Living at Uni!

Well, I've been meaning to post this for a while now, so here it is! I've been at Uni for probably something like two weeks now. It's definitely different from Arcadia--the campus is a lot bigger and there's a loch in the middle of the campus. (I don't think our loch's got a monster though, I'll have to head out to Loch Ness for that. We've just got lots and lots of swans.) The class structure is also really different from everything I've seen back in the states. Instead of having classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday for an hour or so each day, there's lectures, tutorials and seminars. I don't really know how to explain it--mostly because I still don't quite understand it! But basically, there's lectures where a professor comes and talks about the subject for that day. Then there's tutorials to go with the lectures where you actually go in depth about the topic and talk about it in groups. My french class in run in seminars. I have it three times a week, and it's pretty similar to classes back home.

The difference I like best here is having my own room! Having a roommate's alright, but if you don't get along with your roommate, things just get really weird. So I'm really, really glad to have a room to myself! And the difference I like least is not having a dining hall. I may have complained about some of the food at Arcadia's dining hall, but I'm not a big fan of cooking. Last night was my most ambitious cooking attempt--cheese quesadillas. They actually turned out really nicely, so I was quite proud of myself.

Another big difference between Stirling and Arcadia is that since pretty much every college student is of drinking age here, there's a bar right on campus. So for me, coming from a small campus where there doesn't seem to be much drinking except for small groups of people, it's a bit weird just being able to walk to the other side of campus and be in a bar.

Other than that, there's not many differences. I do notice the language differences. People will often say 'cheers' where in America we would just say 'thanks.' I think by the time I get back home, I'll be saying cheers instead. Everything's still going great here, I'm looking forward to learning even more about the differences between Scottish culture and American culture. A tout a l'heure!

Sightseeing in Stirling

The same afternoon that I climbed the Scott Monument, the FYSAE group headed out to Stirling for the home stays. We were all split up between several host families, usually two to a house. Alana and I were staying with Jane. I was a little nervous about the homestay--I always find it a little weird at first to be staying at a stranger's house. But Jane was very sweet, and I felt very comfortable staying with her within the first evening I was there. We watched television shows on the BBC, and Jane would explain things that were new to me and Alana. By the end of the night, Jane had given me and Alana a really interesting view of local history. This is honestly one of my favorite ways to learn about cultures--there's nothing quite as good as hearing about the history of a culture from someone who's lived there their whole life.

The first day in Stirling, the FYSAE group met at the central point of the neighborhood. Taxis took us in groups to a museum in town. The museum chronicled the history of Stirling, with artifacts from several centuries stored there. It was fascinating to see all the culture and history preserved in what, by all accounts, is a very small town. After the museum, we all walked from there to Stirling Castle. It was pretty typical weather for Scotland, from what Jane said. It wasn't raining, but it was really foggy, and my glasses kept getting a layer of water droplets on them because the fog was so dense.

This is the main courtyard of the castle. The gray building is the more traditional castle, it's where the royals would have
lived; the building that looks kind of orange is the church. (I don't think you can call it a chapel, because it's huge!)

A shot of the castle from behind the arch off the kitchens.

The building that used to hold the kitchens for the castle.

A row of cannons lined up at one of the walls of the castle. I think they had about ten or fifteen cannons just at the one wall! It was pretty cool; they had so many, so well preserved. 

The castle was amazing. The way it was built was really fascinating. I've always loved old castles, so I was fascinated by Stirling Castle. I'll just let the pictures do the talking here, because I don't think I can do anything in describing it except rave about how much I enjoy exploring castles. After visiting the castle, taxis picked us up again and took us all to a bowling alley...yes, I did indeed go bowling during my first week in Scotland. It was certainly a lot of fun. After bowling, we had time to walk into Stirling to get a feel for the town. I again ended up with the same group I had explored Edinburgh with.

We explored the downtown area of Stirling, which is full of stores, banks, and pubs. We checked out some of the stores, then went to Iceland. Iceland's a cheap grocery store, but it's mostly frozen foods. After that, we went to the Thistles shopping center. I believe it's the equivalent of a mall, it just isn't out on its own the way malls in the States are. After walking around for a while, we called the taxi service to take us back to our respective houses. That night, Jane again told me and Alana stories about the history of Stirling. She also told us more about some of the shows on the BBC.

The view of the Wallace Monument if you're
standing at the base of it. 

The next day, the taxis again picked up all the FYSAE students. This time they took us to the Wallace Monument, which is built in honor of William Wallace (and yes, he is the guy Mel Gibson plays in Braveheart). The monument stands on top of one of the hills in Stirling, so our groups hiked from the gift shop at the bottom of the hill to the top, to the entrance of the monument. This monument, like the Scott Monument, had a winding staircase to the top. Luckily for me, this staircase was much more open than the one in the Scott Monument, so I didn't freak out as much on the way up. There were three little chambers on the way up that served as little museums, to store the history related to William Wallace. Once you're at the top of the monument, you can get an incredible view for miles around. (If it's not really foggy. The day we were there, I felt like I was standing in a cloud).

