last days before classes start

So I want to start out by saying thank you to those who left me comments! It is so fun to read them! Keep 'em coming!
So it has become pretty clear that I will have to update about every two days or so, unless things slow down, because I begin to forget things after that. Let me start with Monday because that is where I left you off. Last entry was pretty detailed, but I seemed to get good feedback so I'm gonna keep trying to fill you in. Extra goody for this issue of lochedupabroad: pictures! See end for link.

So after a failed attempt to wake up early (on account of rain and what I think still might be jet lag and/or laziness) and conquer the class schedule problem and hike the wallace monument (which overlooks campus), char, calla and I decided to make moves towards the atrium for lunch and orientation thangs. We got to check out the freebie fayre (got some popcorn, a bottle opener, and some discount booklets. not bad.) Since we still didn't have any groceries and we were already there, we explored one of the other on campus dining options for lunch. On the bottom floor of the atrium is a dining hall type eatery called Haldanes (after one of the founders of the university, I believe). Food was pretty cheap and very hearty. We had the "classic combination platter," or basically the nonvegetarian hotmeal option. It was broccoli (delicious), potatoes (also delicious), chicken with gravy (not bad but a little dry), and chicken and lentil soup (sort of like baby food but also delicious). Jason would be happy to know that I tried the lemon fanta. VERY delicious. The meal was reallly filling.
After lunch we headed upstairs to the study abroad student orientation meeting. We learned how to read the class schedules (an impossible system) and how to register for our seminars (discussion/tutorial sessions). The meeting facilitator was Beth Shotton, the international/study abroad advisor. She seems really nice and approachable, and I am sure I will be bombarding her in the future with random concerns. She has a pretty interesting back story actually. As I understood it, she was born in Kansas, studied abroad at Stirling, met a guy, came back to get her masters at Stirling, and got married in Prague to the guy she met while studying abroad there (arich are you dying right now?). Since then she has been working at the university and has acquired a very interesting kansas/scotland accent. very cool.
They also had a speaker who has been a professor in the US and Scotland tell us about the differences between university learning here and at home. It was pretty helpful and interesting actually. I learned that professors have to report to an external education board that has the authority to tell them to rewrite their tests if something is unfair. That means there is a lot less flexibility for the professors to just decide to do whatever they want, which can be a problem sometimes in classes I've been in in the past. On the other hand, lectures are not very interactive, and they put a lot more emphasis on independent study and hold you accountable for reading assignments. I will let you know how true this is for my classes when I've adjusted to them. Right now I am registered for 3 classes at 5 credits each (which is worth the same as a normal semester at umd).I am currently registered for aquaculture, conservation biology, and environmental science field and lab techniques. Hopefully soon I will be switching out of aquaculture for an environmental policy and management class because the former conflicts with my 2nd class and the latter doesn't meet on fridays (good for traveling).

So after the meeting we went back to the apartment. We planned a trip to the grocery store to get some food for the apartment so we didn't have to keep buying food. We went to Tesco in town, which is a grocery store chain. It was pretty standard. Some of the product names were slightly different. Some that I can think of now are: angel soft toilet paper=andrex, bounty=plenty, frosted flakes=frosties, and eggplant had some funny name that I can't remember. We also discovered that here, what we know as a milky way is called a mars bar, and what we know as a three musketeer is called a milky way. very confusing but delicious nonetheless. Another confusing thing was when we went to get deli meat, we asked for a pound and a half and she responded in a scottish accent with the question "in weight or in money." A reasonable question, if I had expected it or could understand here (scotland is on the british pound for currency). Anyway, we got it in weight and slowly made our way to the checkout. Ended up being pretty fairly priced for the first big shop. Barsky, I kept thinking of that picture of you on your first grocery store trip in italy and how much harder it must have been!
The grocery store itself was pretty overwhelming, but the hardest part was carrying everything back to the apt. we took a bus but we had soo much stuff. we later learned the best way to get around this is to get a ride from someone, or get a group of about 5 people to get a cab (which are usually van size) and split the cost, which would end up being a pound or 2 a person. totally worth it. will have to look into it.

