Nessie Trip

This weekend I went on a trip with the Scenic Club from school to Inverness. We had a hilarious tour guide that would laugh at her own joke, tell funny stories and play traditional Scottish music randomly on the bus. She also had a crush on the bus driver… haha. The trip was great except we stopped every five minutes… so it took all day to get there when it should have only taken 3 hours! Each stop was at least 15 minutes and sometimes people didn’t even get out. We stayed in a youth hostel that was not the greatest, but we were only there for a night. They gave us “sleeper sheets” that was like a sleeping bag with a pillow cover attached… so you know they didn’t wash the regular bedding much…ugg. On Sunday we saw Loch Ness and the Urquhart castle. It was beautiful and mysterious with the light rain and fog. We also got some great pics with the Loch Ness monster: Nessie.

Tonight

Tonight was a fun night. I went and got Chinese takeout with some friends then we came back to our flat and watched “Ps I love you,” which is filmed in Ireland. Then, my friend Kari was heading to The Links Bar for a karaoke night with some of her drama club friends and I joined them. We had fun singing the night away.

St. Patrick's Day

Went on a field trip to a distillery to see how wiskey is made. We also visited a couple small villages and went on a hike to a waterfall. It’s starting to look like spring around here. The crocuses are blooming purple, white and yellow in the meadows and birds are singing in the trees! Tonight I hung out with international students in “the golf” and had fun singing karaoke.

Primary Schools

Today I went to James Gillespies Primary School to help out and observe. The children were so cute in their uniforms and Scottish accents! They were very well behaved; I was impressed. It will be interesting to do more research and read up on the Scottish education system for the paper I am writing.

Football Game (the kind of football where they use their feet)

Went to a big Glasgow Rangers game! They played against Dundee United. It was fun to go to a big game like this. There were crazy fans cheering and tons of security in florescent vests. And we got cute little meat pies to complete the experience.

Aviemore Trip to the Mountain

This weekend I went up to Andy’s cabin to go snowboarding! It was a nice and cozy and his parents told us funny stories, with their heavy accents mainly about “granny.”
In the morning, we had a typical Scottish breakfast of poorage and bacon-rolls, then headed up to ‘the mountain’ (more like a hill). Now that it was daylight, we could enjoy the gorgeous views of the highlands and snow.

The main difference of the day was the tram/train thing that took up to the top of ‘the mountain.’ It was like a roller coaster because at times you couldn’t see where it was going next! It was a good system, except there were no seats. We all crammed in and held our boards and ski’s in front of us. I did not realize how nice chair lifts are because you get to sit down and get a break. I was even more exhausted than I usually am after a long day boarding!
On my way up I had mentioned how fun it would be to drive “on the other side of the road.”

Now, I got my chance to drive when we went from the cabin to the pub (because the guys just had to watch the rugby game, haha). It was quite the experience. You wouldn’t think it was that hard… just do everything opposite because they don’t drive on the right side of the road… they drive on the left! Overall it went fine. I didn’t smash the tiny little car or anything. It just felt weird driving on the left side of the road and being able to turn left on a red (instead of right on red).

Dinner

I had a great time when Pastor Reese and wife invited me over to their house for dinner. We had a yummy fish pie, salad, potatoes, and bread. I didn’t realize that they have four children. It was fun to see some kids and see what a Scottish household is like. They welcomed me, but at the same time continued doing their own thing; a couple of the kids were doing homework, one was watching tv and the other running around. They are pretty Americanized because they have lived in Spokane the last 7 years (what a small world). But the kids still have adorable little Scottish accents.