Missing parts of home...

I was talking to Lauren last night and she said something which I think is very true. She said that one of the things I missed most while abroad was the food, and I think she's right. I miss my friends and family, and I miss Clemson, but I really do miss food back home. Now don't get me wrong, I have eaten some fantastic stuff over here. These people know how to do bacon...but it's more like ham haha. And there's plenty of other things here that are great. But Tuesday night I went out to dinner with some friends...they kept raving about this Ultimate Burger at one of the pubs. So I ordered one, and ever since then I've been craving a nice juicy, greasy chili cheeseburger. The Ultimate Burger was pretty good, but it was very dry. So was every other burger I've tried. It's just not juicy, and it's not that it's necessarily overcooked to the point that it's dry, they just don't know how to cook them to where they're juicy and greasy (which I guess in some ways is good...). But I really miss juicy burgers. I miss sweet tea and lemonade. You ask for lemonade here and they bring you Sprite. That's just weird... But I miss onion rings, and fried okra, and meatloaf, and macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes and gravy, and ribs, and bbq. I wanna go out to Mema's and have homemade ice cream straight from the ice cream churn...chocolate is the best. And I want to go to a bonfire with friends where we have fried fish, fried pickles, fried chicken, and all other fried things you can imagine (you know how those things go...you try to fry anything and everything around, but most stuff just doesn't work out haha). Lauren was right, I miss the people and places back home, but I have friends here and places to see and enjoy here. But nothing can replace the food. I swear when I get back we're stopping at the Beacon on the way home. I want some sweet tea and a chili cheese-a-plenty. Before I left I joked that the only thing I cared about being at the airport was a glass of sweet tea. I said I didn't care who was there, or how many people were there. Heck, if it was just Mom and Dad and Lauren (which is what I'm expecting honestly), I'll be perfectly happy, as long as the bring me some sweet tea. I joked about that before I left, but not I think it's kinda true. I'm not serious about that part, but I really do want to stop at the Beacon on my way home. The best sweet tea around, and one of the greasiest burgers you'll ever eat. I couldn't imagine anything better....

Random Thoughts...

Well, this weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday, Mike and I ran down to the Starbucks downtown to steal wireless internet from the Apple Store across the street. Mike bought ESPN360 so we can watch basketball games (especially March Madness). However, because of the way internet is set up on campus (something about a proxy server), we can't receive live feeds, so we can't watch the games on campus. The only other problem is that Starbucks here has some strange hours. On Saturdays they close at 8:30. So we can't stay up very late to use the wireless internet and watch games, but trust me, we'll figure something out. There's some benches outside the Apple Store, so you might just catch us down there at 2:00am watching basketball haha!
Other than that, I spent Friday night doing some hw. I have 2 big projects, a 2,500 word essay (about 8-10 pages), and a big class test all due on March 20, with one project due the 19th. This was supposed to be a little more spread out, but a sudden change of plans pushed everything together. Talk about little time and no fun haha. So this weekend was spent studying and doing some work.
Saturday I decided to go out and buy a webcam! So now anyone on Skype (Scott_Banish...search for me) can talk to me with video! It's pretty exciting, and even though the technology isn't the greatest it's still fun!
So random thought here...ever wondered why movies in the US go out of theaters but take so long to come out on DVD? I have. And I've found out that it's due to more than just timing and advertising. Yeah, you want to release movies when they will sell the most (e.g. wait 2 extra months for Christmas time to release a movie), but there's also another factor to consider. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was released around Christmas in the US. It just now came out in the UK. "Marley and Me" isn't even out yet. "Seven Pounds" was a huge hit when it was finally released here. I could go on and on. But it also goes the other way around. I saw "Taken" sitting in a Blockbuster in Edinburgh before it ever hit theaters in the US. Weird... So I guess it's more than marketing strategies, but you also have to wait for the rest of the world to catch up before releasing movies on DVD.
Anyways, that's all for now. I'll post on here soon about our church experience on Sunday. Let's just say we won't be going back there again haha... I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all! It's hard to believe that 2 months from now I will be starting my exams and getting ready to come home. I'm excited for what's ahead...

