Time flies...

Classes are about to begin, and I've already been in Scotland for two weeks! I guess it's true what they say... time flies when you're having fun!

The first week was "International Orientation". This consisted of, as previously stated, some boring meetings, but also a few bit more fun things. For instance, I had the opportunity to take a trip to Sterling Castle and Glengoyne Distillery!!!

Below are two pictures from Sterling Castle.

The castle was pretty neat, and as far as the history goes, in short it was in a vital position in Scotland and changed hands frequently between the English and Scottish.

I would say more, but I had a hard time hearing anything because our tour group was so large.

Glengoyne distillery was a whisky (people in the states would probably call it "Scotch") distillery that is apparently known for their fruitiness, and lack of smoke or peat. The older the whisky is, the more expensive it is. The whole concept reminds me a bit of wine... As in, I doubt I would be able to taste too much of a difference between 10 year old whisky and 40 year old whisky, but I most definitely would feel it in my pocketbook. I had the opportunity to taste a "wee dram" of Glengoyne's 10 year old whisky, and found that it tastes like... alcohol. It would be similar to me to having a glass of vodka... Don't quite see the point. But nevertheless, whisky is what the Scots are known for.

That brings up another thing... In addition to being known for whisky, Scotland also has it's very own soda that outsells all Coke and Pepsi products. Its called Irn Bru (pronounced iron brew), and tastes remarkably like bubble gum. Why it is orange, I have no idea. I have had Irn Bru twice now, and no diet Dr Pepper amazingly enough.

The other thing that happened during the "Orientation Week" that deserves mentioning was a city tour. We hopped on a charter bus for a 2 hour whirlwind tour of the city. Now, I will have to go visit all of these places on my own because a bus tour just does not suffice.



Now, moving on... the week after the Orientation Week was Freshers' week. Basically, think a freshman (here they are known as freshers) orientation, with parties put on by the student unions at night.

Another side note: the US Universities have student unions, but they are just buildings with various student services and places to eat. The student unions in the UK are a student body and a place. They have a voice on campus, they have different committees, throw themed parties, as well as host other events. Glasgow Uni is unique, because where most unis have one union, Glasgow has two. They are awfully competitive with one another, it reminds me a bit of fraternity rivalry. Technically you are only supposed to join one, but I am told there are ways around this. The two unions are:
-Queen Margaret Union, traditionally the girl's union, but now it has a bit more of a quirky reputation from what I gather. They also have a lot of cool gigs at their venue.
-Glasgow University Union, traditionally the male union. They remind me of the "popular kids"
Needless to say, people from both unions are very nice. Perhaps this is only because they want me to join theirs??

Anyhoo, so each day is filled with various events and each night, each union has a different party. Some highlights include: headphone disco at the QMU where you have a pair of headphones and get to choose between which two DJ's you want to listen to, jungle themed party at the GUU where some friends and I dressed up like lions with onesies, a T-shirt party where you sign everybody else's T-shirt (I ended up with a number written on my shirt among other things... but it was signed Amy) and various other nights. It was tons of fun.

Classes started today, so perhaps it is time I gave my liver a break... I'll save things about class for another post.

Thanks for reading!