The last 3 days here have been a crazy whirlwind of information and exploring and general excitement in addition to trying to get lots and lots (and I really mean LOTS) of sleep to catch up from the journey here.
The trip was not too bad, and it was made easier by the fact that I met up with more LC people at every airport so we were able to traverse the UK immigration lines together (which was way less challenging than everyone made it seem!). About 11 of us arrived in Glasgow at 11:30 Sunday morning and were paraded across the airport to a conveniently free Uni bus. We must have looked quite comical with the insane amount of luggage between us plus everyone was groggy and half asleep. We made it to the Uni and I was one of a lucky few who actually had my room and keys all ready to go. The flats are rather bizarre--there are doors to everything which you cannot leave open or else fire alarms go off. You enter into a long and very bare hallway and everyone's room is to the right and the kitchen is straight ahead through another door. It is is bit odd having everything so segmented, really the only place to hang out is in the kitchen. I did not even know one of my flatmates was here for awhile because everything is so blocked off! The bathrooms are also a kick, each room has essentially a shower closet, the entire thing is tiled and gets covered in water when you shower and you have to stand right next to the toilet to be under the water. I have just been completely amused by the whole thing.
So the first day I got into the flat and unpacked a bit, met up with Michael (our group leader) to get monies and went out to for food with some folk at a place around the corner called "Goat & Grill." I thought this meant they might have good goat cheese but I was sad to find it was not the case. We sat in some mod black lounge furniture underneath a giant TV screen that had VERY strange shows playing and I had an incredibly tasty cup of tomato and basil soup. I was so hungry that I am sure I would have eaten anything, but it was warm and delicious, though paired with slightly stale bread. I could barely keep my eyes open by that point so I went to take a lengthy nap and slept so well that I did not wake up when my flatmates were knocking on my door to invite me to tea. I made myself get up for a bit, but ended up back in bed around 9:30, at least I don't think I am too off of this time zone!
Monday morning we had to get up early to start orientation. A few of us headed to grab some food and ended up at a small cafe called "Q-kumber" which featured pretty tasteless food but an incredibly sweet woman worked there. Once she found we were Americans she chatted with us and gave as tons of advice on the getting used to the city and general tips. We keep hearing about how nice Glasgwegeans are, and seriously they are some of the nicest most welcoming folk I have ever met. Every person in restaurants and just on the street that I have talked to is eager to give me advice and help me out in any way they can. It is unbelievable how nice these people are, they make me realize how hostile so many Americans are and how easy it would be to smile at people and have a simple conversation. So Monday was orientation with 250 odd other international/erasmus/exchange/study abroad students from all over the world (though mostly the US). Met some cool people heard about some cool classes--all in all pretty good though very long. Went out to lunch with two LC-ers and had some yummy Mexican Chicken soup on Byre Road, a main road in the west end and right next to the Uni. The people watching is amazing here, and we thought it was particularly amusing watching all the school girls in their smart uniforms bustling past with their lunches. We were completely impressed because their uniforms actually look very nice, if we got uniforms as nice as them in the US then I don't think anyone would raise a fuss about wearing them! Watching the cars was also amusing because everything is so small and cute. Even the bigger SUVs (of which there are very few) are SO much smaller than our huge monster cars. Had more orientation after lunch, did a bit of grocery shopping, got a cell phone and then came back to spend about 15 minutes in my room before trying to contact people to go out (the rooms are fine, but they are very isolated so I don’t think I’ll be spending too much time there!).
I ended up going out to eat with 2 LC girls just down the road from our flats. We chose a random restaurant called “Neighborhood” that had 2 for 1 pizza and burger deals and 8.50 house wine. It was super cozy with big plush booths, long slender hanging lights and amazing dark hardwood floors. The three of us (all gingers, by the way) had a nice romantic and relaxing meal, and the pizzas/wine were amazing for the price! We already want to go back for their 2 for 1 burgers! While we were eating some Glaswegeans came in with their 2 adorable dogs who were adorable and hilarious. They had conqured the perfect mix of obedience and begging so they would wiggle around the restaurant and if you weren’t really watching they looked like perfectly obedient sitting dogs. They were also quite porky with tiny little legs so they looked pretty awkward which just made me like them more.
Two other LC-ers met up with us after dinner and we walked a few blocks to a pub named “Lebowski’s”—yes, in honor of the film! There was a pretty great DJ who was just rockin out by himself at the tables, big speakers draped with a Scottish flag, and Jamaican flag and some army camo cloth, and a giant screen for video games in the corner. It felt like a place everyone back at LC would regularly inhabit. After the pub we walked back and I hung out with two of my flatmates for awhile. All three of them are incredible nice and easy to chat with. There is a girl from New Jersey and two guys from Germany. While I was hanging out with the German guys we saw a coyote/fox animal wandering around in the courtyard outside our flat. I am not really if there are coyotes in Scotland, so I think it was a fox, but it had this gorgeous shiny coat and fluffy tale. We were all a bit confused as to what it was doing in the middle of the city, but it seemed pretty happy.
This morning I had to wake up bright and early to go to the ‘supermarket,’ otherwise known as the academic fair. I decided that all schools should call academic fairs supermarkets because it sounds like something I actually want to go to! The supermarket was were we got to talk to department representatives to figure out enrollment times for classes (enrollment is the Scottish term for registering for classes). I think it was an incredibly fun process. All the professors were engaging and enthusiastic and even the many who were struggling with English want to just sit and chat with you for awhile. I want LC to adopt a similar system because it was so refreshing being able to sit and talk to someone about classes instead of staring at a computer screen to register. I am SO happy with my schedule. I am taking the two classes for LC—Contemporary Scottish Theater and a History of Scotland Through Lit, and then I signed up for Writers and Communism (it has an AMAZING book list!) and I got into a Black and White Photo Class at the Glasgow School of Art. I cannot be more excited for the Photo class, I am going to be at a world class art school and they supply everything for us—cameras, film, darkroom supplies, it is amazing. I already have my own camera but it is just incredible that they can supply all of that for everyone. Oh, and did I mention that I don’t have class Monday or Friday? Hopefully that will mean many travels!
After supermarket we went to this amazing coffee shop that had all this repurposed furniture that had so much history, they had a holy water fountain from a church that was mysteriously burnt down, an old prison door and an arch from an old cemetery. And all of their coffee/chocolate was organic and so tastey. I could see myself just spending hours curled up on their couches with a good cup of coffee and a book!
More to come, but it feels like I have written a ton and I am off to a concert in an old converted church! Oh, and did I mention that I go to Hogwarts?
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| Kelvingrove Park |
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| Hogwarts, also known as University of Glasgow |
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| Kelvingrove Art Museum |
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| Just another Hogwarts building. |
