Sooo something strange happened to me today... which Elise feels is something that merits a blog entry :) ... and then i was like oh crap I hadnt updated my blog in a while so i quickly did an entry recapping parts of my trip to italy. I still havent blogged about my time in florence... hopefully i do that soon.
ANYWAYS ive been back in Stirling for a few days ... and today I went to stirling castle again just for the heck of it :) Ive been there a dozen times...
anyways on my way back to campus, iwas waiting at the bus stop and some girl said my eyes were cool... which was nice of her tosay... but then SHE asked me if I was a vampire... and it started to get weird.
She started talking to this poor guy waiting at the bus about where he was from and he was from China, then she got into this inappropriate convo with him about the law in china where people are only allowed one child or else they have to pay a tax like 12000 dollars... and shes started being like if I had to pay a tax for one of my bairns i would just kill it ... then she started talkin about what if someone had twins... did people have to decide which twin to give up if they couldnt afford two... it was really graphic.
ANyways... I got onto the bus and she kept starring at me... it was creepyyyyyyyyy... some people are strange... stranger than I AM! DUN DUN DUN
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Italy
Over October Break I decided to hop on a plane to Italy for the week :) <3 I decided to travel alone because the last time I was in Italy it was a grade 12 trip, which was amazing... but the people I traveled with never wanted to go to museums/or archaeology sites and mainly just wanted to shop so I refused to endure that again... :) SO this time I got to do everything I wanted, and it was sooo relaxing :)
I landed in Ciampino Airport in Rome around 930 pm Saturday oct 29. I quickly came to realize that a lot of people in Italy don't speak English... so resorted to using a lot sign language, and choosing words I thought might have stemmed from latin ahaha It didnt really work, but a nice gentleman guided me for 15 min to my very obscure bus stop which would lead me to my hostel :) IT was very nice of him because he ran around more than I did talking to bus drivers trying to figure out where my stop was. What was weird though was his friend who must have been 50 years old, he told me he was a mistro teacher (I assume music teacher) and he said I was beautiful and gave me his phone number. THat was my first strange experience in Rome. I would quickly realize that Italian men are 1000X more Romantic """ or pervy """ than the French... ahahah.
Anyways I made it to my hostel alive, it is located just out outside of Rome city centre, in a quiet area around 11:30pm.
I met a lot of nice people in that hostel :) Who gave me a lot of good advice on how to get to Pompeii cause they all seemed to have made night trips to Napoli area for that specific reason.
The next morning I woke up around 5am... suprisingly awake and ready to go. I walked 20 min to the metro and went straight to the Coloseum :) I was there so early I missed the line :)
It felt so surreal revisiting the places I visted when I was younger. Only this time I wasnt on a fast paced tour so I had time to actually learn something and enjoy the sites. Apparently the day before I arrived in Rome the Coloseum had been closed because it flooded! But when i got there I saw no evidence of floodin and the weather was amazing.
STRANGE experience #2:
After the Coloseum I headed to the Forum, and passed the Constantine Arch and then something really strange happened. A tour group of people from Hong Kong pulled me aside and starting taking photos with me with the constantine arch in the background. It was the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life! I felt famous, they literally stood in line and one after the other and took pics with me! I gave one of the ladies my camera to proove that this happened! It was actually really embarrassing though cause as I looked around I noticed Italians were looking, and some were laughing... IT's like they thought I was one of those gladiator actors that stand outside the coloseum to take photos with tourists. Yea it was embarrassing, THANK GOD I managed to escape... but then two of the chinese guys followed me and gave me their buisness card and asked for my phone number... luckily I dont have a phone number in the UK and I also already had my ticket for the forum so i was able to skip the line and escape these guys FOR EVER. The rest of the day though i was checking behind me all the time to ensure they were NOT there... stalking me.
