4 horrible moments in Scotland

All my posts here have been rather positive so far...and no wonder, I love Scotland, I loved my stay and my experience was almost perfect. Almost...

You know what...a study abroad is such a good thing and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Studying in Scotland especially is great and studying in Stirling in particular.

But it would not be true, if I said that my stay in Stirling was rosy at all times. Of course everyone might have different experience, but here is a list of the times, when I did not enjoy myself.

1. When a family member that I never thought of not seeing again passed away. It hits you hard, when you are abroad, separated from your family and all you can do is to cry while calling them via Skype. 

Loosing someone is hard, loosing someone when you are miles away even harder.

Nevertheless, I had a lot of support inside Scotland too. Laurelin that took me for a day trip-hike, Hazel that I was always able to talk to, my flatmates that were really nice and considerate to me...and Courtney and Rachel that did not let me be alone.

So I guess the lesson learnt is...you just never know when are going to see a person for the last time, don´t take anything for granted and if you think that a person should know how you feel about him or her...just say it!

2. People would always tell me "careful, Stirling can be a dangerous place". Honestly said...if you think that Stirling can be dangerous, you should go to Prague. 

There is no place on Earth where I would feel that safe...except those 3 next instances.

When a dead body of random person was found during the second week of my stay in Stirling on a spot that I was able to see from my room. 

Actually, for first 2 days we did not know what was going on there, 24/7 there were police cars and policemen guiding that place and forensic people coming in and out. 

The discussions in the Union street (where my flat was) gone wild, some suggested that people might be cookign drugs or something. Few days later, the Stirling Observer released an article saying that a dead body was found and everyone went silent in a shock.

My flatmate Lisa joked about and said: "Julie, this is going to teach you not going anywhere alone in the dark" :)
(I never bought a bus pass, because I thought it would be a shame to ride a bus in such a beautiful country if I can simply walk).
But my friend Theo said: "you know, there is not really much to be afriad not, that place is probably the safest in Stirling right now".

Later on, we found out that that poor bloke had a sudden heart attack. But I never really told my parents, there were worried enough with me being away and this would be a bit too much.

3. When there was a report that a girl, a University of Stirling student, was raped in one of the underpasses in Stirling. 

Now...those underpasses? Not nice places let alone. How many times was I going through them? 2-4 a day. The thought of a girl being raped there...terrible. That really made me rather scared at that time.

Later on, the girl confessed that it was a false report, she was angry at her boyfriend and did not think of anything better, but reporting this.

3. When I had a bike accident. 

To be fair, I have to say, that I was not much of a skilled bike-rider on the left side of the road. My bike was too small for me and the breaks were not really breaking well, or maybe almost not at all.

And so we are back to the lovely underpasses. 

On late morning, I was cycling slightly faster than I would usually be to Uni, because I was about to have a meeting about my possible future studies there. Not that I was late, but the fact that the meeting was important for me and I hate even the though of being late made me cycle a little faster that usual.

To clarify there are two underpasses.
When I was about to go through the first one, I remember slowing down considerately because there was a woman and a little toddler. The second one however is more dangerous one, it is sort of in a curve and you cannot see the person on the other side till the very last moment.
And all of a sudden there was another cyclist infront of me.
In a split second, that seemed long as a lifetime, I hit the breaks, but reliased they do not work well so I decided to slide the bike to one side to avoid the crash. My brain, used to riding and cycling on the right side, sent a signal to my hands to slide to the right side as oppose to the left one as I should have. That resulted in an immediate collision with the other cyclist. Though if I slid to the left...I would have hit the wall.

The guy was similarly shocked as I was, but started blaming the crash on me, saying how fast I was and that simply was not true. I was in too much of a shock to say something. He was concerned about his bike and once he repaired it, he left.
I looked at my left hand though and the first thought that went through my head was "Oh no, my watch is broken". Then I noticed that the skin on my knuckles on my hand is torn and unattached on many places. I marveled at it for a while, but somehow unable to realise that I was hurt. I looked down and found out my stockings are torn too. 

But I remembered that I had an important meeting and I continued riding to Uni, I didn´t want to be late, remember. 

Soon though I felt my hand getting wet on the handlebar. I realised that there is blood splashing from it and also the blood from the wound on my knee made my stockings and the shoe went and dirty too.

 At this point, it could be added that I hate the sight of blood, yes even my own, and I tend to feel dizzy at first and faint few moments later.

This time...I knew that I just had to made it to Uni, so I kept on cycling for another 3 miles, went to Uni, scared above mentioned Theo on the way, entered the Green and Blue space office, said: "girls, I had a bike accident" and started crying like a baby :). I did not hurt much, I was just in a shock from the accident, that that person did not help me and from seeing the blood.

Laurelin (above mentioned angel) assesed the wound, said that the knee needs stitches and the finger an X-ray and Italian daredevil Giulia (who is now an owner of the bike :) ) accompanied me to the hospital and calmed me down. The knee did need stitched, but the finger was just badly swolen and bruised.

All and all I can conclude that although, there were few hiccups during the stay, I had people that were ready to help me out and that I could rely on - what more can I wish for?

Thank you my friends!