So I know I said I'd write more frequently, that was an epic fail. Sorry, I do apologize for taking so long to write again. I'm really going to work on that :)So we go way back to October 13...
Tuesday 13 October
I had my lovely two classes for the day, I did some homework, and then my flatmate Britta (the German) made pizza. Let me tell you this wasn't really pizza. It tasted really good, but it involved tuna and corn, which you usually don't find on pizzas. Then I went out with the volleyball team for an informal social. We went to Dusk, saw some really drunk people.
Wednesday 14 October
I slept a lot this day. I have no classes, so why not? I shopped for a bit, but I can't remember if I bought anything, I'm thinking no if I can't remember lol. I know I did look at perfume with Katie though. She bought one and I found my new favorite: iDole d Armani... AMAZING! I did some more homework for my tutorial for the next day and then went to volleyball practice. It was a crappy practice though.. the coach didn't really set it up very well.
Thursday 15 October
I had my tutorial and then had volleyball practice. I particularly like Thursday practices because they are short and non of the beginners come. I hope that doesn't sound mean... it's just easier to play when everyone is on the same level. I then went on an adventure to Chris and Graeme's. I was supposed to pay Chris some money for the football game for that coming Saturday. So Katie and I went down to their flat for the time we said we'd be there and of course, being boys they weren't there. Now the logical thing would have been for me to stay there and wait for them to get back, but I was hungry and couldn't be bothered. So as we are walking back up to Cottrell (an academic building, not sure if I spelled it right though :P) I got a text message saying they were back. So I began to walk back to their flat when I get a text that says "Can you get us some washing up liquid?" Immediately I thought to myself what the hell is washing up liquid. But I was already on my way back down to their flat so I said no. When I got there they were quite upset that I didn't pick any up. I then found out that washing up liquid is really dish soap. Doesn't dish soap make far more sense? So me being the nice person went and got them some.
Friday 16 October
Went to my 3 lectures then went to Glasgow with my flatmates: Katie, Britta, Stephanie, and Maria (we now call her Fernanda). We went to go see West Side Story. We were a little early for the show so we decided to go sit at a pub. We sat at Bar Buddha. Such a cool name. The show wasn't the best, it was probably about as good as a high school performance. After the show Katie and I took a train to Edinburgh where Chris picked us up. We sort of had issues with the train, we were in a hurry and it could have happened to anyone. We arrived safely and on time so no harm done :P We will never tell anyone what we stupidly did lol...
Saturday 17 October
Chris took us to see the Edinburgh Castle. No words can describe it. It is absolutely gorgeous. It was a bit cold but we seemed to enjoy ourselves. Then we saw the Parliament buildig and the Queen's Palace. We just saw it from the gate but it looked gorgeous from the outside. After all the sightseeing we went to a pub where we met up with a few of Chris's friends before the football game. I watched some guys play pool and let me tell ya, they were amazing, or maybe I'm just that bad?
*A little side note, as I'm writing this, is is 5:19PM and completely pitch black outside... a little sad since it will only get worse.
The football game was crazy. The Hibs (Hibernian) won so all is good in life. Katie and I then caught a train back to Stirling. Later that night, Fernanda knew some guys that were at a party and Katie, Britta, and I decided to go with. It was in a town over (Bridge of Allen). The party was interesting, more of a chilled atmosphere than a real party. Katie and I decided to walk back earlier than the rest. Now if we were smart we would have called a taxi. But, instead we decided to walk back, wearing heels. Remember, it was further than 2 miles. Needless to say halfway through the trip we were saying ow every other word. It took us about an hour and a half to get back, or maybe even longer.
Sunday 18 October
I had a volleyball game in Glasgow and the University of StraethClyde ( I have know idea if I spelled that right) We played really well. I started setting... we play a six two, so I set in the front row and then I defend in the back. My serving didn't go so well that day though, I think I was thinking about it too much. We won the first two games pretty easily but then lost the third. During the fourth game they called it quits because their Sports Union was closing. So we won by default but we would have won anyway. It felt really good to play an actual competitive game. After the game we went to a Sports bar for dinner. They had american football on, but not he Packers. I was quite disappointed. When we got back I met up with a girl from my Religion class and we worked on our presentation.
Monday 19 October (DAD's birthday! and I didn't forget it don't worry.. I even got him a gift)
I had class and worked some more on my presentation. Then I had more class and then volleyball practice and then worked more on my presentation. It was a very long day but we finished it.
Tuesday 20 October
We gave our presentation. It didn't go too bad, I was really nervous though. We finally had another volleyball social. We went bowling. I bowled with all guys, just my luck since usually I am a horrible bowler. I did surprisingly well the first game though. I took 2nd out of the 5 of us. Felt good about that :P The first game I bowled a 126. The second game didn't go so well though, I bowled a 98. It was still a lot of fun. Then we went out to the Corn Exchange for a bit before they all went to Dusk. I didn't go to Dusk this time.
Wednesday 21 October
I decided that I was in dire need of a hair cut, so Katie and I decided to go on an adventure and get our hair cut. It was an interesting experience. I got a small massage out of it. And I also had a guy hairdresser which I've never had before. Then after I had volleyball and did some homework.
Thursday 22 October
I had class then I had volleyball practice. I made quesadillas for Chris and Katie for dinner. They turned out quite good, except for the fact that I wasn't very good at flipping them. I need a little practice with that one. I watched part of Braveheart with Chris but then I had a volleyball picture, which took longer waiting for the bus than it did to take the actual picture. We are now published though in the Scottish Volleyball something or other. I think I added a URL link to the page but not sure if it'll work.
Friday 23 October
First time I deliberately skipped a class in my life. I went to the first two classes and then left to go to Edinburgh with Chris, so I decided to skip my Religion class. I'm sure I didn't miss much. First we stopped at his partents house for him to drop off his laundry, Mom I wish you still did my laundry lol.. It would be so nice. :P I met his sister as well. She seemed really nice. Then we went to his aunt's house. She has two adorable identical twin girls. So cute! I think they are two. We went to his gran's then. She's a sweetheart. I love all grandparents, they're always so nice and make you feel at home. Then we picked up his friend Euan from his parents house. I got some pointers from Euan's dad about Italy, he's a funny guy. We drove into Edinburgh and went to the pub that is literally next door to Euan and Steven's flat. I got a talking to about the game the next day, about Glasgow and how I should be warned lol.. (They're not huge fans of Glasgow) We left the pub and went to see this amazing bridge. I can't even describe how gorgeous it is. I can't remember the name of the town it is in, it's just outside of Edinburgh. I kick myself everytime I think about the bridge because I didn't bring my camera. But the bridge connected that part of town to Fife. It was soooo awesome! I need to go back so I can show you all a picture of it, it was that gorgeous! Then we got some food, it was called a munchie box. Apparently everyone needs to have one when they are over here. And then I got to enjoy some WWE.. such entertainment lol...
