you won’t regret it.

Image courtesy of Ruby Luhrman