classes, clubs, cooking and castle!

My first four weeks,  or nearly a month, in Glasgow have flown by far too fast.

The past ten days have been a tale of flatmate fun, classes, going to clubs, cooking/baking and seeing another castle.

Last Friday, we went to O2 ABC nightclub.  The layout was nice, and I enjoyed the indie-like music played on one of the floors, though it was not dance-conducive.  Saturday was a return to the Garage for the Traffic Light Party.  Ashley and I were supposed to get free glowsticks upon our entry, but they apparently ran out before we arrived.  The music and atmosphere were really good.

Earlier on Saturday, Andrea, Anna, Jacquie and I tried Assam's Indian Restaurant.  Their chicken patia (sweet & sour) was truly delicious.  It wasn't all that expensive either--only about five pounds ($7-8).

On Monday, Ashley, Anna and I ventured to the birthday store to prepare for the week, or more accurately ten days, of birthdays (Mine, Ashley and Jacquie's).  We bought balloons, noise-makers, banners, crowns, pins and fancy 21st glasses.

I turned 21 on Tuesday.  It still hasn't really hit me this year.  Maybe it's because 21 isn't a big birthday in the UK.  Anyway, Tuesday afternoon, I went to Provand's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow dating back to 1471.

The house was really awesome.  It had an array of cool, old furniture--chairs, tables, etc.  And, almost every room had at least one fireplace.  There was a really epic spiral staircase in the house, too.  All the awesome spiral staircases here make me want one in my future house one day.

Tuesday night, in keeping with American tradition, my flatmates, friends and I headed to Barony Bar in the Student Union.  It was a really fun night with friends and the DJ played some pretty good music, including Ashley's request of "Right Round."

On Thursday, I made my first attempt at baking in the UK.  I made the chocolate chip cookies that I frequently make at home.  Though they did not turn out as well as usual, they were still pretty good.  Finding shortening was an issue--I ended up with some "baking vegetable fat" which sounded similar.

Ashley, Anna and I booked our trip to Dublin March 16-20 for St. Patrick's Day.  Well, by booked, we have our flight there and our hotel.  We are hopefully taking the train and ferry back, but they cannot be booked more than 28 days ahead of time.

On Friday, I returned to Glasgow Necropolis and Glasgow Cathedral with Ashley and Anna.  We had a lovely afternoon exploring the beautiful graveyard and ancient cathedral.

Jacquie and I ventured to Dumbarton, Scotland (a half hour train ride out of Glasgow) on Saturday afternoon to see Dumbarton Castle.  Before walking to the castle, we searched for a cafe to eat lunch at.  Unfortunately, we happened across the most depressing square that I have seen in Scotland.  K.F.C., McDonald's, Domino's, Subway, a New York Italian restaurant and, the worst of the worst, Asda, part of the Wal-Mart family.  Luckily, we spotted a Maritime Museum with a cafe inside.

Dumbarton Castle was amazing!  As we approached it, Jacquie was worried that the huge cliff we saw with a castle-like gate at the top was something that we would have to climb.  It turns out, she was partially right.

The castle was spread out all across the hill.  Luckily, the journey up was staggered with stops to see various cliff/castle parts.

My favorite parts of Dumbarton Castle was the cliffs, the river and the cannons.  There were literally a dozen cannons!  It was absolutely gorgeous!  We truly felt that we were in Scotland.  The views were fantastic.  The trip was well worth it!

On Saturday night, we had a little flat party in honor of our birthdays (Mine on the 15, Ashley's on the 20 and Jacquie's on the 24).  Jacquie made a delicious cake and our French friends Mathieu and Maxime made us a lovely apple tart.  Following our pastry-filled party, we went to The Garage (again) for a night of dancing and fun.

pure dead brilliant

Pure dead brilliant:  A very Glaswegian phrase.  Used to enthusiastically describe something that is really great.

The past ten days ranged from chill to adventurous, but have certainly been pure dead brilliant.

Last week involved spending a lot of time, in the flat and out about Glasgow, with the flatmates.  My flatmates are a great, crazy, fun bunch of girls to be around. Our flat, though small, is wonderful.  The little, literally, kitchen is going to see a great deal of baking this term.  We've already lost track of how many batches of cookies we've made, but it's been quite a bit.  And, of course, last and this week involved the usual 12 Hour Tuesday adventure and time spent in the Union.

On Tuesday last week, I went to St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art.  I confess that I am no museum expert, but St Mungo's is fantastic and my current favorite.  St Mungo's brings together religious art from a number of religions and lays them out comparatively.  For instance, the first art room had Buddhist, Egyptian, Greek, Christian, and Jewish art items.