Saturday 24 October
We picked up Graeme and John and took a bus into Edinburgh. Then we met up with Steven and caught the train to Glasgow. Apparently I missed some pretty funny antics on the train as I was sitting listening to my iPod minding my own business. LOL We then went to a pub in Glasgow and met up with Katie and Fernanda. We went to the Rangers/Hibs game. It was a lot of fun. When we scored I thought I was literally going to be squashed. People went insane and arms were flying everywhere, I'm surprised I wasn't hit in the face. The game ended up in a draw, which everyone then was happy. Graeme is a Rangers fan and made Katie and Fernanda sit with him on that awful side. Oh, I almost forgot. Apparently football teams in Scotland have their own gang. And their is gang violence and such. The Hibs gang has a name but I can't remember the name of it right now, something like the Capital City something.. Craziness! It was such an intense game that after the game they wouldn't let any of the Hibs fans leave until all of the Rangers fans were out of the stadium. After the game we took the train back to Edinburgh to Euan and Steven's flat. We got ready for the Forth One event at Ocean Terminal??(which is a mall) Forth One is a local radio station and they had different djs throughout the night. I think mom would have loved it, they played her favorite song "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas at least 3 times. The whole night was soooo amazing. It was a lot of fun and really cool. It was probably the best night I've had here.
Sunday 25 October
We didn't sleep, we got back to Euan and Steven's from the Forth One event, changed... and then Katie, Fernanda, and I got a taxi to the airport. Our flight was at 6AM. And we had Daylight Savings time. The flight to Rome was horrible. It was freezing and the seats on RyanAir flights do not move back at all. So I couldn't sleep at all :( We got into Rome at 10 something. We went and checked in to the Casa Olmata. It was a little hard to find the hostel since there was no sign, just a small door on a little side street, yes a little shady. We were four flights up, I counted.. 78 stairs. The room wasnt bad, but the bathroom was disgusting. There was standing water in the cramped little bathroom. I never felt clean after I showered. We took a nap, a well needed nap and then wandered around for awhile. We ate supper on the rooftop of the hostel, different kinds of pasta. Then we went for desert at a little ristorante down the street and then went to an Irish pub which was a few doors down from our hostel. It was called the Fiddlers Elbows.
Monday 26 October
We went to the Coloseum where I got 'fake' stabbed many times by the people dressed up. We wandered around the Ancient City. All of which is gorgeous! That night we went to the Trevi fountain which is also gorgeous. Pictures can't even show all the pretty sights we saw the whole week. We also saw the Pantheon that night as well. Then we went to get ice cream.. gelatto (sp?) and we were hit on by an old Italian man that worked at the place we got ice cream from. He was infatuated by my red toenails.. who knows, crazy man.
Tuesday 27 October
We went to the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica is gorgeous! It was so weird being there, when you see it in pictures all the time. We then went to a museum to see the Sistine Chapel. The whole museum was really cool, but really all we wanted to see was the Sistine Chapel and it was at the very end. It was a maze and it took forever to get out! Kind of funny actually. I think Rome is home to the most stairs a person has to walk. Later that night we decided to check out a Scottish pub in Italy.. yeah not as good, but we played Uno Spin. It was fun, except that Katie won both times :P (cheater! lol)
Wednesday 28 October
We had an early flight to Venice. When we got in to get our baggage Katie noticed she didn't have her passport. But we eventually found it in the airport's lost and found, we think she dropped it out of her folder (the folder of death) when we were getting off the plane. The hostel we stayed at (Villa Dori) was really nice, it was more like a hotel. The only bad thing about the hostel was that it was about 40 minutes from Venezia, which is where the canal streets are. We looked at all the different shops, so cool. It would be great shopping! We ate a really nice meal, 4 course meal lol. And had some tiramisu for dessert. We then went to a pub and had cocktails. The streets of Venice are really hard to navigate. Sometimes they are dead ends and other times you can't cross because there's no bridge. I accidently led us down a creepy alley way.. but we quickly turned around and ran back.. kind of funny though. I then realized I lost my water bus ticket, which was expensive. So the good Christian I am, just made sure they never looked for my ticket when I got on and off the waterbus. I did pay for one, so I wasn't stealing, I just didn't have it anymore to prove that I bought one. Ooops..
Thursday 29 October
We went to the different islands surrounding Venice. They were soo pretty, but it took a long time to get to them on the water buses. We walked around the islands. It was weird seeing places that people lived in.. it just didn't seem really safe living to me, and also how do you get around, it must be a pain. We saw a guy create a horses out of glass. We went to a glass blowing museum. It was also weird being surrounded by people who didn't speak English. Never happened to me before. Usually the majority of people speak English. Our flight that night was at 10:30PM. So late and I was so tired. The pressure was really bad too, my ears hurt really bad on the descent. It took us a while to find our hostel in Barcelona. But we did find it at 1:30 in the morning.
Friday 30 October
We went to the Picasso museum. We went down by LaRambla which is a big tourist area. We also went to Museu de l' Erotica, very interesting. We then went to the Catedral de Barcelona. Very gorgeous but by this time, I had such a bad throat (since Wednesday) that I could barely swallow and barely eat. I felt like crappy so I didn't enjoy the cathedral very much. I called my mom and she told me to go to the hospital. So.. guess where we were Friday night, yup at the ER in Barcelona at Hospital del Mar. I sat in the waiting room for 2 and a half hours while my throat was killing me. I had a swollen gland/lymph node half the size of a golf ball. When I went in to see the doctor she didn't really speak English so that was cool :S It wasnt that bad though. I ended up being diagnosed with strep throat. I couldn't get my prescription though until the next day because it was 12:30 in the morning by the time I got out of there.
Saturday 31 October
We went to the Chocolate museum!! That was very cool. Only I wish we were little kids so we could have gotten a cool tour on how they make the chocolate. Too bad we weren't 10. Then we went to Petit Palau which was a gorgeous building that was made a lot of glass but was actually where they hold concerts. No plays or anything like that just singing and musical instruments. The sound in there is amazing. Then we went to a Sports Bar for dinner. We watched the Barcelona football game. All was good. We went upstairs to use their internet. Still, all was good. We walked home, it was a long walk and we got a little lost. Here comes the bad news. We got back into the hostel and guess what, I have no wallet and no phone. Somewhere along the way I believe I got pickpocketed. No idea how. Pretty much my own stupidity but still baffled by it. It is probably the most frustrating and aggravating thing that has ever happened to me. So I called home and had mom and dad cancel my credit and debit card. My wallet had my credit card, debit card, driver's license, St. Norbert student ID card, Stirling Uni student ID card, Health insurance cards, blood donor cards, 40 euros in cash. Ahhh.. just sucks basically.
Sunday 1 Nov
11AM we went to the police station to fill out a report. I've never been called a victim before.. weird feeling. We ran into a British guy who was there for his job. He had check out of his hotel and was waiting for a taxi or something when a guy ran and stole his backpack. He lost 7000 euros worth of stuff. His laptop, camcorder, camera, money, passport, driver's license etc. So then I didn't feel quite so bad. After the police station we walked around and saw some beautiful flower gardens. We also had a weird encounter there, which I will not go into detail about. I think Katie is scarred for life lol.. Then we went to the Segrada Family church/cathedral. It has taken 80 years to build and they still aren't finished, I believe they won't be finished until 2030. It wasn't all that impressive either. I wasn't a huge fan. We went to La Rita for dinner that night. So good, not too expensive and the food and service was great. After we went down to the beach (la playa, there's my high school spanish at work lol) and we went into IceBarcelona. It was a bar made completely out of ice. The temperature was -12 degrees Celsius which is 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit. We had to wear big poofy jackets and gloves. It was really cool though. Then we got too cold and went into a club, we didn't realize this at the time that you get in free but need to consume 10 euros worth of drinks, we were literally there for 10 minutes and the bouncer wouldn't let us out. But eventually we found a guy to let us out. Then we walked on the beach at night, it was really pretty.
