Cougs Abroad Prompt 10: Reflecting on Change

Cougs Abroad Blog Squad asks me to consider an aspect in which I have changed during my study abroad exprience.

As I was beginning to pack in the few days before my departure, I found myself with a sinking heart and wondered, “Why am I doing this?” Why had I decided to uproot myself from my comfortable life at WSU and at home, move myself away from my friends into a country I had never visited, and attempt to live off the contents of my suitcase and the remainder of my money from work for three months? What was the benefit of making myself so uncomfortable when I could return to the routine of school where I had already paved over the difficulties?

Interestingly, nearly three months to the day I was asking myself a similar thing as I rolled my suitcase to the curb where my taxi waited, tears rolling down my face shamelessly as I said goodbye to the friends I had grown close to over the past semester. Why was I leaving?

At the beginning of my experience abroad I could never have imagined how close I would grow to the country, the school, and the people, and I am extremely grateful I stepped outside of my comfort zone to pursue this opportunity. My whole life I will have the memories of my travels and studies and my gradual acclimation to living in the UK, and if there is one respect in which I have changed the most, it is in my ability to embrace opportunities regardless of how “uncomfortable” they may seem. I am a creature of habit, and disruptions to my routine, especially moving from place to place, I had seen as an inconvenience worth avoiding. Going abroad helped me recognize that I am not rooted to one spot but capable of independent exploration of whatever strikes my fancy, and that there is a much larger world than the trail I pace between Pullman and home. I expressed to a friend once how I found it bizarre I had rested my head in so many different places, from several different hostels on a week-long trip with friends to three different countries in the British Isles, back to my bed at “home” in Scotland. My time abroad challenged me to withstand the “inconvenience” of things like living out of a backpack, for the reward of spending less on luggage fees to see more on our trips was well worth my initial discomfort.

After my time abroad I feel as if my eyes have been opened to the world outside my own, and I know now that I am capable of exploring it as an independent, self-contained individual. Of course it is best to travel with friends, and I am so grateful for the opportunities my travel companions at Stirling helped me find and discover and the experiences we shared. My experience abroad helped me step outside of my comfort zone in both areas of travel and everyday life in a foreign country, and I feel more than ever prepared to face new challenges at home and at school now that I understand myself better as an individual.

December Recap: Final Days

My final days in Scotland after my trip into the Highlands involved studying for my Psychology final and trips to Linlithgow, St. Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh- the final two in the same day!

The city of Linlithgow is a few train stops out of Stirling (about 16 miles) and boasts a beautiful palace that housed a few Scottish monarchs in the 16th century. Situated along the pretty Linlithgow Loch, the palace was a clean ruin, fun to explore and get lost along the several open-air floors. In the centre was an intricate stone fountain, and the other rooms held spiral staircases, a dilapidated great hall, and a very tall tower that looked out over the courtyard and the loch. We also had a minute to explore the nearby ruins of Blackness Castle on the rocky shores of the Firth of Forth, from where I could see at a distance the distinct red Forth Bridge that runs from Edinburgh to Fife.

A deer on the fountain

The courtyard at Linlithgow Palace

The view from the top

The next day we took some time in Bridge of Allan, Stirling's little neighbor with a population of 5,000, a town actually closer to the campus than Stirling itself, and stopped into a local brewery. The next day a few friends and I explored St. Andrews; while the others had made a visit at the beginning of the year, I had been in Inverness, but was glad I took the time to visit! The ruins of the castle looked out over some interesting rock formations in the water, and the pointed ruins of St. Andrew's Cathedral were extremely picturesque, and I explored the massive cemetery at its feet for a long time. We grabbed a quick lunch and for dessert I had a taste of Scotland's infamous deep-fried Mars Bar, which was essentially a calorie-laden, gooey and crispy goodness; luckily we had decided to split one and a bite was more than enough. Afterwards a few of us walked out onto a rock projection into the North Sea and played on the beach (in December!) during the sunset before heading home.

The view from the castle towards the cathedral

A deep-fried Mars Bar!

Cathedral ruins at St. Andrew's

Looking back towards the town

Fun on the beach

We had a night out and the next morning headed off to Glasgow for a little ice-skating in the Christmas-decorated George Square. While the skating was a blast, our friend from England who was officially on her first day of break nearly fractured her arm; and to make matters worse we had to say goodbye to her for the last time! After parting we went to Edinburgh and strolled around the Christmas markets and New Town for a bit before heading home.

