Two Weeks In

I have officially reached the two week benchmark of being in Dundee, Scotland, and am still thoroughly enjoying everything. Every once in a while I'll run into something surprising, but for the most part it seems as if I have figured out a workable routine.

One of the most surprising things that I have discovered here is the drinking culture. I was never part of the party scene in the states, so I guess I really am not the best person to be making comparisons, but I think I have encountered enough to tell the major differences in how the two cultures view alcoholic intake. First, you can not walk for more than two minutes without finding a spot to buy/drink alcohol. Pubs line the streets like shops and every store that sells food also sells a full stock of alcohol. Even the campus store (which sells snacks and Dundee school-related clothing) has a section of alcoholic drinks and, as I'm sure you have seen in my pictures, the Student Union is a full-on bar/nightclub.

I should make sure to note that a lot of what I have seen is a result of everyone getting a week-long "Fresher's Week" of partying before classes start and the first week of classes was just introductory material, so for many, these past two weeks have been a period of relaxation and partying. I am also living with all freshmen, which tend to have a higher propensity for partying. Over the next few weeks I should get a more accurate portrayal of student life since classes will be kicking in, but just walking around I know that alcohol consumption per person has got to be much higher here than in the United States.

As I mentioned earlier, classes have been in session for a week. Maybe I'm just not fully grasping what is required of me, but it seems like much less of my time here will be devoted to school than what would be required at USC. For one, I am only physically in class for 7 hours in the week. Yes, seven hours. Tuesday I have 1 hour, Wednesday 4 hours, Thursday 1 hour, and Friday 1 hour. I only take three classes, and for all of them I have one or two essays in each and then a final exam. Now, in total I will be writing about 10,000 words worth of essays, but even with a heavy writing load, I don't really see how everything that needs to be taught can be fit in what little time I will be in class.

The classes also take a different approach to reading. Instead of picking one book and assigning a chapter or two to read by the next lecture, each class lists about 10 different books (most of which are available to be checked out at the library) and tell us the subject to read in one of them. There is no "read chapter 3," instead, its "read about the Cold War." I kind of like this system because there is no real burden on buying books, but it makes it very difficult to gauge your position and knowledge in the class. Maybe over the next few weeks I will become more knowledgeable about the system and will know exactly what I should be doing to keep up.

My classes themselves all seem pretty interesting: Politics of Transatlantic Relations, Contemporary Politics of the UK, and World History After 1945. Being the only American exchange student in any of my classes, whenever we meet in the smaller tutorial groups, I tend to be asked about the American perspectives of whatever we're discussing (and don't worry, I try to be completely fair and unbiased in what I say). It's really cool to hear about things I've learned about before but from the point of view of someone that studied/saw everything from a UK perspective. The only class that I forsee problems with is Contemporary Politics of the UK. The professor seemed willing to work with me on things, but I felt very far behind when he started asking general knowledge questions about the policies of Margaret Thatcher and succeeding Prime Ministers (some of which I had never heard of...). Of course, the entire reason I took the class was to learn about UK politics, so it seems like I will get plenty of that.

As far as traveling/exploring goes, I have really only been able to make one notable trip, which was to the Dundee Law (law = hill). I was invited by two other international students to join them in their trip, and luckily I didn't have to do any of the planning. We got a bus (first time having to buy a ticket and I failed miserably) and rode as close as we could to the base of the hill. We then made the steep but relatively short trip up to the top on one of the only sunny days I've experienced in Scotland. Once at the top, we literally had a 360 degree, panoramic view of the city and surrounding area. I doubt my pictures did the view justice, but everything about it was amazing. We were also there as the sun was close to setting, which made for some good pictures as well. The three of us then made the hike down and hopped another bus back (kind of). We actually ended up going the completely opposite direction for a good twenty minutes, but were able to ride back the other way into the city center. We decided to cap the trip off with a visit to a pub (my first pub visit) where I had my feelings about beer verified (its disgusting).

There are now just a few more places in the Dundee area that I feel I need to visit before branching out and exploring the rest of Scotland. As soon as Heather gets here, expect plenty of updates about other Scottish/English locales and, if money allows, major locations in other countries.

Fun facts about Scottish culture: #1. Cars driving on the opposite side of the road are very disconcerting. I am sure I will be hit in the near future when I look down a one-way road to see if cars are coming and forget that I should be looking the opposite direction. #2. Bacon in the UK is different from American bacon. I don't know if they use a different animal or just a different part of a pig, but it does not get crispy, it is very fatty, and tastes really weird. #3. The makers of Skittles decided to mess with the purple ones and change it from Grape to Black Currant. Most definitely not a change for the better. #4. In order to watch TV in the UK, you must purchase a TV license annualy (in addition to purchasing the TV service and what-not). The license itself is about 200-300 US dollars, and covers any live programming (including whatever you may watch live on your TV, computer, or phone). The TV license people have been spamming my dorm with angry purchase a tv-license or else letters, and I am therefore afraid to watch the NFL playoff games that will be on tonight and the Super Bowl later on. On the same note, American shows cannot be directly streamed here as they would in the US because of laws keeping the content in the US. This can be averted, but I'm pretty sure is not necessarily legal, so I will go without to avoid a very hefty fine.