THE FORUM
was amazing! Peacefull, compared the bustling crowds beyond the gated ruins. The weather was sooooo incredibly warm :) I LOVED IT THERE. A major theme happening in the Forum and the Coloseum is exhibitions on the notorious emperor Nero. This is because there is a current archaeology excavation on Nero's Golden House/ Palace, occuring near one of the forum exits. Nero was emperor between 54-68 AD, and was known for his cruelty: the murder of his sister and mother and blamed for burning down Rome in 64AD (the exhibitions sort of de-myth this accustation, arguing that he had nothing to do with the fire). Anyways he ended up building a blinging palace called the golden house or Domus Aurea and an incredible artificial lake... which stood mainly where the Coloseum is today. The Domus Aurea caused Nero to be extremly unpopular with the people... probs because it was built over what used to be a residential area before the fire of 64AD. Faced which rebellion Nero ended up committing suicide and the next Flavian emperors opened the palace to the public and built the coloseum over Nero's artifical lake.
PRETTY AMAZING history dun dun dun.
I am so excited for next semester at UVIC, because I am going to be taking four courses on ancient Rome and Greece :) one of the courses focuses specifically on the old city of Rome <3 I am also taking an Italian language course :) which I recently enrolled while I was on this trip <3
Returning to my account of my first day back in Rome :) I spent most of the day in the Forum wandering around exploring the palatine hill. I also took a short train ride that day to the circus maximus... where people walk their dogs and run today. It used to be where chariot races with quadrigaes like red VS BLUE! and gladitorial combats took place beginning in the 6thCentury. I believe it was surrounded with marble seating like the coloseum.... and was covered as well.
After that I believe I headed home. The next day I explored around the Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain, did some shopping, and visited all the churches I ran into along the way.
I went into the Panthenon and just sat and relaxed.
It was an amazing day.
The next day I got up really early and went to the Vatican. Stood in a huge line and once I got in, I entered like a circuit, I felt like a cow going into the slaughter house, being pushed along by the sea of people. It was sooo crowded... everyone was there just to see the sistine chapel cause no one really looked around at anythign else... I think they probs did what i did. Once they saw the sistine chapal at the end of the circuit they went back and did the circuit again. Yes... i did two rounds around the vaticin museum :) ahahhah The second time around it was less crowded... and I was able to actually focus on the other artifacts in the museum.
The rest of the day I wandered around the city again going to more churches...
STRANGE experience 3:
Soooo... this whole time I have been in Rome... I have had alot of occurences where men ask me for my phone number... or called me Bella... or say ciao bella? and then I just keep walking past them cause it's sort of inappropriate and creepy the way they do it.
ANyways after going to the Vatican i was very exhausted so i decided to just relax in one of the amazing churches in Rome. I sat in one of the seat and closed my eyes and wa sjust minding my own buisness when a girl came up to me... and told me to move over... when all the other seats were practically empty. Then she started talking to me... and asking me if i was catholic adn where i was from and then she tried to tell me about the art of the ceiling ... and then she asked me for my phone number! And i'm like this is creepy...she sounds like one of th e italian men only shes ... a girl. So i told her I dont have a phone number and shes like oh do you have facebook... and i was like ... I guess i cant give her my facebook and just not add her so i did... and im like I g2g and she's like if you are ever in rome message me and ill show you around !!!!!!! I WAS in a church for crying outload it was creepy. So she ended up adding me whilst i was in napoli and her friends list was all girls... who were barely wearing any clothes! IT was disturbing... so that was my 3rd strange experience in Italy.
I really did not ant to leave Rome at all :(
NAPOLI
BUT after three nights in rome I packed my bags and headed off to Napoli.
THE TRAIN kept breaking down, and it was so hot. Luckily I got to sit beside a really good lookin italian... no joke he was like a roman god! He didnt speak English though... this will be an occuring theme throughout my trip :( meeting really goodlookin guys who cant speak english and making me wish to GOD i spoke italian :(
ANYwAYS... I had told the hostel I was staying at id be there around 12pm but... i didnt get there until like 2/3pm. Also... no one I spoke to at the train station knew where i was staying. Then these nice german tourists over heard me say I was staying at the hostel Capri.. and they were like oh we are staying there too follow us! SO i followed them... and they had led me to the ferry which goes to the island of CAPRI and im liek AHHHH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (All this is occuring whilst im carrying a huge backpack in the boiling hot italian weather) so I was fed up, I was not goin to the island of capri! So i stomped towards some taxi drivers and was like please drive me to this hostel! and theyre like NO! and i'm like ahhh :( WHY :( and then theyre like because it is just across the street right there... and then the heavens opened and I ran to the hostel... quickly got my key and showered ... because I really smelled bad.
