Just kidding, THIS is the final post

Okay, I lied, THIS entry is the last. I thought of this right after I got home and had to add it in. Two amazing Scottlish songs that could not possibly better describe the best five months of my life as of yet. And I mean that with no exaggeration. I am too lucky.

I hope everyone enjoyed my blog as much as I have --- see you all soon xxxx

Caledonia by Dougie MacLean

(Caledonia is Latin for Scotland...)

I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
So I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I came from
And that's the reason why I seem
So far away today

Oh, but let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
And now I'm going home
If I should become a stranger
You know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything
I've ever had

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the ladies and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes there's no denying
I have traveled hard with coattails flying
Somewhere in the wind

(Chorus)
Now I'm sitting here before the fire
The empty room, the forest choir
The flames that could not get any higher
They've withered now they've gone
But I'm steady thinking my way is clear
And I know what I will do tomorrow
When the hands are shaken and the kisses flow
Then I will disappear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8IwBlgxyss

Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns

(The traditional, non-translated version)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’ lang syne!

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot
Sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’t in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid willie-waught
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint’ stoup,
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AItlCyEX9nc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acxnmaVTlZA

Goodbye

I have been planning my final entry for the past two months. I HOPE that it comes out just as I see it in my mind. I realized that a few months ago I posted an entry entitled “Things I Miss”. At first, I wanted to write a second volume, except in reverse perspective – meaning I would write what I missed most about Scotland. Instead, I came up with a better idea. I have written thousands of words about this amazing country over the past few months and I realized that I will miss too much (ie: everything) about it to possibly put into words or write in a blog post. So, for my final entry, I have been slowly compiling a master list to reveal and explain some of what I’ve learned about the bizarre truths behind all of the normalities, differences, quirks, and stereotypes these crazy Scots practice!

As expected in spending time within a different country – whether you are there for a day, a month, or a year – from the second you arrive you run into so many small, and usually insignificant, yet distinguishing features that make you go, “What? Really? ….they do/say/think/eat THAT??!!”

Here’s a little bit of what I’ve come up with:

• The phrase “top-up” can be used for pretty much ANYTHING. It really just means something along the lines of “add to” but in conversation it’s a universal.
• The letters Z and J are NOT Zee and Jay – they are Zed and Jai – a ZEEEbra, is instead a ZEBruh. Weird.
• Swipe credit cards are sooooo 90s. Everyone has “chip and pin” style credit cards. It is basically the same thing as debit – you stick your card in a machine and type your 4-digit pin. Luckily you can still use the outdated American swipe – but I must admit, their system makes so much more sense
• Ice is just…not used. (hardly) Ever. You have heard my complaints about the lack of iced coffee…
• Eggs are not refrigerated. Eeech.
• Weight is measured in “stone” – I think it’s something along the lines of 12 or 13 pounds. This isn’t THAT bizarre as different forms of measurement are used everywhere (metric system, too) BUT, while stone measures people, babies are still measured by pound. Hmmmmm.
• Cider is everywhere!!! America needs to hop on this bandwagon – I know there’s cider available but it’s still not the same. I would pay big bucks for some THISTLY CROSS GINGER CIDER in the US.
• Liquor is everywhere. I realize that it’s kind of weird that alcohol in Rhode Island can only be sold in liquor stores, but I think that they would even sell it in daycares here…
• Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties are delicious. There, I said it.  I LOVE HAGGIS! ...black pudding on the other hand is never going to happen.
• You don’t tip in restaurants, or for taxis…or anything, really. So uncomfortable in the perspective of the service industry – but that’s just “how it is” here.
• Instead of saying “For Rent” properties have signs above them that read “TO LET” …So basically, upon first glance, it looks like it says “TOILET” everywhere you look. TOILET.
• Building upon the last number, it doesn’t help that all restrooms are referred to as simply, toilets.
• The first floor is not the floor you walk into in a building. That is the ground floor. The first floor is in fact, the second (from American perspective).
• Cadbury candy. MMMMMMMMM. Another lovely piece of the UK I often write about.
• In addition to Cadbury candy, and cider – I’m REALLY going to miss great pie. Really, I could just die happy if MUMS GREAT COMFORT FOOD moved into my kitchen and made me food for the rest of my life.
• Tea houses are so much different than coffee houses. Clarinda’s cream tea <3
• When buying food in a shop, you are not asked if it is “for here, or to go” instead they ask if it is “for sit in, or takeaway.” They charge more for sit in which is so smart economically.
• Bedding doesn’t go far beyond bottom sheets and duvets. Lucky for me, I don’t really use a top sheet as it is but others I know were not pleased.
• This is an obvious one, but worth mentioning still. The drinking age is 18. This makes for a totally different college atmosphere – especially when comparing my freshmen year to all of the crazy kids around me. There were RAs in the building that I lived in, and I’m still not really sure what their purpose was… Fortunately I am now 21, so I won’t have to back track when I get home. I also know a few unfortunate people who unfortunately got stuck in that dilemma too.
• It is very hard to wash your face with separate hot and cold faucets. Especially when there is no hot water control whatsoever and one splash results in melted skin…..(kidding, kind of). It will nice to not have to choose between ice or lava.
• The 24 hour clock isn’t so hard to get used to, but understanding Celsius versus Fahrenheit and attempting to convert it in your head is absolutely futile.
• For spelling – switch your Zs for Ss and throw a bunch of Us or Es in wherever.
• The punctuation known as a “period” is called a “full stop.” That one really threw me. Remember having to read out loud in elementary school, including the punctuation – how weird would have that sounded!
• Public school is private and state school is public. A little hard to grasp, but it does make sense – their state (our public) school is paid for by the state, and their public (our private) is paid for by the public.
• The national soda of Scotland is IRN BRU. It’s illegal in the US and tastes like refuses to be bought by Coca Cola! It is bright orange and tastes kind of like bubblegum. It also has more caffeine than I think Red Bull. I think it tastes gross but everyone here loves it! Oh, and it was developed to cure hangovers –seriously. I never tried to see if it actually works though.
• The other, and most predominant national drink of Scotland is of course WHISKY. It is NOT spelled “whiskey,” it is W-H-I-S-K-Y. Scottish whisky, in most places outside of Scotland is often called Scotch (although it doesn’t have to be). But, you cannot name something Scotch if it was not made in Scotland!
• Pants = underwear, trousers = American pants; petro = gasoline; hoovering = vacuuming; fringe = bangs; revising = studying
• If you want to be taken seriously as an American Do NOT say the word “aluminum” or “garage” in front of any British person ever. Just don’t.

