Dublin

What Dublin? No I'm still studying in Glasgow. Last weekend me and nine other friends decided to visit Dublin. We had to get up at four in the morning to catch our bus to the Airport. Since we took the regional buss on a Friday evening it was packed with drunken Scots, a very interesting experience. From Glasgow to Dublin takes you only 20 minutes by plain. So at 9 in the morning we arrived at our hostel in Dublin. The hostel was very neat and we even got breakfast! First time that ever happened to me. After a good breakfast we explored the city for a bit. First we went to see Trinity college ( where Steven is currently studying ). The University is the exact opposite of Strathclyde. It's very nice and traditional, pretty buildings and all, whereas Strathclyde is really modern. We visited several musea and parks as well. After sightseeing the city, we made our way to the Guinness brewery! If you go to Dublin, make sure you put that on your bucket list! The day after we also visited the Jameson Distillery. It was very different from the Auchentoshan brewery I visited earlier this semester, although it was interesting to observe the differences between the two. That evening we went to Temple Bar to hit some pubs ( but i'm used to doing that in Glasgow!).

The weekend before my girlfriend visited me. That weekend I had my first Haggis. To be honest it wasn't that bad at all! Is tasted like spicy minced beef, with a bit more fat in it compared to Dutch ground beef. It was very cool showing my girlfriend around Glasgow. That Sunday we went to Edinburgh by bus. It is only about 7 pounds from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Even though Edinburgh is only an hour away, it is totally different from Glasgow. It is much more touristic and has more history, compared to Glasgow. The Dublin castle is very cool, because you are able to see it from almost everywhere in the city. We also visited the Scottish national museum, that is very impressive in size!

This is all for today, since I'm off to a Rangers game! I'll make sure to let you guys know how it was next post.

Cheers

Fire, Stirling and Isle of Arran

This week I joined an indoor soccer team for internationals. The way Scots play indoor soccer is somewhat different to what I am used to. They have very little and wide goals and you are allowed to make sliding tackles! During the match we smelled fire. A few minutes later an employee of the university came in to tell us that the James Weir building was on fire! The James Weir building is one of the biggest buildings around campus, so it was a pretty big deal. When we walked back to our flat, we saw a lot of smoke coming out of the building, but no fire whatsoever. The police is still investigating what happened, but they expect some kind of chemical reaction set the building on fire (since all the science labs are located in James Weir). All classes that were supposed to take place in JW were cancelled. Luckily for me the teacher decided to relocate the lecture. While everyone had a day of, I had to attend lecture!

Final Goodbye...

I have been back in the Netherlands since a few weeks now and I miss Glasgow and all my friends so much!! My flight back was on the 21th of January, only two days after my last exam. Consequently I had no time to say a proper goodbye to Glasgow, but I don’t need it because I’m certain I will go back to Glasgow within a year! Some of my friends still study in Glasgow for the next few years and they have offered me a place to sleep anytime I’d like to come to Glasgow.

Exploring

Last saturday me and my flatmates decided to explore Glasgow some more. Together with my Tsjech friend george, Canadian friend John and my Mexican friend Esteban we walked around Glasgow for the full day. There are a bunch of really nice places to visit in Glasgow. For you who do not plan to go on exchange to Glasgow, the city is still worth visiting as a city trip! It is very common to go to a pub around noon and have a beer and something to eat, so that is what we did. When we were sitting in a pub, some Gaelic dancers came in and a girl with a violin. All of a sudden they started to play music and dance Gaelic dances. It is really cool to see that traditions are a big part of the Scottish culture. At the end of the day we visited the Kelvin Grove museum and the University of Glasgow, which is pretty amazing.

Whoopsy...

To be honest... I totally forgot my blog!! I have been back in the Netherlands since a week now. I will tell you a bit about my last 2 weeks in Glasgow and next week I'll probably write my last blog telling you how it is to be back.

I went back to the Netherlands during the Christmas holiday and New Years Eve. It was nice seeing my family again and spending Christmas with them. However, I do regret my decision to stay in the Netherlands with NYE. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be with NYE in Glasgow and I passed... My flatmates organized a party at our flat, so when I saw all the pictures of my friends in my flat without me I got sad. I did enjoy my NYE in the Netherlands, but I can do that every year, that's not the same with Glasgow!

First week

so it has been little less than a week since I arrived in Glasgow. It all started in the taxi, heading to my Hotel in central Glasgow. The taxi driver was a true Glaswegian, and therefore it was pretty tough to understand the guy. Surprisingly enough, the friendly man knew Eindhoven, since he had been there to see some PSV-Rangers games. My first impression of Glasgow, is that it is a really nice city with some pretty cool architecture. Moreover the Scots are very kind and friendly.

