Hello and welcome to my blog,

I would like to share here my experience with studying and living in Scotland.
My hope is that the posts might turn out to be useful, entertaining or inspiring.
I wish to capture the sheer beauty of this country, my adventures and also offer some insider tips.

Keep in touch!

Saturday, 22 February 2014

Films

Films I watched and QUITE liked

As my friends requested, I have created a list of films that I liked at that time when I watched them. Now, when I say that I liked them, it does not mean that all of them were amazingly good, but there might have been bits of it that I found interesting. 

My family uses lines of these films quite frequently (because we find them funny and suitable in lost of situations and they make us laugh), so do not be scared if I ever talk to you using a line from a certain film, because I am simply used to that.


What I judge as a watchable film? 

  • a film that surprises me with unpredictability
  • a film that does not bore me 
  • a film that makes me laugh or cry
  • a film that has outstanding actor´s performance
  • But MOSTLY a film that I have to think about for a long time after I watch it, one that leaves a mark (if that makes any sence).


I cannot say that I would like a film without any criticism, I have studied films way too much to have no criticism, however I happily recommend those films. 

P.s. There is no order, the films were written randomly, simply base on a flow of thoughts.









  • The War - although I do not like Kevin Costner, this film is made with such a sensitive touch and sadness that I have to recommend it. One of the first films of Eliah Wood. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7aE0a8keiA





  • Forrest Gump - I can watch this film countless times and still discover new pieces of wisdom in it, neverending source of quotes! Amazing performance of Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise, incredible soundtrack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPIEn0M8su0 







  • The Secret Garden - a film by Agnieszka Holland, I watched it as a child and loved the idea of secret garden with beautiful blooming flowers whee one can hide from worries, good soundtrack too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl6ihoF8Hrg
  • The Village - I remember liking the film when I watched it 7 years ago and liked Adrian Brody and Joaquin Phoenix there. It has a pretty poor ending - not sure if I would like it anymore, pretty good sountrack though - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6IgwbTYnrI












  • Romeo and Juliet (1968)- very successfully captured the well-known story... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCe0nzdD76k I hate any other modern version (such as the one with Leonardo DiCaprio...a message to the authors - Juliet is not supposed to shoot herself but stab herself, get it right!)
  • 500 Days of Summer - I liked that from the beginning you know that something is going to go wrong and the whole film you are trying to figure out what. And of course - the Ikea Scene! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNEkwcY7OI0




















Czech films
  • Pelíšky
  • Postřižiny
  • Musíme si pomáhat
  • Kolja
  • Ikarův pád
  • Anděl páně
  • Na samotě u lesa
TV series

  • Greys anatomy - as a child I wanted to be a doctor, but I hate blood, so that was not really possible and this series provides an insight in the surgeon´s workday, plus is has excellent Sandra Oh
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Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Day 13, Clubs

It is snowing! The mountains were covered beautiful white snow layer. The walk to the Uni was simply brilliant. During the morning, there was a presentation of different clubs, I signed up for many of the clubs, to send me information. Honestly, there were all sorts of clubs, the weirdest one was probably one the Muggle Quidditch. Really? :) 
Aww, so funny. Next week, there is a give it a go week, which basically means, you can come and try to experience what the club is about. I am already registered for the International Society club and I plan to join the Creative Writing club. 



The rules are that you write 2 pieces a week of whatever you feel like writing and you get them corrected by a professional and you get to talk about together. I think, this is a great opportunity to put my thoughts on paper and develop them I cannot wait to join.

We had another presentation, this time about NHS.I met Rachel there and we decided to have lunch together. I found out that they do Gluten-free pizza at the Uni. I really enjoyed the lunch, butI think that even more, I have enjoyed the company of Rachel.

"Caution, this food is hot!" :)


Rachel is such an amazing person clever, smart, unique and we also have a lot in common. I feel like we have a lot to talk about, we could be talking for aged, if we could. I have also registered at the Counseling centre, I just thought it would be good to talk to professionals about what I am experiencing from time to time. I thought this might be a good idea, since I know I can be fragile sometimes. 