After visiting the Wallace Monument, the rest of the afternoon was ours to do whatever we wanted. Everyone went to the University, so we could see it before we moved in. I was able to get the key to my room from the porter, even though I wasn't actually moving in until the next day. Since Mike and I are on the same floor, we went to see if we could figure out where our rooms were. I was surprised to find the hall  only one flight of stairs up from ground level. (I'm on the fourth floor, so it threw me off a bit!) I found the kitchen, and then Mike and I wandered back to the lobby. It gets a bit confusing in the halls, and there're fire doors everywhere. I think from entering the building to getting to my room, I go through six doors, and some of them are right next to each other. If there is a fire, I'm not too concerned about it ever reaching me, because I think I live in the most fireproof building of all time. Oh, and all the walls are cinderblocks too, so they won't burn easily.

About half of the FYSAE and study abroad student on top of the Wallace Monument. 

That was my last night staying with Jane. By now, it was practically ritual. Alana and I got home, Jane answered the door and said that she'd go ahead and put dinner on. We'd watch television and Jane would tell us about what things were like when she was growing up. We ate dinner, and then watched the BBC soaps and late night television shows until we decided to go to bed. Thinking about it now, I think it's funny that I was nervous about the home stay at first, and by the end of it, it was almost like staying at my own grandmother's house.

After that, I was headed to University! And I'll be back to write about that soon. A tout a l'heure!

Cooking and climbing.

Edinburgh Castle, as seen from the top of the Scott Memorial. The views were absolutely incredible. 

After a much-needed twelve-hour block of sleeping like a baby, it was back to orientation in the morning. The second day in Edinburgh didn't get very exciting until after the full morning of orientation. The orientation leaders, Anna and Hamish, gave us a scavenger hunt to do in the afternoon before we had to be back at Jury's Inn to head off to a cooking class. I ended up with the same group of people I had gone out exploring Edinburgh with the day before. We started with lunch--I think all of us were starving! I got my first order of fish and chips...and if you, like me, thought 'chips' were essentially french fries, let me tell you, they're not really anything alike. After lunch, my friends got their phones. I didn't get mine, since I'd forgotten to pack my debit card. When everyone else headed to the castle, I decided to just wander through Edinburgh on my own for an hour or so. I'd left my Historic Scotland pass in my hotel room, so it would have cost me over ten pounds to see the castle. Instead, I bought postcards and international stamps, and wandered around downtown until it was time to head back to the hotel for the rest of the day's orientation.

This is where things got interesting for me. The rest of our orientation for the night was to go to a nearby cooking school and learn how to make several Scottish dishes. I was very worried about it because I'm normally not good at all at cooking. I was afraid that I'd mess up whatever we were making, and I really just wanted to cook something successfully for once. We got to the cooking school and one of the chefs explained everything we needed to know to cook everything and then we split into pairs to start cooking. It realized pretty quickly that I didn't have anything to worry about. The chef, who was also named Michelle, explained all the recipes to us step by step, and if anyone started to have trouble with it, she would help them get it right.

By the end of the cooking lesson, we had made shortbread, an apple crumb mix, a smoked salmon tart, bean dip and cheese scones. Everything turned out really well, I was so happy that I didn't burn anything. I only made one small mistake, and that didn't even affect the outcome of the dish. A successful cooking attempt for me!! We got to take everything we made back to the hotel for dinner. I wasn't a big fan of the smoked salmon tart, but everything else was absolutely amazing! I think I might just be able to cook for myself this semester. :)

The Scott Memorial!

The next day was also pretty exciting. This would be my third day in Scotland now, so I'm still getting used to the time difference at this point. It's my last day in Edinburgh, and since I found out that the Scott Memorial has steps inside that you can climb all the way to the top, I really wanted to go up before it was time to leave. Five of us set out from the hotel to go climb to the top of the Scott Memorial.

Pretty soon into the stairwell, I realized that I was not going to enjoy being in the stairs. I am not a fan of tight spaces, and the spiral stairs were incredibly tight. When I got to the first tier, I was thrilled to be out of the stairwell into open air. Even from the first tier, the view was incredible! I could see so much of Edinburgh from high up in the air. It was incredible! I knew that if I went higher up, there would be even more amazing views. I really didn't want to go back into the stairwell, but I figured the views from the top would be well worth it. By the time I got to the second and middle tier, I was practically hyperventilating. It felt like the walls of the stairwell were barely wider than my shoulders and it was seriously freaking me out. By this point, I just wanted to get to the top. I sucked it up and pressed straight from the second tier back to the stairwell.