Arrival day at Strathclyde took place last Sunday. I really looked forward to meet the people I was supposed to be living with for the next five months. My accomodation is called Birckbeck Court, and thats the place usually all the international students live. I am living with 5 other guys: An American, Canadian, Mexican, Chinese and a guy from the Tsjech republic. During your first week there are all kinds of introductions, were you will meet a lot of new people as well. As far as I can tell you now, it is awsome to live with students from all over the world! This wednesday we went to a pub called the piper. The University organizes an event called: Pub night. Every Wednesday all international students gather to a pub in Glasgow. It is a really fun way to meet new people. Pub's close at 12 already, so thereafter students usually go to the common. This is a club were all drinks are only a pound!

Language barrier in the UK?

So, in one week I will be leaving to Glasgow to study there for one semester! I'm currently in my Bachelor Business Administration and I will follow three electives there, namely: Portfolio Analysis, Financial Analysis, and Corporate treasury & International Risk management.

What can I expect? When talking to people about leaving to Glasgow I always get similar reactions: "Massive drinkers" , ''You have to buy a Kilt!'' ''You know those guys fry mars bars!?" ''Scotland is noting like England!''. So I am really looking forward and have a hard time figuring out what to expect from Glaswegians and the culture.

Late night adventures!

Sunday 11 December. Me and my friends decided to go out for dinner as a last goodbye. Christina is the first one to leave on Friday and Carol will leave on Saturday and won’t come back in January for the exams. At first we wanted to have the dinner last Friday. However, the restaurant was fully booked so we decided to book for Sunday at 8 for 8 at Mother India in the West End. On Sunday afternoon the first girl cancelled on us, cause she has 4 tests this week. A few minutes later the second girl cancelled for the same reason. This was all understandable. However we were a bit disappointed when Chelsea cancelled on us. She met a Scottish guy here in the first weeks and we hardly see her. But we kind off expected her to cancel since we had dinner with her on Friday. So then we were with 5...

Ordinary day in Glasgow?!

This blog has two sides. A typical day in Glasgow and a not so typical day in Glasgow. Let me first start with the typical day, Tuesday 6 December:

Christmas Lights!

Guy Fawkes

Almost a month has passed since my last blog. I can summarize this period in one word: assignments! Lots of assignments! Nonetheless, I still make time to have fun. Starting with Halloween. I wasn’t planning on going out with Halloween, because of my many assignments but I couldn’t resist the temptation of experiencing Halloween in Glasgow. Since my decision to go was last minute I had to improvise a costume. I’m quite a beauty freak so with a bit of makeup and some nailpolish which featured as blood I became a vampire. A friend of mine was so nice to pick up some fangs on her way to our flat at Sainsbury’s. The fangs were horrible, but what do you expect for only 1 pound? They did look good on the pictures though. I thought the Glaswegians were crazy and this night really proved it.

Highlands

Long time no see, well actually no hear!! I’m sorry for letting you wait for this blog. The last couple of weeks were quite busy. My tutorials started, which means a lot of reading and group work! And last week my parents and little sis were here to visit me for 5 days! 

Sinterklaas!

They arrived on Tuesday 25^th of October in the afternoon. It was great seeing them again! We got a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The taxi driver asked us from which part in the Netherlands we were. We responded with Roermond in the South. “You’re kiddin’ me!! I go every year to Marina Oolderhuuske on holiday with my family and friends!” (Marina Oolderhuuske is a resort near Roermond.) “You’re the first people I’ve met from Roermond here in Glasgow!” Well, he was the first Glaswegian who even knows about the existing of Roermond! So the first meeting with Glasgow was a great one for my parents and sister. In the evening they gave me lots of presents, early Sinterklaas. The next day we explored Glasgow and I showed them my flat and they met a couple of my roommates. Unfortunately they got to experience Scottish weather! It rained a lot in the afternoon, but when we got to the West End it stopped and I’ve showed them another sunny side of Glasgow.

Beautiful Edinburgh!

Here it is! My second blog and as promised I will tell you about my trip to the AMAZING city Edinburgh and the start of my classes.



The first two weeks here in Glasgow felt like an incredible vacation, meeting new people, partying all the time and shop till you drop. However, all of that came to an end when my classes started… Just kidding! 

Dear Green Place aka Glasgow

Hi everyone!

You're about to read my first blog! I will start introducing myself. I'm Michelle Rewinkel, 20 years old and third year student International Business Administration. This semester I'm studying at the University of Strathclyde Business School Glasgow.