Cafe Crepe

So I heard about this little cafe in town. My friend Mike found it his first day here, when he couldn't quite get into his room yet. And he's been talking about it a couple times. So yesterday I decided to go check it out. It's called Cafe Crepe, and it may just be my favorite place in Glasgow haha. Their breakfast is incredible. It costs 4.25 (which is about $6), and you get bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, black pudding, toast, a potato scone, and coffee/tea (don't worry, I got coffee haha...haven't quite gotten used to this idea of hot tea that isn't sweet). First I need to explain some of these things. Bacon over here isn't the bacon we think of. It's like 2 big slabs of ham. Bacon isn't thin and crispy, it's big, thick, and juicy. Sooooo good. Sausage isn't always the same either. Sausage links are the same as we have, but their sausage patties are way different. I don't even know how to explain it. It's really weird to think about having beans with breakfast, because it basically looks like baked beans (and kinda tastes like them too, but the sauce isn't as strong). But they are pretty good. The potato scone might be my new favorite dish here. It isn't what you think of as a typical scone, it's more like a potato cake, very good. Now for the black pudding. When I first ate this, I didn't know what it was, but I kinda knew it was one of those things where I didn't want to know what it was. Well it actually tasted pretty good! Then I got home and looked up what exactly it is. It is also known as blood pudding, if that tells you anything. They make it by cooking blood (usually pig or cow blood) with a filler until it is thick enough to cool into a patty. So it doesn't exactly sound appetizing, but I knew if I just ate it without trying to figure out what it was, I would get a realistic taste of what it was like, and it was pretty good.
Anyways, this Cafe Crepe is so good. Great food, a lot of food, for real cheap. I can't wait to go back and try their sweet crepes. They have tons of fillings, and its basically just like a dessert. Mm, I can't wait to try it. Apparently it's a new place and they're kinda struggling for business. As I was sitting there eating, I thought about how they would definitely get more of my business and how I was going to tell everyone I knew to come try it. They'll have more business soon haha. To prove that, Mike and I woke up early this morning before class and went there for breakfast. Once again, very good. Just a great way to start the day, and a genuine taste of Scotland...

Sudden Change of Plans...

Well this past week was pretty uneventful. Nothing new really going on during the week, except that I actually had to sit down and do a bunch of hw (imagine that, me procrastinating. I know, it's hard to imagine...). But other than that, more of the same. This weekend however was a lot of fun. Keith's uncle works with a man who lives in Glasgow, and this man Rob invited Keith and I to lunch and a soccer game. He's a huge Rangers fan, so we ate lunch and went to the game. There are two big teams in Glasgow...Rangers and Celtics. They don't like each other...HUGE rivals. Well the Rangers weren't playing the Celtics, but Rob warned us that if we wore green to the game there was a legitimate chance of someone doing more than yelling at us. So that was interesting. These people definitely love their soccer, and I know why. The game was intense, the crowd was great, and overall I loved it! We had a great time and I'm so glad Rob invited us to come along.

Sunday was great as well. Mike, Keith, and I had planned on going to Oban for the day. Well we got to the bus station and kinda changed our plans. Nothing like a group of guys trying to plan a trip...we get a lot of sudden changes like this when things are left in our hands. But we decided to go to this little town of Inverary instead. On our way we saw the coolest thing. I actually woke up (we had to leave early, I slept on the bus for a bit), and looked out the window to see this huge rainbow. It was beautiful, but the collest part is that it was touching down right beside us! I never even knew you could see that! But we definitely found the end of a rainbow, and it was soo cool! And whoever says there's gold at the end of a rainbow is a liar! I looked hard but saw none (haha, j/k). Anyways, the town is situated on Loch Fyne, and surrounded by mountains. It was a tiny tiny tiny town, but really pretty. We climbed up to this old watchtower and could see for miles. The lake stretched for miles beneath us, and mountains all around. We just had to sit down and enjoy the views for a while before heading back down. Beautiful area, and we had a great time in the town. You can see the castle in the middle of the picture, and the town is up and to the left...very small.

Last night was a lot of fun as well. Keith and I had heard about the Christian Union which meets on Tuesday nights. We got times mixed up so this week was our first chance to go haha. Well it ends up that they were doing a pancake night. They posted flyers all around campus and people could text in a Christianity-related question, along with the filling for their pancake, and their address. Then we all went out and delivered the pancakes and talked with people. I was a little skeptical at first, because I don't really like the people who come door to door and try to force things on you. But it ended up that this was very well received. People had some interesting questions, and it was actually a lot of fun going around and just talking to people. Me and my partner were only 1-4...3 of our pancake people weren't there haha. But it was great to connect with a group of people like that...we all hung out for a while after our deliveries and discussions were done. Oh, and I finally found some frisbee players!!!