Monday 2 November (mom's birthday!!)
We checked out of our hostel and went to go have breakfast/lunch. Then we went down to the beach. I love the beach, except the water was really cold. Then we had about 8 hours worth of traveling to do. It took us about an hour and a half to get from Barcelona to the airport. Then we had to wait in the airport and our flight was delayed by half an hour. Then we got into Glasgow. We had to take a train from the airport to the central station which was about a half an hour ride. Then we had to walk to the Queen street station to catch a train to Stirling. Which was another 30-40 minute ride. But then we got back and all was good. :O)
*Quick question.. How many of you celebrate St. Nick? December 5 or 6 (I can never remember which night it is) he comes and leaves stuff in your stocking. Katie had never heard of that until I brought it up.
*I keep hearing that my name is very Scottish.. both first and last.. even though we have no Scottish heritage...
*Sausage pizza from Dominoes is sausage cut up in slices, not sausage like we are used to.
NEW WORDS:
*washing up liquid - dish soap
*heather - evergreen branching shrub with purple or mauve flowers, which I have yet to see :(
*boak - sick
*catch - bye
*tidy - someone or situation that is pleasing
*pinch/nip - pinch is for "pinch me, am I dreaming?" and when someone actually pinches you it's called a nip
*windscreen - windshield... this one completely baffles me.. a screen is used for air to get through and to keep bugs out.. hmmm...
*aquaplaning - hydroplaning
Word from my Scottish Dictionary: byre - a shed or stable where cows are kept
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
bagpipes are my new favorite thing
Well hello there... it has been quite some time since I last wrote. I apologize for that. I do have a correction to make... again. The town where the football game was Motherwell, not Maxwell.
I believe I left off on Tuesday 29 September.
I went to pub golf that night with the volleyball club. Pub golf is sort of like golf, hence the name. You go to 9 pubs and have a certain drink at every pub. You have to finish that drink in a certain amount of 'gulps' or 'chugs' (whichever term you'd prefer to use). So an example would be having a pint of beer or cider and we to get par you had to drink it in 4. ( I did that one in 5 lol). So needless to say it was an expensive night and a drunken night as well. It was crazy all night long. I got to really know a lot of the volleyball players and actually learn their names. I am horrible with names. We all had to dress up as golf players as well. My costume was pretty weak, but I had a cool hat that sort of looked like a golfing hat. Except that I'm pretty sure I was missing it most of the night. Everyone was wearing everyone elses things. So of course you want to know the names of the pubs over here and the drink we had to have, so the 9 pubs we went to were: O'Neills (pint of beer or cider), Morrisons (vodka & mixer), Outback (cocktail), City Walls (vodka or rum and mixer), Corn Exchange (a shot), Sportsters (alcopop, which is sort of like a wine cooler), No. 2 Baker Street (bottle of cider), Drouthy Neebors (glass of wine) and Nicky Tams (bottle of beer or alcopop). After we finished with the 9 pubs, we went to Dusk. It was pretty empty when we first got there but it was still lots of fun. Some of the names of the volleyball people: Lisa, Amy, Cathy, Tanya, Calum, Graeme, Craig, Luke.. many more. All are soo fun and nice. Love 'em!
Wednesday 30 September
This is why I should write more often because now the only thing I remember doing is going to volleyball that evening. I know I developed a massive cold that day as well.
Thursday 1 October, Friday 2 October, and Saturday 3 October
I didn't do much these days. I had a cold and was trying to rejuvenate. Friday I went to a pub and the bouncer asked for my I.D. No big deal, not worried. But then he continued to look at it for a minute or so. He looked confused... so the other bouncer came over and looked at it and was like oh she's american, let her in. Geesh.. everytime I show my I.D. they stare at it forever. I'm pretty sure I look over 18 so it's not a fake. Anywho.. I think the issue and the part that throws them off is that my license is vertical, because I unfortunately am not 21 and they do weird things in America. Saturday I just stayed in and did homework. Also skyped with everyone at my dad's for pumpkin picking. I'm sad I wasn't there but hopefully all of you that went had a good time.
Sunday 4 October
Katie and I went to the Catholic church here. I believe it is called St. Mary's. I figured all Catholic churches everywhere are very similar. Well nope. Twice we screwed up. At the end of mass they say "let us pray" and you stand, right? Well here they kneel, so as we get up to stand everyone kneels.. thankfully we were towards the back of the church. Katie and I went on a hunt for a full-lenth mirror. It took awhile but we found one. And I got to pretend to be the wall as she looked to see if she could see herself in it..don't ask lol, one of those spur of the moment, we're being silly moments. The rest of the day was devoted to paper writing, not that I got much done.
Monday 5 October
I had classes and attempted some more paper writing. And that didn't go so well again. I then had volleyball, which I LOVE! I have missed it sooo much. So now that I get to play again I feel so much better :) Katie and I ended up going over to Chris and Graeme's later that night to watch a movie, Trainspotting. It is an interesting movie. I'd have to say it is good but different at the same time.
Tuesday 6 October
I actually had to finish my paper because it was due on Wednesday. Let me tell you, it was not my best work but I haven't gotten it back so I can't be sure yet. Oh well. I have more papers to write later anyway. I can redeem myself then. I think I finished writing the paper around midnight. And I have learned, actually I already knew this, but I am the queen of procrastination. I got a package from home... I got 12 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese, 2 boxes of Easy Mac, Halloween clins for the windows and some Halloween candy. Amazing!
Wednesday 7 October
Have I mentioned how much I love Wednesdays, no class=amazing! Katie, Britta, Maria and I decided to go to the Stirling castle. We got a lovely tour. I think I've said this before but the castle is gorgeous! I'll work on getting pictures uploaded to this. I also bought some souvenirs and postcards. I should be gettig postcards out within the next week or so. I know, I'm slacking in that department. I had volleyball again that night. The practices are finally getting to be fun and intense. It was a lot more 'team' type stuff. He has me setting, which I'm not sure if I like because I like back row much better, but it'll do. It's still fun.
After volleyball I found out I had to make some mac n cheese for the boys. They didn't like our Kraft macaroni and cheese. Broke my heart, it's my favorite food ever! Apparently it has to be home made.. which I can't do, the box is far easier.
Thursday 8 October
I had my history seminar. Usually the tutor scares me. She's from Iceland I believe. But I actually knew what I was talking about in the class and she told me I did a good job, so no longer is she the scary tutor lady. She's actually kind of funny sometimes too. We had another little volleyball practice in the afternoon because there was supposed to be a game on Sunday. The game was cancelled because the West Scotland or west of scotland, not sure exactly what they are called didn't have a team. But after practice I went with Graeme, Chris, (different Graeme and Chris from earlier) Calum and Iain to Long Bar for an afternoon drink.. mine was a hot chocolate and a donut. The practice was fun because it was all team players, so no beginners playing with us. I always feel more productive when it is just the team. My flatmates and I went out to Fubar later that night. Most of the night was pretty fun.
