Random Musings

So I decided to make this blog post about some random things that have caught my interest and wouldn't fit into one of the "here's a post about my trip to blah-blah-blah".

First up: My name!!!
I guess it never really occurred to me, but Whitney is a thoroughly American name. No one here, or anywhere other than America I am assuming, has the name. I have some thoughts as to where the name Whitney gained popularity... more times than I can count, I've been endearingly called "Whitney Houston". In fact, when I received a package in the mail, the smart-ass mail man said, "Package for Whitney Houston". As much as I love to think that these people are simply referring to my wonderful singing prowess, I don't think my vocal talent is quite up to par with that other (slightly more famous) Whitney... This led me to search out the history of my name. I've learned that Whitney was/is a surname that came from a place-name meaning "White Island" in Olde English. It's use as a female first name was popularized first by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002), and then boosted even further by none other than (you've guessed it!) Whitney Houston (1963-hopefully forever). (source: http://www.behindthename.com/name/whitney)

Second: the list
I know, ambiguous title. After a month or so living at Glasgow, I started a list. This list has been posted on my bulletin board, and I don't think it will ever be complete. The title of the list reads simply: "Words people say wrong", and then there's a nice little arrow to clarify that these people are "Scottish/British". (Heaven forbid I refer to a Scotsman as British). There are odd pronunciations (aluminum, tomato, etc), to words that the other simply don't use (hen, chum, lad, squint, etc), to words that take on different meanings (pants, chips, fanny pack, etc), to words that mean the same thing but not used in the US (pavement=sidewalk, crossroads=intersection, porridge=oatmeal etc).

Third: Differences between Glasgow Uni and OU
There is quite a bit of difference between the way classes operate here, and the way they do at home. First, each class has quite a few different lecturers. Each lecturer will cover a different topic. For example, in psychology we have one lecturer for memory, another for language, yet another for the experimentation techniques, etc. Second, there appears a lot less of a reason to show up to classes. There aren't pop quizzes, no clicker questions, and no blanks on slides that need to be filled in. This makes it incredibly easy for me to convince myself that it's okay to skip class (sorry again mother). Third, the structure of most classes involves assignments (typically including an essay) that will make up about 25% of your grade, and then a final exam (both MCQ and free response essays) that will make up 75% (or at least half). This is an incredible amount of pressure to do well on that final exam! And an incredible lack of pressure to actually study throughout the semester! I can imagine that it will be much harder for me to learn all of the information because I will not have studied any of it until that final exam... Ack!!! And finally, there seems to be more of an emphasis on learning and studying by one's self, aka much less hand holding. All-in-all I can't say I prefer one system to the other... they're just different.

Fourth: Day-to-day differences

• the sun has been rising at around 8 am and setting around 4 pm. As I write this (4:04 pm), the sun is below the horizon
• fewer people own cars, have drivers licences. Perhaps because petrol (another to add to the list!) is so expensive
• which leads to this point: public transportation is SO much better! Buses go, literally, everywhere. There is a metro. Also, more people walk places.
• everything comes in generally smaller sizes/portions. From things at the grocery stores (deli meat, loafs of bread, sodas) to food when out to eat. I kinda like this. 
• people's sense of style is much.... better. I don't know if I notice this because I go to University in Oklahoma or what. But even older people just seem to have more of a fashion sense... Makes me feel left out! ;) And Americans who are my parent's age and older are SO easy to pick out of a crowd.
• Nobody wears backpacks. See above. Also note: this causes me to stand out.

This is all I can think of, off the top of my head. I'm sure there's plenty more.


Adios for now! I must say I will miss family this Thursday (Thanksgiving!!!) and Pumpkin Pie.

Still haven't forgotten about my promised "here's a post about my trip to blah-blah-blah" posts, with Aberdeen and Skye needing to be covered.

