Aberdeen, Scotland was my home away from home for five months during the Spring 2019 semester. As it would be tedious to detail my daily movements in Scotland, I have decided to highlight some of the cities and sights I have visited and comment on some of the cultural aspects that I find most interesting about Scotland. Thanks to trains and buses, I was able to visit quite a few Scottish towns on weekends. 

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Cities/Towns I have visited:

- Stonehaven - January 12, 2019- visited Dunnotar Castle

- Cruden Bay- January 19, 2019- visited Slains Castle

- Newburgh Beach- January 19, 2019- visited the Newburgh Seal Beach

- Ballater-  February 2, 2019- Hike through Cairngorms National Park 

- Loch Ness - February 9, 2019 - visited Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness Museum

- St Augustus- February 9, 2019 - viewed Loch Ness and St. Benedict's Abbey

- Elgin - February 11, 2019- Johnstons of Elgin Cashmere Mill tour 

- Edinburgh- February 23, 2019 - visited the National Gallery for my Art History course

                       March 8-10, 2019 - toured around various sites, Arthur's Seat/Calton Hill

- Dundee- February 24, 2019- explored the city center, V&A, and McManus Art Gallery

- St Andrews- February 24, 2019- visited the University, Cathedral, and Castle

- Glasgow- March 1-2, 2019- visited the University, Cathedral, and explored the city

- Balloch- March 2, 2019- visited Balloch Castle, Trossachs National Park, and Loch Lomond

- Stirling- March 9, 2019 - visited the outside of Stirling Castle

- Falkirk- March 9, 2019- visited the Kelpies

- Inverness- April 2-3, 2019 - toured the city and took a train to Dunrobin Castle

- Aviemore- April 2, 2019- Hillwalking 

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Scotland is known for their beautiful and plentiful castles. During my semester, I made it a priority to visit as many castles as I could. Here is a list of the of castles that I visited.

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Castles that I have visited:

- Dunnottar

- Slains

- Urquhart

- Balloch

- Edinburgh

- Stirling

- Kildrummy

- Craigievar

- Fraser

- Inverness

- Dunrobin

- Braemar

- Balmoral

- Crathes

- Drum

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People- Overall, I can confidently say that Scottish people are very nice and quite friendly. They may not want to be your best friend right away as an American would, but most will happily carry a conversation with you. I found the older Scottish people to be especially nice. There were many instances when people helped me while traveling within Scotland. I did not even ask for their help. They simply saw that I was lost or confused and proceeded to help me. I also find the Scottish people to be very patient. No one gets aggravated at the grocery store if you take your time to find the correct change. People aren't running off the planes as soon as it lands. They are just very chill people to put it best. 

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Fashion- I would say that Scottish fashion is a mixture between American and European. The American comes in with the sports attire and lounge wear. Students wear Adidas pants and hoodies to Uni and no one will look at them strangely. The European side comes in with the tight tight tight pants (mainly black) and a plain, simple style for the overall outfit. One of the identifying aspects of a Scottish guy is his haircut. The shaved sides of the head and long hair on top is a favorite among the Scotts. I will say that Scottish people love to party. Although I did not partake, I saw enough students dressed up for a night out so that I can now comment on their style. Scottish people dress up way more for a night out than Americans. Frequently, the students attend balls and the girls wear long dresses and the guys wear kilts or suits.

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Nature- Well first I will start with Scottish weather... it is not good. Typical Scotland is grey skies and rainy, then a few minutes of sunshine and dryness, then back to rain. This cycle is endless. As I was in Aberdeen and this city is right along the coast of the North Sea, there was a lot of wind. The temperature in the winter never got too cold and I only saw three days of snow. The summers do not get very warm either. I found it humorous that the Scottish people all go outside any time that it is sunny simply because they barely see sunlight. Besides the bad weather, Scotland has some beautiful nature scenes. I would recommend the Caringorms National Park or going up in very North Scotland for some Hillwalking and beautiful walks with gorgeous scenery. There is not much wildlife in Scotland which surprised me. The seagulls are absolutely savage and will steal your food if you eat outside. Overall, Scotland is simply beautiful and if you like exploration and immersion in nature, than Scotland is the place for you. 

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Food- Scottish food is nothing to really brag home about. Check out my Blog Post "Scottish Sweets and Savories" under the Spring 2019 Semester Blog for the specific foods that I tried. Most Scottish foods are unhealthy. There are some main dishes that I did not try that I am sure are very good. But most of what I tried was very unhealthy. For example- fish & chips, deep fried Mars Bar, and a Buttery (basically a hard bread that is made of lard and butter). They have more American foods than mainland Europe in their grocery stores. For example, I was able to find refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough which made me extremely happy. 

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Education- I tried many times to understand the education system in Scotland. Here is what I gathered, and I apologize if this is incorrect. They have primary (ages 5-12) and secondary (ages 12-18) school in Scotland which is basically our elementary, middle and highschool in the USA. From secondary school, students can apply to University, go to college, or go into the workforce/have an apprenticeship. What confused me is that our "college" in the USA is the equivalent to "university" in Scotland. Many will attend college, which could be compared to a community college here, if they do not have the grades to get into University. I was studying at the University of Aberdeen and encountered many new educational experiences. First, I have never been in a lecture course before, let alone one with 300 students. Second, the grading scale is totally different. They have grades A1-A5 which is equivalent to an A back home. Then there is B1-B3 which ranges from an A- to a B+ US equivalent. Passing a course is considered a D3 or higher. Third, students are able to resit exams if they fail. I still do not understand or agree with this. What does that teach you in life? It seems like you can fail and then not worry because you have a second chance. Fourth, I found the demand of the education to be way less intense. The longest essay that I had to write was 1500 words. Students would complain about this word count but this was so minimal to me, as I was used to writing essays with 15-20 pages. There was only an essay and exam in each of my courses so besides writing the essay and revising for the exam, there was not much work to do. Overall, I feel as though the American education system is better and more challenging, but this may be because we pay a hefty price. 

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Here are some of my favorite pictures from my time in Scotland:

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