In the words of Ja'mie King... this is random

Aloha from Scotland. While this post has far less content than previous ones, IT DOES SERVE A PURPOSE!

First, I need to address something that has been bugging me... Before leaving for Glasgow, my Mom gave me envelopes with postage already on them so I could send out thank you notes from Christmas when I got over here. Like the good nephew/grandson I am, I wrote the notes on the plane, and sent them out the day I got to Scotland... Yesterday a postman came to the door with my letters, which had been rejected by the Royal Mail. So: Grandma and Grandpa McQuillan and Wilson, Robbie Marion and Livi, and Uncle Al, my apologies that my thank you note never made it to you overseas!!

Second, as I promised, hello Emily Anne Wilson. You can go ahead and make this your homepage now.

Third, I would like you all to know that if you ever plan on making a PB&J for lunch in the UK, make sure you call it "peanut butter and JAM"... apparently jelly here is actually Jello.

Fourth, Grandma McQuillan I saw the video you left with Abby and Ella. I'm glad to see you're putting the mac to good use, and no worries, all I've been doing since I arrived in Glasgow is studying.......

That's about it for today. Hope everything is well wherever you are reading this!

Not to Get Political...

1.25.2009

So obviously this past week has been a big one for the United States. While I know very well my friends and family share veeery different views on politics, I think it's safe to say it was pretty amazing on Tuesday to watch an African American man be sworn in as our new President. Republican, democrat, anarchist or whatever, it was definitely a day American's (and people all around the world) are going to remember for the rest of their lives.

Tuesday afternoon a huge group of my American friends and I were scrambling to find a good place to watch the inauguration. Finally we stumbled upon Curler's, our host every Monday for 1 pound student nights. The upstairs was fully dedicated to coverage of the inauguration which we were very happy to hear. All in all we had a group of about 20 kids from America, Canada, Germany, Scotland and some other countries who were all there to witness history. Politics aside, Tuesday was a great day for our country abroad. From talking to friends from all around the globe, it is safe to say the world is more hopeful for America. We seem to have lost our way in recent years which is reflected in the attitudes many people have towards Americans, and I really think this is our chance to restore our image around the world.

To keep on this topic of national pride (I know it's a stretch), Thursday night the international society held their infamous "Global Village" to celebrate the different countries represented at the university. It was great to see the 40+ countries represented through food booths and cultural performances. At one point in the night a group of Malaysian dancers picked people out from the crowd to come up and dance with them on stage, and due to my striking good looks and ungodly dance moves, I was among the chosen ones (look for the tall, goofy kid in the black shirt in the picture at right).

For a quick update on academics: Thursday I had my first bagpiping lesson which proved much more difficult than I thought it would be, but come May it's safe to say I'll be piping on the streets of Glasgow for a little pocket money. With my schedule of 3 days of class, I've had some great opportunities to explore the city some more this week. This weekend some friends and I wandered through the city center to Glasgow Green (on the right) and the People's Palace located right along the River Clyde, bisecting the city. From there we made our way back to the city center for a nice Italian dinner followed later in the night by a failed attempt at karaoke... maybe next time.

This coming week should be a good one. I've got bagpiping again on Wednesday, and Thursday morning my class "Exploring Scottish Culture" is going on a field trip to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. I really think BC should consider field trips for some of their classes. Thursday night I'm taking the night bus from Glasgow to London for the weekend to meet up with my friend Claire who is studying at the University of Westminster, and our friend Brett who is stopping in for the weekend on his way to Budapest. Should be a great weekend. I should also note, for those of you who know him, the "traveling baby head" formerly known as Padraig will be making his 2009 European Debut somewhere along the Thames by the end of the week.

Hope that everyone is doing well and that I hear from you all soon!

Edinburgh

1.18.09

What a weekend! Friday night there was not too much going on, so I decided to go over my friend Ben’s apartment who lives with a huge mix of people from different countries. It was a great night filled with the cultural exchanges of different drinking games, and was really a fun way to get to know another 8 people on campus. They represented Canada, Sweden, Poland, Northern Irelandand then two were from Scotland. Afterwards I met up with some international friends who are studying in Glasgow and we went to cheesy pop for some good old American pop music. It was a late night, which I would regret the next morning for Saturday was the day we left for Edinburgh!