Love (quintessentially-American-in-name-only),
Whitney

Sisters see Scotland

Do you like my alliteration in the title of this blog post? :)

Sorry I've not updated the blog in a while! I've been too busy enjoying Scotland (as well as some films, naps, food, etc). Basically, I am just being too lazy to write a wee blog post (see what I did there? wee=small). After reading through my last blog post, which was quite exhausting, I'm gonna try and keep these more short, sweet and to the point!

Anyways, where to begin... Brianna visited me a couple weeks ago, or maybe it was more than a couple weeks. It was quite the challenge, as it always is when someone visits "your" city. I wanted to be sure her trip was worthwhile. So here's how I think I'll do this blog post, I'll start off with a play-by-play of things we did each day, followed by pictures from the various things, and then short stories about the pictures!!

Brianna arrived Tuesday Oct. 11th and left Saturday Oct. 15th.(Okay, I guess it has been a bit longer than a couple weeks).

Tuesday:
-Brianna and I meet up at the Bus Station where she caught a bus from Edinburgh
-we eat at Pinto (the closest equivalent is Chipotle), one of few Mexican places here
-drop off bags at my flat
-head to Tesco to buy food and drinks for the night
-pre-drink and then night out in Glasgow!!

Night out!!!

So a little tradition that started at my flat (now hosted elsewhere), is Tuesday night drinks followed by a night out clubbing! This night, we went to Kushion, where I had never been. My opinion that girls here don't get cold was confirmed... pretty much everyone I saw that wasn't in our group had on short dresses and high heels! Nevertheless, good fun was had. :)

Wednesday:
-I go to class in the morning
-meet up with Breeze

-we walk around the University (while Breeze hums Harry Potter)
-visit the Hunterian Museum
-visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

-journey to city centre and visit the Cathedral, and I am disappointed the Necropolis isn't open
-have a nice cup of coffee in a cool little coffee shop
-book tour for the next day, and call it an early night!

Part of the University of Glasgow!!

The main part of the University of Glasgow is gorgeous, and frankly, looks a lot like Hogwarts. Notice, it is wet out, a common occurrence in (especially western) Scotland. 

Hunterian Museum

Perhaps this is a little gross, but it is a preserved fetus in the uterus! It is apart of the Hunterian Museum. The Hunterian Museum contains the collections of Dr. William Hunter, and has many interesting medically related things!

Kelvingrove Museum

Kelvingrove Museum is huge. Like I don't think I could see all the exhibitions if I spent all day there. These hanging heads were really cool, all of them had different facial expressions! I told Breeze to make a face, then smiled. So nice of me. :) 

Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral is probably my favorite part of all of Glasgow so far. It is gorgeous, and I couldn't help but think of the heavens when walking through it. It is the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the Reformation. The University of Glasgow was also founded in this Cathedral in 1452!! (Take a moment to reflect on the fact that the University of Glasgow existed before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.)

Thursday:
-I skip all classes (sorry mom)! Wake up at 630 am
-meet in the City Centre at 8 am for a day tour of the highlands
-stops at:

• Loch Lomond
• Glen Coe and the Three Sisters
• Ben Nevis
• Fort Williams
• Loch Ness (longest stop, includes cruise of the loch)
• Pitlochry

 - finally arrive home at 8ish, get ready for a night out#
- head to a club called the Arches for a Ceilidh (cay-lee), aka traditional scottish dance
- dance the night away!!!!

Our tour bus from Timberbush tours!

 We spent hours in this bus travelling into the Highlands and back! The tour guide knew plenty of information (which I have since forgotten). Scotland is gorgeous! Looking out the windows, it felt like a dream. Unfortunately, none of those window pictures turned out too well. :(

Loch Lomond

 Loch Lomond was the first stop of the trip! I loved how the mist seemed to cling to the mountains... It felt so mysterious and quintessentially Scottish. 

Loch Ness

 We got to take a cruise on Loch Ness, and we kept our eyes peeled for Nessie, but didn't spot him/her/it. This was the main destination of our tour, and we probably stopped the longest here. One of many gorgeous lochs (lakes) in Scotland!

Ceilidh!