THENNNN i went on an amazingggggggggggggg bus tour around the coast of Napoli. I believe it was called Le Vedute De Golfo... BEAUTIFUL views of Capri Island... and Vesuvio I actually cried when I saw Vesuvio... because I had no idea i would actually ever make it all the way to Naples on this trip... I had also been reading about Pompeii since grade 7 and it was one of the reasons why I have fallen in love with history and Archaeology <3 SOooo yea... thank god the bus tour wasnt crowded. After that tour I managed to get onto the last tour which was called Luoghi dell' arte ... it was less pleasant... it went through the old city of napoli which is so polluted and falling apart.. i had to hide my face in my scarf. in fear i'd get lung cancer.
BUT I really liked that city. I wish i had more time to go and visit the archaeology museum :(
... also Italian men certainly have some really amusing/ flattering pick up lines thats for sure ...
ANYWAYS I headed back to my hostel... attempted to work on my literature essay due at the end of the week... and then I went and had dinner down the road :) It was amazing.
OOo then I met some really nice people who were studying Geology in Napoli they were super awesome.
POMPEII
THE NEXT day it was pouring rain... the sun disapeared and I decided it was a good time to head to Pompeii.
I missed my stop by an hour cause I couldnt see past the rain!!!!!!! :( I had to talk to the bus drive using sign language again and being like RuinS? Pompeii archaeology site? Pompeii ruins? and then hes like "OHHHhhhh ruins! ci... " and then he's like pointing at the ruin and probably sayng to me in italian... the site is probably closed or flooded are you sure you want to go in this weather... I can just assume that is what he was saying...
ANYWAYS I finally reached my destination and then the ticket office lady forwarned me that i wasnt allowed to refund my ticket if i did not like the weather conditions... but I didnt care.
Visiting pompeii ending up being the highlight of my trip despite the weather... maybe its cause i'm used tothe rain living in Scotland?
BUT there were alot of covered places like the villas and baths in pompeii and 2000 year old brothel... which was dry from the rain :)
INTERESTING FACT: So there is a section in pompeii like the red light district and on the ground as you enter that part of the city are penis symbols... pointing towards the brothel. NO JOKE... it forwarns people where the brothel is...and then theres also a fountain with a lady who has a penis in her mouth. Then in the brothel there are still mosaics of ... people having sex. In pompeii a lot of signs are expressed through images because a lot of the people were foriegners speaking different languages... i just couldnt believe how graphic these images can be!
I landed in Ciampino Airport in Rome around 930 pm Saturday oct 29. I quickly came to realize that a lot of people in Italy don't speak English... so resorted to using a lot sign language, and choosing words I thought might have stemmed from latin ahaha It didnt really work, but a nice gentleman guided me for 15 min to my very obscure bus stop which would lead me to my hostel :) IT was very nice of him because he ran around more than I did talking to bus drivers trying to figure out where my stop was. What was weird though was his friend who must have been 50 years old, he told me he was a mistro teacher (I assume music teacher) and he said I was beautiful and gave me his phone number. THat was my first strange experience in Rome. I would quickly realize that Italian men are 1000X more Romantic """ or pervy """ than the French... ahahah.
Anyways I made it to my hostel alive, it is located just out outside of Rome city centre, in a quiet area around 11:30pm.
I met a lot of nice people in that hostel :) Who gave me a lot of good advice on how to get to Pompeii cause they all seemed to have made night trips to Napoli area for that specific reason.
The next morning I woke up around 5am... suprisingly awake and ready to go. I walked 20 min to the metro and went straight to the Coloseum :) I was there so early I missed the line :)
It felt so surreal revisiting the places I visted when I was younger. Only this time I wasnt on a fast paced tour so I had time to actually learn something and enjoy the sites. Apparently the day before I arrived in Rome the Coloseum had been closed because it flooded! But when i got there I saw no evidence of floodin and the weather was amazing.
