RECAP: Friday and Saturday

If you haven't read the last post then you should scroll down and check it out, because Thursday was one of my favorite days in Scotland thus far. You can't beat a tour of a whisky distillery, a hike up a hill/mountain, and Robbie Burns Night all in one day. I'll continue now with another summary of how things went during the time I was without the internet.

Friday morning I woke up, a bit saddened by the fact that I would be leaving Inverurie. We'd only been together since Wednesday night, but already I'd made strong bonds with my Scottish family. At the same time I was excited to finally go to Aberdeen, move into my dormitory, and meet my flatmates. It was very bittersweet.

After eating breakfast, I said goodbye to Emma, who was walking to school, and then I rode with Allison and Michael to Peter's house, were the four of us were meeting to go to Aberdeen via taxi. I gave my little buddy Michael a handshake, wished him well in football, and told him I would be back to visit soon. Alison walked me to the door and gave me a hug and an open invitation to come visit anytime. I told her I would be taking her up on that offer very soon.

I chatted with Peter while we waited for the others. Soon Corey and Kathy had arrived, and David woke up and came down from his bedroom. The taxi pulled up at 9:00am, and after we thanked Peter for everything we were off to the Granite City of Aberdeen.

We arrived at the dormitory and checked in before splitting up and going to our own flats. Upon first entering my own I was greeted by the sight of a completely destroyed kitchen. Noticing the pint glasses littered about, I assumed that there must have been a party Thursday night and I hoped that the current condition was an exception and not the norm. The apartment was dead quiet and I passed the time by moving into my room.

A few hours passed and finally a flatmate peeked out his rather hungover head. Mark immediately apologized for the messy kitchen. Soon the apartment was stirring with life, and I met two more of my flatmates, Tommy and Adrian. I was pleased to discover that all of them are Scotsmen. There's also a few others who come and go in the flat, mostly their Scottish friends. They all welcomed me with open arms.

I went with Corey, David, and Kathy to meet our international advisor at a local coffee shop at 3:00. Colleen was nice and helpful, and afterwards she showed Corey and I where the athletic complex was while the other two went home. Corey then came up with the brilliant idea to walk to the beach. By this time it was dark (here the sun sets at 4:30 in winter), and after about an hour of walking east we found the bitterly cold North Atlantic Sea. We made our way back, darting across a major highway and a golf course. It was quite the adventure.

When I got home my flatmates were preparing for a night out, and I did the same, and we ended up going to the pub for a couple pints before heading to a house party. I didn't stay long because I had to be at school at 9:00am for orientation. So I said goodnight to my flatmates, found my way home, and collapsed on my bed.

Saturday morning I woke on time, somehow, and made my way to campus. After a rather boring orientation, I killed some time by going shopping at the local discount grocery store, Lidl's. At the Uni, Lidl's has a rather notorious reputation for food that is both rock-bottom cheap and rock-bottom horrible. But because the conversion rate is so strong here ($2 = £1... meaning my money is pretty much split in half), I really needed some cheap food. So I wandered over and saw that it wasn't quite as bad ad people make it out to be. I picked up some bare necessities.

Afterwards I wandered over to the Hub, the local student hangout spot, and I met some more Americans that were sitting with Kathy. Then I went to my class registration appointment, and although things didn't quite go as planned, I ended up in two good English classes (Modernism and Scottish Literature:1800-1940). I wandered home and killed some time before taking part in a welcome back party my flatmates were throwing. It mostly involved me teaching them some interesting card games, a very large bottle of Frosty Jack's, and me not feeling too well the next morning. That's all I'll say about that here.

That seems like as good of a point to stop as any. We're almost caught up on the major events, and when we are that'll free me up for more fun posts on local Scottish life and culture. Until next time.

Cheers,
Jacob