Smooth Sailin'

Wow, a week between posts. Sorry guys! Last week Wednesday we went out to international pub night. We went to a hip-happenin' modern bar called "Home" that was really cool. After a while at the pub we went to a club and got our groove on. On Thursday I was determined to make progress on my fourth and final essay due before spring break, so I camped out in a café for a few hours and wrote an introduction and got my ideas organized. I came back to the essay the next day, decided what I wrote was crap, and restarted. I did the same thing on Saturday, so I was a bit frustrated, but I pounded out about 1800 words anyway. For some reason this last essay took me a while to really get writing. It was a slow process. Maybe I was burned out from my other three? Maybe I've been watching too much March Madness and How I Met Your mother? That's all behind me now. On Sunday I finished the essay after a solid Skype session with friends and family. Now all that's left for me to do is to turn in my essays and get on a plane to London to start the spring break adventure!

My first Glasgow concert

On Sunday at church Benji invited me to come out with him to a concert on Monday night, so we met up at 9 on Monday and headed to a little venue called "The 13th Note." I met a bunch of his friends from the school of music (Benji is a saxophone performance major) who were playing in the bands that night. The first band was called the Dirty Demographic, and they're one of the biggest bands at Strathclyde. They've been together for about three years, and it turns out that Dade is their drummer! I had forgotten that he told me that. It was fun to see him there. He was surprised to see me! They did an acoustic set, and Dade played guitar. Their lead singer/pianist is really amazing. I'd love to see their whole band do an actual set! The next band did some covers of classic American rock, which reminded me of the good ole U.S.A., and the final band was a huge group of nine that played some crazy rock and went crazy on stage. It was a decent show, but I'd like to get more into the music scene of Glasgow. On another note, I got to meet Benji's mom at church, and I found out that they live in St. Andrews, so when Benji is going home for a weekend, they invited me to come stay and see the town! That would be amazing. So generous! As far as the week's gone, I've been finishing up my essays and watching scary movies (Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Paranormal Activity) in the flat with Adrian, Mikey, and Scott. I've been going to the gym and to class, and I cannot wait for spring break! It's less than 10 days away!

Celtic Football!

Yesterday our group went to our first football match in Scotland. We went to watch Celtic play St. Johnstone, so we bought a bunch of Celtic gear and made our way to the stadium. The game was amazing! Soccer is so much fun to watch live, and I got to watch one of my favorite players play! Robbie Keane is one of the best Irish footballers, and he is on a year's loan to play for Celtic, his boyhood heroes. Back at Iowa we play a disgusting amount of Fifa on Xbox, and I always play as Ireland, so Robbie is always scoring the goals. The atmosphere was awesome. Cheers and jeers were constantly being shouted, no fights broke out, but a few fans were kindly escorted from the stadium by security. Pubs were packed with fans before and after the game, and everyone was decked out in green! Celtic ended up winning 3-0, and I got two of the goals on video. After the match we all walked home, and I spent the night in the flat watching UNI upset Kansas as well as Casino Royale on tv with Scott and Mikey. It was a fine day, and I'd love to go to more football matches while I'm here!

Scottish St. Patrick's Day

The first few days of the week were filled with class, the gym, movie watching, and essay writing. I've finished my third of four essays! I've got two weeks to write my final essay, edit, and revise. Scott, Adrian, Mikey, and I have watched movies the last few nights. We've watched some American classics: The Lost Boys and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. It's been a nice way to spend the nights after writing.

Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day! The Glasgow Cup was being held, and that's a tournament between the three biggest universities in the city: Strathclyde, Glasgow University, and Glasgow Caledonian. There were ten different sports with men's and women's divisions in four of them. Over the course of the day the events take place, and the winning schools get points. The team with the most wins and points at the end is the overall champion and gets to take home the cup! Our first basketball match was against Glasgow University. I'd been told by many that Glasgow Univeristy was Strathclyde's biggest rival, so we HAD to beat them. Winning the cup didn't matter as long as we didn't lose to Glasgow Uni. As there were so many basketball games to be played, the format of the games was four six-minute running clock quarters with no free throws. Also, the clock didn't stop in the final minute of the game. The style of play was chaotic and like street ball. It was sloppy but still fun. Our game against Glasgow was back and forth the entire time until the last quarter when we pulled away. We didn't have Ally for the day, so Dade did most of the driving and scored a lot of layups. Akis and I hit a fair amount of shots, but we were happy to get the win.