STRANGE experience #2:
After the Coloseum I headed to the Forum, and passed the Constantine Arch and then something really strange happened. A tour group of people from Hong Kong pulled me aside and starting taking photos with me with the constantine arch in the background. It was the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life! I felt famous, they literally stood in line and one after the other and took pics with me! I gave one of the ladies my camera to proove that this happened! It was actually really embarrassing though cause as I looked around I noticed Italians were looking, and some were laughing... IT's like they thought I was one of those gladiator actors that stand outside the coloseum to take photos with tourists. Yea it was embarrassing, THANK GOD I managed to escape... but then two of the chinese guys followed me and gave me their buisness card and asked for my phone number... luckily I dont have a phone number in the UK and I also already had my ticket for the forum so i was able to skip the line and escape these guys FOR EVER. The rest of the day though i was checking behind me all the time to ensure they were NOT there... stalking me.
THE FORUM
was amazing! Peacefull, compared the bustling crowds beyond the gated ruins. The weather was sooooo incredibly warm :) I LOVED IT THERE. A major theme happening in the Forum and the Coloseum is exhibitions on the notorious emperor Nero. This is because there is a current archaeology excavation on Nero's Golden House/ Palace, occuring near one of the forum exits. Nero was emperor between 54-68 AD, and was known for his cruelty: the murder of his sister and mother and blamed for burning down Rome in 64AD (the exhibitions sort of de-myth this accustation, arguing that he had nothing to do with the fire). Anyways he ended up building a blinging palace called the golden house or Domus Aurea and an incredible artificial lake... which stood mainly where the Coloseum is today. The Domus Aurea caused Nero to be extremly unpopular with the people... probs because it was built over what used to be a residential area before the fire of 64AD. Faced which rebellion Nero ended up committing suicide and the next Flavian emperors opened the palace to the public and built the coloseum over Nero's artifical lake.
PRETTY AMAZING history dun dun dun.
I am so excited for next semester at UVIC, because I am going to be taking four courses on ancient Rome and Greece :) one of the courses focuses specifically on the old city of Rome <3 I am also taking an Italian language course :) which I recently enrolled while I was on this trip <3
Returning to my account of my first day back in Rome :) I spent most of the day in the Forum wandering around exploring the palatine hill. I also took a short train ride that day to the circus maximus... where people walk their dogs and run today. It used to be where chariot races with quadrigaes like red VS BLUE! and gladitorial combats took place beginning in the 6thCentury. I believe it was surrounded with marble seating like the coloseum.... and was covered as well.
After that I believe I headed home. The next day I explored around the Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain, did some shopping, and visited all the churches I ran into along the way.
I went into the Panthenon and just sat and relaxed.
It was an amazing day.
The next day I got up really early and went to the Vatican. Stood in a huge line and once I got in, I entered like a circuit, I felt like a cow going into the slaughter house, being pushed along by the sea of people. It was sooo crowded... everyone was there just to see the sistine chapel cause no one really looked around at anythign else... I think they probs did what i did. Once they saw the sistine chapal at the end of the circuit they went back and did the circuit again. Yes... i did two rounds around the vaticin museum :) ahahhah The second time around it was less crowded... and I was able to actually focus on the other artifacts in the museum.
The rest of the day I wandered around the city again going to more churches...
STRANGE experience 3:
Soooo... this whole time I have been in Rome... I have had alot of occurences where men ask me for my phone number... or called me Bella... or say ciao bella? and then I just keep walking past them cause it's sort of inappropriate and creepy the way they do it.
ANyways after going to the Vatican i was very exhausted so i decided to just relax in one of the amazing churches in Rome. I sat in one of the seat and closed my eyes and wa sjust minding my own buisness when a girl came up to me... and told me to move over... when all the other seats were practically empty. Then she started talking to me... and asking me if i was catholic adn where i was from and then she tried to tell me about the art of the ceiling ... and then she asked me for my phone number! And i'm like this is creepy...she sounds like one of th e italian men only shes ... a girl. So i told her I dont have a phone number and shes like oh do you have facebook... and i was like ... I guess i cant give her my facebook and just not add her so i did... and im like I g2g and she's like if you are ever in rome message me and ill show you around !!!!!!! I WAS in a church for crying outload it was creepy. So she ended up adding me whilst i was in napoli and her friends list was all girls... who were barely wearing any clothes! IT was disturbing... so that was my 3rd strange experience in Italy.