Eight o’clock Saturday morning came VERY early, and by nine we were on a bus headed from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I guess I really didn’t think about how close the two cities are, but after only 45 minutes on the M8, we were in Edinburgh city center! As we exited the bus, we could see Edinburgh Castle towering above us on a massive cliff, with a row of old medieval buildings lining the ridge which the fortress sat on top of. This is known as the “Royal Mile”, or High Street. At the summit of the street sits Edinburgh Castle, and at the bottom is Hollyroodhouse where Queen Elizabeth stays when visiting Edinburgh. On our trek from the city center to the Royal Mile, we made stops at the National Museum of Scotland, the Sir Walter Scott Memorial, and the Balamore Hotel where JK Rowling wrote the last sentences of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We were all pretty hungry at that point, so we decided we would grab some food from where Harry Potter was actually born. The Elephant House is a small cafe just off the Royal Mile, and holds the title of "Birthplace of Harry Potter". Obviously that got me excited!

After about a 5 minute walk up a massive arched bridge, we found ourselves on the Royal Mile. The buildings were all made of stone, the streets lined with cobblestone, and “Scottish heritageshops every five feet. As we walked up the street toward the castle, I’m a little disappointed to say we passed
a Subway and two Starbucks... Really corporate America? Stops we made along the walk included St. Giles Cathedral which sits in a square just outside the old Scottish Parliament Building. Just across from there are the City Chambers building. Further up the street is the Scottish Whiskey Experience, and directly across from that the Museum of Kilts and Tartan. This was the most Scottish street I’ve ever seen!

Finally we reached the castle, a mammoth structure which looked like it was hanging over the edges of a cliff on three sides. Because of its location, there was no moat filled with alligators, but obviously it was still a very impressive building! Once inside the building, you can climb up onto the walls of the old Castle which gives you an incredible view of the city below. From this point you can see the Firth of Forth which stretches out to the North Sea filled with ships and tankers full of haggis and whiskey (not really… I don’t know what was in them). Also inside the castle were exhibits on the history of the royal family, a memorial for fallen soldiers from Scotland, and an underground exhibit on the prisoners of Edinburgh Castle.

After the castle we made our way back down the Royal Mile to where a shuttle bus would pick us up to go to our hostel which was about 20 minutes outside the city. It was right on the shore of the Firth of Forth with incredible views of the ocean and Fife across the way. The hostel was really nice too, we had two rooms of six and it only cost about 6 pounds per person! That night we went back into the city for dinner, and then met up with two ghosts from the past, Emily Cody and Kristina Thompson (friends from elementary school who I haven’t seen in over 8 years), who are studying in the city and know they way around.

We woke up the next morning after a late night and made our way back to the city for one more walk around before we went home. We got to see the Hollyroodhouse up close, and then ventured over to the new Scottish Parliament Building which was just across the street. It was an impressive building; very modern and from what I’ve gathered controversial in the city. We also climbed to the top of Calton Hill, which sits on the other side of the city from the castle and offers yet another great view of the city. After the climb, we all decided we were tired and boarded the bus back to Glasgow!

First Week of Classes

1.16.2009

So it’s Friday and I have just finished my first week of classes at the university. The week started off somewhat confusingly, for Monday I didn’t have classes and I didn’t really know what to do with myself, so I joined the gym and went around to the different departments to make sure I had approval for my classes. After doing that, I thought I would go for a walk around the city just so I could get to know it a little better. From our campus to the city center is about a 20 minute walk, so I took the long route, weaving in and out of different streets to try to get a feel for the surrounding area. There were two things that really stuck out to me about Glasgow on that walk. One was the sheer number of American food chains that are present in the city (either a starbucks, subway or pizza hut every couple blocks). The other thing I noticed was how young the city seems to be. Everywhere around the city there are tons of little kids running around, or being pushed in strollers. Random thing to notice but I thought it was worth noting.