George Square in Glasgow

Ice skating with friends

Goodbye Edinburgh!

My last day in Scotland I spent packing, shopping for sweets to bring home, and in general spending as much time with my friends as possible. That night we had a meal at the Kilted Kangaroo, a cute Australian-themed restaurant famous for kangaroo burgers (I opted for chicken); before a few of my friends and I walked across Stirling Bridge, found some swings in a park along the River Forth, and climbed a hill called Gowan Hill for a view of the city and the distant Stirling Castle at night (beside us rested the Beheading Stone, thought to have been used in the 15th century for executions-yikes!)

Stirling at night from Gowan Hill

Since my taxi arrived at 3 am for my trip to the airport, I didn't sleep but continued packing and chatting with friends until the morning, during which we were forced to say goodbye. My adventure continued to the airport as I flew to Paris to connect for a flight to Salt Lake City; unfortunately the Paris security workers were on strike, and after a harrowing time in the security line and a mercifully delayed flight and new connection provided by the workers in Salt Lake, I made it home after around 48 hours with little sleep, and around 15 of those hours in a pressurized tube.

Despite being happy to be home, I miss Scotland and am so grateful for my experience!

December Recap: The Isle of Skye

I should note first that getting back from London was a little tricky because of a powerful wind storm around the 8th of December that slowed our train to a crawl in in general wreaked havoc across Scotland and Northern England. The hurricane-force winds around 165 mph weren't quite as strong at my school, but it was bad enough that when my friend and I arrived back in town from London the buses had stopped running to the city centre and debris from trees were scattered around the road. A group of friends and I had scheduled a tour to the Highlands and the Isle of Skye that weekend and were afraid it would be canceled, but the next day after a slight delay as the tour picked up passengers with delayed trains, we were still on for the adventure.

Our Scottish tour guide Danny entertained us with his humorous renditions of Scottish and English history while we drove up north and west towards the island on the coast. We started to see the low, rolling hills blanketed in snow, and as the sun set we found ourselves in an area completely covered in white, a change from the milder weather back in Stirling (apart from the wind!). We heard an interesting story surrounding the death of a politician Willie MacRae after driving by his memorial cairn, and through the dark and snow saw the outline of a statue commemorating the British Commando forces. We also passed by a nighttime Eilean Donan, the most photographed castle in Scotland, built out on the water. After a snowy drive we made it to our hostel and ate some haggis prepared by our guide with the traditional "neeps and tatties" (turnips and potatoes).

Snow on the hills in the Highlands

Our drive the next morning took us onto the Isle of Skye, where we saw the arching Skye Bridge and heard about the controversies surrounding its system of tolls, as well as took pictures of the ruins of small Dunakin Castle, home to a Norwegian princess. Our drive took us up into a beautiful, snow-covered area of water, tall hills, and meandering white sheep. We stopped to take a hike to one of the most beautiful places I have seen on my trip- a view out onto the coast that ran up into a snow-covered bay at the feet of the Black Cuillins, called Camasunary. It was a cold and icy walk in the winter but the snow added to the beauty. Satisfied with our view but hungry, we hiked back down and went into Portree, a little town on the eastern side of Skye, where we ate in a cafe looking over the sound. We drove a while and stopped at a beach hoping to see seals, but as the weather was getting worse we drove on again, this time to our next hostel for the night. We ate cottage pie prepared again by our guide and hung around the fireplace in the main room.

View out the bus window of snowy mountains

Kyleakin, with Castle Dunakin on the left

Driving to Camasunary

Camasunary Bay

Sheep by a ruined church

The next morning we got to see Eilean Donan in a brighter light before continuing on the road through a pass (I think called Glen Shiel) full of the most gorgeous mountains I have seen. We passed through Inverness, stopping briefly at Castle Urquhart, which I had visited at the beginning of the year, and along Loch Ness, before arriving at Culloden Battlefield for a little more Scottish history. Our last two stops involved grabbing food in a small town (I purchased a little Christmas truffle from a bakery) and taking a walk in the park.

Eilean Donan

At Culloden Battlefield

Views along the highway

While the inclement weather thwarted some of our plans and cut off a few roads, I still feel that I was treated to some lovely views in the Highlands, and got to see them and the Isle of Skye in a time when most tourists don't.

