Haggis, Afternoon Tea, Chorus and McDonald's Cravings

     Burns Night on Friday was so much fun! It might be the highlight of this trip so far. Anna, Kirsty and I got there just after 7pm, got seated at our table and got drinks. There was a guy playing bagpipes when people were coming in, and then to start off the night the executives of the Strathclyde Students' Association did toasts. Malcolm, the president, did a toast to the haggis which was entertaining. We also did a toast to Robert Burns with some whiskey. According to the Scottish guy sitting at our table, it was really bad whiskey, and I have to agree haha. Not that I know anything about whiskey, but it was gross. After the toasts, the servers came out with our dinner -- heaping plates of haggis, mashed potato and gravy. It actually tasted pretty good, but I made sure I had potatoes and gravy in every forkful of haggis because the thought of eating haggis on its own was a little revolting. I couldn't finish the whole plate, but I able to eat most of it so I was quite proud of myself. After dinner, the tables were cleared so that the dancing could begin. There was live folk music and we were taught all kinds of traditional dances. The dancing portion of the night went on for about 3 hours and by the end, we were exhausted and feeling a little sick from the combination of haggis, whiskey and dancing. I met some really cool people throughout the night and it was just overall a really fun experience.

     The next morning my flatmates and I went for brunch at a place called Willow Tea Room on Buchanan Street. I'm not usually a big tea person but the tea I ordered (Honey & Almond) was so good. The food was amazing as well -- I got french toast with maple syrup and bacon. It's definitely a place I will come back to. After brunch I went off on my own for a bit to shop and send some mail (birthday/post cards). I spend ages trying to find a place that sold post cards, which was surprising because I thought they would be everywhere. That night our friends Rebecca and Alicea came over to our flat and we all watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was a nice lazy night, and I'm so happy to be living with four Harry Potter nerds.

      On Sunday I bought my gym membership and used the campus workout facilities for the first time. It felt really good to get back into using a gym, and there are also exercise classes like spinning and aerobics included in our memberships, so I can't wait to take advantage of those.

     Yesterday was a super busy day; I had class at 10am, then again at 1pm, and a tutorial at 2. I also had my first chorus rehearsal from 5-7pm. It was pretty fun! A little awkward though because most people had been in the chorus since first semester and already knew the music. We did Man in the Mirror, Vivaldi's Gloria in D and a piece called the Seal's Lullaby. I know Man in the Mirror pretty well but it was just the harmonies I had to learn, and I remember Gloria from choir in high school so that made things easier. After chorus I came back to the flat to make dinner, then we all went out to Jackson's pub night which was "Ginger themed" that night. Anna, Kirsty and I spend most of our time at Jackson's lamenting over wanting McDonald's, so we asked Michelle and Bethany if they were in for a McDonald's run (of course they were), and we went on our way back to the flat. There's a deal where if you order a value meal and show your student card, you get a free McFlurry which we were excited about haha. It was really good, but my verdict is that McDonald's is better in Canada.

     Today was pretty laid back. I didn't have class until 3 so I went to the gym in the morning and did some reading for my classes. I'm trying to get lots of reading done this week because I'm going to Paris this weekend (yay!) and won't have any time to do reading then.

Cathedral, Walking Tour and Burns Night

     On Wednesday, several of my flatmates and I didn't have class so we decided to explore a bit. We went to the Glasgow Cathedral which was beautiful -- it's massive and very gothic looking. While walking around it we had a really good view of the Necropolis, which is a Victorian cemetery that sits on a hill by the Cathedral. Afterwards we checked out the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, one of Glasgow's most well known attractions. We were there for about 45 minutes and the exhibits were really interesting. We then had orientation back at the university, which wasn't very exciting haha. That night my flatmates went out to a pub night but I was still feeling super jetlagged so I decided to take it easy. I feel pretty normal now though.

     Last night we went on a walking tour of Glasgow with a local tour guide (Gary) who does cheap tours for students. It was really fun, although it was freezing outside. At each stop Gary would give us some information and tell us a funny story. In front of the Gallery of Modern Art is the Wellington Statue, and we noticed there was a traffic cone on the horse's head. Apparently years ago a drunken student climbed up onto the statue and put a cone on the Duke's head, and people have been doing it ever since. There are three variations: cone on the horse's head (making it look like a unicorn), cone on the Duke's head, and cone upside down on the horse's tail. When it first started, the police were furious and took the cone down, but it was always put back by students or passersby. Now it's completely normal, and it's actually unusual when the cone isn't on the statue. I thought that was a pretty amusing story. After the tour was finished we were starving so Michelle, Anna and I went to an Italian restaurant called Pesto's for dinner. It was so good! The dishes were small so we each ordered a couple, and got mozzarella bruschetta to share. When we got back to the flat we just relaxed a bit and watched funny YouTube videos together. It was difficult to go to sleep that night though because the boys who live in the flat below us had a rager of a party and were blasting music until about midnight. I guess they went clubbing after that, because they came back at about 3am and were screaming/being rowdy outside which was pretty irritating but I suppose it's something I'll get used to haha.

     So far today I have just had class, and it's pretty gross outside right now (cold and rainy - typical Scotland) so we are just hanging out at our flat. Tonight is Burns night, celebrating the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Kirsty, Anna and I got tickets to the Burns supper at the student union building of our school. It consists of a two course meal, a "nip of whisky", and I think there is going to be live music. It sounds like it's going to be fun! Not sure our plans for the weekend yet but it looks like we might go for brunch at a cute tea house tomorrow, and I should probably start reading the massive amount of articles/book chapters for my classes.

