University Life: Classes

Hi Everybody! I just finished my first week of classes Friday and wanted to give you all an update about how I've been doing. It seems crazy that I've been here for over three weeks now! Time has gone by so fast and now that classes have started it's speeding up even more. This week Glasgow really started to feel like home for me. Now that I've started really cooking for myself and managing my time it feels like I have a real routine. Anyways, I thought it would be cool to let you guys know about what I'm studying while I here (they call it study abroad for a reason right?).

So the Scottish credit system is a little different than our system in the U.S. Instead of taking my usual five courses I'm taking a full schedule of only three courses. This means less actual class hours than I'm used to, but not really less work. The kind of work they do here is just different than work at BC. At Glasgow class grades are based on up to three major assignments, usually tests or essays. The work is very self-guided; professor's give you a list of reading for the week or even for the whole semester and let you decide when to read it on your own. They also encourage a lot of outside study and additional research. At BC we aren't usually given as much freedom and the course grades are based on more than a few major assignments. So far though I'm really liking the way classes are run here, as a third year college student I feel like I have the skills needed to keep with my own work. I can imagine though that a first year university student would find it difficult to do this kind of work.

Another thing about university life at Glasgow is that students don't have a lot of choice in what courses they take. As a study abroad student I have a great opportunity that most students here don't have; I can choose basically any first level classes I want to take. With that in mind I tried to think about what classes would be helpful for my education major at home and what I'm really interested in learning about!

Public Policy 1a: Foundations of Welfare

This class is an introduction to social policy and the welfare state in Britain. In my first year at BC I took a class called Family, School, and Society, where one of the subjects we studied was the welfare system in the U.S. I think it will be really interesting to compare what I know about the welfare system at home to what I learn in this class.

Fundamentals of Education 1

This course is all about the history of the education system in Great Britain. Scotland has one of the oldest public school systems in the world and the history of how it has developed is so interesting! The class is different from anything I've learned in my education major at home.

History of Art 1

Unlike my other courses, History of Art fulfills one of my requirements at BC. The class counts for my study in fine arts, but that's not the only reason I'm taking it. The University has an art exhibit on site and there is a huge museum about 5 minutes from campus. During our meetings the class will meet at these exhibits in small groups!

Exploring Scottish Culture

Exploring Scottish Culture is a class held every other week just for study abroad students and it covers the basics 1000 years of Scottish history and literature. The lecturers for this class are really great and I'm excited to learn more about my Scottish heritage in the class.

See my life isn't all Cheesy Pop and sightseeing! Seriously though I'm really excited about my classes this semester. I know they're going to be a lot of work, but I really looking forward to learning new things that I could only study so in depth here!

- Sarah

So Fresher's Week is over and classes are just starting, but like I promised in my post last week I'm going to update you all about my favorite events of the week! After a long week of events and theme parties I have to say the the Queen Margaret Union (one of the two student unions on campus) is definitely my favorite venue. They have an upstairs area with bars and a cafeteria, and they have a huge open dance floor. During the year the QM has tons of concerts and DJ events on their stage. The atmosphere there is really relaxed, but still fun and exciting during the live shows. On the other hand the Glasgow University Union, or the GUU, kind of feels like a super sized frat house. That's not a bad thing for some people, but it's hard to have fun when you can't move and the dance floor is 100 degrees. They do have a few pub style bars that were fun to visit, but overall I like QMU much better. Also it didn't hurt that my two favorite events of the week were held at QMU.

Headphone Disco

This event was so much fun, the crowd was great, and it capitalized on my favorite activity at clubs: dancing! The dance floor was packed with hundreds of freshers and like the flyer says there was a twist. For the headphone disco everyone gets a pair of headphones that can switch back and forth between two wireless stations. These stations are each being run by separate DJs on the main stage. The fun part is that they can tell how many people are listening to their station and the whole event becomes a competition to see who can grab the audiences attention and keep it. Also, the two stations were playing very different mixes of music, one was mostly a rock/alternative playlist and the other was techno/pop. It's funny (and a little awkward) when the person next to you is head banging to Nirvana and you're doing the YMCA. It's even strange when you turn you're headphones off because the dance floor is virtually silent!

Cheesy Pop: Paint Party!

Cheesy Pop is a weekly event at the QMU, but for Fresher's Week they went all out and held their first ever paint party. Essentially it's a giant dance party where the whole crowd gets sprayed with extremely watered down paint. It was definitely the busiest night of the week at the Union, but such a blast! Here's a couple pictures from the night:

In our complimentary paint suits!

I would post some pictures from after the paint, but none of us took any since we basically looked like rainbow drowned rats. Overall the week was awesome and I don't think any of us would feel like true Glasgow students if we didn't have the experience. It feels so nice that the university welcomes us in by including us with their first year students. If the week is a sign of what's to come I think I'll be having an amazing semester abroad.

- Sarah

Wallace Monument and Queen Elizabeth Forest Park

During my International Orientation, the University set up a long list of day trips we could take out to the surrounding area for only £10. This included coach buses out to our locations, commentary from our driver during the trip, and tours once we got to our locations. By the time I registered for my orientation there were only a few spots left, but luckily I got tickets to go the Wallace Monument and Queen Elizabeth Forest. The monument I knew about, my mom visited when she was younger, but I had no idea what the Forest park was until I got there. In retrospect I probably should have done a little bit of research, especially since I ended up wearing Sperry's during a hike. My feet have now recovered and I ended up having a great time even with my inappropriate footwear.

