(Working Title)

Wednesday. Woke up at 6:30 a.m. Jet lag. :/ I checked my email and saw that I was approved for all the classes that I had signed up for. One is called "Philosophy and Literature," which is cool because it investigates the philosophical interpretations of many famous philosophers' personal literature. I didn't know Voltaire was a novelist or poet, but my professor spent the first lecture talking all about some of his work. I think I'll enjoy that class. The second class is called "The Glasgow Novel," and it is about reading literature written about or influenced by the city. It will be interesting to learn about the contexts for the stories and many of the secrets of the city's past that has evolved it into the place it is today. My professor is a really nice lady with a pleasant Scottish accent, which I think is awesome. The third class is "Scottish Literature Since the Enlightenment," which is similar to the Glasgow novel in that it gives you a taste of Scottish history and literary theory and style. Should be fun! My last class is "West European Politics," which will be intriguing (aside from the reading). We should have some good discussion, and I've never really learned about how some countries' politics work, so it will be some nice perspective to have. None of my professors' accents are too heavy (one is actually British), so it's nice and easy to understand them. Having a professor read Scottish literature or poetry out loud in a Scottish accent is surprisingly soothing...

After class (from 9 to noon) I met up with four other Americans (Jackson and Will from LSU, Mitch from Clemson, and Meredyth from South Carolina) and Sarah, our Australian 'mate,' as they say. We wandered around the downtown "city centre" and found a cool little pub/restaurant. We all got burgers and fries and were happy to have found a restaurant with ketchup. It's hard to come by here. Those of you that are home, know that it is a luxury. I met a cool guy when I was ordering at the bar. He was a local man from Glasgow, around 65 years old, and he asked me where I was from. I told him I was from the United States, and in his thick Scottish accent he replied, "Noooooo! Woolnt've gest tha'!" Hilarious. We talked about Glasgow and I learned some of his story. He guessed that I was from somewhere near Canada because I guess I use longer O's than most people. Thank you to Minnesota and its wonderful people for their influence on my diction :)

After we ate we walked to our official orientation meeting, where they told us about how to register with the police and the hospital and all that. Boring but necessary. Afterward I went back to my room and did laundry and some reading. Also boring but necessary. At eight I went with my flatmates Scott (England) and Adrian (North Ireland) to a campus pub to watch the Manchester United v. Manchester City football (soccer) match. It was great. Tons of people. Tons of cheering. Awesome match. United scored in extra time to win it. People went nuts. It's a beautiful game. Also tonight was the international student pub night, which is a weekly tour of Glasgow's pubs. We go to a different one every week and get to meet all the international students at Strathclyde. I ran into Javier and the Spanish crew, which was awesome, and I got to meet a lot of new people. A surprising number were from Germany and studying physics. Who knew? Usually the entire gang heads to a club for free, but a few of us decided to call it a night early and rest. So, naturally, here I am writing a new post to my blog. It's a beautiful thing. 'Night!