I don't think this does justice
to how much the stairs freaked
me out. They're so cramped!

I almost lost it at the last few steps. As if I didn't find the stairwell frighteningly small to begin with, on the last handful of steps, the walls literally leaned in towards each other. Thankfully, it was only about ten steps where I felt sure I'd get stuck, and then I was out in the open air, probably at least a hundred feet above the city. As I'd hoped, the views were absolutely incredible. I can't even find the right words to describe it. Imagine being over a hundred feet above the rest of the city, able to see for miles (it's a beautiful, clear day), and able to see a full 360 degrees. It's absolutely breathtaking.

Well, that's it for my adventures in Edinburgh. I'll return soon with stories from Stirling! A tout a l'heure!

Finally, moved in and connected to the internet!

The Balmoral Hotel is the building on the top left, just above the bridge. As a huge Harry Potter fan, I was beyond excited to see it! If only I could visit the room where J. K. Rowling wrote Deathly Hallows...

Well, I meant to use this as a way to keep family and friends back home up to date on my adventures here in Scotland. But between exploring Edinburgh and Stirling, and staying with a wonderful host who had only broadband internet, I haven't been able to stay true to that thus far. Luckily, I've now settled into my room at Stirling University, so from now on I should have no trouble at all in updating this fairly regularly.

The view of Princes Street from atop
Calton Hill...the clock tower is part of the
Balmoral Hotel.

With that said, I think it's time to actually use the blog for its intended purpose, and share my stories of Scotland thus far. The flight all the FYSAE students were on (plus a handful of students from other universities who are studying at Stirling through Arcadia) landed in Edinburgh early on Monday morning. We landed around seven in the morning. Since it's so much further north than Pennsylvania, the days here are even shorter, so it didn't start to get light until around nine. One of the Arcadia employees stationed in Edinburgh met us at the airport and took us by bus to the city, where we checked into Jury's Inn, our hotel for the next few days.

I was so excited to be in Scotland--everything seemed even more exciting, more enthralling than it normally would. I was half-exhausted, since I didn't sleep at all on the flight over, but just being in Edinburgh and knowing that there was so much to see and do was enough to give me a kind of rush. I wanted nothing more than to race through the city and take in as much as I could. A group of friends and I decided to go out into Edinburgh. There were things we wanted to see--we didn't know what, we just wanted to explore and see as much as possible.

We decided just to head out from the hotel and see where we went from there. I was especially excited to find out that our hotel was just across the bridge from the Balmoral Hotel, which is where J. K. Rowling finished writing the last Harry Potter book. We ended up going to an old cemetery on the way up to Calton Hill, which had these great old buildings and monuments. There's a structure that looks like the ruins of the Parthenon in Greece. Edinburgh is called "The Athens of Scotland" for this reason. Pretty much every spot on Calton Hill offered an absolutely amazing view of Edinburgh.

After exploring Calton Hill, we headed back down the hill to Princes Street, the main street through Edinburgh. We checked out some of the shops; I found a place to exchange my money; finally, we decided it was about time to find something for lunch. At this point, the group split. No one could agree on the best way to find a good restaurant, so finally three of us said we were just going to walk up the nearest street and stop wherever looked good. We ended up eating at a small cafe-style restaurant called Pret A Mange. I really liked it--its got healthy, organic foods and drinks, and they put a huge emphasis on recycling and cutting down on waste however possible. I just got a sandwich and a little smoothie, but I was quite impressed!

I think one of my favorite parts of the day had to be the bagpipe player. The whole time we were up on top Calton Hill, we could hear bagpipes playing in the distance. We joked about hearing bagpipes playing constantly in Scotland. I wondered if maybe some people in Scotland play bagpipes for money the way you'll see people in New York City playing guitars, with their cases left propped open in hopes of earning some cash. Sure enough, when we made it to the center of town, we found a man playing the bagpipes, with a case propped open in front of him! It was very entertaining, and it really did make my day.

After lunch, the excitement of being in Scotland started to give way to jet lag. I could not stop yawning, and I really just wanted to get back to the hotel and take a nap before the orientation for that day started. I got back to the hotel around one that afternoon and pretty much immediately fell asleep. I could've slept for hours, but the front desk called the room. Both me and my roommate had fallen asleep, and my alarm was accidentally left on silent, so it wasn't very effective in waking me up. We didn't have much orientation that night--and honestly, I was so sleepy, I don't even remember it well at all! I had to talk myself into eating dinner because I wanted nothing more than to sleep for a good twelve hours. I felt so dead!

I think I'll stop here, because this is already quite the lengthy post, and also because I'm getting pretty tired, so if I keep writing, it'll get progressively harder for the alert mind to understand. A tout a l'heure!