I really did not ant to leave Rome at all :(
NAPOLI
BUT after three nights in rome I packed my bags and headed off to Napoli.
THE TRAIN kept breaking down, and it was so hot. Luckily I got to sit beside a really good lookin italian... no joke he was like a roman god! He didnt speak English though... this will be an occuring theme throughout my trip :( meeting really goodlookin guys who cant speak english and making me wish to GOD i spoke italian :(
ANYwAYS... I had told the hostel I was staying at id be there around 12pm but... i didnt get there until like 2/3pm. Also... no one I spoke to at the train station knew where i was staying. Then these nice german tourists over heard me say I was staying at the hostel Capri.. and they were like oh we are staying there too follow us! SO i followed them... and they had led me to the ferry which goes to the island of CAPRI and im liek AHHHH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (All this is occuring whilst im carrying a huge backpack in the boiling hot italian weather) so I was fed up, I was not goin to the island of capri! So i stomped towards some taxi drivers and was like please drive me to this hostel! and theyre like NO! and i'm like ahhh :( WHY :( and then theyre like because it is just across the street right there... and then the heavens opened and I ran to the hostel... quickly got my key and showered ... because I really smelled bad.
THENNNN i went on an amazingggggggggggggg bus tour around the coast of Napoli. I believe it was called Le Vedute De Golfo... BEAUTIFUL views of Capri Island... and Vesuvio I actually cried when I saw Vesuvio... because I had no idea i would actually ever make it all the way to Naples on this trip... I had also been reading about Pompeii since grade 7 and it was one of the reasons why I have fallen in love with history and Archaeology <3 SOooo yea... thank god the bus tour wasnt crowded. After that tour I managed to get onto the last tour which was called Luoghi dell' arte ... it was less pleasant... it went through the old city of napoli which is so polluted and falling apart.. i had to hide my face in my scarf. in fear i'd get lung cancer.
BUT I really liked that city. I wish i had more time to go and visit the archaeology museum :(
... also Italian men certainly have some really amusing/ flattering pick up lines thats for sure ...
ANYWAYS I headed back to my hostel... attempted to work on my literature essay due at the end of the week... and then I went and had dinner down the road :) It was amazing.
OOo then I met some really nice people who were studying Geology in Napoli they were super awesome.
POMPEII
THE NEXT day it was pouring rain... the sun disapeared and I decided it was a good time to head to Pompeii.
I missed my stop by an hour cause I couldnt see past the rain!!!!!!! :( I had to talk to the bus drive using sign language again and being like RuinS? Pompeii archaeology site? Pompeii ruins? and then hes like "OHHHhhhh ruins! ci... " and then he's like pointing at the ruin and probably sayng to me in italian... the site is probably closed or flooded are you sure you want to go in this weather... I can just assume that is what he was saying...
ANYWAYS I finally reached my destination and then the ticket office lady forwarned me that i wasnt allowed to refund my ticket if i did not like the weather conditions... but I didnt care.
Visiting pompeii ending up being the highlight of my trip despite the weather... maybe its cause i'm used tothe rain living in Scotland?
BUT there were alot of covered places like the villas and baths in pompeii and 2000 year old brothel... which was dry from the rain :)
INTERESTING FACT: So there is a section in pompeii like the red light district and on the ground as you enter that part of the city are penis symbols... pointing towards the brothel. NO JOKE... it forwarns people where the brothel is...and then theres also a fountain with a lady who has a penis in her mouth. Then in the brothel there are still mosaics of ... people having sex. In pompeii a lot of signs are expressed through images because a lot of the people were foriegners speaking different languages... i just couldnt believe how graphic these images can be!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Living in the Wild
So another oddity about living in the ghetto dorm is well basically it comes along with living with the wild...
I like leaving my window open all the time so I can get fresh air... and you think that wouldn't be a problemo considering I am on the top floor of the building and there are no trees for squirrels to climb into my window... well WRONG.
Nearly every morning I am visited by a grey squirrel and every evening I am visited by a red squirrel. They literally climb the walls of the building... they come from the roof... they fly... who knows how they do it! BUT they come into my room and steal my nuts... or try and steal my bread!
