Here is a little information about our Committee, to help get to know us better. If there are any questions, please feel free to approach any of us.
President: Alastair Mackie
Vice-President: Abdelhamid Alhassi
I am a 3rd year PhD student, studying communication engineering , I joined NS when I came here so about 3 years ago. NS was my escape from studying .. I love the people there and they make me feel like home .. it is the first time I’m staying in a place without having to call my mom crying because I want to go back .. I have never actually done any dancing before, and I never thought that I like dancing. But after being in NS, I became addicted to dancing, 5 hours a week at least!!! I now I do step and country. You can just play around , enjoy yourself meet loads of new people , either from Edinburgh or from all around the world, and they have bagpipes, I love bagpipes, they are the first thing I listen to in the morning.
Treasurer: Anne Schmidt
Hi, I’m Anne and I am studying Architectural History in second year. Before coming here I had never done ceilidh dancing or any other dancing for that matter. Being dragged along to the Fresher’s Ceilidh by one of my Scottish friends, I really enjoyed dancing and joined the society. What I like the most about this dancing is that you make friends really easily because you have to find partners, if you want to or not. The openness of the society helps with that a lot. So if you fancy a try, come along. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them!!
Secretary: Siri Pantzar
As you can see above my name is Siri, but unless you can pronounce it with a palatal tap – that is, the Finnish way – , you can call be Dani. Everybody else does. I am the secretary of this society, which, when I informed it to my friends, provoked a lot of comments about heels, short skirts, tights and sitting on someone’s lap. These are not my duties, even though I do enjoy sitting on someone’s lap, as well as scratching heads and massaging. I’d like to think that my main duty is getting to know all of you existing or potential society members and making sure you all feel like you fit in – and if this can be done by organising events, then it’s not even far of the truth. I’m on my way to become a second year humanities student, and New Scotland has been with me right from the start of my uni career. It’s amazing here. Come and say hi!
Steward: Roanna Mackay
PR Officer: Kati Venho
I am the Publicity (read ‘PUB’) Officer of the committee, an eager first-year student of Social Policy and Economics. My native land is that of sauna, “sisu” (strength/spirit) and santa claus (although we call him the ‘yule goat’), but my fascination towards other cultures is like Mary Poppins’ bag. With New Scotland I’m killing two birds with one stone – don’t think I’m some sort of a vulgar bird killer, I love birds… – because apart from enjoying one of the best things Scottish culture has to offer, I get to do it in the most international crowd. Loving to dance, play and have a good laugh, I find New Scotland the ideal society. Therefore, I am very enthusiastic about keeping it that way and perhaps even making it better (if possible), so if you have any doubts, worries, ideas or a joke you’d like to share, I’m your man (not literally)! p.s. I’m from Finland, if you’re wondering..
Ordinary Members:
Ulrike Werner
I am not at uni anymore, but a fully grown up (not), working person. Therefore you probably won’t find me around the university buildings. I originally joined New Scotland to learn Step and Highland dancing, but found out I’m too clumsy for either and gave the up pretty quickly. I did stick to Country dancing though, which is the only dancing I ever managed to do and enjoy. I love the socializing in New Scotland, the away events like Freshers’ Weekend, IVFDF, dances at other universities, the countless parties, etc…
Kristin Lynch
Eibhlin Macphail
