itchin' for an update?

I am currently in Glasgow, Scotland. About 6 hours in the future of all you central timers, in a place where there is no daylight savings, but boy do they save daylight. The further I get into winter, the shorter the day will get... to a point that the sun will be setting at like 3pm or something.

This is a very different experience from Ecuador so far. In Ecuador I felt like I was exploring another world and discovering it on my own terms and for my own reasons. Here I have my little dorm room in a university that is full of beligerantly drunk "freshers" who play bagpipes at 3 in the morning. Ok so in hindsight that was pretty cool, but it is still very familiar in a very foreign way.

The City Center is a step off of campus and is full of shops and cafes. Signs like Starbucks and Subway grace the fronts of ancient, pollution stained, gargoyled buildings along with other trendy shops. Glasgow was an industrial city and not a tourist destination. And for this I am thankful. while I did take a double-decker open top tour around the city, Glasgow is not nearly as touristy as Edinburgh where there is a kilt shop on every corner (so I hear).

I have wondered why the international students stick together on WUs campus, and now I have an idea why. So far my roommates are international and we keep going to international student functions. I have encountered many a Scot, but not in the socially intimate way of a pub or what have you. So thus I went to the club fair. I signed up for SUDS the Strathclyde University Dance Society, the Strathclyde Fusion the radio station (catch my show mondays at 4pm) and the mountaineering club all for the sake of meeting Scots, who thus far have been exceptionally warm and friendly.

I am also looking for work and have targeted a small cafe close to campus called the Tinder Box which I will apply at tomorrow hopefully.

So here I am setting up my old life in a new town. But to get over how similar the lifestyle here his, I have to realize that this European tradition is where our country came from. As a white person in the US I have often wanted the cultural and traditional ties that so many people of color have. I am a mutt. There is German, Scotch Irish, English and French in me, but do I feel any tie, whatsoever, to any of these countries? Absolutely not. A white mutt.

But here people have traditions and cultures. Not that every person in every country in Europe is pure whatever, but there is still that national pride, personality and ancient history that keeps everyone united. So in a way, here I am discovering my ancestors and a piece of what could have been my culture in another universe.

Just my thoughts so far. Class starts tomorrow. Might travel to Edinburgh this weekend.
Cheers!
Madeline

Vocab:
Toilets- Bathroom
Timetable- Schedule
Brolly- Umbrella