These last few, in my opinion, are the best of the best!

• Pretty much everything was invented in Scotland. Seriously, you would’ve never known for a country so small. For example: the steam engine, telephone, television, penicillin, radar, insulin, bicycle, refrigerator, flush toilet, adhesive stamps, standard time, ATM/cash machine, eBooks, picture postcards, oil refinery, decimal point use, logarithms, Gregorian telescope, criminal fingerprinting, MRI, ultrasound, first cloning of a mammal (dolly!), golf, microwave, chloroform and general anesthesia, hypodermic needles, hypnotism, typhoid fever vaccine, lawnmower, latent heat, and color photography…
• A lot of pretty standard terms were also coined here. Here are a few:

A. BLACK MAIL: “Mail” is the Old English (and Scottish) word for rent or tax payment. Tenant farmers would pay their rent in silver coins, known as white money. In the 1500s, Highland freebooters began demanding that Lowland farmers pay them an additional fee for protection from other clans – or else. The coerced rent – Sir Walter Scott called it “a sort of protection money” in 1814 – became known as black money, or black rent. That is, blackmail.

B. GRAVEYARD SHIFT: When the Scots started running out of places to bury people they would dig up coffins after so many years and reuse the graves. In reopening these coffins about 1 in 25 were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they tied a string on the decease's wrist and led it through the coffin lid and up through the ground and tied it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night and listen for the bell. It also refers to the practice of sitting there overnight to guard against the grave robbers digging up the bodies!

C. SHITFACED: Back in the days before santitation and plumbing, people would throw their…you know, waste…out the window and onto the street at a designated time. Well, if you were too drunk walking home and didn’t realize what time it was, you sometimes ran into a small problem…

• ABOVE ALL, IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT ANY AMERICAN SHOULD GET OUT OF THIS BLOG POST, IT IS THIS: Everyone, and I mean everyone, native to the North American continent is under the complete incorrect impression regarding the pronunciation of Edinburgh. I honestly do not understand how this has happened. Why is it not made known, until laughed at and criticized by Scottish people that the capital city of Scotland is not “ED-IN-BOR-O”?? Edinburgh, in reality, should be pronounced “ED-IN-BUR-AAH"

Jet Set

Well, it’s over. It still hasn’t really set in yet, though. I am actually sitting on the plane to Boston as I type this, DEPRESSED. I am excited to see my home, and everyone that comes with it, but my heart is broken. I know all good things must come to an end, and I am (semi) okay with that! I know for certain that I will always be able to look back on these five months with nothing but pure adoration for all of the people I met, places I saw, and things I did. As excited as I was to go abroad initially, and as much as everyone who had done it previously told me just how amazing it is, my mind is still blown. These other people weren’t lying when they said no one can really “get it” until they go. Boy, oh boy, were they right!

Somehow, the Scottish weather gods were happy with me because my last week was BEAUTIFUL. So much sun, and no rain! Of course I had a little bit of studying to do, as well as an exam to take – but once that was over it was smooth sailing all week. Although Audrey and Merr had exams up until the end (sad face), Kelly, Emily, and I squeezed in a bunch of fun stuff until the very end. We ventured to Portobello beach outside of the city (clearly not an RI beach, but still pretty nice!), and took a last trip the ever amazing highlands on a Hairy Coo Safari Tour!!! We even got to feed the hairy coos (Highland Cows), and see Edinburgh’s super-star coo, Hamish. I truly am in love with the Highlands – for lack of a less-cheesy word, they really are magical! I can see why JK Rowling wanted so much of Harry Potter filmed there. 

On our last day, after dropping off Audrey, we finally went to the ZOO! Now, I could easily go on all day about all of the cool animals they have – but there is one in particular tat definitely needs to be mentioned: THE PANDA! The zoo has two giant pandas and they were AWESOME. No elephants though – bummer!

We of course ended everything with a ton of delicious food too. The last supper: MUMS pies, haggis, and thistly cross cider. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I am SO going to miss MUMS – and pie in general.

I have written so many entries over the past five months about all of the amazing things I’ve done. While everything has been better than I had ever expected, there is another piece of this journey that I haven’t written too much about – nothing about this semester could have been as great as it was without something so incredibly important….MY FRIENDS. Nothing I’ve done would have been the same without them! One of my biggest fears coming to Scotland was ending up alone. I had such a hard time my first month or so at UVM, so naturally, I was more than a little nervous to jet off alone, a whole world away. WELLLLLLL, probably two days in, all fear was thrown out the window! I met five of the best friends a person could ask for – and if any of you are reading this (Merr, Audrey, Kelly, Emily, Alison, Brodie) I love each and every one of you for so many reasons! I can’t even begin to explain our closeness and I will never forget all of the amazing memories that we’ve made these few months – and I can only hope my friends at home don’t get jealous because I talk about you all too much hehehe

I’m already excited for our reunion. BBB <3 Robertson’s Close xxxxxxx