They are extremely cute don't get me wrong... but they are dirty and probs covered with diseases. They are probably the reason for why I am sick at the moment :S
Sometimes I scoot them on their way but now... they just stare at me blankly from the window and take a few more steps into my room... so I have to close the window... EVEN then they can crawl on the window... briefly but ... yea I think evolution has granted these little critters with web feet or something :S
My First West Highland Tour
Sooo yesterday I went on a West Highland day tour through Rabies tour company J
I woke up around 6 am, tried to catch a bus to this obscure meeting place in town because the bus was coming with the majority of the tourers from Edinburgh. So I managed to get to the meeting place by 9 am… and I meet this adorable guy from Finland. We introduce ourselves and then the tour bus comes and the driver is GORGEOUS! He is wearing a kilt and he had the most beautiful cascading auburn hair! I was in heaven! Until the guide said “I only have one pick up written down!” Sooo… it turns out that wasn’t my tour… the Finnish guy and the hot Scottish man drive away into the morning sunrise and I am left for 10 minutes at this obscure meeting place. Then finally my tour bus comes along and my tour guide is a woman…a Scottish Ellen Degeneres…
She is hilarious and very knowledgable about Scottish History… but I cursed the gods above.
The tour was sooo beautiful J We stopped off at Doune castle… then went to this amazing place called loch Awe and explored the ruins of Castle Kilchurn. IT really is like a scene from a movie… a scene suitable for Lord of the Rings! The Loch is like a rushing river, beating its way towards the castle, nearly surrounding the castle. I believe hundreds of years ago when the castle was home to the great clan chief of the Campbell’s the castle used to be surrounded completely by water and only the inhabitants knew how to cross the water without a boat. It was magnificent J
SO we left Loch Awe and went to Invereray … I explored the beautiful sea side town, I went to the old jail J I walked to the castle/country estate of the Lord of Argyll… I EVEN GOT TO SEE HAMISH the harry Coo again J
Last stop was Loch Lomond J then back to Stirling.
It was great J
Tomorrow I might either go and visit Castle Doune and go inside it… or try my first attempt of trying to get to Dunfermline where there is a beautiful abbey and castle J
To end this blog I was nearly scared to death! A squirrel from the roof just committed suicide by jumping maybe three meters onto a tree and missed the first branch… I guess it didn’t commit suicide literally… cause it managed to pull it self up onto the next branch… yea these things are insane ninja squirrels!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Long Awaited Blog :)
Sorry yalls for not writing on my blog... I have just been very busy :) So I guess I'll start with the basics and try and describe to you the place I am now living and what I have been doing... Some of you may be aware that I am unable to upload photos at this time but do expect them in the near future :)
SIGH!!!!!!!!
THERE IS ALSO fantastic shopping in Stirling City :-) and the guys that work at Tesco are gorgeous :)
There I got out as much as I could :) NOW TO SLEEP :)
**
Residence
Geddes Court. Also known as the ghetto residence on Stirling Campus… the place where they sequestered all of the international students because we don’t know any better.
There is about a dozen different types of carpet in the hallways of this 1960’s building... strange patches of carpet are placed strategically near the washrooms probably where the mold got so bad they decided to cover it up instead of fixing the problem. The stairwells are also ridden with mold, there is no lift, I am on the top floor in room 510 and the kitchen fridge is filled with little mail box slots and leaks yellow oily, oozz… also smells like fish.