Friday 9 October
Went to my 3 hours of lectures, horrible, I couldn't concentrate at all. Then went to Tesco to go grocery shopping. Then went out to Morrison's pub for an hour or so. It was really loud though so you couldn't hear anyone talk.
Saturday 10 October
Katie and I went to Glasgow. We took the train there all by ourselves.. lol. It's really not that hard. Very annoying though that single ticket costs 10p less than a return ticket. Except that when we got there, a train was going to leave in about 5 minutes and by the time we got our tickets and such we had missed the train literally by seconds. So we had to wait for the next one. Glasgow has amazing shopping. There is one stretch that is just lined with shops. I liked Glasgow. It was very modern. There were people everywhere and they don't know how to walk down the street. I kept bumping into people constantly. There were bagpipers out and people playing the accordian and guitar. It was crazy. Around 2 in the afternoon we met up with Fraser and he took us to the Kelvingrove museum. We got to ride the subway, or underground as he called it. It was noisier than the subway in NYC but otherwise pretty much the same. Less busy though and it goes in a giant circle. I love trains and subways and all those cool things that us Wisconsinites miss out on. Then we went to eat at the Filling Station. Katie and I both stole our glass bottle filled with 'distilled water.' Shhh.. don't tell anyone :P Then I went to hang out with Chris in Maddiston. We went to pizza hut, which I didn't even know they had them over here. And surprisingly it tasted the same.
Sunday 11 October
Had volleyball practice from 1-4 instead of our scheduled game. It was intense, but a good intense. The girls team played the boys team and a mixed team. I believe we beat the boys twice! :P Then I went to Beanscene which is a really cute little coffee shop. Later on Katie and I went to eat at my new favorite pub/restaurant. It's called Whistlebinkies. Such a great name. And the food is great and not too expensive.
Monday 12 October
I went to class, then slept some more, did some homework, went to another class, did some more homework, then had volleyball for two hours. Volleyball was really productive and good until a girl came down on her foot wrong. It took a half an hour for them to move her and take her away. They actually called for an ambulence for her. It kind of ruined the rest of practice. I got back from practice and Fraser came over. Telling us some funny jokes and other stories. And I've attempted to do some reading for my classes, but as you can see I'm writing in my blog, which is far more important. Last Thursday, Katie, Maria, and I booked our flights to Rome, Venice, and Barcelona for fall break. We still need to book a flight home though or we could just stay there?? :) I plan on writing on Sunday again, so it won't be a whole two weeks.
Oh those of you wondering if Fubar stands for anything over here, yes it does. The same thing as it does back home, just use your imagination.
I saw a pink limousine a few days ago while I was on the bus. Kind of made my day.
We've had 3 fire alarms in the four weeks we've been here. Stop burning your food people!
My new favorite words are shite and skinnymalinkie (I got this one out of my Scottish dictionary). Appartently skinnymalinkie comes from a children's rhyme.
Some more Scottish words:
tartan=plaid
ken=know
hob=stove top
skinnymalinkie is an extremely skinny person/animal
I believe I left off on Tuesday 29 September.
I went to pub golf that night with the volleyball club. Pub golf is sort of like golf, hence the name. You go to 9 pubs and have a certain drink at every pub. You have to finish that drink in a certain amount of 'gulps' or 'chugs' (whichever term you'd prefer to use). So an example would be having a pint of beer or cider and we to get par you had to drink it in 4. ( I did that one in 5 lol). So needless to say it was an expensive night and a drunken night as well. It was crazy all night long. I got to really know a lot of the volleyball players and actually learn their names. I am horrible with names. We all had to dress up as golf players as well. My costume was pretty weak, but I had a cool hat that sort of looked like a golfing hat. Except that I'm pretty sure I was missing it most of the night. Everyone was wearing everyone elses things. So of course you want to know the names of the pubs over here and the drink we had to have, so the 9 pubs we went to were: O'Neills (pint of beer or cider), Morrisons (vodka & mixer), Outback (cocktail), City Walls (vodka or rum and mixer), Corn Exchange (a shot), Sportsters (alcopop, which is sort of like a wine cooler), No. 2 Baker Street (bottle of cider), Drouthy Neebors (glass of wine) and Nicky Tams (bottle of beer or alcopop). After we finished with the 9 pubs, we went to Dusk. It was pretty empty when we first got there but it was still lots of fun. Some of the names of the volleyball people: Lisa, Amy, Cathy, Tanya, Calum, Graeme, Craig, Luke.. many more. All are soo fun and nice. Love 'em!
Wednesday 30 September
This is why I should write more often because now the only thing I remember doing is going to volleyball that evening. I know I developed a massive cold that day as well.
Thursday 1 October, Friday 2 October, and Saturday 3 October
I didn't do much these days. I had a cold and was trying to rejuvenate. Friday I went to a pub and the bouncer asked for my I.D. No big deal, not worried. But then he continued to look at it for a minute or so. He looked confused... so the other bouncer came over and looked at it and was like oh she's american, let her in. Geesh.. everytime I show my I.D. they stare at it forever. I'm pretty sure I look over 18 so it's not a fake. Anywho.. I think the issue and the part that throws them off is that my license is vertical, because I unfortunately am not 21 and they do weird things in America. Saturday I just stayed in and did homework. Also skyped with everyone at my dad's for pumpkin picking. I'm sad I wasn't there but hopefully all of you that went had a good time.
Sunday 4 October
Katie and I went to the Catholic church here. I believe it is called St. Mary's. I figured all Catholic churches everywhere are very similar. Well nope. Twice we screwed up. At the end of mass they say "let us pray" and you stand, right? Well here they kneel, so as we get up to stand everyone kneels.. thankfully we were towards the back of the church. Katie and I went on a hunt for a full-lenth mirror. It took awhile but we found one. And I got to pretend to be the wall as she looked to see if she could see herself in it..don't ask lol, one of those spur of the moment, we're being silly moments. The rest of the day was devoted to paper writing, not that I got much done.
Monday 5 October
I had classes and attempted some more paper writing. And that didn't go so well again. I then had volleyball, which I LOVE! I have missed it sooo much. So now that I get to play again I feel so much better :) Katie and I ended up going over to Chris and Graeme's later that night to watch a movie, Trainspotting. It is an interesting movie. I'd have to say it is good but different at the same time.
Tuesday 6 October
I actually had to finish my paper because it was due on Wednesday. Let me tell you, it was not my best work but I haven't gotten it back so I can't be sure yet. Oh well. I have more papers to write later anyway. I can redeem myself then. I think I finished writing the paper around midnight. And I have learned, actually I already knew this, but I am the queen of procrastination. I got a package from home... I got 12 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese, 2 boxes of Easy Mac, Halloween clins for the windows and some Halloween candy. Amazing!
