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