Since these were the pre-Facebook days (did they really exist?) I kept family and friends updated via good, old fashioned emails. I’ve slightly edited them and posted them below for your perusal. It was on this trip that I met some of the most amazing people I currently have the priviledge of knowing and travelling with, so it is helpful to present our stories for your reference ~ I know they will be an ongoing part of my travelling existence!
I hope you enjoy these earlier attempts.
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September 29, 2006
Hi everyone!
I’ve been here almost two weeks and am settling in very well. Strathclyde is right in the centre of Glasgow, which is a beautiful city. It’s pretty small too, excellent for walking around. The buildings are old and big and all made of stone – its cool to be surrounded by, and have classes in buildings that are older than Vancouver!
My flat is small but cosy, and so is my room. (They must have gotten a deal on the blue paint – its EVERYWHERE!)
I have 5 flatmates, from France, Poland, China, Czech Republic, and Inverness. They are all really great and we get along well – lots of laughs and making fun of each other. We have been out more than a few times as well. The nightlife in the city is amazing! Drinks are often only £1 (about $2.15) and that includes beer, mixers and shots! There are so many places to go that you can leave your flat at 1 am and still get in – with no cover! Vancouver could take a lesson or two from Glasgow in that respect for sure.
Classes here just started on Tuesday. So far all seem to be going well. Right now I’m taking 5: Victorian and Gothic Lit, Italian Renaissance (Honours), Irish Society (Honours), How and Why Does Language Change, and Geography 101 (to get my certificate in Liberal Arts). It may seem like a lot, but I think it will be manageable – Geography and History tutorials are only every second week.
Strathclyde has a huge number of international students, and ‘we’ have a pub night every week (Wednesday) that is organized for us by the international office. So far I’ve met people from France, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Austria, Canada, the US, and Denmark. We had a ceilidh (kay-lee) last night, which is a traditional Scottish party. We learned all sorts of traditional dances and had a great time. I think the band (who were also trying to teach us the dances) got a bit frustrated as English (and especially Glaswegian) is not everyone’s first language!
There are also day trips organized for the international students. On Saturday I went to the Isle of Arran. It was an amazing day and I spent time with Scott and Sean from Canada and Paul from Australia. They are flatmates and I met Sean on Wednesday night at the bar. We hit it off right away and all went tromping around forests and fields for the day – and saw the hairy highland cows!!
After we got back home, we hung out at their flat, 16D, and had a wee flat party (throwing of knives and breaking of glasses ensued) . . . if this is an indication of my semester to come, I think I like it here! Tomorrow we are going to a castle and in October we are going to St. Andrews – rain or shine, which it does a lot of here, especially rain.
If you thought the weather was unpredictable in Vancouver, you should come to Scotland. This morning I woke up at 8’ish – raining. Went back to sleep, woke up at 9:30 to bright sunshine! Didn’t have to be at class till noon, by the time I left the flat it was cloudy, but still kind of warm. Went to class, then walked home at 1 – and it started to sprinkle . . . left for class again at 2, still sprinkling. Left class at 3 – torrential downpour. Now its 5 and the sun is starting to peek through the clouds again.
Its not too different from home: Tesco and Sainsbury’s are like Save-on and Safeway, ASDA is Wal-Mart, and there is even a Costco and an IKEA! Cell phones are mobiles, lifts are elevators, and if you have a class on M 408 – it actually means you need to go up four flights of stairs!! (since the ground level is ‘ground level’ and then it’s the first floor) *sigh* those crazy Scots.
Hope everything is good back home!
Talk to you soon,
-Michelle
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October 15, 2006
Hi Everyone!
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!! I’ve done and seen quite a bit in the last couple of weeks. The weather has been pretty much the same, rainy and sunny and windy (repeat a few times a day). But, I’ve totally lucked out on the weekends, which is excellent considering that’s when I see most of the sights!
School is going well, I decided to take three classes so that I would have a bit more time to see stuff over here. I’ve also joined the Chorus. It’s a mixed choir, which is a bit weird since I’m not used to singing with men, but it’s a cool sound. I got a gym membership as well, so I can attempt to keep in shape after eating all those deep fried Mars bars, and pizza etc. Haha, only kidding, I haven’t actually had all that yet, but it can easily be found. If you take something to a ‘chippy’ (fish and chips shop) they will deep fry it for you, no joke.
Haggis is something I have had, along with the traditional ‘neeps and tatties’ (mashed turnips and mashed potatoes). It was actually really good. Quite spicy, but excellent, definitely a repeat restaurant item, a good thing because its usually one of the cheapest things on the menu!
The days are getting shorter and shorter. The sun rises at about 7:30’ish, and has set by 7. I guess that’s not too short, but its noticeable every day, I think by next week the day will be from 8-6:30, and so on, until our days get down to 4 or 5 hours of ‘sunlight’ each day.
Since the weather has been unseasonably good for most of my day trips, there are quite a few pictures, but this is a very small fraction of what I’ve taken so far . . . I think I’m up over a thousand pictures in the 4 ½ weeks I’ve been here!