Tuesday was my first day of class. At 9am I had “International Relations”, a politics class with mostly 2^nd year students. That class runs three days a week at 9am, and has a discussion section for one hour every week. Then at 10 I had a class on European History, but because that class won’t count for credit at BC, I chose to drop the course and find something that would be less challenging so I can enjoy being in Europe! That led me to a little class called bagpiping… I’m not kidding, I’m actually taking bagpiping!!! There are 25 of us in the class which meets every Thursday afternoon for 2.5 hours at the National Piping Center in the city center. During that time we learn about the history of the pipes, their significance to Scotland and other countries, and the role they play in Scottish society today. Then once a week we go to the piping center for an hour lesson on the chanter, an instrument which looks a lot like a recorder. My other courses are “Environmental Impact Assessment”, which meets Tuesday and Thursday, and “Scottish Literature: Exploring Scottish Culture” which meets on Wednesdays. (Not sure if you noticed but my classes are only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, perfect for weekend trips!)

As far as the week goes aside from classes, it was a lot of fun! I’ve been hanging out a lot with the other international students at the university, so it’s been good to get to know them. Monday night we went to a pub called “Curlers” with about 40 of the international kids. That was a lot of fun and relatively cheap because every Monday the bar has a student night. Tuesday night we went out to dinner with our BC Coordinator, Kirstin Heggie, so that we could get to know her better and see what she has planned for us this semester. Already she told us we’ll be going to the Scottish National Rugby team’s match against Italy in two weeks, and then we’ll continue getting dinner every couple of weeks with her. I think we’re also going to do a trip to Inverness in the highlands later this spring, and maybe go to a couple shows and performances in Glasgow or Edinburgh. The best part about it is that BC is paying for it all! Wednesday we went to a bar called Radio, which also has a student night that night, and met some Scottish kids while getting more chances to connect with fellow internationals. Thursday night the International Society had a pub night at a place called “the primary”, with nearly 200 students there. It was more of a relaxed setting, and I was able to get back to the apartment relatively early to rest up for our trip to Edinburgh this weekend!

Into the City

1.11.08

I have now been in Glasgow for about 4 days, and with everyday I’m learning more and more about the city. On Friday we had our second and last day of international orientation at the university. We learned more logistical information about being abroad, and in the afternoon took a bus tour of the city. Before coming to Glasgow I didn’t know what to expect of the city, but I can say I’ve been happily surprised by it. The city itself is much larger than I had previously thought it was, with a massive city center with more shops and restaurants than I would have expected. Friday night the international society held another event for us called a "ceilidh"(picture on the right) which is like the Scottish version of a ho-down. There must have been more than a hundred students there, all dancing the traditional Scottish dances. After the ceilidh was “Cheesy Pop”, which is basically an alcohol influenced middle school dance where they play tons of old songs from the 90’s the whole night. This was a lot of fun and we all seemed to meet a lot of new people that night too.

Saturday morning we got up relatively early and headed into the city center for the day. We walked around the Sauchihall Street area which is closed to cars and then moved down to Buchanan Street which is much the same just with higher-end stores (think of a Scottish version of Newbury street, but closed to traffic). We then went to the Gallery of Modern Art (below and to the left) in the city center which is free of charge. Our guides for the day were Chris and Gary, two Scottish students our friends had met in the dorms. They were extremely helpful and took us all over the place. Saturday night we went to another one of our friend’s apartment which was about a 15 minute walk from campus to teach her German roommates some American drinking games. We taught them beer pong, kings, and some other card games which they were seemed to like very much.

This afternoon we went back into the city to the 1 pound store to buy some things that we need around our apartments. I got some cups and containers, dish and laundry detergent and even some food for very cheap. After this the girls went to do some clothes shopping, and me and two of the other guys decided to explore the area a bit more. We found a great kilt store, and if I have enough money left at the end I will definitely be buying myself one! Some more of our friends met us in the city center that night to see Slumdog Millionare which was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Something interesting to point out is that we saw the movie in the world’s tallest movie theater! The building was literally a skyscraper filled with massive movie theaters. After the movie we went to a restaurant to watch some American football, and watched the Giants lose to the Eagles much to the dismay of my friends from New York.