Wednesday 7 October
Have I mentioned how much I love Wednesdays, no class=amazing! Katie, Britta, Maria and I decided to go to the Stirling castle. We got a lovely tour. I think I've said this before but the castle is gorgeous! I'll work on getting pictures uploaded to this. I also bought some souvenirs and postcards. I should be gettig postcards out within the next week or so. I know, I'm slacking in that department. I had volleyball again that night. The practices are finally getting to be fun and intense. It was a lot more 'team' type stuff. He has me setting, which I'm not sure if I like because I like back row much better, but it'll do. It's still fun.
After volleyball I found out I had to make some mac n cheese for the boys. They didn't like our Kraft macaroni and cheese. Broke my heart, it's my favorite food ever! Apparently it has to be home made.. which I can't do, the box is far easier.
Thursday 8 October
I had my history seminar. Usually the tutor scares me. She's from Iceland I believe. But I actually knew what I was talking about in the class and she told me I did a good job, so no longer is she the scary tutor lady. She's actually kind of funny sometimes too. We had another little volleyball practice in the afternoon because there was supposed to be a game on Sunday. The game was cancelled because the West Scotland or west of scotland, not sure exactly what they are called didn't have a team. But after practice I went with Graeme, Chris, (different Graeme and Chris from earlier) Calum and Iain to Long Bar for an afternoon drink.. mine was a hot chocolate and a donut. The practice was fun because it was all team players, so no beginners playing with us. I always feel more productive when it is just the team. My flatmates and I went out to Fubar later that night. Most of the night was pretty fun.
Friday 9 October
Went to my 3 hours of lectures, horrible, I couldn't concentrate at all. Then went to Tesco to go grocery shopping. Then went out to Morrison's pub for an hour or so. It was really loud though so you couldn't hear anyone talk.
Saturday 10 October
Katie and I went to Glasgow. We took the train there all by ourselves.. lol. It's really not that hard. Very annoying though that single ticket costs 10p less than a return ticket. Except that when we got there, a train was going to leave in about 5 minutes and by the time we got our tickets and such we had missed the train literally by seconds. So we had to wait for the next one. Glasgow has amazing shopping. There is one stretch that is just lined with shops. I liked Glasgow. It was very modern. There were people everywhere and they don't know how to walk down the street. I kept bumping into people constantly. There were bagpipers out and people playing the accordian and guitar. It was crazy. Around 2 in the afternoon we met up with Fraser and he took us to the Kelvingrove museum. We got to ride the subway, or underground as he called it. It was noisier than the subway in NYC but otherwise pretty much the same. Less busy though and it goes in a giant circle. I love trains and subways and all those cool things that us Wisconsinites miss out on. Then we went to eat at the Filling Station. Katie and I both stole our glass bottle filled with 'distilled water.' Shhh.. don't tell anyone :P Then I went to hang out with Chris in Maddiston. We went to pizza hut, which I didn't even know they had them over here. And surprisingly it tasted the same.
Sunday 11 October
Had volleyball practice from 1-4 instead of our scheduled game. It was intense, but a good intense. The girls team played the boys team and a mixed team. I believe we beat the boys twice! :P Then I went to Beanscene which is a really cute little coffee shop. Later on Katie and I went to eat at my new favorite pub/restaurant. It's called Whistlebinkies. Such a great name. And the food is great and not too expensive.
Monday 12 October
I went to class, then slept some more, did some homework, went to another class, did some more homework, then had volleyball for two hours. Volleyball was really productive and good until a girl came down on her foot wrong. It took a half an hour for them to move her and take her away. They actually called for an ambulence for her. It kind of ruined the rest of practice. I got back from practice and Fraser came over. Telling us some funny jokes and other stories. And I've attempted to do some reading for my classes, but as you can see I'm writing in my blog, which is far more important. Last Thursday, Katie, Maria, and I booked our flights to Rome, Venice, and Barcelona for fall break. We still need to book a flight home though or we could just stay there?? :) I plan on writing on Sunday again, so it won't be a whole two weeks.
Oh those of you wondering if Fubar stands for anything over here, yes it does. The same thing as it does back home, just use your imagination.
I saw a pink limousine a few days ago while I was on the bus. Kind of made my day.
We've had 3 fire alarms in the four weeks we've been here. Stop burning your food people!
My new favorite words are shite and skinnymalinkie (I got this one out of my Scottish dictionary). Appartently skinnymalinkie comes from a children's rhyme.
Some more Scottish words:
tartan=plaid
ken=know
hob=stove top
skinnymalinkie is an extremely skinny person/animal
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
round 2
Hi again!
So I have some corrections to make.
1) Baerm really is supposed to be bairn, which still means child/kid
2)Dave Pierce should be spelled Dave Pearce
3)and garbage can can be bin and/or bucket
I was corrected the other day by some fellow friends :)
Well, last Wednesday 23 Sept...
I didn't have any class. My flatmates and I went shopping at the Thistle Centre. It's a very nice mall, except it's strange not seeing familiar stores. Later that night I went to the first volleyball practice. It felt good to play again. I've missed it. It is a club team and there were a lot of girls. Some who haven't played before and others who have. The coach is interesting though, some of the drills we did were really stupid.
Thursday 24 Sept
I figured out when my History seminar is - 11AM Not going to lie, I was kind of intimidated. We will see how that class goes. I think as long as I'm prepared for each class it shouldn't be an issue. I already have a paper due for that class 7 Oct. Ick! I had volleyball practice again. There were less people which made drills more fun. It's always frustrating when you have people who don't know what they are doing. We went out to Fubar that night. It has two floors and was packed. It was still a lot of fun. The music they play is interesting, it's a mix of American music and European. I like it, I just need to learn the European songs before some people unfriend me :P
Friday 25 Sept
I had three hours of class, which surprisingly went by pretty fast. I enjoy the lectures and hopefully I'm absorbing all the information. It just sucks that I have class from 12-3 on a Friday afternoon.
Saturday 26 Sept
Katie and I went to a football game with Chris. We went to watch his football team, Hibernian, which are a team from Edinburgh. We went along with his two friends from home and drove to the game which was in Maxwell. I believe Maxwell is a city outside of Glasgow. Oh, by the way, his friend John drove and has a really nice car. It is a Subaru of some kind, but like a sports car I guess? Don't ask me, I don't know cars :) They won 3-1. The game was soooo much fun! I'm still trying to learn all the actual rules. While we were watching the game I realized that no one had a beer in their hand. I asked Chris about that and they can't drink inside the stadium anymore. So different compared to the states, everyone is drinking in the stadiums for Packer and Brewer games. I think the reason had something to do with a riot at some point in time, and then all drinking inside the stadium was banned??? We decided to catch a train back to Stirling from Edinburgh, but of course it couldn't be easy. They are working on the tracks or something so we spent an extra half hour or so transferring trains and whatnot.
Sunday 27 Sept
I'm pretty sure I did almost nothing :O) I watched some reruns of Gilmore Girls. And then was going to start reading but instead Katie and I went to hang out with Chris and Graeme. And of course I was stuck watching WWE Smackdown... *cough* *cough* Horrible :P But then we watched a show called Rebus?? I think that was the name. It kind of reminded me of Law and Order or Monk or something on that line except that it is set in Edinburgh. It seemed like a pretty good show.