After that me and Rachel had to part, because we had classes after that. I had my class of Writing for Journalists. It seems to be a really diffucult class. It is a practical classe for students who are into Journalism and who went through the theory classes before. It put me a bit down. I am not sure if I good enough for that.

But I got distracted when I arrived to our flat, we started chatting with girls and Lisa was in her laughing mood and I had a bit of an unlucky day, I kept dropping everything when I was cooking and it just made all of as laughing crazy. We laught so much that we cried from laughter. Finally, I love laughing myself to tears. :)

Speaking of cooking, I went to Tesco in the evening not being sure what I actually wanted for dinner, so I just spontaneously went there. I went for the sales stuff, which is actually so different to the ones in Czech Republic - you might find food in really bad quality there. But here, the quality of the food in discount is still really great. And what I have to admit is that it makes me want to try buy and cook new things.

I cook myself every day actually and I never used to cook only for myself in my life. I would love cooking for other people, but not for myself. But now, I feel like eating properly healthy and trying new things and I actually love what I cook. I do not even miss my mums cooking, I am able to cook really good meals myself. Can I say that I am a bit proud of myself? I am already planning new recipes that I can cook.




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Day 11, The Pub Quiz

We (that is to say us 141 international study abroad students) had few more lectures today about how to use a library, what are the rules there, how to most effectively prepare for classes and the NHS information.It took more of the 6 hours. But I found the girls - two lifesavers, Courtney and Rachel. They are both from the USA, Kentucky and we found out that we have not only very similar interests, but also that we all live in the same street. I am being so lucky! I cannot believe it. They like hiking and exploring and we are already planning so many activities together.


Later in the afternoon, I had my first class. I got lost on my way there, the size of the campus is still a bit overwhelming, but eventually I found it. My first lecture was Political Concepts and Ideas. I have never liked politics, more to the contrary...but I decided before I have any feelings about some concept, I better find out more and take off the blidsheeds. And actually the first lecture was really interesting, it had a lot to do with the history, which I love. I am still not sure what I would like to do in the future (and envy all those ofyou who do), but I really like enhancing my knowledge in all sorts of ideas. In the end I wish to fill in all the missing parts of the puzzle and create a bigger picture. And I believe (not that I want to jump into conclusion) that this subject (or module as they call them here) is going to fill in a big missing space in my puzzle of life knowledge and I am happy about it.


In the evening there was an event organized by the Student union, it involved a competition - a pub quiz - between different group I arrived earlier and did not know anyone except Conn, so I joined him and his friend Stuart, Northern Ireland. The quiz was really hard, some of the questions were impossible to answer. I missed the last bus that would take me home after the quiz, but I would not mind walking even in the dark.I feel really safe here. When I was a child I would be scared of darl, but I am also a really curious. The curiosity overcomes the fear...only in the bad way. Eventually I stopped being scared of night and discoved the beauty of it.

However Stuart insisted on walking me home, he lives just few minutes away from me...but still it was really sweet of him. I have not met many men who would behave like gentleman so far. I plan to write some one of the next posts about it actually.







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Sunday, 9 February 2014

Day 10, The Orientation

Unexpectidly, I got home from the party at about 3 in the morning and found out that I have to wake up in 4 hours  to be at school on time. Not the best night sleep if you ask me. 

My flatmates that took me to the party were actually really nice to me. They were so good to me, introducing me to all of their friends friends, making sure that I am doing fine and I have enough to drink. The place was a little bit crazy crowded, there was not enough space to dance without touching anyone else around me. Most of the people were really drunk, but not still quite well behaved. Whereas in Czech Republic, when people drink, the get really annoying sometimes. Overall I had a really good time, thanks to my flatmates.

Why did I have to wake up for school so early then? I had my first Orientation day, where I found out, there are 141 other international students who just moved to Scotland and are experiencing the same feelings as I. The orientation was well planned, they explained everything in details, which was however a bit boring for me in the end, because I already knew most of it by finding out myself. Nevertheless, the provided solid information about various student activities that help people to meet each other. I was amazed by how well thought through it was. In the next few days, they have planned many other activities to get together. I think it is great that they care so much about us, foreigners. UNYP has a lot to learn if you ask me.

