Sep
7
So, where to begin…
The first moment I knew things were going to be different was in the airport, when I was already hearing many different accents. Mostly they were English, as my flight was to London. Immediately, I also observed how many people looked “European” or perhaps “British” is a better way to put it. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but suffice to say that it is fairly easy to pick out Americans. The flight was relatively uneventful. I took half a sleeping pill and fell asleep as soon as I finished the meal. I think it freaked out the guy next to me a bit, how solidly I fell asleep. Anyways, I didn’t use the bathroom the entire flight… that’s right I can hold it for 9 hours. No problem.
When I reached the gate for the connection to Glasgow, I was listening to two men talking behind me. I thought it might be English with an incredibly strong Scottish accent, but now I think perhaps it was Scots? Scots is an old English dialect of sorts, from what I understand. Regardless, I enjoyed trying to discover what they were saying, but I pretty much understood none of it, which means it can’t count as eavesdropping. 🙂
The flight was relatively uneventful, although it was a struggle to find the University shuttle that was supposed to take me to my flat. After a bit of a ride, we arrived at “Murano Street Student Village”. Almost as soon as I got to my room, I heard my flatmate leaving his room. I immediately poked my head out, and met Carlos, who is from Madrid. Carlos wanted to shopping so we headed to the main office and asked where we should go. Conveniently, there is a big supermarket just around the corner. After buying some food, we walked the 15 or so minutes back to our flat. It was later that I realized I forgot to buy other important things… such as toilet paper. Anyways, I was fairly exhausted from the plane flight and went to bed at 9 pm, only to wake up at 5 am and be unable to fall back asleep. I guess I had to experience at least some jet lag!
The next day was the first day of orientation and most of the people from my flat, including a guy from Boston, and a girl from Japan, headed to the international orientation meeting. The Erasmus students, aka Europeans, had their own orientation meeting.
We learned plenty of school-type things, like how to enroll, and what to expect as far as the classes go. That night, my flatmates and I went in search of a pub and ended up on Ashton Lane. The pubs were nice, but noticeably it was an older crowd. Nevertheless, we ordered a couple pints. The people in the pub were quite friendly. One guy was telling us that we were in the nice part of town so drinks were perhaps the most expensive there than in all of Glasgow. Fantastic. Apparently the city center is most inexpensive, and more of a student hang out…
The few girls my age that I did see were dressed to the nines. They had on high heels, which I have no idea how they wear them on cobblestone, short skirts, tights and no jacket. The girls must have blood made of ice because I don’t think I would be able to do it. I have come to be comfortable with the idea that I will most likely stand out when I go out… That doesn’t bother me too much. A few German girls I have met are in agreement with me, so I believe it’s more a British thing than a European one.
Anyhoo, today I have a tour of Stirling Castle and Glengoyne Distillery, and I have to run to get ready!
I haven’t taken any pictures yet, but I will on this trip for sure, and try to post them. I must say, I love the international atmosphere and find myself slightly avoiding other people from the US because there are so many interesting people from other places to talk to… Already I feel like I will not be here as long as I desire, and the semester will go too fast. Maybe I should have signed up for a year!
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