I have a confession to make, I may have teared up a bit when I first arrived in Scotland. After my amazing airport send off (my lovely family and boyfriend's family all saw me off at YHZ), questionable airplane pancakes with "strawberry" sauce, and the hectic Heathrow connection (which really wasn't as hellish as I imagined), I couldn't help but shed a few tears of happiness. As the tiny British Airways plane began to break through the white fluffy clouds and I could see mountains (real mountains!), green grass, bright blue skies, and a vibrant city in the distance; I couldn't help but smile as tears streamed from my eyes. After fifteen longs months of planning and over fifteen years of dreaming to one day visit Scotland - I was finally there.
Blue skies! I was completely flabbergasted, I could not believe that the sky was a beautiful lapis lazuli blue in Scotland! But sadly, my good weather fortune was very short lived. As I exited a little tiny purple bus (all airport buses in the UK seem to be purple - it's awesome) and thanked the driver, whose accent was so thick that I couldn't decipher whether he was asking my name or destination, was when the skies turned a dark and daunting grey.
I followed very unclear "directions" from the bus driver whilst big fat flakes of snow began to fall all around me. As I lugged two fifty pound suitcases and a twenty pound back pack uphill, lost, in a snow and hail storm, was when I began to curse the weather gods.
I think the Canadians may have brought the snow with us- oops! The locals said that it was the most snow Glasgow had received in three years! Although it barely even looked like a dusting to us Canadians! At least it stopped snowing so I could get settled into my home away from home!
These past few days have been an absolute whirlwind;
-Meeting people from all over the world
-Disinfecting our residence (who knew uni kids were so messy)
-Already trying haggis twice (deep fried haggis is where it's at)
-Being able to access UK Netflix (someone will have to drag me out of my room...)
-Going downtown to a club called Bamboo on 1 pound drink night (dangerous...very dangerous)
-Being told that Canadians really know how to dance (first time ever, I have never been so proud)
-Eating cheese and chips (chowing on fries and cheese at 3am...twice) THEY DON'T HAVE GRAVY
-Organizing classes
-Buying my own groceries and cooking them...I have so much more appreciation for my parents now
-Touring around the most beautiful city that is both modern and historic!
-Realizing that the Glaswegian accent is even thicker than a Newfie's
-Almost getting hit by a double decker bus (I'm okay!)
-Realizing the local movie theatre has eighteen screens!
-Adventuring all over the city
-Discovering so many shops we don't have in Canada (weeeee)
-Running around the city on a Scavenger hunt
-Buying 2Litre bottles of Strongbow for only 3 pounds (6 dollars)
-Hearing Don't Stop Believing by Journey at the bar
-And so much more :)Although this week has been crazy I would't change anything about it. It is so exhilarating being in a completely foreign place with people who are equally as excited and experiencing the exact same things as you.
I have already fallen in love with Glasgow and can't believe how lucky I am to be an exchange student in such a vibrant city!
HELLO GORGEOUS GLASGOW!
Good bye Halifax, see you in six months!
Heathrow Airport...with only two hours to make it from Terminal 2 to Terminal 5 but we did it!
I think Sarah and I may have overpacked a wee bit...
I want to take a suitcase of Strongbow home with me, wah. Also why don't Canadian groceries stores sell alcohol? Get it together Canada!
Mmm chips and cheese, this will be dangerous after 1 pound drinks at Bamboo! I think Kings will become my late night kryptonite.
My cute little communal kitchen! So far six people share this kitchen; a guy from Alicante, Spain, two East Coast Canadians, a girl from Paris and a guy from Marseille, France, and another young guy from Hong Kong! Today we all ended up having breakfast together in the kitchen, it was really nice. I am attempting to learn Spanish - but I am not very good!
My room in residence! Sarah and I share a twin room with an ensuite bathroom (equipped with a shower) we live in Caledonian Court in the Eldon Building, on first floor - which in the UK means the second floor NOT ground floor. Sarah and I made that mistake on the first day when we walked into a room with someone sleeping in it, oops!
Stay tuned for even more adventures!
Cheers,
Meagan
No comments:
Post a Comment