I should probably start at the beginning of the day, all of the buses left from one of the main buildings on campus, the Boyd Orr. It was a little bit hectic as everyone was kind of wandering around the sidewalk trying to figure out which bus to get on, but we loaded up and we're off just a little bit behind schedule.

Stop 1: The Wallace Monument

It took us about 45 minutes to an hour to get out to Stirling and the Monument site. On we got there the bus unloaded and the entire group headed out on foot for a 15 minute walk to the monument tower. It was kind of rough walk, the rain earlier in the day made the pathway a little slippery, but once I got to the top of the trail I was rewarded with this view of Stirling...

Stirling

Before we started making our way to the top of the tower one of the locals, a Scottish history buff, gathered us around for a 15 minute story about Sir William Wallace and the Battle of Stirling Bridge. He was a true example of how much pride the Scottish people take in their history and culture. After the performance outside the tour group made it's way inside and up the tower, a total of 246 steps to the top. Some of you probably know that I'm afraid of heights, but I'm proud to say that I made it all the way to the top without freaking out too much. The hardest part about the climb was the the staircases were very narrow and spiraled up to the top. Thankfully the tower has four floors above the ground level so I was able to stop on the way up. Whatever trouble I had making it up didn't matter once I saw the panoramic views from the top.

It was a little windy on the top!

After a quick lunch it was a off to the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park! Half the fun of going there is enjoying the ride on the way. The views from the park and surrounding area were fantastic. We drove by a few Lochs, Venachar and Achray, and made a pit stop to see Hamish, a Scottish Highland bull, who is apparently quite famous in Scotland! Here he is up close and personal:

Hello Hamish.

From Aberfoyle, Hamish's home, we made our way to the David Marshall Lodge inside the forest park. It was nice to get outside and explore the wilderness area, but as I said before I wasn't very prepared for hiking. After walking for a couple hours on the trails, our group came back inside for snacks and then made our way back to campus. All in all it was great day and I loved being able to escape the city for a little bit. Plus it made me even more excited for my trip to the Highlands in November with all of the students from BC!

- Sarah

Update: Fresher's Week

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's taken me so long to update, so much has been going on that's it's hard to keep up with entries. Right now at Glasgow it's Fresher's Week, basically one huge lineup of parties, fairs, and free stuff! Well sort of, the pass for the week cost £40, but now that I have it I can hop from event to event all week. The whole concept of Fresher's Week is very foreign to most of us American students. The entire culture of going out, partying, and drinking is so different here than at home. To think that BC would ever have us show up early to school freshmen year for a week of clubbing is absurd! That's part of why it's so nice that they study abroad students can buy passes, it's a uniquley British experience that makes us feel like real Glasgow students. I'll write another post later this week to let you know which Fresher's events were my favorites (Here's the list of events if you're interested: http://freshersweek.glasgowstudent.net/events.htm)

- Sarah

Twenty's Plenty!

So...before I make my next full length post I thought I'd explain the meaning of my blog!

Before I got to Scotland I had been struggling for weeks trying to think of a good name. I was completely stuck until I got here and saw this sign:

First of all, my apologies to the unsuspecting lady int he corner of the picture.

As soon as I saw it I thought I've got it Twenty's Plenty! Not only does it tie into the city of Glasgow, which is known for it's friendly, polite nature, but I'm twenty years old. It may seem young, but it's really the perfect age for this kind of experience. I'm old enough to understand the importance of what I'm doing and appreciate it. I'm also young enough that what I learn here will have a huge impact on the rest of my life!

- Sarah

Glasgow!

Hi Everybody! So I’ve been in Glasgow for five days now and I’m just now posting my first real entry. I meant to start my blog as soon as I arrived, but things have been so crazy and busy. I arrived in Glasgow on Saturday the 3^rd after a good ten hours of traveling. The plane landed at 7:30 local time, 2:30 on the east coast, so jet lag was in full force. A group of Glasgow University students met all of us international students at the airport and brought us by bus to our new homes for the next few months. I’m living in Murano Student Village in the West End. The dorms are nice, but so different than in the U.S. they seem very institutional and kind of cold at first. However with a little sprucing up and decorations my single is cozy and comfortable!

My room during the unpacking process, with new sheets picked up at Tesco.

Now, with some color and pictures from home it looks a lot better!

The past few days have been full of exploring the West End and taking a couple trips to the city center. Plus, I have international orientation so I finally registered for classes. It's nice having time to adjust before the semester starts, we don't have class until the 19th, but I'm a total nerd who's actually excited for my courses. The credit system is different in Scotland, so a full course load is 60 credits. I'll be taking four courses to make up the 60; Exploring Scottish Culture, History of Art, Fundamentals of Education, and Theology in Education. Exploring Scottish Culture sounds absolutely amazing and I can't wait to learn more about Scottish history and literature!

Besides exploring the city as a whole it has been amazing to finally see the university itself! It was founded in 1451 (crazy!) and is the fourth oldest university in the UK. Only St. Andrews, Cambridge, and Oxford are older. The buildings are not as old as the university itself, but were built in the 1870 when the university outgrew the city center and moved to its current location. Still, they are incredibly beautiful.

Gorgeous views from within the main campus.

I feel like I'm at Hogwarts.

So far though, being here has been a great experience all around. Can't wait to keep documenting my trip and learn more and more about Glasgow!

- Sarah