Getting My Footing

Almost three weeks in Scotland! I'm finally feeling like I'm getting my feet under me. I've got a pretty good group of friends, all of us international students experiencing Glasgow together. Last night we all got together for dinner to celebrate Taylor's birthday away from home. I've figured out where to buy the cheapest groceries, best times to have my meals, and have even got two trips planned. Our flat is almost full, we've still got one empty room and not one single Scottish roommate. We are a completely international flat: Canada, USA, Spain, Brazil, and Colombia! As you can imagine there's a lot of Spanish flying around as well as English.

Our building's fire detection system went haywire three days ago and provided us with a relentless high-pitched peep that went on and on for 48 hours (much to the amusement of the Caley Court security office apparently), until Holly and I went to the Accomodations Office and played them a recording of the sound! Right away the amazing and beautiful Robert Stevenson saved us by calling someone to come and at least shut the system off until it can get fixed. So, no more incessant whine, but we are without a fire alarm system in the whole building. I shut my heater off, because it smells like the wrong end of a very very old hair dryer.

Laundry is quite an ordeal in Caley Court. It's £1.60 per forty-minute wash load, and 20p for every 12 minutes in the dryer. The dryer I unfortunately chose today wasn't emitting any heat, so after I waited my 36 minutes and found my clothes cold and damp, it was another 24 in a different machine before I could go home and eat dinner! Experiencing rez life all over again at least makes me appreciate my cozy 2 bedroom apartment back home.

As fascinating as I'm sure hearing about my laundry room escapades must be, I'm actually very excited to finally be finding my center here. Mostly I can't wait to get started travelling, with only three classes to contend with at GCU. Next Friday I'm off to Paris with Holly, Shayna and Taylor for two days - lots to see and fit in before our flight home on the Sunday! I also bought a UK Railcard yesterday to save 1/3 of any train ticket to travel the UK. In November we're going to take a train to London to see the Harry Potter set at Leavesden Studios (I lose myself at movie studios... Paramount in LA was a dream come true) and probably spend the weekend seeing the sights. I hope to get up to Stirling and Falkirk in not too long, and can't wait to start planning our trip to Ireland! Things are starting to feel more like the way I thought this exchange would be like.

Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis

Glasgow Cathedral

So, this tour was actually about a week ago but as I hope you can imagine, figuring out how to set myself up here has been a struggle to say the least. I basically feel completely uprooted from all my comforts and have been trying to make friendships and routines comparable to what I've left behind - which I can tell you right now feels impossible.

Glasgow Cathedral (left) and some of the city.

This trip was a free walking tour to the Glasgow Cathedral, burial place of St Mungo, patron saint of the city. I am an absolute cathedral junkie as I discovered during my high school trip to Spain. This was my first British cathedral, involved with the Reformation and all. This cathedral was built Catholic, and when the
Reformation happened, the people of Glasgow saved the building from being burned to the ground and simply continued using it as a place of worship once the national religious stance became Protestant in Scotland. There is lots of evidence of the wear and tear on the building, mostly ash and soot from the Industrial Revolution covering the outer walls.

Next to the cathedral is the Necropolos, or "City of the Dead" - a Victorian-era cemetery hosting graves of the city's people during most of the 1800's. The cemetery has tombstones, headstones, and even beautiful mausoleums that are the resting places of entire families. I learned that I am also a cemetery lover - I found the sculpture and quiet of the site so beautiful, and the mystery of the people buried there only hinted at by their epitaphs.

It was a very long walk and was dark by the time the tour was over and everyone had gone home -
Holly, Shayna and I weren't keen on getting lost in the Necropolis alone after nightfall, so we made our way fairly quickly back to the city center. I hope to go back there before the end of my trip and explore more of the cemetery's beautiful structures and scuptures.

The Walkabout

Our student bar is off-campus, at a place called The Walkabout. Well, our student union is above the Walkabout... but the most amazing miracle happens in Scotland, where a pint of beer is only £2 and on top of that, we get a student discount with our GCU ID cards. This country is... magical. The Walkabout is actually a chain of Australian-themed pubs, and the main attraction on the menu is kangaroo meat. They serve kangaroo skewers, steaks, burgers, sandwiches ("sarnies") and salads. We decided that we all wanted to give a new food a shot and since last night was the first night before our classes begin (mine starts in... 30 mins now) we'd go out to dinner. I ordered an arugula salad topped with kangaroo fillet. 