Finally Settled.

     After what was possibly the longest and most stressful journey EVER, I finally arrived in Glasgow yesterday! The trip over was exhausting. My flight from Vancouver to Heathrow was delayed four hours, then it was late arriving, so I missed my connecting flight to Glasgow, and the flight after that was canceled. Airport workers were sending me all over the airport to rebook my flights and find accommodation, and I was getting super frustrated because no one was being very helpful. I finally found the customer service for rebooking British Airways flights and the line was huge. I ended up waiting for probably about an hour and a half. Luckily I got a voucher for a free night at the Premier Inn by the airport, plus a free dinner and free breakfast. I caught the shuttle to the hotel, which took about half an hour, and by the time I got there it was past 11pm. I had some dinner at the restaurant downstairs (spiciest chicken curry I've had in my life), then skyped Cyrus for a bit which was nice. I went to bed around 12:30 and had to wake up at 4:40 to catch the shuttle back to the airport for my 7:50 flight. It's a good thing I got downstairs early to wait for the shuttle because it was really crowded and some people had to be left behind. There were no delays with my flight this time so I ended up arriving at the Glasgow airport around 9:15am. The views of the landscape when the plane was touching down were incredible. I'm so excited to explore the Highlands, Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, etc.

     I caught the bus into Glasgow city centre and got into the city at around 10. Lugging my bags to the school was so tiring and I was so relieved to check in at the accommodation office and finally get my keys. It wasn't too difficult to find my flat, and when I arrived I met two roommates. One wasn't actually one of my roommates because she was only there for first semester and would be leaving the next morning. The other, Michelle, is from Canada (Toronto area) which is awesome. About half an hour later, Kirsty (another one of my roommates, from New Zealand) arrived. Next was Bethany (also from Toronto), and then Anna (from New Zealand as well) came in the evening/late afternoon. There's five of us in total and we've been getting along really well!

     After most of us were arrived and settled yesterday, Michelle showed us around the city a bit, and took us to Primark, where we bought towels and duvet covers, and also to the grocery store. After stopping back at the flat to drop stuff off, we went out for dinner at a place called the Counting Room. They serve a range of meals including traditional Scottish food, but I was feeling tired and not particularly adventurous so I just got a burger. I did try haggis though, so that counts for something haha. I just had a bite, but it actually didn't taste bad at all.

      We got back to the dorm around 8:30, and I stayed up until about 9:30 then just crashed because I was exhausted. I ended up waking up around 2am because of the jetlag and just talked to people on facebook until about 3. I slept again until 8:15, took a shower/had breakfast, then went to the welcome meeting for international students with my roommates! I still don't have my courses completely sorted out but hopefully I'll get that done tomorrow. I did get my student card though so that's good. I also bought a few school supplies and explored the campus a bit. I went to the clubs fair at the Union building, and I think I'm going to join the campus chorus! It sounds like tons of fun, and apparently we'll be learning Man in the Mirror and Seasons of Love, which are two songs I love. They rehearse on Monday evenings, then hang out/go for drinks after, so I think that will be a good way to meet more people, and hopefully some Scottish students. Tonight my roommates and I are going to a pub night which has a different country theme each week (tonight is Scottish night). I'm going to make some dinner now then probably head out with them at around 9. Still feeling a little sleepy but hopefully I'll adjust to the time zone within a few days!

                                               First view of Scotland from the plane!

                                                           Part of Strathclyde campus

Packing Progress + Two More Days!

     Today I went for one last Timmy Ho's run with Raveena and Chrish. Had so much fun -- I'm going to miss you two! Afterwards, Cailey, Emily and I walked around Gyro park then Cailey and I went to the poster sale at the SUB where I picked up some awesome posters for my dorm room! I'll attach photos of them. I was originally planning on buying posters when I got to Glasgow but they were so cheap at the sale that I couldn't pass them up.

     Oh and I'm still trying to pack. I've decided that the hardest part of this whole process is deciding how many/which pairs of shoes to bring. Right now I have it narrowed down to 5 pairs (a pair of flats, black suede boots, brown leather boots, rain boots, and running shoes) but I feel like even that is too much. At this point I just want Friday to come faster so I can stop over-thinking and being anxious!

     Also my boyfriend is the sweetest ever and always finds ways to brighten my day. That is all. :)

Two more days!!

                              Freaked out when I saw an Ed Sheeran poster :P

                                                               London!

          Thought this was fitting as Cyrus and I are going to a Man U game haha

                                             Who doesn't love the OC!?

Criminal minds! 

Four Days to Go.

     First post! Welcome to my travel blog. This will be my main outlet for posting updates and photos from my exchange to Scotland. I've never kept a blog before, but hopefully I can get into a routine of posting a few times a week.

     As the title of this post would suggest, I have four days to go until I fly to the UK. I spent most of today running boring errands such as getting the data transferred from my old to my new laptop, paying off my HBC credit card and sorting out my Bell contract. I have most of my packing done (Or at least I think I do. I really have no idea how to pack for a 4.5 month trip...) so I feel like this week is going to drag on really slowly. My flight is at 8:25pm Friday night from Vancouver, and my family is coming over with me that day to send me off and say goodbye. This will be my first time traveling alone and I'm actually pretty excited (and hoping there are some good chick flicks on the in-flight entertainment system).

     Can't think of anything else to post about at the moment but keep checking back for updates if you're interested. :)