Monday 28 Sept
I had class at 9AM and then not until 4pm. It's kind of annoying having that long of a break, but I actually got some reading done. I had volleyball practice again, this time just with all the girls. The last two practices were coed. Even thought it is expensive, I think I am going to join the club, as long as I make the team. I'm really excited about that. We only have practice twice a week: Monday 6-8pm women and then Wednesday 8:30-10pm coed. After Wednesday and Thursdays practice I was soooo sore. I could barely walk up and down the stairs. Not sure when I find out who made the team.
Tuesday 29 Sept (otherwise known as today :O) )
I woke up with a cold :( Horrible, it's two weeks in and I'm already sick. Classes went well though. I have volleyball bonding tonight, it's called pub golf and we have to dress up like golf players. I don't think I will stay too long though, I want to sleep and get rid of this cold!
Cobblestone streets=really hard to walk on in heels and they are all over here... I think they are really pretty though...
Some more words:
petrol=gas; they laugh when you say gas, apparently it's only something you cook with??
heaving=really busy
biscuits=cookies
chips=french fries
crisps=chips... confusing I know!
jumper=sweatshirt
fizzy juice=soda (I can't make myself say this one!)
They drink something called IrnBru... I believe they would call this fizzy juice, Katie and I think it tastes like BubbleGum. But don't tell them that, everyone loves it here.
McDonald's does not taste the same. It doesn't taste bad, the fries taste the same but the burgers are definitely different.
So I have some corrections to make.
1) Baerm really is supposed to be bairn, which still means child/kid
2)Dave Pierce should be spelled Dave Pearce
3)and garbage can can be bin and/or bucket
I was corrected the other day by some fellow friends :)
Well, last Wednesday 23 Sept...
I didn't have any class. My flatmates and I went shopping at the Thistle Centre. It's a very nice mall, except it's strange not seeing familiar stores. Later that night I went to the first volleyball practice. It felt good to play again. I've missed it. It is a club team and there were a lot of girls. Some who haven't played before and others who have. The coach is interesting though, some of the drills we did were really stupid.
Thursday 24 Sept
I figured out when my History seminar is - 11AM Not going to lie, I was kind of intimidated. We will see how that class goes. I think as long as I'm prepared for each class it shouldn't be an issue. I already have a paper due for that class 7 Oct. Ick! I had volleyball practice again. There were less people which made drills more fun. It's always frustrating when you have people who don't know what they are doing. We went out to Fubar that night. It has two floors and was packed. It was still a lot of fun. The music they play is interesting, it's a mix of American music and European. I like it, I just need to learn the European songs before some people unfriend me :P
Friday 25 Sept
I had three hours of class, which surprisingly went by pretty fast. I enjoy the lectures and hopefully I'm absorbing all the information. It just sucks that I have class from 12-3 on a Friday afternoon.
Saturday 26 Sept
Katie and I went to a football game with Chris. We went to watch his football team, Hibernian, which are a team from Edinburgh. We went along with his two friends from home and drove to the game which was in Maxwell. I believe Maxwell is a city outside of Glasgow. Oh, by the way, his friend John drove and has a really nice car. It is a Subaru of some kind, but like a sports car I guess? Don't ask me, I don't know cars :) They won 3-1. The game was soooo much fun! I'm still trying to learn all the actual rules. While we were watching the game I realized that no one had a beer in their hand. I asked Chris about that and they can't drink inside the stadium anymore. So different compared to the states, everyone is drinking in the stadiums for Packer and Brewer games. I think the reason had something to do with a riot at some point in time, and then all drinking inside the stadium was banned??? We decided to catch a train back to Stirling from Edinburgh, but of course it couldn't be easy. They are working on the tracks or something so we spent an extra half hour or so transferring trains and whatnot.
Sunday 27 Sept
I'm pretty sure I did almost nothing :O) I watched some reruns of Gilmore Girls. And then was going to start reading but instead Katie and I went to hang out with Chris and Graeme. And of course I was stuck watching WWE Smackdown... *cough* *cough* Horrible :P But then we watched a show called Rebus?? I think that was the name. It kind of reminded me of Law and Order or Monk or something on that line except that it is set in Edinburgh. It seemed like a pretty good show.
Monday 28 Sept
I had class at 9AM and then not until 4pm. It's kind of annoying having that long of a break, but I actually got some reading done. I had volleyball practice again, this time just with all the girls. The last two practices were coed. Even thought it is expensive, I think I am going to join the club, as long as I make the team. I'm really excited about that. We only have practice twice a week: Monday 6-8pm women and then Wednesday 8:30-10pm coed. After Wednesday and Thursdays practice I was soooo sore. I could barely walk up and down the stairs. Not sure when I find out who made the team.
Tuesday 29 Sept (otherwise known as today :O) )
I woke up with a cold :( Horrible, it's two weeks in and I'm already sick. Classes went well though. I have volleyball bonding tonight, it's called pub golf and we have to dress up like golf players. I don't think I will stay too long though, I want to sleep and get rid of this cold!
Cobblestone streets=really hard to walk on in heels and they are all over here... I think they are really pretty though...
Some more words:
petrol=gas; they laugh when you say gas, apparently it's only something you cook with??
heaving=really busy
biscuits=cookies
chips=french fries
crisps=chips... confusing I know!
jumper=sweatshirt
fizzy juice=soda (I can't make myself say this one!)
They drink something called IrnBru... I believe they would call this fizzy juice, Katie and I think it tastes like BubbleGum. But don't tell them that, everyone loves it here.
McDonald's does not taste the same. It doesn't taste bad, the fries taste the same but the burgers are definitely different.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I finally have internet!
Hello all,
Wow... this is going to be one long post. I haven't had internet in my flat until today. :( So much has happened in the last week and few days. I'll go day by day so I can try and remember everything that has happened.
Friday, Sept 11
So my trip didn't start off quite as I'd expected. My flight out of Milwaukee was supposed to leave at 1:05pm and fly to Newark, NJ and then onto Glasgow, Scotland. I was supposed to arrive Saturday at 7:30am their time. Just a quick note, Scotland is 6 hours ahead of all of you. As dad and I got to the airport and were checking in the lady told me that there was bad whether, a.k.a. thunderstorms and such (which I find funny because we fly with ice on the ground, I think they need to toughen up) so she decided to send me on a bus, yes a bus... to Chicago O'Hare Airport to catch a flight at 5pm to Heathrow airport in London. Bad idea, that is the worst airport... it's super busy and has super intense security! Anywho, before I got on the bus to Chicago, I met a SUPER nice couple that were heading to Glasgow as well, so I buddied up with them. And of course dad felt better. ;) so I got on the plane and the flight was fine. I sat next to a lady from San Diego who was heading to Ireland for something related to golf. The airplane was really nice, except that I was right by the bathrooms. But we all had our own television screen and could watch movies or television shows. It was a 7 or so hour flight, I didn't really sleep at all. So we get to Heathrow airport and have 1 hour and 50 min to catch our next flight at 8:40am. We had to sit in so many lines and go through so much security that when we got to where we needed to purchase our ticket, they told us we were too late.. we were literally 2 minutes late. Not to go into too much depth about this horrible Heathrow experience, I went through security 3 times, the customs thing where they check your passport twice, had my picture/eye taken twice. Finally we got on a flight for 1:30pm. If I had not been with that couple, (their names were Linda and Doug) I probably would have been stuck there a lot longer and it would have been horrible. I finally got to Glasgow around 3pm. Got picked up from the airport at 5pm and brought to my flat. I met one of my flatmates at the airport, her name is Katie and she is from Maryland.
