My life as a 20-year-old international student in Glasgow.

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Three, Two, One....

Hi Everybody!  So I said I would be updating more often before finals, but I underestimated how intense exams are here.  I've essentially been living in the library for the past week and a half.  But I wanted to do another little post while I have a few minute to spare. 

Three....
Only three days left until I leave Glasgow and come home for Christmas.  I really can't believe how quickly time has gone by.  It's hard to believe I'll be heading home so soon.

Two....
Two Exams left to go!  I have my finals for Public Policy and Art History on Thursday and Friday.  I'm a little nervous, but I think I have just enough time left to pull everything together.  Like I said before finals are very different here than at BC.  The expectations are higher and the whole process is a lot like taking the SAT, complete with proctors and sealed exam booklets. 

One...
One exam done!  After almost of two weeks of preparing I finally took my first final today, in Fundamentals of Education.  A lot of my friends are already done with tests, so it feels really nice to at least have one test finished.  It's definitely a weight off my shoulders.

So there's a  quick update for you!  I'm a little scatter-brained and stressed right now, but every time I think about coming home for the holiday it makes it easier to keep powering through.  You probably won't hear from me again until I'm back in the States, but I'll definitely be posting soon. Thanks for reading!

- Sarah

Monday, 5 December 2011

Snow in Glasgow!


Last night was the first snow of the season in Glasgow.  It was too funny to see everyone making snow angels and having snowball fights with less than an inch of snow!  It doesn't often snow here before Christmas, but I'm glad there was a least a dusting before I went home.  Nothing puts me in the Christmas Spirit like snow.

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Spencer's Visit

Hi Everybody!  I can't believe it's already December.  The time has truly flown by since I've been here.  In  less than two weeks I'll be back in New Hampshire (12 days to be exact).  I'm going to try to update a little more frequently in the next couple weeks, I don't have finals until the 14th so in between my studying I should have more time to write.

Anyway...this update is about Spencer's visit to Glasgow!  It was so nice to finally see each other after almost 3 months apart.  We got to see quite a bit of the UK during his week here and I think we really made the most of the time we had.

Enjoying a beer on Ashton Lane.


Me and Spencer outside the Christmas Fair in Glasgow City Center.

Ferris Wheel in George Square.

The lights turned on.

Fireworks at the Lighting Ceremony.
We spent the first three days of the trip in Glasgow.  I went to pick up Spencer at the airport around 2:00 and then we dropped off all of his things in my dorms before heading out to explore the West End.  We went down to see the University and then grabbed drinks at the Grovsenor Bar before our dinner reservations at Bookclub.  On Sunday, we met up with some of my friends in the city center for the Christmas Lighting Ceremony.  The ceremony itself was great and it was so nice to walk around the city and get into the Christmas spirit.   On Sunday we had a nice dinner in and stayed in to watch a movie.
Edinburgh Castle

Monday I actually brought Spencer along to my classes and we went out for a great Italian meal at night.  Because our flight to England was leaving from Edinburgh Airport, we ended up spending the afternoon and night in Edinburgh  on Tuesday.  Edinburgh is definitely closer to Spencer's ideas about what Scotland would be like.  Glasgow is very industrial and urban, where as Edinburgh almost feels as if you're going back in time.  It's still metropolitan, but not on the same scale as Glasgow.

On Wednesday morning we made our way to the airport and left for Manston, a small airport only 10 minutes away from my Aunt and Uncle's house in Ramsgate, Kent.  It was so nice to go to England and see all of my family.  I was so excited for Spencer to finally meet everyone and to have a delicious home cooked meal.  Especially with Thanksgiving so close, it was great to be with family.  At dinner on Wednesday there were 19 of us including little Ruby, my cousin Holly and her husband Geoff's new baby girl.  We had an amazing roast dinner and all got to spend time catching up!

Cliffsend, Ramsgate.
Viking Ship across from my Aunt and Uncle's house.
On Thursday , Spencer and I are were lucky enough to take a trip into London for a day of sightseeing.  I have to admit it was the strangest Thanksgiving Day I've ever had, but I'm so thankful for my cousins Sue and Sally.  They took time off of work to be our tour guides! We got to see so much in one day and we couldn't have done it all without their generosity. 
Big Ben.

Me and Spencer in front of The Tower of London.

Tower Bridge.

The London Eye.

The two of us during our ride on the Eye.

Love this picture with the flags in the background.



After a full day in London we came home and had a great Lasagne dinner in Kent.  After dinner Spencer and I played cards with my Aunt and had a nice time just chatting.  The next day we were on our way back to Scotland!  The rest of the weekend went by so quickly.  On Saturday we did a full day of shopping and got dinner in the city center.  Then Saturday night we packed everything up for Spence to leave on Sunday.  It went by really fast, but we definitely had a great week. 

Hope you enjoyed the photos (most of them were taken by Spencer, he managed to get some awesome shots in England)! 

- Sarah


Quick Update!


Hi there!

I'm a little busy this week with school work, I have a one paper due on Thursday and another on Friday, but I just wanted to write a short update.  Spencer came to visit me last week and we had a great time in Scotland and on our trip to England!  I was sick at the beginning of the week which put a damper on some of our plans, but I felt much better by the end of the week.  Now I'm back to my usual self just in time for the busiest week of the semester and then final exams!  I'll be sure to write again soon with a full account of Spencer's visit. For now though here's a link to the blog about BC students teaching abroad that I'm contributing to: www.bcteachabroad.blogspot.com.  I've only posted one entry so far, but I'll have more up within the next two weeks. 

Thanks for reading and in case your counting there's only 19 days until I come home from to NH for Christmas!

- Sarah