Now, let me tell you this: kangaroo tastes exactly like steak. If I didn't know it was kangaroo, I wouldn't know the difference. Jared got an actual steak, and Ian go a 'roo burger which is definitely next on my list. Just enjoying the fillet on my salad - warm, juicy, tender - I could imagine it as a fantastic burger. 

So, classes start today and my schedule is excellent. We only have to take three classes to equal a full courseload (five classes) at Brock, so it already seems like a treat. On top of that, I've only got class Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which gives me a four day weekend to explore the country! On Saturday, a group of us are going up to Loch Ness for the day, and I hope to either revisit Edinburgh or make a trip to Stirling and Falkirk in the next couple of weeks. 

I've come down with a wicked cold, and been trying to fight it off desperately. I've been drinking hot lemon water with honey and cayenne pepper - sort of a cleansing potion - and trying to sleep lots. It's day two of the wicked cold, and it hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday. I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to being sick, but this is something else.

Edinburgh Castle

Almost a week ago now - wow, time really picked up its pace - Taylor and I hopped on a bus to Edinburgh for the day. Unfortunately, we did so without realizing there was a free bus to Loch Lomond with the other GCU international students, so we missed out on that trip. But we had planned to meet up with Brittany doing an exchange in Edinburgh, but she was occupied on her own school trip. So we walked up "The Mound" to the Edinburgh castle. I love the lingo here in the UK, everything is so literal! Instead of exit, most places have signage pointing the "Way Out," and this massive uphill road is called the Mound. That's it, just the mound. I wore my rainboots because the morning in Glasgow was cold and wet, but I have to say something about the weather in this country.

Scotland is the most temperamental weather I have experienced - ever. I can wake up to sunny blue skies and by the time I get dressed, go out into a torrential downpour, and have the day switch back and forth between the two every twenty minutes. Anyway, I wore rubber boots and regretted in all day long.

Taylor and her coffee climbing the mound.

The city of Edinburgh is gorgeous - cobblestone and beautiful architecture. Around the castle is a little kitschy, but as a tourist I definitely loved it. The castle entrance was a loooong line, about an hour behind an unfortunately ignorant old man from New Jersey who insisted we were wrong in our interpretation of our own country. Painful.

The castle was beautifully preserved. Its walls were aged and crumbling, but each of the houses, rooms, and towers had be restored to exhibits. We saw the crown jewels of Scotland: the crown, sceptre and sword passed through the royal lineage. We saw the old prisons that had been restored to exhibit their original medeival conditions, and walked through the Edinburgh war museum. It's amazing how much deeper Scotland's history goes than Canada's.

In the World Wars memorial, we were able to leaf through military and navy records of Scotland. I found several Littles in the books - which wars they fought in, where and when they fell, and what rank they each were.








After the castle, we were very hungry! Taylor's friend Adam actually lives in Edinburgh, and he met up with us. I asked him where the best pub was and... he said they're all pretty much the same which was a disappointing answer. So we went into the first one, where I had an underwhelming lager and a fish and chips that didn't quite live up to the one I had at the Atholl Arms in Glasgow - but! Adam ordered haggis so that we could try some, and it was delicious!!! We called it a day and got back on the bus to Glasgow - only about an hour and twenty minutes each way, about £10 round trip 

Hey Badgers!

First Night Out

Okay, maybe a little late, but I'm finally going to tell you about my first experience of the Glasgow nightlife. Well - sort of. It's "Fresher's Week" here at GCU, so many of the clubs are doing events for first year students, which may not be the best representation of the actual experience. Regardless, I went out.
It was at a club just around a few corners from the university called Kushion - very hip, I know. The event actually had a bus shuttling people from the residence to the club, so we got on board and were given a set of markers and each of us received a white T-shirt to wear. After we spent the bus ride marking up each others' shirts, we arrived at Kushion.
It was a lower-level bar, below the street. Entry was free to people wearing the event shirts, and we pretty soon found out that shots were £1 each, and Heineken was £1.50 per can until midnight... at which point it became £2 - big deal. So apparently they make drinking easy for students. There was a woman doing neon facepaints for free, so Holly, Taylor and myself lined up and each got a different design. 