I also learned something new from last night. Over here they have pancakes and pancakes. One is actually a crepe though haha. I was confused as well. Oh, and they call French Toast "Eggy Bread." Makes sense, and it keeps you from acknowledging something good about the French haha. But anyways, the things we had last night were actually crepes...large flat pancakes. You can fill them with jelly, chocolate, lemon juice and sugar (strange combo, but ok), or syrup (among other things...thats just the options we had last night). Then you fold it in half, then fold in half again so it looks like a slice of pizza. Then you eat it like a pizza. We actually ran out of batter, so I didn't get a chance to try one, but I found this restaurant that has them and they look soooooo good. Just wanted to pass that along...their pancakes are different than ours, and they have some interesting fillings. The other pancakes they refer to are "Scottish Pancakes." They are very similar to our pancakes, but very small...definitely no bigger than the palm of your hand. So anyways, that's all for now. Hope ya'll are having as good of a day as I am! (The weather is beautiful right now, and I'm just in a great mood haha). Love ya'll!

P.S.- Aren't you glad I learned how to upload pictures? Makes these things a little more interesting haha. Unless it's like this first one and it's a picture of me. Then you gotta look at me and read my writing...I apologize for that haha

Dublin or bust!

Well as of this morning I have officially booked my flight to Dublin for St. Patricks Day! We have a nice big group of people going so we should have a lot of fun. I'm still amazed at the prices for some of these things. We went through RyanAir...my roundtrip ticket is 20 pounds ($30)!!! They added a nice fee for paying with my debit card which was almost as much as my ticket! But still, less than 30 pounds to fly roundtrip to Dublin is pretty insane. The only bad thing is that there are only 2 flights that day, one at 6:30am and the other at 10pm, so of course we had to book the 6:30am. And the airport is a little ways away, so we have to jump on a bus at 4:30, ride out to the airport, check in, find our flight, and jump on. That will take at least 4 coffees to get me there haha. But it will be a lot of fun. We're coming back the next day at 12:30, then sleeping for a loooooong time. I'm excited for this trip...and I can't wait to see what Dublin will be like on St. Pattys Day!
Well I've been here for a little while now, so I figured I'd give my thoughts so far. Things have definitely settled in and I feel like I've gotten a nice picture of Scotland. To be honest, the city has been a little bit of a letdown. If I could do it again I would try to find a place in Edinburgh or Stirling. Part of it is because I'm just not a big city person, but another thing is the lack of places to go and see around here. The city is great and there's plenty of stuff to do, but there's no castle like in other cities, no monuments, no rolling hills or highlands around us. It's just a huge city. And it's kinda dirty too. Being the big industrial city that Glasgow used to be, you can still see the remnants of coal use. The Royal Infirmary and one of the churches were stained black because of coal, and when they began to clean up the city they decided to leave those buildings as reminders of part of Glasgow's past. But in all the city isn't exactly what I thought it would be, although still fun. Now for the people. The people here are very friendly, but also very different. It is a completely different culture, and it's been fun to be immersed in it. But there are a few things which I know I will leave behind and be glad to leave behind. For one, cussing over here is simply part of their everyday language...I'm not used to that, at least not how it is over here. And specifically, the F word is used a lot. They just don't see it the same way we do, they don't view it as the big bad word that we see it. I think that's also me coming from the South. I'm just not used to these kinds of things, and it bothers me a little bit. But I also understand that it's just different for them. But that is one thing I'll be glad to leave behind. Another is smoking. It seems like everyone and their brother smokes. I've almost gotten used to cigarette smoke simply because it's everywhere. I think if you don't smoke you are very out of the ordinary. And don't worry mom, I never picked up cigarettes back home, and I won't here either haha. And of course the Scots love their drinking. It's different with that too over here, but in a good way. We have put such a negative label on drinking that so many people want to do it before they are legally allowed to. Here it is simply part of the culture, so no one sees it as the thing that they can't have. I personally think it's good that way. People want what they can't have, and with the label we have placed on drinking in America, I think it leads to abuse. Here it's culture, and always has been. So the city is a ton of fun, but overall a little bit of a letdown. The people are awesome, very friendly, very kind, but there are definitely some habits I won't be embracing and will be glad to leave behind.

