Life.

Hey everyone! You've succeeded in taking the views on my blog to over 1000- it's like I'm famous or something :D But seriously, thanks for reading, it means that someone beside me is getting something out of it!

This past week has been a fairly chill one. Seeing as papers are coming up, I thought maybe I should spend some time actually doing what I came here for. The stakes are a lot higher for individual projects, such as the essay I'm writing for 60% of my grade right now- I'm really glad we don't have that back home. Also, this is embarrassing, but it took me weeks to realize that when they say class starts at 10, it's actually 10:05. Good think I was thinking 5 minutes earlier, because I would have been late A LOT if that wasn't the case! Also, the first class in the morning is at 9, and everyone over here complains like the daylights about it. You people are wusses, just get up...

It amazes me that every day there is something new that I didn't know about the culture around here. Initially when getting here, I thought the UK was going to be the spitting image of the US, but I've been proven wrong many a times. Friday night Savannah and I ventured to the grocery store to pick up some things to make pumpkin rolls, one being shortening (we already had the pumpkin covered thanks to the lovely gift from mum- canned pumpkin is non-existent over here). We searched all over and finally tracked someone down to ask if they had any. He said he'd never heard of it before and he said how he thought it was crazy that there's an American food section in Tesco when our foods are so similar. Honestly, they're necessary. Needless to say, the only thing they have in comparison is lard…makes me cringe a little just typing that word, but it was worth getting :) After our trip there we headed to a place that I had been dying to get take-away from (that's right, not take-out). I got a doner kebab (basically a spicier and saltier gyro with a sweet chili sauce), which I heard is a staple in Scotland- although it appears to have Turkish origins. It was quite delish! The last bit of the night was a completely different cultural experience. Anjali's mum sent her henna (natural temporary dye for the skin) from India so we did some of that, I absolutely love that stuff!

Saturday was a filled with pumpkin pancakes and a trip to Union in attempt to hash out some essays. Since they don't have Caribou Coffee over here (I'm honestly going through withdrawals…), the next option was Starbucks. When I ordered a mocha they asked whether or not I wanted coffee in it, isn't that what a mocha is? So strange, oh, and they also sell minced pies- something one of the employees thought we must have back in America. Following that, Anjali, Savannah, and I went to go see Catching Fire in the cinema (not movie theatre, and it's a film not a movie tee hee). I thought that would be just like home, but I was wrong there as well. There was assigned seating as well as alcohol served in the theaters. The strangest thing though, were their adverts (not ads). Instead of starting 30 minutes before the movie showed it started when it said it said the movie would, and took up 30 minutes extra of our time. AND most of them were just commercials, not movie previews. It was even amazing how different the adverts are over here. I kept looking at the other two to try and figure out what it was trying to sell, but we couldn't figure it out. The movie was wonderful though! We rounded the night off in at our good friend Jess's birthday party. It was lovely time filled with mulled wine and cider, birthday cake, and amazing company. There I was surrounded by Germans, Scottish, English, Canadian, American, Irish, Welsh, and Italians (maybe even more cultures), it was amazing to have so much heritage in one small living room. I've really treasured my whole experience here, but that night was one where I really realized how fortunate I am to have a study abroad experience. You realize that everyone isn't as different from you as they may seem, and at the end of the day, people are just as curious about your culture as you are theirs.

Here's a few more things that are different between the cultures that I've noticed
- sledges instead of sleds
- splinter not sliver
- nobody (as in Americans and the rest of the world) understood the term 'flurry' in relation to snow
- porridge instead of oatmeal (also they have a 'honey' that resembles our syrup that they put over it)
- wellies not rainboots
- people from England pronounce plaid, 'played'…for real.
- 'oregano' is pronounced 'ore ah ghan oh'
- egg plant is aubergine
- candy is called sweets
- they don't say 'sidewalk', they just call it pavement
- paying for ketchup is common in fish and chip shops
- eggs are never refrigerated in stores (or homes for that matter)
- you pay more to sit down to eat/drink at a cafe than if you have it to-go
- sneezing into your arm doesn't exist here, they just go for the all disturbing hand sneeze
- also, nobody says 'bless you' if you sneeze and if you do say it they don't say 'thank you'
- speaking of 'bless': I forgot that there's an actual national church here, it's the Church of Scotland (or the Kirks)
- bars are only open here until midnight and clubs until 3 AM
- most people here smoke
- additionally, it's more common than not to roll your own cigarettes
- Westies are one of the most popular dogs to own around here- I'm not opposed :)
- 'Sorry' is the word to use when asking someone to repeat themselves
- instead of 'Salvation Army' or 'Goodwill' they call them 'Charity Shops' which often helps fund cancer related things
- there's only one fashion style here: classy (but then again you do have the few guys who walk around in all grey sweatsuits like it's their job…)
- I'm fairly certain I've consumed over my body weight in bread over here…whoops
- the UK (and probably others) think that it's cult-like to make kids recite the 'Pledge of Allegiance' in school
- I've gotten more comments on how awful my driver's license picture is over here by complete strangers than I wish to admit
- Minnesota has the same population as Scotland- I love this fact. Home sweet home.

I think that's about all I can think of for now. I hope you enjoyed the list, because I sure enjoyed discovering each and every one of them :)

Since I didn't have any specific pictures to include I thought I'd share one of the most Scottish foods I've bought. It literally makes me smile every time I grab the box :)