We found some friends from Caledonian court and danced with them. There were neon balloons all over the floor to kick around. Plenty of people from all over the world, like a couple of people from Paris that we chatted with, and of course the Scots. Holly and I have pretty much got our introductions down pat: She's American, I'm Canadian, yes we live together, yes we're 22 and 23, Holly's older, yes there is a lot of snow in Canada, yes it is warm in California... etc. I love the hilarious questions about home that I get asked - I love telling people about where I come from and why I love it so much!

About now is where the newness stopped and the club became just like the ones back home: smoke machine, DJ, blacklights, blah blah blah. When the three of us decided to call it a night, we just walked the short distance back to the residence with Lee and Fulvia, and ta-da. First night clubbing in Glasgow.

Taylor, Me, and Holly

Me and Taylor!

Myself, Taylor, Holly, Naomi, Lee, and Seamus

Welcome To Glasgow

It's been four days since my arrival and it's going pretty much as I imagined it would. I miss home, I miss Jarrett, but I talk to my friends and family every day. Last night Jarrett and I watched The Empire Strikes Back while messaging each other - as close as we can get to watching a movie together over the ocean. Besides trying to stay in touch, I've been going into the city every day.

Buchanan Square and Sauchiehall Street is pretty much what we've explored so far. It's beautiful and busy, with people and shops and street performers all day long.

Street piper on Sauchiehall street.

It gets even more beautiful at night when the shops are closed and the streets are lit up. The strip is all walkway - only interrupted by traffic every now and then, which most of the pedestrians seem to take on at their own risk. I'm learning the colloquial rules of streetcrossing: cross whenever you want, make sure there's nobody coming in a massive double decker bus to mow you down. The streets are busy all day long, so crowded you can barely move around but maintains a good traffic flow regardless. In the evening, shops all seems to close around 8pm and the people disappear, leaving a few bar crawlers, street musicians, grocery shoppers, and the homeless on the barren stone pathways. I had my first late-night venture to McDonald's with Holly last night, after we enjoyed some of the case of beer we split on. I can't seem to wrap my head around buying alcohol from the grocery store, much less find grocery store brand gin, vodka, etc. We were amazed to find a pack of 20 bottles of Stella for only £12 - about $19 CAD. Turns out, the McDonalds here is just as satisfying as back home.  

The view from Buchanan Square.

The shopping is great. Topshop, Forever21, HMV, H&M, NewLook, Boots, and of course places I have yet to discover. I came equipped with rainboots and a rain jacket but found the rain on a bit of a holiday this week. So I went to the biggest Forever21 I have ever seen - 3 stories - and bought a £15 leather quilted bomber jacket that has been my go-to since.

Taylor and I are hoping to go to Edinburgh to visit Brittany this weekend and plan our first real travel excursion. I really hope to go to Ireland, England, France, and of course explore Scotland while I'm here. 

Organizing Myself

Waking up the morning after my arrival was a welcome calm. After a good long sleep, I felt better equipped to take on the tasks I need to accomplish. I woke up at 12pm local time, however, so by the time I got to the registration desk to get my login information, the lineup was long, hot, and slow. After about an hour I got to speak to someone who reset my login and password, finally giving me access to internet in my dorm (or "flat" as it will be called from hereon). My flatmate Holly and I then ventured out to the city center, where we found "PoundLand" (essentially a Dollarama) and Argo's, where I bought some towels for a much needed shower and a new set of bedding to replace the disappointing package I was given by GCU. After setting up my new digs, I finally managed to get a call in to my mom and Jarrett. I then spent the evening walking around the city with Taylor, looking for a grocery store so I could finally have something to eat! Surprise - in Scotland, you can buy wine and beer in the grocery store! I decided against Coors Light or Budweiser, and they didn't have my beloved Moosehead (no surprise there), so I went with a six pack of Foster's Gold which I shared with Holly and Taylor back in my room. It was nice to be hanging out like normal with new friends after the unpleasant day I'd had before. I still had some trouble falling asleep after my quick video call with Jarrett after his 8pm class, for which I was up at 1am. I read some of my book and forced myself to at least try to sleep... and slept until noon again today.