December Recap: London again

In the frantic last-minute rush of my final two weeks in Scotland I managed to squeeze in quite a few noteworthy trips, including a second trip to London as a reward for finishing two essays at 2500 and 3000 words- whew!

Before I left, Stirling received a little dusting of snow that was fun to play in- which distracted me from essays even more- but luckily the trains were still in operation and my friend and I headed out from campus on a Monday for England's capital. Our hostel this time was located in Greenwich, a district in south London and home of Greenwich Mean Time and the prime meridian, where the line of longitude is at 0°. Commuting in and out of Greenwich took us on an overground train through a business district, while Greenwich itself was a rather small and charming place to retreat to outside of London. That first night we only checked into our hostel and sought some cheap pub food before falling asleep,  but the next day we left bright and early to make it into London. The first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral, which I had missed entering the previous trip, but was extremely glad I could make it back for. The interior was beautiful and massively humbling, and we spent some time listening to its history on an audio guide before climbing 257 steps from the cathedral floor to the "whispering gallery," where we tried with some success to hear each other talking across the dome. Another long flight of winding stairs led us outside onto the Stone Gallery, with a view of the city, and after about 500 steps up from the main floor we made it to a small ring near the top called the Golden Gallery where the pictures were the best. Interestingly, the design of St. Paul's is such that the dome you see from the street is a false "dome" built on top of the original, to allow for people on the inside to the paintings at a closer distance while still allowing spectators on the outside to see the entire structure. 

Panorama from the galleries

If memory serves me we then took the Tube to the National Theatre for a backstage tour, in which I saw some amazing sets and learned about the production and construction of the different theatre houses, props and plays. Afterwards I made it inside Westminster Abbey, a beautiful but surprisingly narrow church with hundreds of tombs and other monuments inside to various royalties. I really enjoyed my audio tour here as well, and afterwards made it past Big Ben and parliament at night and snapped a picture in front of a Christmas tree. We walked across what I believe was Westminster Bridge to see parliament over the water, then made our way towards South Bank under the glowing London Eye to check out the Christmas markets. I tried roasted chestnuts for the first time, which tasted a little like a nutty potato but felt good to hold in the freezing weather. We also walked around Hyde Park, which had been transformed into a winter carnival with markets and holiday-themed park rides (I have never heard of a winter carnival boasting things like a "Christmas Coaster" before). I believe we grabbed some Italian that night near Charing Cross before heading back into Greenwich. 

Parliament, or technically, the Palace of Westminster

A ferris wheel at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

The next day we went to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich to see the prime meridian, where I stood with a foot in both hemispheres! (I have been into the Eastern Hemisphere only once before when I was in Tokyo.) In the area we also learned a bit about John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, and saw a camera obscura- a neat device that makes a live projection of the outside world that resembles a black and white illustration. Afterwards we meandered through Greenwich Park past the National Maritime Museum towards the Old Royal Naval College, an architectural beauty that sits on an oxbow of the Thames and doesn't seem to actually be a college anymore. Back in the main streets of Greenwich we found a market and bought some scarves and amazing fudge from a candy store. In London, I think our first stop was the busy and unsightly Camden Market, where I tried unsuccessfully to barter for a leather jacket, before I went alone on the London Eye back in South Bank. The Eye was amazing; for 30 minutes I rode in a large pod with about 15 others and watched the sun set and the lights turn on over the city. While St. Paul's Cathedral had great views as well, the Eye boasted the best look at Big Ben, parliament and the traffic over Westminster Bridge (including the iconic red double-decker buses). I hurried afterwards to catch my friend at the Museum of London, and while I had maybe 5 minutes to run through the chronological progression of the city's history the museum seemed really well done and I will have to catch it when I go back again. 

On the Prime Meridian

A building in the Royal Naval College

The London Eye

View from the London Eye

Sunset from the pod

Afterwards, we found Somerset House and took some pictures at the Tiffany & Co. inspired skating rink, decked out for Christmas and lit up in pink and blue. We weren't ready to call it a night yet so we took a long walk from Somerset to the Millennium Bridge along the Thames, then crossed towards St. Paul's Cathedral and hopped on the Tube. I was so glad I could make it again to London, but even a total of 5 days in the city between my two trips wasn't enough! 

Somerset House skating rink

My friend and I with St. Paul's on our final night

Next, I take a tour of the Isle of Skye and the Highlands of Scotland the day after I return from the big city!