 We also got a bag and pen saying "University of Stirling" and a book called "The Quickening Maze" by Adam Foulds. I know that this is just small things to make us feel better, but I am already feeling this sense of being proud of belonging to the University of Stirling.  And i think so do many other international students, they were already wearing those bags today.


Conn had his speech about the International Society that I plan to join and I found out how amazing public speaker her was. He was not nervous, his speech was fluent and he even managed to spice it up with few jokes which made many people laugh. I wish I was half as good as he is.

Today I realised how much I miss my dogs...I meet a lot of people outside walking with their dog, especially when people walk with cute puppies. Not sure if it is just me, but on daily basis, I meet so many people with adorable puppies and it makes me miss my dogs even more. I had this idea, to try to find a dog-walking job or something. 


I am enjoying the bathrobe (how it isolates my own warmth) and I found out that it actually goes well with my slippers.

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Saturday, 8 February 2014

Day 9, Bathrobe and party

I did not really have any plans for today, woke up quite late and decided for a spontaneous walk through the city. However it did not go very were, because it started raining quite heavily (Oh my god it just reminds me, that I need to let my umbrella dry, just a sec). I remember that my flatmate natalie told me that there is a big park in the middle of the city, so I went looking for it.

Eventually I discovered it, it is called King´s park (http://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/kings-park-p247191), but I it started to rain so badly, I got soaked, although having an umbrella and I had to come back. So that is still on the list. Anyway, the walk there is through a really nice part of Stirling, so I am sure it was not my last time there nor it is the last time I am writing about it.

When I got home, I realised that my bathrobe is finally dry. Seriously, it takes really long before the clothes dries here, because it is so cold. Actually, when waking up in the middle of the night and taking off you duvet, you realise (although half asleep) how cold it is, you spring to the toilet, just not the warmness of the bed, sit on the seat and you immediately wake up. If there is something that I cannot get used to - it is the coldness of the toilet seat, it is devastating. Anyway...what was I trying to say I guess is that my bathrobe is finally dry, and I fully enjoying wearing it, because it keeps me warm.

Happy owner of the bathrobe.

Apparently, there has been some rugby championship (which is here more important than the whole Olympic games, mind you) and Scottish team played really poorly and lost to England, which the Scottish (who watch at least a little bit of rugby) are really disappointed about.

I am about to go out with my flatmates tonight to a club called Dusk (yes, most of them arrived by now), but I am afraid I will not be staying there for very long, because I have my orientation day at the Uni tomorrow. I wonder what Scottish youth means under the term "partying" and also if I am going to like that at all. (for those of you who know me wel, you might be guessing the answer:) ).
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Friday, 7 February 2014

Day 8, Pendreich

7.2. 2014

Some voices woke me up today; there were two cleaning ladies in our flat talking to each other. The noise that they made was incredible, when opening my door, I thought that they must be at least fighting, but they just said "Mooorning" when they saw me and continued with the "chatter". 



Nevertheless, I was glad in the end that they woke me up; this gave me the opportunity to explore a forest that I saw yesterday on my way back from the Dumyat hill yesterday - the Pendreich area. I haven´t got any more pictures of the area, but this one.

The borders of the Pendreich forest, let the adventure begin.


There is one reason that I did not take more pictures while being in the forest. It would be safe to say that I other things on my mind. At the beginning there was a nice route there, however after like a kilometre or so, there was almost no more path, or rather it was disappearing in the amount of soaked moss. Or rather to say a swamp. 

 You know how they would always put an unnecessary warning on a bag of peanuts "contains nuts" or similar cases? I seriously think, that they should consider writing on the borders of this forest "danger of losing your shoes when stepping into unexpected swamp" or "step in only if you do not wish to see your shoes anymore" or maybe just simply "unsteady surface, danger of swamps".



To cut the long and tragic story short, I had really hard time going through this forest; I even lost my watch in the process. Which is a big shame really, I loved that watch. I tried to go back and search for them, but never found them again. Anyway, once I was finally out the forest, I was able to see this beautiful loch. 



