Saturday was the official orientation day for international students. I attended an hour-long meeting from nine thirty to ten thirty that included basic advice for living and navigating the Uni and the city. After the meeting, Erik, Andrew, Matt, and I stopped to get coffee/tea at a local shop and rested a bit at "The Hub," the one of the campus's cafes and computer centers. After that, I headed back to Hillhead to clean up and make some lunch before heading back to the campus for my advising meeting at two thirty. There, I officially registered for classes, which I will fill you in on a bit later. Before and after the meeting, which only took about fifteen minutes, I spent a good amount of time in conversation with new acquaintances. I met many international students from Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Michigan, Vancouver, Guelph, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. After spending a couple of hours there, I went back to Hillhead for about an hour before meeting with the guys to go out for dinner and drinks. We took the bus to City Centre and walked to a restaurant/pub called Slain's Castle, which was an old church. It had an interesting atmosphere but seemed to be trying a little too hard to achieve a creepy Gothic feel. We spent time in conversation for a few hours before heading back to Hillhead.
On Sunday morning, the four of us walked to the Cathedral of St. Machar just through Seaton Park to attend their morning worship service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the service was traditional and very similar to both Third Reformed in Holland and St. Michael in Wayne. The community there was very pleasant and welcoming, and we spent nearly three hours there for worship and in conversation with the church members. I am considering joining the choir there, and I am certainly going to attend regularly. I truly enjoyed it. Afterward, I went back to my flat and spent time with my flatmates, which was wonderful. Two new women moved in from northern France who are very sweet, and all of us got to know each other a bit better. I also got to Skype with my parents for over an hour, which was good for both them and me. At seven, some of the girls from the flat, the three boys from Hope, and I went to the Burns Supper which was taking place at the Union Bar near to our buildings. I tried haggis for the first time, which was actually quite pleasant tasting. It was a sort of spicy meat, and, when eaten with the turnips and potatoes (neeps and tatties), it was very good. Of course, we washed it down with a bit of Iron Brew, which tastes a bit like cheap orange pop. After dinner, we learned four or five Scottish dances, and they were a blast! The traditional Scottish band was very good, and it seemed as if everyone was enjoying themselves. The guys and I then went to the bar and talked for quite some time over a pint and went home around eleven.
Yesterday was the first day of class for most students the University. However, I didn't have class, so I went to the City Centre in the morning to buy a pay-and-go mobile phone in order to stay in touch with people here in Aberdeen and to make calls back home to the States while I am traveling if need be. The bus system takes some time, so I arrived back at the flat around one to activate my phone and clean up. Then, I headed back out to get some real groceries so that I could eat a meal that didn't consist of toast or noodles. I picked up some fresh vegetables for stir fries and salads and a couple of other staples to live on for the next couple of weeks. When I left the grocery store at three thirty, it was hailing and already getting dark. I took the bus back to Hillhead, unloaded my groceries, made dinner, and talked to my flatmates Emmy, Pauline, Alice, and Chloe for several hours. It was wonderful getting to know them even better, and it is clear that we will learn a lot from each other during these next four to five months.
Today marked my first day of classes. I was (and am) very excited to finally be back in the classroom learning and growing in knowledge after a six-week break. My first lecture was Victorianism and was from eleven to one. My second lecture is directly upstairs in King's College and was about Scottish literature from one to three. I enjoyed both classes, although the lecture halls are a bit larger than Hope's, and the lectures are structured a bit differently. It seems that the professors write their lectures in paper form before class and simply read them out as information to write down, which I don't particularly enjoy. After an hour or so, I was struggling to engage myself with the professor (course convener) and with the information. I think I will enjoy the content, but I definitely already miss classes at Hope. Tomorrow will be spent buying books (at Blackwell's or via my Kindle) for the class and preparing for the tutorials, which I have on Friday morning and afternoon. If you are following, that means I only have class on Tuesdays and Fridays. This is going to be a very relaxed schedule that will take some time to get used to, as I normally run from class to field placements to work every day back home. However, I am very excited to have the time to do the readings for class and to put one hundred percent into everything I do academically. What a joy it will be to engage my mind fully in the material before me.
As for day-to-day life here, I am adjusting quite well, though it is somewhat different. I struggle daily with the weather patterns, as Britain this time of year is very dark and gray. The weather moves seamlessly from blue skies to sleet to hail to rain to darkness in a matter of moments, and it is only light from about eight thirty in the morning to four in the afternoon. I know that this will change once April comes, and I look forward to longer hours of sunlight. I've also been hit with the reality that the UK is largely a secular land--a very different climate than the one I know and love at Hope. My flatmates were stunned that I'd wake up early on Sunday to attend church, and I was told that they know almost no young people who attend or ever have attended a church service (with the exception of Easter or Christmas). It was good to be in conversation with them about my morals and my beliefs, and I learned a lot about their culture and their beliefs as well. On the whole, it is more difficult than I imagined to not be surrounded by the encouraging community of Hope and home, but I believe I was put here for a reason and will continue to live my life in such a way that I may present God's love through my actions. I am here to learn and grow in love and knowledge, and I intend to embrace that every moment of every day.
Again, I apologize for the late update, and I will be sure to write more often for those of you who check daily. Cheers! You are loved and in my prayers.
