Settling Into Glasgow

I'm not sure if it has been a year, 5 days, or 3 seconds but I am beginning to feel at home in Glasgow. Time has flown by during my first week in Glasgow but I also feel as if I have already been able to take in so much of the city. My days have been filled with International Orientation events which have been right down my alley as I am spending my days constantly meeting new people. My favorite event of the week was the Cèilidh I attended. A Cèilidh is a traditional Scottish gathering that revolves around dancing. It was a lot of fun to learn the traditional dances with others from around the globe.

I did experience my first bit of culture shock while playing a round of trivia at an orientation event. I was the only student from the United States on my team and readily answered the question, "who wrote the book Green Eggs and Ham?". When I shouted out, "Dr. Seuss!" my table looked at me with pure confusion on their face... no one from France, Germany, or China had ever heard of Dr. Seuss. Little did I know that Dr. Seuss was such an American thing.

I have found it very interesting that there are many other "study abroad" students from all of Europe here. They find this to be a big trip for themselves where many of us American students travel farther to our regular Universities back in the states. When talking to a German study abroad student I was too caught up in how close they actually are to Scotland to realize that the UK is an island so I asked them if they drove here... the midwestern way of road-tripping everywhere overtook my common sense on that one.

The steepest learning curve has come with cars driving on the other side of the road. I didn't realize how much it would mess me up until I started looking the wrong way before I walked out into oncoming traffic... multiple times... I am still learning.

The biggest thing that has stood out to me so far is how nice the people are here. Everywhere I go the locals are more than willing to help assist me. They say that Glaswegians won't just tell you how to get somewhere but they will walk you there then invite you over for a cup of tea afterwards and I have to say that is very accurate. I hate to say it but "Minnesota Nice" has some major competition.

The weather has been very interesting to get used to. I have learned to match my outfit with my raincoat of the day and give up my straightening my hair as either the rain or 80% humidity will send my hair back to its natural state. The rain decides to come whenever it pleases and the wind is a constant force. The gloomy weather isn't horrible though and just makes the times the sun shines even more exciting!

International Orientation week has treated me very well, now I am looking forward to Freshers' Week and all the more events to come!