After a girls' game we had to play Glasgow Caledonian. If we won, we were the champions of basketball in Glasgow! This game was rough and really sloppy. It was even throughout the match. We were trading baskets, which was frustrating because we were better than both of the other teams. We were down by three points with 1:30 to play when Dade stole the ball, drove to the rim, made the layup and got fouled. It was a huge three-point play to tie it up. We stopped them on their next possession and after swinging the ball around their zone, Dade found a lane and scored again at the rim. We were up two with :30 to go. They came down and we stepped up the defense until they broke through and we fouled them on a shot with :06 on the clock. They got a point for the shooting foul and were hurrying to throw up a desperation shot. They inbounded the ball and chucked up a shot from the corner that missed! They got the rebound and made the putback, but time had already expired much to their despair. We joyously celebrated for a bit, picked up our plaque at the ceremony, and then celebrated with the rest of the Strathclyde athletes after we had won the overall Glasgow Cup! As the honorary American, Scott gave me the plaque to take home! Another trophy for the trophy case, right? We spent the rest of the night eating at a bar and going out to a club with the girls' team. St. Patty's was crazy! There were so many people dressed up (Ally dressed as a full-on leprechaun) and having a blast! What a day!

Cooped Up In Carbisdale Castle

This weekend the international group set up a trip for us to live in a castle! Carbisdale Castle is up north in Sutherland in the highlands of Scotland. The castle used to belong to royalty and eventually was converted into a youth hostel. We left on Friday at noon and drove about six hours to get there. After a few hours we stopped in the small town of Pitlochry where we were given time to go eat lunch. Our group went to a local pub, and Will, Jackson, and I got the 'pie and a pint' deal. Genius. The castle and surrounding area was beautiful! We got settled in our room and had supper: homemade Scottish steak pie, vegetables, potatoes, and bread. It was delicious! After the meal we went on a tour of the castle and then walked to a viewpoint to see the castle lit up by floodlights. The night's entertainment was provided by us students. Each of the countries represented on the trip had to sing a song for everyone else. It was awesome! Some people had to sing along or in pairs, and most of the songs were really cool. Everyone was singing something cultural and meaningful, so, naturally, we Americans performed a rousing rendition of "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. It was the stuff of legend... The rest of the night was filled with cards, charades, hanging out, and an unfortunate tripping of a fire alarm at 2:30 a.m.

On Saturday we woke up, grabbed some homemade Scottish breakfast (sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, potato scones, baked beans, toast, juice, and coffee) and then went on a hike through the area surrounding the castle. We walked through a forest and saw some great views of Sutherland, and then we walked through a tiny village called Culrain that was surrounded by farmland. We had a sack lunch back at the castle and then piled into our buses and headed to another castle. We drove to the Dunrobin Castle, which is the home of the Duke of Sutherland. We didn't get to go inside, but it was a beautiful place. An enormous castle, a huge yard/garden, and a path to a panoramic view of the ocean were the highlights. We explored for a few hours and then returned to the castle where we ate homemade curry for supper and then had a night of team games followed by more hanging out. It was really fun meeting more people from around the world and connecting through making fools out of ourselves. Whether it was singing, competing, or playing similar card games, I met a lot of new people!



Sunday morning I was greeted with an astonishing view out my window. It was going to be a great day of sightseeing on the drive home. We ate our breakfast, packed up, and got on the buses. Our first stop was to see more of Sutherland, and then we stopped at Loch Ness. It was a really amazing place. We got a picture with Nessie and saw Urquhart Castle, which is right on the shore of the loch. After we took our fill of pictures we headed to the small town Fort Augustus. This is where Loch Ness begins and connects with a river. We took more pictures and then drove to Glencoe, which is a huge mountain range with some amazing views. The mountains rose up into the misty clouds. It was the ideal Scottish sight. We drove along Glencoe all the way to Loch Lomond. It was as beautiful as the song, but we didn't stop so I didn't get to sing it on the shore... I'll have to go back! The rest of the drive was pretty smooth; most of us were asleep until we got back into the city. It was a grand weekend! I could definitely get used to living in a castle full-time...

