A week in the life

Hey again

Disclaimer: Some of these posts will be out of order

A week in my life really varies from week to week. I live in a five bedroom/ five bathroom flat with a shared kitchen, I take a city bus to and from school four times per week, and most of my meals I eat at home. On the weekends some friends and I might go try a new pub because there are so many here and there is so little time to try them all. During the week however it's school, school work, and occasionally I'll watch a TV show online. Up until last week, I went to my school's gym around three to four times per week until I hurt my foot, which is a shame because I love going. All in all, my week tends to be fairly relaxed and fortunately all of my classes have been moving at a very steady pace and I do not feel nearly as stressed out by them or the coursework as I have experienced in the past at my home university. There is a Sainsbury's within my student accommodation, which is similar to a Walgreens although with more of an emphasis on food, and it is very convenient to walk five minutes to pick up some supplies for any meal of the day. A little bit further of a walk is Lidl which is a small grocery store, and I try to go there about once a week. It's a good place for buying things to make sandwiches, breakfast, and quick meals. I am very fortunate to have such easy access to all of these places every week. It has made the transition from home to here much easier.

The first month

Today, October 6th, 2014, marks one month that I've been in Scotland.
I honestly can't believe that it's already been that long (or that short actually). I've met the coolest people, and have experienced some of the greatest things I ever have in my life. Within this one month I've settled into a new town in a new country, made new friends, tried new foods, been to the highlands, started my junior year of college, hiked an extinct volcano, seen a country vote for its independence, walked more than I have in my life, and been in, above, and below one of Europe's oldest towns. The people in this country have all been fantastic, and I love everywhere I've been. It seems like we still have so much longer here, but we really don't and, while it will be great to return to my family and friends, I'm going to be really sad when I have to leave the new people I've met as well as this whole country in general, even though it's temporary. I have already learned new things in school as well as outside of it, about my surroundings, about people, and definitely about myself. We have a few trips booked already, about all of which I am ecstatic. So I'm going to continue to enjoy these next couple of months in this beautiful part of the world with new friends and really make the absolute most out of this experience. It's crazy to think that right now I'm living in a period of my life on which I will be able to look back in fifty years; at that point I'll be saying "Back when I studied abroad in Scotland,", but right now I'm still living it and I know that as a whole, this will be one of the greatest experiences of my entire life- I just won't notice that completely until it's in the past and I look back in retrospect. So I want to make that looking-back experience one hundred times better and more vivid for myself. I am so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity, for my friends new and old, for my good health, and definitely for the support of my family through all of this.

Entry #1

Pre-departure thoughts: What are you expecting from this experience? What do you think your host country
and host culture will be like? What are you most excited about? What are you most nervous about?

Before leaving for this trip, I surprised myself at how nervous I wasn't; all the months leading up to the trip I figured that as it got closer to the day I leave I would get really nervous and want to back out of it. But I worked an incredible amount over this past summer for the sole purpose of funding this trip, so I think that once it came down to the time for me to leave, I was ready. The only thing I've really been expecting from this trip is just an incredible experience, and even within my first 24 hours here I've received just that. Within that "incredible experience" to be specific would be travelling around the country and maybe a few other places in Europe, a great education at a great university, and to enjoy as much as I can with the new people that I meet. I am most excited about October in Edinburgh. Autumn is easily my favorite season, so in Edinburgh it has to be even better. I am also equally excited for Halloween and the Christmas season here in Edinburgh as well. I'm from Georgia so I'm also very much looking forward to seeing some snow for once. The only thing that I'd say I'm nervous about is starting school, just because of being in a new environment with people I don't know, along with getting to and from uni on time via buses and getting used to figuring out which bus to take and when/ from where. Other than that, I am just beyond happy to be here, so I am and will continue trying my best to take anything that's thrown my way.