My second attempt at registration was an equal failure, though I did meet a nice Glaswegian boy named Liam who asked me if everyone in Toronto was barefoot - a bizarre question. Still unable to register - and still a problem on GCU's end. So I have to wait to hear from them once they've got their problem fixed, to go stand in line again and hopefully manage to finally get a student card. Holly, Taylor and I decided today to get some important things done: I got a cheap little pay-as-you-go mobile phone, and tried to get myself a bank account but was told to come back in a week. The city is beautiful - huge strips of shops and gigantic walkways. I'm learning the rules of the city: when unsure of which way to look when crossing the street, just wait fr everyone else to cross. Also, apparently the "walk/don't walk" signs are more of a suggestion.

I'm finding myself a little shy to speak in the shops, or to ask questions, since I'm an obvious foreigner/tourist by the sound of my accent. The Glaswegian accent isn't as difficult to understand as I had expected although I have needed to ask a few people to repeat themselves. Phrasing has been more of an issue - "all right?" is more a greeting than a question, and it caught me off guard when I answered yes, I'm fine. Without trying, I've already started using terms I haven't used before, such as "dodgy" and "posh" that I've heard the Scots using.

As I'm settling in, I haven't been too social. I've made a couple of friends, and a few more acquaintances, but mostly I find myself exhausted every evening and just want to be alone to watch a movie in my room. Part of me is concerned that hermitting myself away in my room defeats the purpose of going away, but most of me feels that it's important to feel settled and comfortable before starting to really get out there. Maybe I'm just rationalizing my anxiety to myself, but I don't feel ready to go to clubs with a group of near strangers quite yet.

After a great day yesterday and a productive one today, I was feeling a little homesick this evening. I was really missing Jarrett, missing the comfort of just hanging out with someone I know so well and don't have to make an effort to make conversation with. My experience the last two days have been similar to how I felt in my first year at Brock: wanting to be happy and settled right away, and being upset that it's taking so much energy to get there. Brittany and Taylor and I are starting to plan our first trip, with flights to Dublin as cheap as £15 it might be to Ireland, or maybe Italy before the weather gets too cold. I can't wait to start travelling out of the city and creating memories.

My Arrival

Leaving Toronto was a blur, to be honest. I met a girl my age who was taking the same connection to Glasgow, headed off to arts school for a three year degree in sculpting. We got along really well, right up until we exchanged Facebook info and she took off in Glasgow. I stayed to wait for Taylor (also from Brock) to arrive so that we could head to GCU together, but after all the sleep deprivation and ibuprofen it didn’t occur to me that Taylor was arriving from the UK - not from an international flight - and I ended up waiting at arrivals for an hour and a half before giving up and getting into a taxi on my own.

The taxi to GCU was about £25, a small price to pay to not have to find my own way by bus. Upon arriving, I had been told to register at the student center and get my keys. When I arrived there, 40 kg of luggage in tow, I was told that no, I must go across the street to the residence.

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the poor communication of the university. I had to ask twice for affirmation of residence placement, and only upon my second request did I get a notice that I had been assigned a room. Also, apparently the students arriving had already registered for classes and been assigned a student ID, login and password in an email from the university - an email I never received. Since I arrived on a Sunday, I have to wait until 11am tomorrow both to be granted access to the internet (thus the late post) and to speak to someone and hope against hope that I can be registered in the classes I’ve been approved for from Brock.

I had requested a bedding and kitchen package so that I didn’t have to worry about these things on the day of my arrival before I could get in some sleep. The bedding I was given is thinner than paper, and both looks and feels like a hospital gown. The pillow is very similar to the one I was given on my economy class flight. The residence is less than impressive, and many of the students I’ve met agree, telling me stories of filthy carpets, walls and kitchens upon their arrival. After all of this and no sleep, my anxiety washed over me and I was basically incapacited for the afternoon, until I was able to fall asleep for a couple of hours. When I woke up, my next door flatmate, Holly from California, was exactly the kind of person I needed. She told me about her first night, and brought me along to a get together with some friends she’d made. After my nap and some friendly interaction, I decided early to bed was my best bet for having a better day tomorrow. To prepare, I’ve made a list of things I want to buy, and Holly told me where the dollar store, or the “PoundLand” is.

