My Habitat

As nice as it was to have a sort of theme for the last entry, I'm not sure I can cohesively sum up all of the information I want to share in this entry. Instead, I'm just going to break it into little sections with talking points under each…

The Campus:
Usually when I visit other college campuses, I'm struck with a large sense of gratitude for the beauty of Grove City's campus. And, actually, The University of Stirling is no exception. I should also mention that I'm completely struck by the beauty surrounding this campus as well. The wildlife, loch and hills surrounding and dispersed throughout campus are gorgeous. However, the buildings themselves leave something to be desired. The University was built in the 60s, and that is, unfortunately, quite evident. The one exception is, of course, Airthrey Castle. Thankfully, there is so much greenery around campus that half the time it completely obscures the view of any buildings. If you could transplant Grove City's beautiful gothic architecture onto this spot of land, you would have the most attractive campus in the world.

The Flat:
The main residence halls where I live were designed by a man who also designed prisons. I'm not making that up for effect. It's actually a fact. And if you saw them, you would believe me. My room itself is quite cozy, and despite the fact that they apparently don't believe in top sheets here and that the pillow is one inch thick, I'm pleased with my room overall. There's plenty of storage, including a large storage shelf above the bed that could easily fit a few average-sized adults. Additionally, this storage unit locks…from the inside. You're welcome to venture a guess for how that was meant to be used.

The kitchen is decently equipped, and the common room has a couple tables and chairs. One of my flatmates described it as "Spartan," and I suppose that's a fair assessment. I think we're going to start taping interesting pictures/maps from our adventures on the walls to spruce the place up a bit.

I will mention the shower briefly because I find it interesting. There is a knob to adjust the temperature of the water…and then there is a large button. When you press the button, the water comes on at the set temperature for about 12 seconds. Then it stops. So you press the button again. It's efficient, I guess, once you learn to time it well and not end up with soap in your eyes during one of the dry spells. I'm just glad that I wasn't the first to use it, because I probably would have spent hours trying to figure out how to keep the button pressed down.

The Food:
Thankfully there was a French press in our flat when we arrived. I would have had to buy a coffee maker if they hadn't provided one, I think. They also left a small amount of food to get us started. This food included instant coffee. Now, back in the States, instant coffee is a fairly obscure substance. In fact, I'm not sure I would have known it existed except that I've used it in baking. I was shocked when I went to the grocery store here and found the largest assortment of instant coffee known to man. There was honestly a five foot span of shelving devoted to that horrible powder (I can call it that because in a bout of desperation, I actually made myself a cup the first night). Then, next to the death zone, there were two short shelves with about 3 varieties of real coffee grounds. Interesting…and not in a good way.

I haven't tried much local food yet. Today I had a caesar salad for lunch at a restaurant whose outdoor seating provided a gorgeous view of Stirling Castle. I didn't think to ask for the dressing on the side, but apparently I should have. When the waiter set it down in front of me, I noticed a nice lattice of dressing almost completely obscuring the lettuce from view. I did my best to shovel it to the side, only to discover that they had also layered the dressing every three centimeters down. I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing or if that particular restaurant just had issues.

(I also haven't had any local whiskey or beer yet, for those of you interested in that)

The Language:
So far I haven't had too much trouble understanding anyone's accent. This is also due to the fact that I haven't really been around the locals since I just arrived a couple days ago. The most interaction I think I've had has been bus drivers and people working registers at shops/restaurants. One thing that has struck me the most is the use of the word "quite." It is used quite liberally to describe quite a lot of things. I've had quite a difficult time keeping myself from picking up the habit. But seriously, though, if you are going to use an adverb or adjective and you want to fit in, just throw "quite" right in front of it.

Another interesting thing I've learned is that it's considered rude to say "excuse me." Instead you should say "pardon." This has been a bit difficult to remember, and I tend to use "excuse me" quite a lot. I'm sure the people around here are somewhat used to it by now, but I'm doing my best to reform.

The Weather:
According to all the locals who've spoken to us, we've had unbelievably good weather here. It's much like I've expected. It's been mostly sunny every day except for yesterday when it rained for the better part of the afternoon and evening. The temperature is generally around 60 degrees, though it varies greatly from minute to minute.

This is just a brief overview of life here so far. I need to head over to the campus pharmacy now to see if they have Benadryl or an equivalent, because something in the air is driving my eyes crazy! I'll most likely be updating again very soon to tell some more in story format. Cheers! (<--they say that a lot as well)