The Loch, not a lake.


You better not call it a lake, it is a loch, which actually makes me automatically think of the German word “Archloch” and I have an uneasy time trying not to smile, when people talk about lochs. 



While I was sitting on the bench I enjoyed the sunshine.

I have been enjoying really beautiful weather here so far, full of sunshine and spring-like breeze. Some of the trees even started to bloom (and I cannot wait till the do, because I bet it is going to be even more beautiful here), but people say that the weather forecast actually predicts some snow. I would not mind that either, I love snow too. :)  

 I look at snow almost every day as the matter of fact. Every time I climb up some hill, I have a view of the far horizon where the mountains are and the tops of them are full of snow. I would like to go for a trip there once; I can feel them calling me.
Then I continued to the village of Bridge of Allan, I took the route that Conn was suggesting when he showed me around two days ago. Once I got lost (it is not that difficult you know, there are almost no signs and you have to rely on your sense of orientation - nonexisting in my case), but I met some very friendly old Scottish couple, who happily helped me. 

 I thought that understanding the older people would be the most difficult thing here, but I understood them just fine. When I thanked them for their help, they said "no bother", I have never heard this expression before, maybe they use it here, I need to find out.
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Thursday, 6 February 2014

Day 7, The Dumyat hill

6.2. 2014
I did it, I made it to the top of the Dumyat hill today, I cannot believe how lucky I was!!!
And...not to blow my own horn, but I am really proud of myself too.

As I was suggesting yesterday, I tried a different path when climbing up the hill today. On my way there I got lost twice. Why is that? Well with the public walks here, there is always many options for which path to take and let´s just say that I did not choose the right one twice. Anyway I do not regret getting lost, because in the process I discovered some amazing places. The woods here are so different to what I am used to in Czech Republic. They are wild and temperament, but really charismatic and unique with its distinct smell and spirit.

Why was I so lucky then? Because I had an incredible conditions when climbing up. It was rarely raining and the sun was shining almost the whole time, offering me breathtaking views of the hill as well as the whole area that I live in. Of course, not to forget there were herds of sheep all over the hill complex.

I am not sure, whether I am describing this right and whether you actually are able to sense the excitement and the true enchantment that I felt when climbing up there while the whole countryside was beautifully embraced by the sun and then having the chance to look around from the very top of the hill. The memory of today experience is certainly on of those one shall never forget.

As a reminder, I decided to share some pictures, that might not have the capability of capturing the indescribable beauty of the place, but hopefully will give you an idea.

Nor at all there yet...a bit cloudy, the sun was hiding for a second there.

Usually, when walking, you have to overcome small obstacles...


There ruins of a house on the way to the top.

Finally there!!! The view was the best treat after all the climbing.


The smile is very unnatural, there was some strong and cold wild blowing against me, as you can see from the colour of my nose.

Sheep are everywhere, they are the occupants of those hills and you better not cross them.






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Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Day 6, Walking

5.2.2014

I woke up at 11:30 and I had to cut down the walking. Originally I wanted to spend the whole day walking, however I did not have enough time for that. I made myself breakfast and put on clothes and realised that it is 12:30, by the time I got to the hill from my place it was 13:45. Now, I took my time while climbing up the hill, there were so many wonderful places to see, the countryside covered in ivy and moss. 

On my way there I came across a field full of sheep, they were staring at me foolishly and then started running away. I swear I have not seen a funnier thing for a while. All of them running up and down the hills with their big buttocks. Awww, even the thought of it makes me smile again.

This is not my picture, but it is just to show, where I was. In the front, there is the William Wallace monument, behind it, there is my Uni and the massive beautiful hill "complex" called Dumyat hill  is the one I tried to climb.


Anyway, I did not make it to the very top of the hill, it proved to be a lot more difficult that it would be and also it was getting a bit dark. On some days, the dusk just comes a bit earlier and I did not want to risk anything. Furthermore, there was really nasty wind up there. I could not believe how strong the wind was. It was ok under the hill, but when when I was climbing up I almost felt like it was going to blow me away. I was wearing my warmest winter coat but I was really cold.