My bedroom is very tiny and very stuffy because the radiator is always on. The walls are made of brick adding a prison-esque feel to the place. Moreover, the carpet is littered with burn marks from cigarette buts. YES… in Scotland you are allowed to smoke in your dorm rooms but you are not allowed to light candles or incense: figure that one out! Also, the sink in my room was designed in such a way that to turn on the taps and wash your hands the water gets everywhere and there is only the option of scolding hot with one tap and freezing cold with the other. I refuse to fill up the basin because there is a strange brown rust stain and blue stains from the minerals in the water :S
My mission when I first settled into Geddes Court was to purchase a table fridge, buy a couple of colorful bathmats, purchase a ton of potpourri, and colorful sheets and flower pillows J All of such goals have been executed! The theme of my room is purple … and my wall is covered with photos of my dog, post cards from the places I have visited and want to visit whilst in Scotland and a map of Medieval Scotland J
That is my current living situation for the semester I am here at Stirling. I definitely miss my beautiful master bedroom at home L
Freshers Week Party Hardy
On the bright side everyone on my floor is really nice and welcoming J The first day here, after saying my goodbyes to my mummsie, the people on my floor and I went out to the campus club and danced into the wee hours of the morning. A few days later we went to a foam party and nearly drowned in bubbles J
I don’t think I will forget my first experience at a Scottish club… some crazy first year boyz, with painted blue faces, whom were wearing football shirts .... groveled to me and said I looked like a famous singer ahhaha that was pretty neato J
I also had a few persistent blokes stand behind me … awkwardly… trying to dance with me … not saying anything and no going away…. which has never happened to me in Victoria… it was strange but amusing. TO be honest though, my first week here was a blur thats the way of things when partying in Scotland;)
THE CAMPUS
Despite the horrible living conditions Stirling is one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen in my entire life J
It surrounds the beautiful Airthey Loch and Airthrey castle… The Loch... don't get me started! IT is like a loch from swan princess! IT always has beautiful white swans swimming on it. There is also an amazing view of the menacing Wallace Monument... which was ERECTED in the 1860’s to commemorate William Wallace and the Wars of Independence. The craig and tail where that monument is situated is where I would eventually volunteer at an archaeology site J
The grass is so green here and the Ochill Hills are a beautiful gold… it is clear just by standing up at the Wallace Monument that Stirling is the Brooch of Scotland... the heart of Scotland. This really is the best place to learn about Scottish history and I am so glad I have managed to study here. Honestly, walking up to the monument was like walking back in time for me. I could really imagine Wallace and his men hiding up there before storming the English and taking back Stirling Castle... and when I went to Stirling Castle I could really imagine the Prince's Walk where young James the VI would walk along when he was breaking from his studies in the Prince's Tower! J
The City of Stirling
My first few days here I walked into Stirling city center a couple of times… it’s about 30 minutes away from Campus. I went to Stirling castle approximately four times so far and I have almost memorized the tour guide's lines J It really is the most amazing castle strategically! Historical Scotland Trust has just refurbished the great hall and the queens apartments and they have tried to create the times of the Stewart Kings... particularily around the time Mary of Guise was in residene. It’s amazing! When I look up at the castle in the morning or on a sunny afternoon the great hall looks like it’s made of gold because of the lime and mortar they used to cover the building …. It really is AWE-some.
I also went an explored the Holy Rude grave yard... it seems to be closede everytime I try to go in the actual building.
I also went into the old town Jail which was hilarious and gruesome because ther was a live prison tour with actors ...
THERE IS ALSO fantastic shopping in Stirling City :-) and the guys that work at Tesco are gorgeous :)
CLASSES
My first week of classes went really well. I only have two days a week of classes(monday and friday) but my immediate future will require a lot of reading on my own time because the classes are based on discussions of excessive amounts of reading and essays.
My plan as of now is to wake up really early on the days I don’t have classes and go to the library and read. So far that plan has worked out well :) I have also managed to book a few day tours to the highlands :) Which i will talk about in another blog :)
Back to the classes.... I love love love all of my reading lists :) I also love all of my professors they are so intelligent and passionate and sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Stirling Uni Librar is the most beautiful library to study in ever (though it closes around 8:30 pm!) It was just refurbished and there is so much natural lighting that I never get tired in it and there’s a floor where no one is allowed to speak so it is great for reading <3
Archaeology Experience
So as many of you know I volunteered a few days at the Wallace Monument. The project was examining the buildings that had once surrounded the monument when it was being built in the nineteenth-century. The part I was excavating was thought to be a tea room… which is very plausible considering we unearthed a lot of pottery. The greatest finds when I was there were nails predating Roman-Occupation in Europe… and a chisel J The best part about the archaeology was being protected from the rain under really thick trees and getting covered from head to toe in dirt that when I went for lunch down at the bottom of the hill in the café … I was made to sit on paper towels J
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Gah more awesome complications!