Booked!

Yesterday I got hostels booked in Rome and Sorrento for spring break! I can't wait to go... I also played some soccer with my flatmates and the boys from Ireland. That was pretty fun; I haven't played since 7th grade. I wrote more of another essay and watched the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie with Scott, Adrian, and Mikey. Today the international group is leaving for a weekend at Carbisdale Castle, which is a castle converted into a huge hostel! We booked out the entire thing, so we've got the place to ourselves! It's going to be amazing. Pictures and stories to come on Sunday!

Day By Day...

Yes, that's a reference to the days of show choir and Godspell :) The last few days have been ordinary. I finished my second of four essays due at the end of the month, and I'm in the middle of the third. I'm hoping to have them finished with about a week to spare so I can put them each through a rigorous editing/revising process. On Monday I had class, hit the gym, wrote a bit at Tinderbox, and played Phase 10 with my flatmates to finish off the night. They're addicted. I love it! Tuesday I had class, wrote some more, played basketball, made delicious stir-fry for supper, and then played pool at the Union with Jackson, Will, and the French contingent. Today I slept in until 11, which was a great energy boost for me to go to the gym, write more, and search for places to stay over spring break. Finding affordable hostels in great locations is unendingly exciting and makes me want to have spring break now! I can't wait... As for tonight I'll be watching some football with my flatmates and then going out to international night. Should be a fun time!

Rambunctious Rothesay

Just got back from a weekend adventure in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute!

Our Scottish friend Chris Williams invited a bunch of us to stay at his family's house for the weekend. Our group was pretty large and included the Americans (Me, Will, Jackson, and Meredyth), the Canadians (Lynsey, Briana, Anja, Emily, and her friend Sarah), two Scotsmen (Chris and Ross), and our Frenchman (J.C.). We met up on Friday afternoon and caught an hour train ride to Wemyss Bay, where we caught an Uno-filled ferry ride to the Isle of Bute. The ferry ride was much more pleasant than my last experience on a ferry. Only a half an hour and no vomiting. Rothesay was great. The population of the whole island is 6,000 people, and 1,000 or so live in Rothesay. It was quaint and quiet, so it was nice to get out of the city for a few days. We met up with Chris's parents in a pub, and they had ordered us all a drink! We knew they were cool :P They were so friendly and hilarious the entire weekend! We had our drinks, chatted, and then grabbed some take-out to eat up at the house. Chris's parents have taken care of his guests before, and they are so nice! We stayed in the lower level, and they had a ton of food ready for us to consume. Chris's mom had even done some baking, so I enjoyed downing a few too many sweets. We got to meet Chris's red setter, Tila, and his black cat, Tom. We all enjoyed the company of the pets throughout the weekend. Reminded us of home! After we ate and relaxed for a while, we went down to the town's one 'club' and did some karaoke. It was hilarious and really fun! After a few hours out we made our way back, and unfortunately Will got sick, so Jackson, Ross, Chris, and I had the distinct privilege of taking care of him in the bathroom late into the night. We got very little sleep.

On Saturday morning I had a breakfast of coffee, cereal, toast, and a banana. It was amazing. After we all got up and showered we went exploring around Rothesay. We went up to a viewpoint and had a fantastic view of the surrounding landscape. When we came down to the house after that, Chris's mom had made us some soup, so we downed it. It was delicious! She made a chicken vegetable and a potato leak. After lunch we walked through the town a bit and found another hill called Canada Hill. Needless to say, the Canadians were determined to climb it. We followed and took some cool pictures. Next, we went and toured Rothesay Castle, which was really cool. The dungeon, moat, ramparts, halls, courtyard, chapel, and stairwells were great to explore. After the castle we decided to take a break in another of the fourteen local pubs in the town of 1,000 people. Gotta love Scotland. While the others went and did a bit more exploring, a few of us went back to Chris's and grabbed a nap. That was a great decision. It restored some of my energy for the rest of the night. Chris's mom then made us a delicious supper of lasagna, chicken tikka masala, rice, salad, naan bread, and dessert. She had banana pudding, ice cream, and strawberry tarts out for us. She was a saint. I could return to that place many times for the food alone. For the night we went to a pub, played some snooker, and then headed back to the 'club' where they had a DJ blasting some music. We danced for a while and then headed back to Chris's where we watched an American classic film: Space Jam. Nobody got sick that night, so we got a solid amount of sleep.