That night, after spending all day on a tour bus, we headed out to a ceilidh. Of course, we had to get a picture with someone in a kilt! It was pretty funny, because neither of us knew what we were doing. My Scottish friend Eleanor enjoyed making fun of our attempts to do the dances correctly (in fact she's still making fun of me to this day). I lucked out and danced with an equally clueless Chinese girl! Poor Breeze danced with a very serious, kilt-wearing Scot. He didn't seem too pleased when she, and the rest of our group, had no idea what we were doing!!!

Friday:
-I wake up absurdly early to revise for a test that I haven't been studying for
-meet up with breeze at 2, who had woken up at 1 (lucky her)
-catch a bus to Edinburgh around 4
-walk around Edinburgh at night
-meet up with friends from the hostel for a couple of pints

Edinburgh Castle at night!

 So, this didn't happen until Saturday, but I'm gonna go ahead and put the story here. Our Timberbush tour guide told us that there was a way to get into Edinburgh Castle for free. Of course we wanted to know how (who in the world would spend 14 GBP when you could get in for free?!). He told us that there is War Museum housed in the castle. All the museums, by law, must let you in for free. So we were supposed to go tell them that we were there to see the War Museum and they had to let us in for free. Of course, it took us a good 30 minutes (and when I say us, I mean Brianna) to work up the nerve to ask them. And when they did, they said, "Sorry you still have to buy a ticket!" LAW BREAKERS! Hahahaha. So we didn't end up seeing the castle, as I couldn't justify paying close to 30 quid for both of us to get in. 

Hostel companions and us!

We met some friendly guys from France, Ireland, and Germany! We got a couple pints with them, before I complained of exhaustion (Breeze probably slept 10 hours more than I had over the previous 3 days) and called it an early night, so we could get up early the next day to explore Edinburgh!!

Saturday:
-traditional Scottish breakfast (complete with haggis)
-walk around Edinburgh:

Holyrood Park

Royal Mile

Edinburgh Castle

Princess St

Scotts Monument

Parliament

Parliament Building

The parliament building is new and quite an architectural marvel (admittedly not as cool as Copenhagen). It would have been nice to get a free guided tour, but time was not on our side!

Holyrood Park

Holyrood Park is massive with big hills. We got our exercise for the day in by climbing and hiking around the park. It's kinda Scotland in miniature because of the various features including a small loch, beautiful green hills, and gorgeous scenery.

Scotts Monument

 We climbed up a couple hundred steps (256 I believe) to reach the top of Scotts Monument. At the very end, almost comically, the winding staircase got extremely narrow with very little head room. A friend from Edinburgh has said that she's afraid she'll get stuck in trying to go up (or down) behind some fat and obnoxious American (love the stereotyping). 

Edinburgh Castle

 This castle was PACKED with people and tourists everywhere. Unlike Glasgow, Edinburgh has more of an international feel (at least where we were) because all of the tourists walking around. Breezy informed me (multiple times) that she likes Edinburgh a lot more than Glasgow. It's kinda funny, but I almost felt offended that she said that, and felt the need to defend Glasgow. Am I turning into a Glaswegian?!? Just as long as I don't develop the strong and impossible to understand Glesga accent.


THE END!!!

As a final treat, I'll leave you with pictures of Breeze enjoying some treats that Scotland is somewhat renowned for. Fried Mars Bar and Irn Bru!!!

Fried Mars Bar!!!

IRN BRU (Iron Brew)

PS. Quick real time update!! Life is going good, just finished off pretty much the only assignments I have to do all semester. I am more than halfway through the term at Glasgow, sad to say. It's sad to me that in a little over a month I'll be leaving my friends here. Glasgow is as rainy as ever, and it's getting colder. Not gonna lie, I really want some snow. Also, it's dark by 5 and the sun doesn't rise until at least 730. Really long nights... And the days are only going to get shorter from here! :( It's too bad I don't get to experience the opposite in the summer, where the days will be much longer than "normal" (whatever normal is).

Adios from Scotland! I'll try and update with my other trips soon! (Aberdeen and Isle of Skye)