The hardest parts have been running on such little sleep (about an hour on the flight from Reykjavik to Glasgow) and not having any access to the internet to contact Jarrett or my family. My three Spanish roommates have let me get onto their laptops to at least let them know that I won’t be in contact until tomorrow. I think, after a good sleep and something substantial to eat in the morning (where I’ll find that, I don’t know yet), I’ll be better equipped to settle myself into GCU.

Saying Goodbye

My family is supportive of me, all the time, no matter what. Since I mentioned I was thinking of doing a semester abroad, my parents have encouraged every step to took to get me here. Now I'm sitting at my gate in the Toronto airport, watching luggage being trucked on board - knowing mine is in there somewhere (at least, hoping it is!) My brother postponed his moving to Waterloo until tomorrow, and my sister took the weekend off work to be able to get together for my departure. Jarrett and I spent Wednesday together, both of us deciding we'd rather say goodbye then than drag it out the rest of the week and make my airport drop-off even more wrenching. The five of us went to Canyon Creek for dinner near the airport, before parking (!) and walking into the terminal with me. Hugs were given and pictures were taken, but I found it difficult to spend a lot of time saying goodbye. As my anxiety began to creep up, I had to spin on my heels and walk through the security line with my family waving goodbye on the other side. 

I've never flown by myself before, but I'm glad for all the experience I've had flying with my family - one less thing to stress about when I already know the motions I'm being put through. I'm also so glad to be Canadian, leaving my home country amongst smiles and good wishes of all the airport staff I've encountered. My high-flying, points-earning father managed to get my flight entirely on his reward points, which gave me access to the airline lounge. So I am here, enjoying a glass of red wine in the peaceful KLM lounge before this exciting chapter begins. I can't help feeling that this will be an awfully big adventure.

The Eve Of My Departure

Light packer, extraordinaire.

Hello Webisphere - here marks the beginning of my travel blog, the account of my four-month adventure across the Atlantic. I'm a 22-year-old Brock University student majoring in Popular Culture with the CPCF department (Communications, Popular Culture, and Film Studies). Brock gives each student the incredible opportunity to study at a partner school abroad for one or two semesters, for the tuition cost of studying at home. I chose to go to Glasgow, Scotland for one semester (too chicken to commit to a full year abroad!).

So here I am, sitting in bed (trying to get an early night to make up for the inevitable lost sleep from my overnight flight tomorrow) taking stock of my luggage. Visually, I see one large blue suitcase, one carry-on pink case, and my floral school backpack. Internally, I know that it took two days of cramming, folding, stuffing, dumping, repacking, and rolling to fit all my choice articles into my luggage. Somehow, I managed to pack for four months abroad into three bags of varying sizes.
 I had to keep telling myself that laundry and toiletries are established amenities worldwide, and I didn't need to pack my own toothpaste, soap, or enough clean clothing to get me through the one hundred twenty days I'm to spend across the pond. When I get anxious, I get... crazy. Normally what I rely on is my boyfriend Jarrett's words of wisdom to bring me back to the realm of sanity but we said our goodbyes two days ago. And so, to cope without him, I have done plenty of preparation.

I've done my research on currency, taxis, subways, and getting a pay-as-you-go phone once I arrive. I've suspended my home cell account, notified my bank that I'll be in the UK, and gotten all the paperwork together to A) cross the border and B) open a local bank account. I've packed twice, double-checked with my airline that I'm within all the baggage restrictions, and have printed a copy of my travel itinerary. I've even Google-Earth'd my residence at Glasgow Caledonian, just to have something to expect when I arrive.

I seem to be split in two - between really looking forward to going to Glasgow, and really anxious and upset about leaving home. I'm sure once I've landed, unpacked, and taken a deep breath I'll feel much more settled.