Sunday morning I woke up to the delicious scent of bacon and fried haggis. Chris's mom was at work in the kitchen once again. She prepared us a traditional fried Scottish breakfast. It included fried haggis, sausages, bacon, blood sausage, black pudding, potato scones, and pancakes. We were eating like Scottish kings and queens. It was so delicious! Add a little ketchup and you don't even think about what's in the haggis, blood sausage, or black pudding! After breakfast we got packed up, jumped on the ferry, and caught a train back to Glasgow. Our group split up because Chris, Ross, Jackson, Will, and I wanted to go out for lunch. We decided to go to the German-style 'Bier Halle' for cheap pizza and gigantic two-pint stein beers. Jackson and I were 'lassies' and didn't get beers, but the pizza was great. A fitting end to a wonderful weekend!

Barely Beaten By Bradford

One-point losses are the hardest of all... We played a tough game against Bradford last night. They had some good athletes and made it difficult for us to run our offense and fast breaks. We didn't play our best during the first half. They kept finding ways to drive and dish in the lane for easy buckets, and we couldn't stop it. We found ourselves down by nine at halftime. Early in the second half they hit some deep threes and built their lead to seventeen at one point. Then for about twelve minutes we turned up the pressure, and they couldn't handle it. We went on a 25-4 run and were up by six with about four minutes to go. The momentum then swung back in their favor and the game was tied at 85 with a minute and a half left. We traded layups and the score was 89-89 with six seconds to go. One of Bradford's players drove the lane, put up a bad layup, but got fouled with 0.6 left. He didn't look confident at the free throw line at all, the crowd got loud, but it wasn't enough as he sunk the free throw. He intentionally missed the next one but missed the rim, so we got the ball out at 3/4 court for the final shot. I threw a deep pass toward the lane, Dade jumped about 15 feet and grabbed it, but a Bradford player undercut him and he hit the floor hard. No call. We lost 90-89. Can't blame it on the officials, though. We missed too many layups and free throws to win that game. We didn't play our best for 40 minutes. It's tough losing, but we had a good run in the playoffs. I guess there's another tournament coming up where we play all the other universities in Glasgow, so that should be fun!

Progress.

Today turned out to be surprisingly productive, which is always a nice surprise. Not that I waste my time, but some days are just better than others, homework-wise. Last night I introduced Adrian, Mikey, Scott, and Jing to the glory and horror of Uno. It was great to play again; it makes me miss the nights at home with the boys... I'll have to teach them Phase 10 next. I'm looking forward to that. I woke up for my three classes today, and those all went well. After I got home and ate some lunch (chicken tikka masala - delicious), I packed up my essay materials and headed to a coffee shop to do some work. I spent a few quality hours plugging away and churning out words, and I added 800 words to my Beverage Management essay, and that one's finished! It's such a relief, but I've got three more essays to finish before the month's out. I started my essay for West European Politics, and that seemed to write itself. I had been doing a lot of research over the last few weeks, and that paper's coming together nicely. I'm 1000 words in - halfway finished. I packed back up and headed home for some pasta before basketball. Jackson and I went to play for a while, and now I'm relaxing tonight. I'll be working on a presentation, munching on cereal/granola, writing some postcards, and watching a movie. The temptation to go out with everyone was huge, but it's the Final Four. Too risky. We're playing Bradford at 6:30 tomorrow night. I'm pumped! Game details (for better or for worse) coming tomorrow night... Oh, and I successfully locked myself out of my room for the second time. Only this time it was after a shower, so I was in a towel. Fortunately, Adrian found the R.A. for me, though I was all for walking around campus myself...