We were so exhausted from the trek that we heated up some frozen pizza for dinner and got ready to go out. Charlene/Calla's next door neighbors were having a get together so we went over to hang out for a while. At some point, i got up to go back to charlenes to look something up on the computer real quick. About a minute after I sat down at the computer, a drunk dude waltzed into the apartment and into charlene's room. I was alarmed, but soon realized he was drunk and confused. I told him that this wasn't his flat but he didnt seem phased. He then proceeded to take off his shirt, which I decided was no longer surprising and started to be scary (don't worry this story ends well). So I went out of charlenes room to distance myself and calla comes down the hall because she saw the kid (later known as kevin) walk into the apartment. Well, like any gentlemanly scot, he helped himself to charlene's bed and made himself comfortable. gross. calla and i tried to explain to him how he was in the wrong place and that he needed to leave. With very little success, we went next door to call for reinforcements. Luckily, char/calla's roommate tom, an actual scottish gentleman, came to the rescue and coerced the fool out of the room. When Kevin finally realized what was going on, he let tom escort him out. From here on is only heresay, but quite hilarious. So tom helped him home, even though kevin did not know where his home was. All of a sudden kevin jets off into the night, without realizing tom still has his keys. But since tom is a gentleman, he chased after kevin so he could have his keys and finally deduced where kevin lived. turns out kevin lives in the same building, same apt, same room, just one stairwell over. He accidentally went up the wrong steps and ended up in char's room. Tom solved the mystery and made sure he was safe and sound. The best part is I live one tower over from charlene. Turns out Kevin is my next door neighbor, though i am sure he remembers very little of it. It was surely interesting, but I am hoping that once classes start these freshman start to slow down. Not sure I can tolerate all their drunken tomfoolery all semester.

Later we left the flat to check out the bar in the atrium. It was low key and pretty cozy and so we hung out there. Here is where Craig (he wants you to pronounce it crayg) enters the picture. Craig was a drunken (whose surprised) graduate who sat down to have a chat. He had an awesome scottish accent and kept saying really funny drunken scottish things. He kept yelling 'Ey Fred!' to one of the guys that was working and would ask him questions i.e. 'Ey Fred! Whats me last name?' Very entertaining. We ended up running into some other study abroad students and so we hung out with them and made plans to hang out during the day sometime. Enter Lydia and Lexy (see picture link for faces).

Tuesday we woke up and made ourselves some delicious breakfast with our new groceries (this is where the pictures start from) and got ready to head into town to pick up some bedding and take some awesome touristy pictures. We needed and wanted some pictures of stirling but didn't want to seem too touristy, so we figured if we did it all at once we would get it over with. The pictures of Stirling on the album are all from this day. We walked on the bridge that William Wallace fought on, enjoyed the scenery, and walked into town.

We met up with my flatmate mike who was nice enough to help us out in the mall and give us a ride back to campus. I took the rest of the afternoon to finish unpacking and make my bed and clean up a bit. For dinner we made sandwiches; turkey, cheddar, and avocado on thick bread with fruits and veggies. The fruit seems a lot less genetically modified here. Smaller and fresher tasting.

We were very proud so we took some pictures. After dinner we showered and coordinated to have a few other study abroad students over. See pictures for details. It was a fun night. I have a feeling we will be hanging out as a group again. Still no sign of the last roommate, by the way.



SO. Wednesday was the first day of classes and charlene and I had a 9am-1pm class. We woke up early so we would have time to find our classroom. Well, we got there to find the classroom didn't exist. Skipped right over the number. We asked someone who looked important enough and he actually took us to our professor. We met him (Dr. Kim Jauncey), and he told us that PK9 actually doesn't exist. Now picture this in an accent 'We actually expanded some of our laboratories and they absorbed some of the other classrooms so they don't exist anymore." How very hogwarts of them. Well, we didn't have to go to class so all was well. And now we know which room to go to. With all the time in the world we decided to hand in our forms to switch classes and headed back to the apartment. My body wasn't used to waking up that early and so while fixing a problem with my itunes i fell into a coma and could not be woken. I don't even remember falling asleep. When I woke up I uploaded the pictures and then went over to their place to have lunch. We had sandwiches again, but we were lucky enough to hear some bagpipes off in the distance! It was so magical. It felt so scottish. I was really excited to hear my first bagpipes, and it was so much better than I could have imagined. They were off in the distance, and they played for a long time. It was so authentic and natural. Wonderful. I can't wait to see it upclose.

After lunch we went back to tesco to grab a few odds and ends. When we got back to campus we walked around and explored places we hadn't been before and took some more pictures. On the link you can see how beautiful and naturey the campus is.


We spent some time apart doing random things at our own flats and then I came back latter to make dinner. We had turkey nuggets shaped like dinosaurs, broccoli, and mash (mashed potatoes that we added onions and garlic to.) So good. The rest of the night was relaxed, did some video chatting, and here I am. I promised myself I would go to bed before midnight. well its 1:48 now so I guess that didn't happen. Tomorrow I will hopefully have real class, and so I will tell you how it goes. Also on the agenda for tomorrow is a stop at the open mic at the atrium where Tom (char/calla's flatmate) will be playing his bagpipe(!) and a look see at the radio station meeting.

Until next time, enjoy these photos <--click the word

I still haven't mastered my camera, so please ignore the lack of focus in some of the pictures. The pictures include some of campus, some of stirling city centre, my dorm room, our yummy meals, and some new friends.

As for the decision on whether to sign my entries or not, I remember how Alanna used to sign her abroad emails with a relevant phrase and her name. i.e., love and gelato, Alanna. I think I am going to try that because I enjoyed reading it so much. SO

Love and bagpipes,
Amanda