Culzean Castle (pronounced Cuh-lean) September 30
The weather was amazing, not just sunny, but actually quite warm! The castle was beautiful and HUGE. Originally built in the 1100’s, it was renovated in the 17th century, and was lived in until the 1950s. It was warm, warm enough to go ‘paddling’ (wading) in the North Atlantic!
Shopping at Tesco :o) I know it sounds stupid, but when you have to walk everywhere, and the busses are pretty unreliable and expensive, making the trek to ‘Big Tesco’ is quite the adventure. Scott, Hanz and Sean and I wait with our four (4!) buggies of groceries for a cab under cover away from the pouring rain! We, along with alllll of our bags, managed to smush in one cab for the short ride home (I think it took longer to load and unload than the trip!)
Edinburgh and the France vs. Scotland EuroCup ‘Football’ Game – October 7
We (Strathclyde’s International Students) took the train to Edinburgh – on the day of one of the most important Scottish soccer games! Even though the game didn’t start until 5 pm, at 10 in the morning the fans had already started pouring in. Ali (from SFU) and I grab a photo with some (kind of cute!) Scotland fans.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city (more pictures later), and we had a great day just walking around and seeing the sights. We managed to find a pub where we could a) get to the bar, b) see the TV and c) sit down to watch the game, even though we waited until almost the last minute. The friends Ali and I were with are from France – not a good place to be from when Scotland wins 1-0! But the pub was great, and we got a rousing mocking chorus of “Alouette’ when we left.
THANKSGIVING! October 9
That’s right people: Canadian Thanksgiving came to Glasgow this year! It was quite the feat: two turkeys (totalling 22 lbs), stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, brussel sprouts, buns, cranberry sauce, gravy, beer, wine, apple pie with ice cream, ANZAC cookies, and . . . haggis(!) all prepared in three different ovens, with four flats of students coming together for dinner. It was an incredible night, one of the best thanksgivings ever.
Edinburgh (again) and tour to Loch Ness – October 13-14
The boys and I booked a ‘Haggis’ tour to Loch Ness that left at 8 am on Saturday from Edinburgh, so we took the train up there on Friday afternoon to see the sights in preparation for the long 12 hour bus tour.
Edinburgh Castle is built on the top of a volcano, and I think that it has been there since about the 1100’s or so, but something has existed in Edinburgh since year 10!!!
Loch Ness! After many, many hours on a bus, some guitar tunes and a couple of pit stops, we arrived at our main destination for the day and ate some ‘take away’ fish and chips for lunch. Since it was such a nice day . . . we decided to go for a swim! No sign of Nessie though! We had quite the audience for our Loch Ness adventure, including the Loch Ness boat cruise that floated past. I think they thought we were nuts, which is only partly true – the water was about 5.5 °C!
So that’s what I’ve been up to. I still haven’t spent a Saturday in Glasgow, but I figure there will be plenty of those in November and December when the weather gets worse. For now, I’m trying to see as much as I can while the sun still shines. Next week is Falkland Palace in St. Andrews, don’t know if we’ll have time to for a round of golf, but who knows?
Hope you are all doing well back home, talk to you soon,
-Michelle
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November 7, 2006
Hi Everyone!
Happy Guy Fawkes Day! If you are scratching your head, don’t worry, its not something we celebrate in Canada. Basically Guy Fawkes tried to blow up King James I with gunpowder on November 5, 1605 . . . he failed (because he got caught), but has a day named after him – pretty spectacular failure, eh?
My social schedule has remained pretty hectic over the last few weeks – thanks in large part to the weather that keeps turning out beautiful days! I can’t even remember the last time it rained (touch wood), but it certainly has been getting colder and colder. On Hallowe’en we recorded our first -1°C night of the fall! Average temperatures during the day are about 5°-10°’ish, but I think that now most nights are right around freezing.
Our days are getting much shorter too. Scotland has Daylight Savings as well, so now the sun rises at about 7:30’ish, and its totally dark by 5:30 pm! The other Canadians and I all complain about how tired we are, by 9 pm we feel as if its 11 or something because its been dark for so long! Ah well, assignments are starting to be due now that we are at midterm, so one could almost see it as an excuse to stay in and study – almost. Choir is still going well, we have a concert in mid-December that we are preparing for. As always it seems like we have so much music and so little time . . . only 6 rehearsals left! eek!
Even though our local friends subject us to merciless teasing, us international students continue to take our cameras everywhere, adding megabytes of pictures to our poor little laptops, and swapping pictures with everyone else to make sure we don’t miss a thing!
International Student’s Night (Out!!) – October 18
For some reason we decided to really live it up this week – first we went to a pub in the south of the city called The Goose for a few rounds, and then onto Kushion nightclub (a favourite spot of ours) for hours of non-stop dancing.
