Are we faking liking fake?

Some people might actually hate me once they read this post, but I feel the need to comment on this issue, briefly...or not.

Ok, there is something that I found rather astonishing in Scotland. I found a lot of fakeness. Is that even a word? Not sure...never mind.

Without further adieu, I was surprised by how much of fake body appearance I have been seeing around myself. Mostly it intensifies when going out. I cannot speak for the guys and I will be describing this from what I have been seeing  from the girl-perspective.

There is a long preparation process before going out. 

Usually it goes like this:

- a fake tan few days before going out 

(ohh come on, you don´t want to look pale, do you? Who cares that it is really dark inside.)

- a shower 

(30 minutes...you want to have no pubic hair in case "you get lucky", right?)

- make up 

(60+ minutes...the oranger your face looks the better, the blacker the area around your eyes the better, fake long eyelashes preferably. No matter that your orange makeup gets everywhere during the night and you can consider yourself lucky when you lose only one eyelash, because when you entered the club, you probably rocked that place anyway, so who cares)

- hair

( 60+ minutes...you better straighten you hair, because that is trendy, no matter that it actually damages your hair. Ohh...an addition, you better have some hair extensions, because you hair is simply never long or volumneous enough)

- clothes

(simple formula = the shorther the better, the more boobs and legs the better, the more see-through the better)

- predrinking 

(40+ minutes...well the alcohol in the clubs is very enpensive and also there are also really long queues everywhere. So what you do is you buy Vodka in Tescos, not that expensive and you get pissed quickly)

Once you enter the clubs...you go into the ladies room again, to check your face and hair again and add some more make up since you simply cannot have enough of fake stuff. 

FYI...There are freaking hair straightners in ladies room in Dusk. And that has no sense whatsoever. Once you arrive there, you surely have a certain amount of alcohol in your system in order to be able to survive in place like that. Therefore, the hair straightners in this scenario usually turn into mean beasts and you better not use them if you do not intend to burn yourself.

And as a matter of fact, if you do need to use the toilet, you might have a real trouble going through the crowds of girls that are queueing there to make them look themselves more fake.

Anyway, I cannot help wondering, if you feel confident with yourself only if you put a lot of fakeness on, what kind of a message are you sending. 

To me, this message says "I want you to like the fake me, because this way I feel beautiful". Is it just me, or do you see the slight problem here? 

I do, since I interpret it in a way...if you cannot be really true and confident with yourself, what kind of relationship (or entertainment...depending on your needs and morals :) ) are you searching for. 

>And to be honest with you, there is a pretty intense search going on there<

Do the guys even like the fake you or are they just faking it so that they might get some minutes of fun?

 Seriously, if they do then they must have a really bad taste. 

And if they don´t...why fake to like it?

Also...if you expect the guy / the girl to like the fake you, what kind of life in illusion are you going for and how do you expect the other person to like you for who you really are?

>now...at this point I admit, that I might be a tiny bit naive if I think that some people actually might go in clubs in a search of not only a one night stand<

I do not have answers for any of those questions...my main concern is why do people go for advertising their fakeselves rather then being confident with their trueselves.

My theory (based on an  observation) is, that we people do it because we are actually shy and scared to get hurt for what we really are. It hurts less to get hurt when being fake, doesn´t it?

The fakeness probably tends to borrow the fake sense confidence.

Because the alarming truth is that I saw those people turning into more confident and assertive personalities once being more fake. 

I think that I would be fine if it was teenagers that I saw behaving like that, but most of those people were over 20. Is it the media pressure that makes us do that? Since when do girls / women think that they look more pretty with a tone of fakeness on themselves? 

I can sincerely (and without any intention of this to sound like a cliche) say that everyone looks better and more beautiful without all that fake stuff. 

Yes, you too!

So go out there and work on your confidence to realise that.

I apologise to everyone who got offended by this post.

Idioms and phrases

Scottish is an amazing language. 

Not only that it sounds amazing, but also, they have words and phrases of their own.

Here is a list of idioms and phases that grabbed my attention and made me write them down.

Most of them should be inclusively Scottish.

The first three are absolute must-know.

1. Aye.

- Yes...most of the people (the cool local people will respond with this word.)

2. Wee.

- no, it is not "to pee"...it means "little" (seriously everyone says that all the time!)

3. Awrite.

- Hi / Alright (in a sence of greeting)

Driving me round the bend.  

- "driving me crazy", Caitlin Knotts commenting on some person

Thare's a drap in the hoose.

- Walls have ears / everyone can hear you

Haud a wee.

- hang on / stop for a minute

Tak the gate.

- leave / exit / depart

Guid night an sweit dreams!

- Good night and sweet dreams.

Fine A ken.

- I know quite well.

A kent face.
-Someone that you have seen before.

At the hinner end.

- In the long run.

Are you takkin me on?

- Are you kidding / mocking me?

A'm feelin a bittie wabbit.

- I feel a bit tired.

We niver dee'd o winter yet.

- We will manage / survive.

No bother.

- No problem at all.

Those two I cannot remember the correct "translation" for.

1. Away and take your face for a shite. 

2. Shower ae shites.

And three bonus American ones:

Curiosity killed the cat. 

 - Theo Williams commenting on me being curious

Bomb fucked Egypt.

- In the middle of nowhere. (by Trenna)

It would cost me arm and leg.
- It would be pretty expensive. (Natalie Cohen, being in Prague)

I might have forgotten about some...

any suggestions what should I add?

Know about Scots that...

Not all of them wear  Kilts. 

Warning! Do not mock it. It is NOT A SKIRT! For the true Scots it is a sense of honour and a family (clan) kilt is passed down generation. And also it is a proper, proper one. Not some cheap version made for tourists that you can buy at every corner. 