We got to our flat finally around 7pm, mind you, now I had been awake for 30ish hours. When we first arrived none of our flatmates were around. We attempted to find the grocery store, that took awhile. It is called Tesco. After we got back, we met our flatmates. All of us are international students. There are 6 of us total: 1 from Germany - Britta; 1 from Mexico - Maria; 1 from Malta (an island south of Italy) - Stephanie; 2 from America - Katie (Maryland) and Caitlin (California). They are all soooo nice and fun to hang out with.
So that night I slept 12 hours and I'm sure I could have slept much more except we had a meeting for all international students.
Sunday 13 Sept
Sunday we pretty much got acclamated to the uni and the town of Stirling. That night, a guy by the name of Fraser came to our flat. He is dating a girl from my college (St. Norbert) and she put me in touch with him. He is sooo nice, except his accent is so hard to understand. The English/British accent is a piece of cake. Try listening to a Scottish accent and it'll take you a bit to understand them, and then they throw in words that you have no idea what they mean. There are also different kinds of Scottish accents. Glasgow has a very thick accent and that's where Fraser is from. I'm still trying to understand everything he is saying. He was over for quite a while answering questions we had and telling us stories. Glasgow and Edinburgh are HUGE rivals. Oh, for all of you wondering how to pronounce Edinburgh it is pronounced, Edinbura. The gh is not g as in English as we know it.
So it kind of sucks that we have to pay for electricity, heat, and the water heater... who has ever heard of paying for a water heater?! I also have to pay for a bus pass. I take the bus to the uni everyday. I like living in town though because it is close to the grocery store and all the pubs and clubs and other restaurants. It's a nice place to live.
Monday 14 Sept
Had some more meetings for international students. I can't really remember everything that we did. We did have to figure out our class schedules. They do things funny here. Some how two of my classes had a lecture that was at the same time, so I had to change the class, or module as they call it. I was kind of freaking out during the week until Wednesday to see if I could get into a class. But it all worked out. Monday night Fraser invited me and my flatmates to a pub called the Corn Exchange. We met some of his friends. It was a lot of fun, especially since now we know more than one Scottish person. The Scottish are very adament about buying you a beer. You can't say no. As we were leaving, one of the guys really wanted me to try Haggis. So I did even though Katie told me not to. I think it tasted fine, but the trick is to not know what you are eating. I still do not know what Haggis is made of and please don't tell me because I enjoyed it. I don't know if I can once I find out what is in it.
Tuesday 15 Sept
I can't really remember what we did during the day.. short term memory loss lol.. Oh wait, I remember I finally found hangers to finish unpacking all my clothes...but that night Fraser invited us to Studio which is one of two bars that they have in their student union. It's pretty sweet! We watched some football (don't say soccer here, they don't like that). Everyone is very intense on their football. It's insane. After we went back to his flat, which is on campus. We met the rest of his flatmates. Everyone here is sooo nice!
Wednesday 16 Sept
Some people started classes, I didn't though. We took a bus tour of Stirling in the afternoon. It was really cool. We saw the Stirling castle. Fraser invited us out to dinner that night so Katie and I went with him and one of his flatmates to a Chinese restaurant. It was expensive and was different from our Chinese restaurants back home. And oh yeah, for any of you who have facebook saw that I mentioned Macaroni and Cheese does NOT taste the same.. who would've thunk, such an easy thing and it can't taste the same. :( After dinner we went to a pub to watch football. Then we went out to the uni's dance club for Dave Pierce (apparently he's a really good DJ??? not really sure lol) So crazy..
Thursday 17 Sept
Still no class for me. I slept a lot lol. And then I had one of the guys show me where my classes were. The buildings are very confusing! Then I went with him and the other guys to watch some more football at the Studio. Never watched so much in my life... but it's different here. They get into it way more so it's actually fun to watch. After, Fraser offered to drive me and two of the other girls home.. firsst of all sitting in the passenger seat is very weird.. because I feel like I should be driving. and second he made me shift gears. I'll be a pro by the time I get home lol...
So my class schedule is as follows...
Mon: 9am-10am People and the Environment lecture
4pm-5pm History: Kinship and Nationhood: Medieval Scotland c.1100-1513 lecture
Tues: 11am-12pm Religion in Culture: problems of representation lecture
2pm-3pm Religion in Culture seminar
Thurs: History seminar, except at the moment I don't know what time, that could be an issue lol
Fri: 12pm-1pm History lecture
1pm-2pm Science lecture
2pm-3pm Religion lecture
So as you can tell I only have 8 hours of class a week. It's nice.
Friday-Sunday
Friday I started class finally. It wasn't too bad. I like the classes. We went to a snowboarding and skiing show thing on campus... it was set up on one of their hills. It was pretty sweet. The weekend was very slow. A lot of people go home. So we all just chilled. I brought a Disney Princesses and a Cars coloring book, so we spent a lot of time doing that. We also went to a rugby game on Saturday. That was interesting. I do not understand the sport, but I will figure it out! We did some exploring of the city too. Sunday we had people over and cooked them dinner. I also bought alcohol from the grocery store for the first time... nice feeling since it's completely legal here! We met a lot more Scottish people.
Monday 21 Sept
Class, then tried to figure out my internet, then more class. Then that night we colored some more.. we are now all reverting back to our childhood :) Then we went to a club called Dusk. Apparently Monday nights are Dusk and Thursday nights are Fubar?? Or so we are told. It was a lot of fun.. it was crazy!
That brings us to today... Tues 22 Sept
I had class, then I finally got internet and I had class again. Tonight I believe we are going to a pub?? Not sure yet.
I absolutely love it here. It is very different, but it's a nice change.
Some of the words I've learned so far:
queue = a line of people
baerm = the way Edinburgh people say child or kid, there's a Glasgow version but I forgot
bin = garbage can.. do not say garbage or trash can, they laugh at you
pants = underwear... be careful how you use that word as well
ken = something like... okay?
uni = university
wee = little or small
gid = good
rubbish = garbage, nonsense
quid = slang for money, like we say a million bucks, they'd say a million quid
They say aye a lot and nae bother...
And oh yeah... their accents are hot!!!! :O)
Wow... this is going to be one long post. I haven't had internet in my flat until today. :( So much has happened in the last week and few days. I'll go day by day so I can try and remember everything that has happened.
