My first days in St Andrews
So saturday evening I arrived in Scotland, and I felt right at home right away because I ended up sitting next to another swedish St A student on the plane. I realized he also studies there when we had just landed, so I asked him how he was getting to St A from the airport, and he said he would just take the bus. I was very lucky to meet him because even though I had checked the times for the bus I quite probably would have gotten lost without him. So him and I took the bus and the train together and had a chance to chat about life in Scotland. As a fourth year student he had alot of good tips to give me!! Very happy about that.
The first thing I noticed when coming in from the airport to the central part of Edinburgh is how unbelievingly beautiful that city is. I have never seen anything quite like it. Immediately I started making up scenarios in my head of me a couple of years from now moving to Scotland permanently and making a life for myself in Edinburgh. Let's see if that ever happens.
Unfortunately I did not take any pictures in Edinburgh, but I promise I will next time I am there!
So this is the hall that I live in. John Burnet Hall. Apparently it is the smallest hall on campus, and it is right next to the Old course and a really long beach called West sands. I find John Burnet to be a very nice hall with a friendly atmosphere. All catered students have breakfast, lunch and dinner together, so I am constantly surrounded by people. I really like that, and I am so happy I have started to make friends already.
So this is what the beach looks like. One of them, that is. There is supposed to be a pier too, but I have not been there yet.
And this is the golf course that we pass by when walking to the beach. We have literally just a three minute walk to the beach. We are so lucky to have been placed in John Burnet.
Two girls from my hall and I went for a run around the area this morning before breakfast. It was so nice! I honestly cannot imagine a better place for morning runs.
Yesterday we had the opening ceremony for undergraduate Arts and Divinity students, and the ceremony was really nice. They had a choir and an accapella group performing, and the different professors and heads of the university held speaches that were really inspiring and beautiful. They made me feel so blessed to be here.
We all got to sing the University anthem "Gaudeamus", which was in latin. From what I understood they do that for every opening ceremony. Oh, all the traditions. <3
And now you are probably wondering:
-Was there a man playing bagpipes outside the building when we walked in and out?
-Yes. Yes there was.
On sunday we had an introduction meeting for all the students living in John Burnet, and afterwards we had a BBQ in the back yard, where we all got a chance to mingle and get acquainted with different people. There are people from so many different places here! Many americans, alot of people from different parts of the UK, surprisingly many Scandinavians, some students from France, Australia so on. It is really nice. I feel like I have learned so much already just from talking to the people in my hall.
I did not take any pictures from the BBQ (I will post pictures of my friends as soon as I know them well enough to ask if they would mind being on my blog; this is only the third day so far and we are still getting comfortable with each other), I only took a picture of a type of fizzy drink that a girl convinced me to try that apparently is a very Scottish one. I think she said it is only sold in Scotland (not entirely sure though). The taste of it was good (for a fizzy drink; I am usually not too fond of them) but unidentifiable. I really cannot tell you what it tasted like.
Later that night there was this hall tournament thing called Clan Warfare, and everyone seemed to be super excited about it. But a girl called Jo and I said we were hesitant about going (drunk people, loud music; flashing lights: "yeah thanks but I think I'm gonna skip that one for now") so we both agreed on going to her kitchen and having tea instead, and after that we went for a walk along West Sands. It was really nice.
This is JBH seen from the kitchen in her corridor.
I unpacked all my things the first night, but now I have even pinned up a couple of pictures that I printed at home before coming here. I was hoping that I would get a pin board and I am really happy I did.
I went to advising yesterday (it's a compulsory part of the matriculation process) and I got to speak with a professor in German. Before even knowing who I was he started speaking German to me, and I am really proud of myself for understanding what he said and being able to respond (somewhat) properly. Ge gave me some information and said what German course it would be best for me to take. Then I went and spoke to a different professor and she said that all the courses I wanted to take were acceptable for my exchange year, so I am going to get to take all the courses I wanted to! I am taking anthropology, German and Theology. Super excited for the lectures to start.
Today Jo and I walked around town to find a couple of the books we will have to read. She is taking german too!! We went to a few charity shops and managed to find the module book and the first novel. I also found Anne Franks journal in german for only £2.49, so I got it and my goal for this year is to be able to finish it and actually understand it (with the help of a dictionary of course).
There are so many good shops in town, one of them being Paper Chase. I like that store so much that I even signed up for a loyalty card. Paper Chase is by far the best place I have found to buy notebooks. I mean, just look at this. ↑ I think I will need to go there and stack up on notebooks before leaving Scotland in May. They are so pretty.
I bought three notebooks today for taking notes during my lectures; one for each subject. Let's see how long they will last me (those of you that have ever studied with me knows that I write page after page with notes; more than I actually need to).
One thing I have noticed about coming to what can only be described as a very international social environment, is that I am not odd anymore for being a christian! I have met multiple people aready that are christian, and meeting even one my age in Sweden (unless you are in church) is so rare. It is nice not to be the exception for once in my life. To actually be able to sit in the lunch room and say things like "I'm think I'm going to church this sunday" without people rolling their eyes or making fun of you is so incredibly liberating.
Yes, I think you understand, I love it here so far. <3
Cheers!
