I honestly do not know how the physics students learn here. Perhaps I have been spoiled by excellent professors at Guilford who push us to the limit and make our brains hurt on a daily basis. As unpleasant as that sounds, I miss it. I miss working my butt off on weekly homework sets and quizzes. Here, I go to lecture a billion times a week (literally, I have 5 lectures and a lab each week for my ONE physics course) and I feel like I have barely learned anything after 10 lectures! I mean I have learned some, but I do not feel like I have learned as much as I would have after two weeks at Guilford. We have covered a bunch of topics, but just barely. The professor (I don't even know his name...) just glances over things and does not go into detail as to where many of the equations and things come from. This has given me a greater appreciation for all of the tedious derivations we have sat through at Guilford. Also, today we worked problems as a class, and I don't know how many times the professor said, "this will be on the exam." And I thought the U.S. was notorious for "teaching to the test"? Apparently the physics department at Dundee favors this method as well.
Another thing I really miss about the Guilford Physics Department is the sense of community. I feel safe saying that most of the physics majors are my very close friends. Here, I am the odd duck out. I come into lecture and sit alone. Nobody talks to me. I have tried talking to a few people but it has not amounted to much more than an introduction. It is rather lonely. I hope this will change slightly after next Friday when I have my first lab session and finally get to meet my lab partners.
Ok enough about the downs, let me tell you all about the fun things I did this week!
Monday, I went to my two lectures and then went out for coffee with two of my friends from my history course. It was a nice time and we made plans for going out next week! I am very excited to branch out and spend time with these new friends!
Tuesday, after my lectures, I went shopping (for fun things, not food) for the first time since arriving! I went with my friend Lauren (who is from Georgia and is one of the aforementioned friends from history) to H & M. Many of you may be aware of this store, as it is in the U.S, and it is pretty awesome. As Lauren and I were sifting through the endless racks of clothing, some of which you would NEVER see in the United States, Lauren made a valid point: all of the clothes appeared that they would either be found on a mermaid (or other aquatic creature) or on a ballerina. The amount of ruffles on the garments was astonishing! Seriously. Ruffles. Everywhere. A plethora of ruffles. It was ridiculous! However, I did buy a new dress, that yes has ruffles, but they are tasteful ruffles.
Wednesday was fairly uneventful. I got up and went to the gym before my lectures. I then had a movie screening of The Maltese Falcon. This week our films are about Hard Boiled Heroes/Detectives. I really enjoyed this film and I recommend watching if you have yet to do so. Wednesday evening I went out with my flatmates and enjoyed the VIP lounge at the club courtesy of Minna who is on the Women's Basketball team.
Yesterday was a day of firsts! After classes and a film screening of Murder, My Sweet, another detective noir, my day really began. Minna and I attended Zumba class for the first time! We had quite the time dancing our little hearts out and sweating more than a little. It was such a success that we plan to go every Thursday night! Following Zumba I had another adventure....
It is official. I am in Scotland. I have eaten, and enjoyed, Haggis!!!!!
For those of you who are unaware, Haggis is a traditional Scottish food that is made out of a mixture of meat, oatmeal, onions, spices and various other things that is encased in a sheep's stomach, and then cooked. There is also White Haggis which is the vegetarian version. Now, I really did not know what to expect. I had heard horror stories of it from people in the U.S. but then anyone who I talked to here said it is very good. Not only did I have Haggis, but a whole traditional Scottish meal, prepared my Minna and her boyfriend Greg, consisting of veggies, potatoes, regular and white Haggis, all topped with a white whiskey sauce.
I learned a few things from this adventure:
1) Unlike what I had envisioned, you do not eat the sheep's stomach. You peel it off and break up the stuff inside and eat that. I know, a major disappointment, haha.
2) It is best to eat it fast because apparently it is terrible once it cools.
3) White Haggis tastes about the same as regular Haggis.
4) Both are surprisingly good and quite filling!
5) I plan on eating more Haggis during my time here.
To give you people stuck back in the States a taste of what I experienced, I took some pictures!
This is the packaged Haggis. Looks interesting right?
Here is the entire meal: Orange stuff = veggies (yes they are mashed), White = mashed potatoes,
Black (with sauce) = Meat Haggis, and Grayish = White (veggie) Haggis. This was such a great meal even though it looks just like a bunch of mashed up piles of food!
Here are some fun pictures of my flatmates and me:
Christina holding our flat mascot "Tarty Anne" or as we like to call her "Marylin" because of the beauty mark and makeup (the duck, not Christina, haha).
This is Minna and me.
It was another very successful week! Oh, I forgot to mention that Greg told me I have a Scottish sense of humor (whatever that means) so I am fitting in quite nicely! Well, I will now leave you with thoughts of what Scottish humor is and what you might think Haggis could possibly taste like.
Cheers!
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