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.