I plan to climb up the tomorrow, but I will try to go up there from different path.

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Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Day 5, The Uni and Bridge of Allan

 4.2. 2014

 Today I started out with yummy breakfast, my flatmate gave me a chocolate egg as a surprise.
A chocolate egg from Natalie, a morning treat with the cinnamon and banana porridge.
In the afternoon I met with Conn again and he showed me around the nearest town Bridge of Allan. It is smaller than Stirling, but apparently more posh and neat, as other people say.

Yesterday my professor shared with me a tip, how to buy really cheap bus tickets for trips anywhere I wanted. So in the end it proved to be a little bit of a nightmare. I wanted to buy the tickets to Aviemore, but the bank transaction would not let me, because my czech bank did not find the whole transaction reliable, so I changed the settings only to find out that that I would need a scotish bank account to finish the transaction. I run to the central bus station to try that as a last chance but the code did not work there. I guess it was not ment to be for me.
I wanted to try the traditional Haggis today, they sell a wide choice of it in Tesco´s. At first I was a bit scared of it, but I am also into trying local food or drinks, because I believe that everything is embeded with the cuisine  - the history, the culture, the characters of people. And I really want to get to know Scotland and Scottish people to the bits.

There is one more thought that I forgot to share yesterday. In the evening, when taking a shower, I started singing. The song I was singing was not even my favourite one, but I guess what I am trying to say is that I am started to feel comfortable here and that is very good.

What is the plan for tomorrow? Walking...one can never have enough of that, Conn shared many walking tips with me so I would really like to try one of the paths.
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Monday, 3 February 2014

Day 4, The Uni and surroundings

Monday 3.2. 2014

 Today it was unexpectidly hard for me to wake up, although I went to bed early (as usually one might said, buthey...I just really like to sleep). It took me ages till I was able to get out of bed and do something useful. However, before I was able to do that, I found out that the electricity stopped working. Beautiful, why is that?! It litterally took me at least an hour till I put on some clothes and wanted to make some tea. Aha, the kettle is not working. Of course stupid, that might be because the electricity is not working as you found more than hour ago. Ok, I might just as well some water then.

As it turned out, the electricity needed charging - with money and the only place I could do that is the university. Well, I wanted to have a look around anyway, since I haven´t done that and it´s already my fourth day here, so one more reason to man up and go there. Now, most people would say take the bus there, it will tak you only 5 minutes from your flat. But, since I didn´t have my student ID yet, it would cost me about 5 Pounds which is a bit too expensive for 5 minutes isn´t it? Plus I don´t mind walking, so it shouldn´t be such a problem.

On my way there I followed a couple of students, I thought that they must be students of the university too. The whole time I thought to myself, come on you wanted to meet new people, what are you waiting for, just approach them, they seem nice. But I wasn´t able to till they all of a sudden turned left and I found myself asking them if this is the right way to the university, although I suspected that it was.

They soon confirmed that it was a shortcut and started talking to me, admired how brave I was for walking there on my own for the first time. I could not bring myself to telling them that I did not have anyone to go with me and that I wanted to spare some money. Their names are Steph and Ross. Steph is from London and has the most beautiful English accent and Ross is local. He has got sort of Eliah Wood eyes - bright blue and really big. Once again it surprised me  (and probably will never stop surprising me) how friendly people here are. They helped me out with everything, showed me around the university and shared some insider´s tips. I am going for a lunch with Steph tomorrow and her other friend whom I have not yet met, but who went to Prague this summer and I am really looking forward.

The took me to the reception and then they left, after I got everything sorted out, I went to have alook around the park surrounding the Uni. I have to say that it is BEAUTIFUL ... breathtaking, just like a dream.
Snowdrops in early February?


Is it really too weird to say that this feels a little bit like Hogwarts?


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Day 3, Let´s just have a walk around, shall we?

Sunday 2.2.2014

 Today I decided to walk around the city in the daylight. So I finally had the chance to admire Scottish architecture and design. Honestly said, Scottish people do have really good taste. Similarly to Holland for example the rarely have curtains and this allows such currious people as I am to have a secret look at how it looks inside their homes. Without exaggeration I have to stop myself from knocking on every single door and saying: "Hi there, can I live here please?".

