Say Yes to Scotland!

After a hectic twenty-four (yes, twenty-four!) hours of travel, I finally arrived in Glasgow, Scotland! It took a little while, with delayed flights, a quick orientation, and a whole lot of sleep deprivation, but I had finally made it. The chill January air and rain greeted me as I walked up to my new home away from home for the next five months. I met my closest friends that day, my flat mates, all from around the world, and I bonded over late nights out at the pub or beautiful day trips to the Scottish Highlands. My introduction to Scotland was cold, but it was perfect in every way. From the castles to the people to the highland cows (or coo, as we say in Scotland!) Scotland is, in my personal opinion, one of the best places to visit! My flat was a twenty-minute walk from the University of Glasgow and a quick bus ride to the bustling city center. Our corner was quiet but in the best way. The local pub and Tesco became our routine, and the train station was only a ten-minute bus ride away!

My favorite part about Scotland was the people. I know that sounds cliche, but it’s true. The Scotts have kindness in their blood, and they extend that kindness to just about everyone they meet. The number of times I was standing in line at Tesco (the local grocery chain) and ended up having a thirty-minute conversation and making a new friend were countless. Maybe it’s the cold and rain that inspire the Scotts to be so warm, and I miss it every day. I also loved the routine of getting up for my morning tea and digestive biscuit and getting to watch the rain fall outside our window. While walking to campus wasn’t always a breeze (sometimes with winds pushing against you the entire walk), the campus was beautiful. Imagine Hogwarts, but it’s better. That’s the University of Glasgow. Getting to watch the seasons take over the campus was magical.

If I could give any piece of advice to someone about to spend a life-changing semester abroad in Scotland, it would be to say yes. Say yes to that last-minute trip to the Highlands, say yes to visiting a historical site, and say yes to trying a new pub with friends. Every experience I had was a beautiful culmination of saying yes and also being open to new things. I would also say if you thought you’d bought enough warm clothes, you haven’t. The cold in Scotland is a different type of cold, wind, rain and sometimes hail takes over your life for a few months, and as someone who’s been born and raised in Southern California, this was the biggest shock to my system. But nothing that a cup of Tetley’s tea can’t solve. From the rolling hills of the Highlands to the bustling cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland has a lot to offer, go get it!