Friday, Sept 11
So my trip didn't start off quite as I'd expected. My flight out of Milwaukee was supposed to leave at 1:05pm and fly to Newark, NJ and then onto Glasgow, Scotland. I was supposed to arrive Saturday at 7:30am their time. Just a quick note, Scotland is 6 hours ahead of all of you. As dad and I got to the airport and were checking in the lady told me that there was bad whether, a.k.a. thunderstorms and such (which I find funny because we fly with ice on the ground, I think they need to toughen up) so she decided to send me on a bus, yes a bus... to Chicago O'Hare Airport to catch a flight at 5pm to Heathrow airport in London. Bad idea, that is the worst airport... it's super busy and has super intense security! Anywho, before I got on the bus to Chicago, I met a SUPER nice couple that were heading to Glasgow as well, so I buddied up with them. And of course dad felt better. ;) so I got on the plane and the flight was fine. I sat next to a lady from San Diego who was heading to Ireland for something related to golf. The airplane was really nice, except that I was right by the bathrooms. But we all had our own television screen and could watch movies or television shows. It was a 7 or so hour flight, I didn't really sleep at all. So we get to Heathrow airport and have 1 hour and 50 min to catch our next flight at 8:40am. We had to sit in so many lines and go through so much security that when we got to where we needed to purchase our ticket, they told us we were too late.. we were literally 2 minutes late. Not to go into too much depth about this horrible Heathrow experience, I went through security 3 times, the customs thing where they check your passport twice, had my picture/eye taken twice. Finally we got on a flight for 1:30pm. If I had not been with that couple, (their names were Linda and Doug) I probably would have been stuck there a lot longer and it would have been horrible. I finally got to Glasgow around 3pm. Got picked up from the airport at 5pm and brought to my flat. I met one of my flatmates at the airport, her name is Katie and she is from Maryland.
We got to our flat finally around 7pm, mind you, now I had been awake for 30ish hours. When we first arrived none of our flatmates were around. We attempted to find the grocery store, that took awhile. It is called Tesco. After we got back, we met our flatmates. All of us are international students. There are 6 of us total: 1 from Germany - Britta; 1 from Mexico - Maria; 1 from Malta (an island south of Italy) - Stephanie; 2 from America - Katie (Maryland) and Caitlin (California). They are all soooo nice and fun to hang out with.
So that night I slept 12 hours and I'm sure I could have slept much more except we had a meeting for all international students.
Sunday 13 Sept
Sunday we pretty much got acclamated to the uni and the town of Stirling. That night, a guy by the name of Fraser came to our flat. He is dating a girl from my college (St. Norbert) and she put me in touch with him. He is sooo nice, except his accent is so hard to understand. The English/British accent is a piece of cake. Try listening to a Scottish accent and it'll take you a bit to understand them, and then they throw in words that you have no idea what they mean. There are also different kinds of Scottish accents. Glasgow has a very thick accent and that's where Fraser is from. I'm still trying to understand everything he is saying. He was over for quite a while answering questions we had and telling us stories. Glasgow and Edinburgh are HUGE rivals. Oh, for all of you wondering how to pronounce Edinburgh it is pronounced, Edinbura. The gh is not g as in English as we know it.
So it kind of sucks that we have to pay for electricity, heat, and the water heater... who has ever heard of paying for a water heater?! I also have to pay for a bus pass. I take the bus to the uni everyday. I like living in town though because it is close to the grocery store and all the pubs and clubs and other restaurants. It's a nice place to live.
Monday 14 Sept
Had some more meetings for international students. I can't really remember everything that we did. We did have to figure out our class schedules. They do things funny here. Some how two of my classes had a lecture that was at the same time, so I had to change the class, or module as they call it. I was kind of freaking out during the week until Wednesday to see if I could get into a class. But it all worked out. Monday night Fraser invited me and my flatmates to a pub called the Corn Exchange. We met some of his friends. It was a lot of fun, especially since now we know more than one Scottish person. The Scottish are very adament about buying you a beer. You can't say no. As we were leaving, one of the guys really wanted me to try Haggis. So I did even though Katie told me not to. I think it tasted fine, but the trick is to not know what you are eating. I still do not know what Haggis is made of and please don't tell me because I enjoyed it. I don't know if I can once I find out what is in it.
Tuesday 15 Sept
I can't really remember what we did during the day.. short term memory loss lol.. Oh wait, I remember I finally found hangers to finish unpacking all my clothes...but that night Fraser invited us to Studio which is one of two bars that they have in their student union. It's pretty sweet! We watched some football (don't say soccer here, they don't like that). Everyone is very intense on their football. It's insane. After we went back to his flat, which is on campus. We met the rest of his flatmates. Everyone here is sooo nice!
Wednesday 16 Sept
Some people started classes, I didn't though. We took a bus tour of Stirling in the afternoon. It was really cool. We saw the Stirling castle. Fraser invited us out to dinner that night so Katie and I went with him and one of his flatmates to a Chinese restaurant. It was expensive and was different from our Chinese restaurants back home. And oh yeah, for any of you who have facebook saw that I mentioned Macaroni and Cheese does NOT taste the same.. who would've thunk, such an easy thing and it can't taste the same. :( After dinner we went to a pub to watch football. Then we went out to the uni's dance club for Dave Pierce (apparently he's a really good DJ??? not really sure lol) So crazy..
Thursday 17 Sept
Still no class for me. I slept a lot lol. And then I had one of the guys show me where my classes were. The buildings are very confusing! Then I went with him and the other guys to watch some more football at the Studio. Never watched so much in my life... but it's different here. They get into it way more so it's actually fun to watch. After, Fraser offered to drive me and two of the other girls home.. firsst of all sitting in the passenger seat is very weird.. because I feel like I should be driving. and second he made me shift gears. I'll be a pro by the time I get home lol...
So my class schedule is as follows...
Mon: 9am-10am People and the Environment lecture
4pm-5pm History: Kinship and Nationhood: Medieval Scotland c.1100-1513 lecture
Tues: 11am-12pm Religion in Culture: problems of representation lecture
2pm-3pm Religion in Culture seminar
Thurs: History seminar, except at the moment I don't know what time, that could be an issue lol
Fri: 12pm-1pm History lecture
1pm-2pm Science lecture
2pm-3pm Religion lecture
So as you can tell I only have 8 hours of class a week. It's nice.
Friday-Sunday
Friday I started class finally. It wasn't too bad. I like the classes. We went to a snowboarding and skiing show thing on campus... it was set up on one of their hills. It was pretty sweet. The weekend was very slow. A lot of people go home. So we all just chilled. I brought a Disney Princesses and a Cars coloring book, so we spent a lot of time doing that. We also went to a rugby game on Saturday. That was interesting. I do not understand the sport, but I will figure it out! We did some exploring of the city too. Sunday we had people over and cooked them dinner. I also bought alcohol from the grocery store for the first time... nice feeling since it's completely legal here! We met a lot more Scottish people.
Monday 21 Sept
Class, then tried to figure out my internet, then more class. Then that night we colored some more.. we are now all reverting back to our childhood :) Then we went to a club called Dusk. Apparently Monday nights are Dusk and Thursday nights are Fubar?? Or so we are told. It was a lot of fun.. it was crazy!
That brings us to today... Tues 22 Sept
I had class, then I finally got internet and I had class again. Tonight I believe we are going to a pub?? Not sure yet.
I absolutely love it here. It is very different, but it's a nice change.
Some of the words I've learned so far:
queue = a line of people
baerm = the way Edinburgh people say child or kid, there's a Glasgow version but I forgot
bin = garbage can.. do not say garbage or trash can, they laugh at you
pants = underwear... be careful how you use that word as well
ken = something like... okay?
uni = university
wee = little or small
gid = good
rubbish = garbage, nonsense
quid = slang for money, like we say a million bucks, they'd say a million quid
They say aye a lot and nae bother...
And oh yeah... their accents are hot!!!! :O)
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