Almost all the buldings are designed in a sort of "castle look". Really the saying "my house, my castle" has just a whole new meaning here. During one of my walks I discovered this kindergarden and it made me reflect on my early days of having to go to a horrible square building and how happy I was everytime I was allowed to leave it and run home. If I had such a kindergarden as is on the picture bellow, I would be more than happy to leave home and sprint towards it.
If I had such a kindergarden I would be sprinting there every single day!

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Day 2, Settling in in "Settle in"

Saturday 1.2. 2014


I was resting the whole morning and in the afternoon I was supposed to meet up with Conn. Conn is an English student studying Politics and the University of Stirling and he also engages in many student societies. I contacted one of them few days before my arrival, the society is called STEER and helps new students with showing around.

Conn guided me through Stirling, recommending different place for having a coffee or a meal and also took me up to the Stirling castle. Then, because it was raining we went to the Stirling´s oldest pub - Settle in.  It is a 300 year old pub with a really nice atmosphere. We both had ciders and chatted about Stirling and the University. The cider was nothing like I ever tasted before, it did not feel very strong, but it got me tipsy very soon.

 
Thistly - a Scottish Cider, very tasty and rather strong :)

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Day 1, The Arrival

Friday 31.1. 2014
So after all the stress with exams and taking care of the departure and everything, it is finally here - me leaving for Scotland. A fresh start, new challenge, meeting new people, gaining new perspectives. Ok, let´s go down to the earth, stop being so dramatic. But really, this has been something that I have been looking for so much, I guess that I just really like change in my life. I just like to gain different experience that I would have fun thinking about when I am old.

So here I am, at the airport, dressed up for the stereotypically unwelcoming Scottish weather, carrying all the stuff that would not fit into my 2 (!) suitcases and feeling like a overdecorated Christmas tree. Yet, what I really feel is the excitement, I feel the rush going through my body whenever I think about in how many minutes I will actually be in Scotland.

I was so lucky to meet one of my professors  from UNYP, Mr. Clark, at the airport, so I had a good chat with him. He even gave me his number in case I needed anything, which was such a nice gesture and it made a person like me a lot less anxious. 

 In the plane, behind me there a Scottish woman with a small child and when we flew above the clouds and were fully exposed to the sunshine, she said to her child "Enjoy the sun, you won´t be seeing much of it in Scotland". Well so far, I would have to say, that she was quite wrong, but I don´t want to jinx it.

The flight seemingly took ages. Although it was only about 2 hours it felt like 2 days. Looking back, I have to admit, I was really excited, wasn´t I? Anyway, we finally land on the land of Scots, everything went smoothly with picking up the suitcases and then I was picked up by the driver that took me to my apartment. However, before that he was so kind to show me around Stirling, the centre and the University. When I am saying kind, I mean like usually kind. The people here are being simply so kind towards everyone that it makes me want to hug them for making me feel better about everything.

The uni accomodation is nice, room more spacious than I expected, heating works, although it takes some time to heat up. The porter, John S., told me how to run everything in the apartment. 
A - he had really a strong accent and I just felt like nodding to everything he said. 
B - I immediately forgot all the instructions that he has been saying and that I was able to understand, because I guess I was just too overwhelmed by everything. Later on, I knocked on his door and shamefully admitted that I did not understand half of what he was saying and forgot the rest of it. This made him laugh, he was happy (mind you - not annoyed) to explain again and more slowly and at the end he just said to pop by anytime I wanted.

As for the internet connection, I had a bit of issue with it and in the end I went to bed without it, but somehow it didnt feel right not to be able to share everyting with my closest friends or family. I slept for 15 hours, that is not that shocking as it might look, since during my exams I slept usually only 4 hours per night and this was simply well deserved good night sleep. What woke me up was the sun. Yes, I could not believe it either. What more, I figured out the internet connection (and felt like the most amazing IT person in the world for a brief moment) so the world seemed even brighter...but that is a story of another day.

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