Flat 4D’s International Dinner Part I – October 19
Since all six girls in our flat are from different countries, we decided to try each others’ cuisines. But, six courses is a lot of food, so we broke it down into two different dinners. In part one, Lily (from China) cooked the main course – some yummy and very spicy chicken stew, Caroline (from France) made crepes for dessert, and I made poutine for an appetizer. It’s a wonder poutine hasn’t caught on in Scotland yet – all those deep fried chips and fatty gravy and cheese, its what the Scots love! But alas, poutine must remain a Canadian dish.
Falkland Palace and St. Andrew’s – October 21
Ah yes, for all you golf enthusiasts – I made it to the mecca of all golfing destinations . . . but first, and partly for torture, I will bore you with pictures of yet another palace!
Actually, this palace is quite cool – because it’s a real palace!!! As in actually owned by the Queen, and not an aristocratic and wealthy family like the other castles! It was mostly destroyed by Cromwell’s (as in Oliver Cromwell) army in 1652 while they were taking over the British Isles . . . something about a fire in the kitchen on a Saturday night. As the tour guide pointed out, it is not known whether alcohol was a factor. Mary Queen of Scots (mum of James I of the aforementioned Gunpowder Plot) stayed here, as have many other royals over the years. The grounds were quite impressive, and were made all the more beautiful by the fall colours! There is also a pond and Royal Tennis Courts that are open to the public.
Yes, that’s me smelling the tree – you know how it smells when the leaves are turning colours and everything is all fresh smelling? Well, that’s what this place smelled like! Such a nice change from the icky Glasgow air.
There was also an orchard on the grounds, so fellow Canadian Scott and I decided to help ourselves to an apple – we hope the Queen doesn’t mind!
Yes – here it is. This is me standing on the fairway of the 18th hole of the Old Course of St. Andrews Links Golf Course in St. Andrews, Scotland (jealous Mom and Dad?) You can see the putting green just in the background where some golfers are finishing their game.
There are actually four courses at St. Andrews now, all running alongside each other. As far as golf courses go, and please keep in mind my utter distaste for the sport, they all look pretty much the same . . . long fairways, nice greens, no trees but plenty of shrubberies for that little white ball to get lost in – and really tough bunkers, according to Scott. The courses are open to the public for golf (there is about a 2 year waiting list, but also a lottery you can enter) and also for walking around. We took a stroll in and between the golf courses for about an hour, wandering around trying to find the sea, which is right beside the course. Much easier said than done, I tell you what! Although you can hear the sea, you have to find a way to get to it, and since walking across fairways and green’s isn’t really an option, it can be quite the ordeal. However, there is the occasional sign that alerts pedestrians to crossways.
We finally made it to the sea, where, in true Canadian style, we took off our socks and shoes and went for a ‘paddle’ (the Scottish term for wading). It was pretty funny to walk back along the beach in our bare feet alongside other tourists and locals all bundles up in boots, wool coats and scarves.
International Student’s Night (again) – October 26
Yes, I know what you’re thinking, another night out?! But this picture was so cute I couldn’t resist. Jim Wilson is our International Advisor here at Strathclyde, and he is just such a lovely gentleman! We call him ‘Uncle Jim’ and he loves it! He is so helpful and always makes us feel welcome, not to mention the fact that he organizes our weekly pub nights and always finds us a great deal!
Pumpkin Carving and Hallowe’en – October 28 and 31
They do have Hallowe’en in Scotland, but not in India, Germany, Australia and a host of other countries that fellow SFU’ers Ali, Lisa and I have befriended – and so the International Pumpkin Carving Night! Ali gave an excellent demonstration to the first-time pumpkin carvers, and I think the results were outstanding!
Phil, my pumpkin, went mushy only a few days later . . . I don’t think they make pumpkins here like they do back home, although you’d think they’d be better considering the price!
Fairies seemed to be a common theme for costumes this year . . . I think mostly because a dress or skirt, when paired with wings, gives the illusion that you spent hours agonizing over a costume!
Abby, Urszula and I part-way through the all-night Hallowe’en Ball at the Union, Strathclyde’s 10-storey Student Union building that turns into a 10-storey club at night (every night!)
Fireworks at Glasgow Green – November 5
So since Guy Fawkes tried and failed to light up the Parliament Buildings, they light off fireworks . . . makes sense, right? On Sunday night, us international’s (I think about 15 in all) made our way down to Glasgow Green for the fireworks – along with about 60 000 others. It was a great display and we had a great time being out in the cold cold night (we are talking thermal underwear all around people), seeing the little fairway that was set up in the Green, and walking through the streets without having to worry that a car would run you over!
I did take a few pictures of the fireworks themselves, but they didn’t turn out very well . . . so just imagine the Celebration of Light, in a big park, with no water, in November, and you’ve got it!
So that’s what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks! As I mentioned, assignments are coming up. I have a Geography report due on Friday (which I have already started!) and then a few papers (4 in all) before the end of term in December. On the 19th Glasgow lights up its Christmas lights in George Square, and on the 25th I’m heading to Edinburgh to watch the Australia vs. Scotland rugby game, so look for those pictures and stories in a few weeks! Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Every time I go to the store I am reminded of its imminence – scary.
Hope everyone is doing well at home,
Take care,
-Michelle
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