The best section, hands down, is the religious life room.  The layout serves its purposes well.  You walk into the room and go down a row showcasing the phases of life as interpreted by different religions:  Birth, Childhood, Coming of Age, Sex and Marriage, and Death.  The space also exhibits the main world religions in depth:  Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.

The second floor examined the idea of death--perspectives on what happens and the idea of the soul.  The top floor explored the evolution of religion in Scotland and the current religions represented.

On Wednesday last week, there was an internet loss spree throughout the flat.  At one point, Ashley, Jacquie, Cherie and my internet were all down.  Without internet on a quiet night in the flat, we had nothing to do but finally take out the approaching overflowing bathroom garbage.  Surprisingly, we came back to the flat to discover the internet returned.  Conclusion:  the flat gods decided that we needed to clean before we could have play time.

Last Thursday, the Strathclyde International Society held a welcome meeting.  We were able to bring up ideas of places we want to go during this term.  Some of the popular options that will hopefully happen are Loch Lomond, Inverness/Loch Ness, Ben Nevis, Edinburgh, Whisky Distillery, International Pub Crawl, and, of course, some castles.

On the academic side of things, I'm adjusting to classes here well.  It is still strange to only have class seven hours a week and to have huge classes.  Even if classes are kind of "meh," at least there's the intriguing aspect of the Scottish and British accents of the professors.  Also, one of my professors' looks like part of the Weasley family.

Jacquie and I went to a lovely café called Tinderbox.  It looks very cool inside and had delicious tea and cappuccino (I tried both).  I love having access to a number of coffee shops and tea rooms.  :)

On Saturday, I discovered the best clothing store ever, Primark.  Primark has a vast amount of inexpensive and nice clothing.  I've spent about $40 American and got three dresses, two tops, and a pair of shoes.  Well worth it.

Ashley, Andrea, Anna, Terance (our friend from Singapore), and I went to the club The Garage (pronounced "Gare-ige").  It was a pretty fun experience.  Although, the bouncer was questioning as to why the corner of my driver's license was clipped (I just renewed it), but they let me in anyway.  I think we're going to Garage again tomorrow for the Traffic Light Party.

I went to Glasgow Necropolis on Monday.  A necropolis is, essentially, a huge city-like cemetery.  It was absolutely beautiful!  The monuments, hill, sky, everything was beautiful on Monday.  I definitely plan to explore the Necropolis some more--especially since it is just down the street.

The most epic part of Tuesday was that Andrea, Jacquie, and I purchased tickets to see The Decemberists in concert IN GLASGOW on March 5!  There will be epic times had by all.  :D

Wednesday was one of my favorite days in Scotland so far.  Ashley, Andrea, Jacquie and I took a train to North Berwick because Jacquie had missed an architectural field trip to see some street.  We discovered that Dirleton Castle was only two miles from the quaint town of North Berwick.  Before heading to the castle, we ate in the splendid Tiffany's Tea Room.

After our two mile walk through the beautiful Scottish countryside with the North Sea in not far to the right of the road, we arrived at the beautiful, ancient Dirleton Castle.

The castle, though it has been eroded through time and battles, is a wonderful place to explore.  We were the only ones in the castle that day and we had a great time seeing everything it had to offer.  It had so much history--the oldest parts of the castle date back to the 13th century.

After over an hour of exploring/playing in the castle, we headed back to the train station.  On the train back to Glasgow, we met a nice guy, Dan, who attends the University of Glasgow.  He offered to introduce us to his friends and show us around the West End of Glasgow.  

Last night, Andrea, Jacquie, and I decided to go to The Scotia Bar, Glasgow's oldest pub, established in 1792.  The Scotia Bar was a quaint old pub, full of regulars and live music.  We sat in a lovely corner booth, chatting and enjoying the music.  We met a pair of older Scottish ladies who teach at a local school.  They were pretty fun to talk to and we had an enjoyable night.

My new thoughts on Glasgow (that I've managed to remember and write down) are numerous.  

• The Midwest snowstorms last week made me really appreciate the rains and winds of Glasgow.
• An interesting realization is that Glasgow, at all times, to some extent, smells like beer.  That can be quite startling in the morning.
• Because of the internet settings, my AVG Free Anti-Virus refuses to update.  If I get a virus, Strathclyde IT better kill it.
• At grocery stores, you are expected to bag your own groceries.  If you do not bring a reusable bag, you have to pay three pence for a plastic one.
• UK shoe sizes are, as Jacquie said, very friendly.  While in the US, I would wear a 9, I wear a 6-6 1/2 here.
• Clothing sizes, however, are less friendly.  I'm an 8 instead of a 5.

Until next week, laters!