If you see a Scot wearing a kilt, he probably will be wearing underwear. >Such a shame<

When I asked why, I have been given three reasons. 

First, the obvious safety reason. 
Second, you might get too cold.
And third...apparently the true kilt material actually tends to bite a lot and is not that comfortable.

Not all of them play backpipes. 

Usually you could see backpipers in bigger cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness) trying to earn money while entertaining people on the streets. 

Also it is very hard to play this instrument and not very many people devote their time to learning this nowadays.

Though one day there has been some backpiper practising at the Uni campus, nice distraction, I liked it.

- Not all of them are gingers. 
As much as I love ginger hair colour, I have to admit, not all of them are gingers. Yes, there are more gingers than in central Europe, but not as many as I hoped for.

Not all of them play rugby. 

This is actually not the best topic for a friendly conversation. Although they used to be really good, Scots lost badly in a recent competition.

Most of them are incredibly friendly people. 

They smile at you and start chatting to you, though never meeting you before. It is their aim to make you feel comfortable. Once the find out that you are a tourist, they find it amazing that you intended to visit their country and the can be very generous hosts. Very unlike English, I need to admit.



Most of them do drink whisky. 

But not the cheap one you can buy in Tesco´s. If you open up this topic, they will be talking for hours about the art of whisky making, the history of whisky making, the colour, the texture, the taste, the aftertaste, the good effect of whisky on you. There are lots of local distilleries.

Did I forget something? :)

Know about Scotland that...

There is an ongoing rivalty between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Though Glasgow is bigger (600.000 inhabitants) and is after London and Birmingham the third biggest city in United Kingdom, the capital of Scotland since the 15thcentury is Edinburgh (480.000).
An interesting fact - the capital actually used to be Stirling.

Nowadays, people are devide into those who like one and hate the other.

I have to say that I like Glasgow for its vibrant life and Edinburgh for its historical roots.
If you would be interested to know more about this, I recommend this book:

Scots do not love the English, based on the oppression in history. The do not wish to be "rulled by" the English. 

In September there is a big independence referendum, when everyone above 16 can vote whether s/he wants Scotland to be independent or not.

A thistle is a national "flower". 

According to a legend, there was a foreign warrior invading scottish settlement, he stepped on a thistle which made him shout out loud and saved the Scots. 

Nowadays you find the thistle signs everywhere.

The official animal in Scotland is a unicorn.

A unicorn, according to the Celts symbolises happiness, purity, grace and healing.
It first started to appear on coins around 1500 AD.

The Loch Ness monster (Nessie) exists. It does, you just have seen it yet.

Scotland is a land of fairies. Similarly as in Norway you have trolls, in Scotland you have fairies. The highest concentration of those creatures is apparently the Fairy Glen on the Isle of Skye. Your would have to be blind not to see one there.

There have been quite a few influental people being born in Scotland. 

Let´s name a few: 

Adam Smith (the invisible hand theory guy)

William Wallace (the warrior..will tell you more about him in upcoming posts)

Robert Burns (the poet)

 David Livingstone (the medical missionary and traveller that discovered the Victoria falls, named after Queen Victoria)

Sir Walter Scott (the novelist and poet)

J.K. Rowling (yes, the author of the famous Harry Potter books, thank you Mrs. Rowling for an amazing childhood enriched with the world of magic) 

Andy Murray (the tennis player)



And finally...the weather!
Yes it does rain, quite a lot. But there is a saying that says something like "if it rains, just waits 5 minutes" - because the weather changes a lot throughout the day.

I would say that it is very likely that you will get some rain throughout the day, however it is very unlikely that it will rain all day long...just try waiting for 5 minutes :)

An announcement

Dear friends,

if you have been following my blog as I went to Scotland and started writing my experience on day to day basis, you also probably noticed that I stopped doing that after short while.

The reason is rather simple. 

After those few days, that I did manage to write about, I started to be busy. 

Like really really busy.

I was busy with absorbing the country, the kindness of people, the customs and meeting new people. 

My usual routine was that I would be writing  by the time I got home, took a shower after a long day and get everything sorted. I would be spending an hour or so writing a new post. 

However, sooner than I expected I got overwhelmed by the exciting events and things happening during the days and I also got involved in really interesting societies.
I simply dived into the bed at the end of the days, being happy that I managed to change into my pjs and brush my teeth.

Yes, I soon became very happy in Scotland. I got in touch with amazing people and we were experiencing adventures on daily basis. I consider myself very lucky and also to be honest I am a bit angry with myself for not sticking to my original plan of writing an online diary/report of what has been happening. On the other hand, I am not that angry at all. 

The fact that I have not been able to push myself to write a new post might have to so with a tiny bit of laziness, but mainly...it has to do more with the fact that I have been having a time of my life in a breathtakingly beautiful country with truly amazing people.

Nevertheless, I am back in the Czech Republic now and I will not go into details how I feel about it yet (that is an issue on its own).  However, I decided to go back into writing about my stay in Scotland, since it is still pretty much stuck in my memory. 

Honestly said...I am not entirely sure whether I am doing this more for myself or for you. I want to capture my thoughts and feelings about my stay and also for those of you, who have been following my posts from the beggining - I want to make it up to you.

My stay in Scotland has not always been too rosy either...I have had some painful events happening in my family and it was hard to deal with that from distance. When writing about my experience I will try to write it as I felt it.

I will not make any promises about the frequency of me posting another posts, otherwise I might end up with going back on them again (which I really do not want to). 

Let me say it this way, I will post some new stuff everytime I will be missing Scotland and my friends there and everytime I will be bored and sick of being back...and that might actually be more often than you or I thought.