First Couple Days in Glasgow

**I've been keeping a journal on my laptop, and decided to start a blog, sooooooooo even though I'm posting this all in one day, really its from the past 2 and a half weeks. Enjoy!

1.08.09

So it’s January 8^th, and I’ve now been in Glasgow for more than a full day! Yesterday seemed to drag on forever. I boarded the plane at 6:30, spent 6 hours watching mediocre CBS shows courtesy of American Airlines and finally touched down in London at 6:50am London time. With 4 hours to kill, I wandered around what really seemed more like a luxury mall with giant planes out the windows than an actual airport, taking in whatever I could of the UK. First thing I did was convert some American dollars to British Pounds, which pained me for I lost a solid chunk in the conversion. Let’s just pray the exchange rate improves so I can afford more haggis and whiskey! After my 6 hour flight I really wanted to find someone with ANYTHING in common just to talk. Across from me in one of the seating areas was a girl who resembled an American traveling abroad, reading a “lonely planet” guide-book to Vienna. Feeling brave, I asked if she was studying abroad there, and in fact she was. She’s from New Jersey and we actually have some common acquaintances between her at UVA and me at BC.

After my layover, I boarded my flight to Glasgow, short compared to the first leg of my trip. I landed in Glasgow at 12:15pm, January 7^th and was welcomed by a heavy mist and pretty harsh wind. Customs was smooth, and before I knew it I was in a cab on the way the University of Glasgow. Immediately Glaswegians (what residents from Glasgow refer to themselves as) lived up to their reputation of kindness and hospitality through my taxi driver. The 25 minutes to the university was filled with talk of the states, football here in Scotland, and even his son’s wedding plans. Pulling up to the gate at the University, I was relieved to see three of the girls from BC wheeling their bags across the road in front of us. I flagged them down and once I got my key from the gatehouse, we all journeyed up the hill across from the main gate to our new homes in the student apartments (on the left).

My room (on the right) is HUGE compared to the dorms back home. There’s room for two beds, two desks, a seating area with two small coffee tables and four chairs, a sink and still there’s so much empty space. My roommate's not here yet, so that’s a bit nerve-wracking, but from the looks of it he’s a Scot, and other kids in the dorm said he’s a good kid. For the rest of the day I basically ran errands, a got a phone, some food and grabbed lunch with a few of the other international students. That night 7 of the 8 of us from BC went out to dinner together and then wandered around the west end together (that’s where Glasgow Uni is located in Glasgow). We also met some of the other international students who are studying at the University and are living on our street in the student apartments; there’s a few from the Northeast, a bunch from Canada and Australia and the rest are pretty spread out.

This morning we had to get up for orientation at 9am. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of waking up that early in the morning, it was good because we started to get to know some of the other kids in the program. Aside from the study abroad students there are a lot of European students on the “Erasmus” program doing graduate studies. Most of today was filled with ice breakers and information sessions so that we would know what to do with ourselves here in Glasgow. We had a “supermarket session” for classes where we met with representatives from the different departments and got to learn about prospective courses. I’m enrolled for a class on International Relations, European History, Environmental Impact Assessment and Exploring Scottish Culture. If the History course doesn’t end up counting for my history core back home, I might end up taking bagpiping!! After orientation today we had a “social” event put together by the International Society at Glasgow and we got the opportunity to informally meet more international students. They gave us vouchers for a free pint, and then we took part in a trivia night with the other students. After this about 40 of us went to the bar Oran Mor which is a giant old church building converted into a 3 level bar and pub. It was fun just getting a chance to sit back and relax a little after a long first day of orientation, and I look forward to what tomorrow brings.

.... Just to give you and idea of what campus looks like, here are some pictures.

This is the "Main Building" on campus. It's a massive old building built in 1870 when the university moved to its current site in the West End of Glasgow. The main spire of the building is 177 feet tall and can be seen from almost any point in the city (which is great because I keep getting lost on runs, but all I have to do is look for the main building and I'm all set!)












For all you Harry Potter fans, room of requirement??


















A picture of the main building at dusk on one of the only days it hasn't rained!

A picture from the east quadrangle. There are two massive courtyards inside the main building.