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!