I am not liking Stirling's Enrolment services! Apparently many of the history course codes have been changed this semester... so when I looked up the course code for that Wallace to Bruce (the one I praised in the last blog) on the Politics and History website... apparently it is incorrect! Today I discovered that course code has now been changed to Stewart Kings of Scotland... which was my first choice for a history course at Stirling. I feel like I am loosing my mind. Anyways, enrolment services was able to secure me a place in the Stewart class because apparently no one wants to take it in Scotland! I am elated because it will really compliment the previous courses I have taken and will take at UVIC which are taught with a more British focus.
I will just have to learn about Wallace and Bruce on my own time :)
Monday, August 29, 2011
The complications of studying abroad :S
So I haven’t left the country yet and I am already getting the impression that studying in a foreign country is a lot more complicated than remaining at a home institution. In this blog I have laid down my dramatic, probably uncommon, event which transpired over the weekend of late:
I got an e-mail on Friday from Stirling’s International Office which informed me that the courses I had originally wanted to be enrolled in had been mixed up. It turned out I had been registered for British Literature courses and ZERO history courses (for those who do not know what I do at school... I am majoring in History and GRS, not literature!!). I basically freaked out and got all worried because all of the history courses I had wanted were fully subscribed by now L I was also sort of upset because one of my initial thoughts had been: "Oh GOD I am going to come back to UVIC and want to change my major to English!"
Alas, this morning I got an e-mail informing me that they were going to fix it... and then I got even better news that a course about the Scottish War of Independence was being offered this fall and that they were going to try and enrol me in that course. So I am keeping my fingers crossed because who doesn’t want to learn about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in Stirling (BRAVE HEART)!!???
If it turns out I can’t be enrolled in that course, I am still excited because I am taking a literature course called “Victorian Literature and Culture,” and one of the books featured on the syllabus is written by my favourite author Thomas Hardy J
Then for history I am taking “Kingship and Nationhood: Scotland from 1100-1500 C.E.”
PRETTY FREAKING STOKED about the archaeology sites I am going to be volunteering at too J
I got another e-mail this morning from the site manager who is associated with Stirling Archaeology Council... it turns out I might be working at a 15-16 Century Abbey Craig J
SOOO freaking pumped J
I got an e-mail on Friday from Stirling’s International Office which informed me that the courses I had originally wanted to be enrolled in had been mixed up. It turned out I had been registered for British Literature courses and ZERO history courses (for those who do not know what I do at school... I am majoring in History and GRS, not literature!!). I basically freaked out and got all worried because all of the history courses I had wanted were fully subscribed by now L I was also sort of upset because one of my initial thoughts had been: "Oh GOD I am going to come back to UVIC and want to change my major to English!"
Alas, this morning I got an e-mail informing me that they were going to fix it... and then I got even better news that a course about the Scottish War of Independence was being offered this fall and that they were going to try and enrol me in that course. So I am keeping my fingers crossed because who doesn’t want to learn about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in Stirling (BRAVE HEART)!!???
If it turns out I can’t be enrolled in that course, I am still excited because I am taking a literature course called “Victorian Literature and Culture,” and one of the books featured on the syllabus is written by my favourite author Thomas Hardy J
Then for history I am taking “Kingship and Nationhood: Scotland from 1100-1500 C.E.”
PRETTY FREAKING STOKED about the archaeology sites I am going to be volunteering at too J
I got another e-mail this morning from the site manager who is associated with Stirling Archaeology Council... it turns out I might be working at a 15-16 Century Abbey Craig J
SOOO freaking pumped J
Saturday, August 27, 2011
6 more days till the U.K. :)
I have decided to start a travel blog for the purpose of keeping friends and family updated on my journey to Stirling, Scotland. For four months I will be studying Scottish History and English Literature at the University of Stirling. I will also be volunteering at an archaeological excavation located at the Wallace Monument :) The dig involves the Medieval fortress in which the Wallace Monument was built on and I will also be working at a 15-16 Century Abbey Craig dig :). Anyways... this is my first trip away from home so long... and I will be alone!!! :S In this blog I will try and encapsulate and account all of my attempts of cooking, organization, and nightly drinking excursions.Wish me luck :)
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