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.