I Don't Think We're In Elon Anymore

I chose St Andrews because I wanted to go Europe and not have to study a language or experience major culture shock. HA! Clearly I didn't do my research. So over the past few days, I've found myself asking "Umm, what does [insert strange Scottish word] mean?" upwards of 100 times. Here are the fun sayings I've picked up so far:

Knew to expect-
Crisps=chips
Chips=fries
Biscuit=cookie
Boot= trunk (as in car)
Trousers=pants
Dodgy=sketchy

Who knew-
Jumpers=sweaters
Trainers=sneakers
Pavement=sidewalk
Half #=# thirty (as in half 8 for 8:30)
Pot noodles=ramen
Chav/NEG/hoodies=gangster,ghetto
Uni (short for university)=college

And don't forget, all of this is said with a thick Scottish accent.

In addition to all these new words, the Scottish also have some pretty strange customs and traditions. First off, 18 is the legal drinking age, but just about everyone started drinking at 10. (It's a nation of alcoholics.) So unlike colleges in the states, which discourage drinking and punish offenders, St Andrews supports it. Case in point, the seniors on our hall (more or less RA's and Orientation leaders) take us out for pub crawls and host fancy dress (costume) parties with a free vodka bar. Even the warden's meeting was followed by a wine reception. The best (meaning cheapest and last to close) bar is in the Student Union, so everyone ends up there at the end of the night. It's a completely different attitiude towards drinking.

I've also been introduced to another Scottissh tradition, the Ceilidh (pronounced cay-lee). It's a Scottish dancing party. Our hall hosted one last night, and I figured I'd go make a fool out of myself. Several of the (Scottish) guys wore kilts, which I thought was really cool. The majority of us had no idea what we were doing, but fortunately there were directions and some Scots to lead the way. The best way to describe it is a line dance or square dance mixed with ballroom. Once I caught on, it was really fun. We have another on Sunday for the whole school hosted by local residents. Now that I kind of know what to expect, I think I'll go and show off my Ceilidh skills.

By the way, I totally plan on bringing both my new words and my Scottish dancing back to the states

Planes, Trains, and Freshers Week

I've been here for 4 days now and haven't had time to sit down at my computer long enough to post until now. The whole journey here was long, but it went very smoothly. I learned pretty quickly that asking for help is a good thing. Everyone was really helpful, from telling me what stop to get off the bus to literally carrying bags up 2 flights of stairs (elevators not so much at the train station). I got to take a taxi, which drove on the wrong side of the road. Of course I knew it would do that, but it still seemed very strange. The Scotland countryside is beautiful, so picturesque. Driving into the campus was a cool experience. We went past the golf course and came through the town.

I finally got to University Hall around 5 and was shown to my room. The hall is a huge stone building that remind me of a castle. It's really old so all the rooms are unique. Mine is a single in the corner up on third floor. It's rather small, but nice. Once the radiators start working, it'll be even nicer. I've met a lot of the people on my hall so far. We have meals together and participate in "Freshers Week" activites, which is like orientation.

I've gone into town several times, and I've absolutley fallen in love with it. As soon as I can figure out how to post pictures, I'll put some up. The University buildings are scattered throughout the town. My hall is on the west end. Three main streets run parallel east to went, all ending at the old catherdral ruins. It's a very small, quiant town. I've seen a lot of really fun shops, but I'm trying not to spend all my money (bad exchange rate!) so only window shopping so far. Well, except for Tesco's (grocery store) and Woolworth's (everything else store). I go there one or more times a day to buy stuff as I realize I need it.

After several attempts, I got a phone, so now I can call home. The phone is crap, but it was really sheap and it's not to expensive to call the states. With the 5 hour time difference, I've had some difficulty (mostly because I can't subtract). I've vowed to be online more, and to stay addicted to Facebook, so hopefully keeping in touch won't be too hard.

One More Day

Packing (aka, trying to fit 3 months of my life in 2 bags) I basically had no idea how to go about doing this, so for the last four days I've been mostly making lists and eventually piles that covered my WHOLE floor. It got pretty ridiculous. I've never been good at packing light, or packing at all for that matter. Amazingly, with more than a day to go, I am completely done. I have two bags stuffed, weighing in at 50lbs each. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but at least I know that there wouldn't have been room for it anyway. I can't believe I actually leave tomorrow. It seems like I've been waiting forever. I'm finally starting to get excited. There's still so much I'm not sure about, but at this point I figure there's no use worrying. I'll figure it all out when I get there.