Ya Know I Like My Chicken Fried...

Today was absolutely beautiful! The weather was nice, and it was a lot warmer than it has been, which isn't really saying much for Scotland. But it means I could walk around without a scarf and a beanie, so that was exciting! I met some friends and we went to this pub where we watched the Celtics/Rangers soccer game. Both these teams are from Glasgow, so it's a pretty big rivalry here. I guess it's kinda like the Clemson/Carolina rivalry...they don't really like each other. So it was interesting to see the pub get pretty heated at times. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, so I guess that was ok for both teams. Apparently I'm supposed to be a Rangers fan because Keith got us tickets to go to a Rangers game next weekend, so that should be fun. Other than that I just had a nice relaxing day, caught up on some things I needed to do (which means I watched last weeks episode of 24 haha). Tonight we had dinner with some friends. A bunch of us got together and had fried chicken, peas, french fries, and veggies. I was a little worried because the girl who was making the fried chicken is actually from Arizona, but it turned out great! We had a great time all hanging out together. And I think we scared off her two French roommates...us bunch of loud rowdy Americans. But we really had a great time. Our conversations were all over the places, and we had a great time getting to know each other and seeing what each person thinks about different things. Everything from relationships to religion to family to sports to school...I think we covered most subjects haha. But we just had a great time together, and it was nice hanging out with friends and talking about things without having to explain the American view of things and without having to explain the American culture. Good food, good times. I think I'm actually going to start having to do schoolwork this week haha. I have a tutorial tomorrow which I need to read for and do some work, and I think I need to start my paper. Keith and I are hoping to confirm our tickets to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day (Happy Birthday that day Mom!). Hope everyone is doing great back at home! Love ya'll!

Been a while...

Well it's been quite a while since my last post. I'm kinda new to this whole blog thing and I'm not sure how often I'm supposed to post haha. But this week was just another week, classes and such. And I'm sure ya'll don't want to hear about my Portfolio Theory class or Treasury Management or Scottish Society, 1830-1914. So I won't bore you with the everyday details of things like that. But this week has gone pretty good...classes are interesting and I still have a desire to go, which I guess is a good thing. I had a friend who has already been here for a semester, and she said that last semester she went to a total of 3 lectures for all her classes combined, and passed all her classes. Don't worry, I'm not following that strategy...I don't want to take my chances. And I'd rather not have scholarships taken away just because I was tired and decided to sleep through more class than I attended.
Well Keith's 21st birthday was this week. Obviously it's not as big of a deal over here since the drinking age is 18, but we Americans still made a big deal of it. And plus it's a birthday, so of course we're gonna have fun. Me, Keith, and our friends Mike and Mark went to this Irish place for dinner. The 3 of us bought Keith dinner. Then some other friends of ours had made cupcakes, so we went to their flat and were hanging out with those girls for a little while. A bunch of other people joined us, then we all went to International Student Pub Night. We had a good time that night...a lot of fun. And of course Keith is proud that he was victorious and will actually remember his 21st birthday. He was proud of that, and I was too.
I decided that I am exhausted from being in a permanent "go" mode, so I stayed in town this weekend. I had a chance to go backpacking with the Mountaineering Club (apparently a ton of international students join that to get connected), but I was tired of spending money and not getting a lot of sleep, so I stayed here. I went to lunch with some friends and we watched the rugby game between England and Wales. There's the 6 Nations rugby tournament going on right now, and everyone's excited about that. Anyone who says that American football is too violent should watch a rugby game. Nothing more would ever be said about football haha. These guys are tough, and very physical. But I still love football.
Well I wanna wish a Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who is reading this! I know you probably won't be reading this on Valentine's Day, but still. It's kinda tough being away on Valentine's Day and not having anything to do. Especially when you actually have a girlfriend but can't be with her. But I guess it's just one day out of the year that people like to pump up. And like Lauren has always said, why do we need one special day out of the year to show those special people in our life how much we love them? Shouldn't that be a constant thing? So I guess it isn't really THAT big of a deal, people just hype it up to be. And it is something special, but I agree with Lauren that it shouldn't be the one day out of the year that people do special things together. Anyways, I'll try to keep things update on here, sorry I've gotten kinda lazy. And I know these posts have been getting long, so I'll try to keep them shorter haha. Hope everyone is doing well back at home! Love ya'll!