Scotlanniversary: Year in Review

One year ago today, on September 2nd, 2014, I came to Scotland for the first time. I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on how much my life has changed and how much I have changed.

Quite a while before September of last year, I started looking at colleges and thinking about what I was going to do after high school. At various points in my life, if you had asked me what I wanted to study in college, I might have told you geology, forensic science, Latin, or Romance languages. Even in my junior year, I didn't really know what linguistics was nor did I have a particular interest in learning Chinese. At that time, I didn't even feel that strongly about keeping up my ability to speak Spanish.

I don't really remember how it happened, but I discovered linguistics and the University of Edinburgh in a relatively close amount of time and my plans for the future changed. At first I didn't really think I could go to university outside the US. I thought if I went to college in Pennsylvania, that I'd be pretty far away from home. The more I looked into it, the more feasible it seemed and the more excited I got about the idea. I had always wanted to go to Scotland, because I'd grown up going to the Highland Games and going to my parents' Scottish Country Dance rehearsals and my whole family had always been excited about Scotland.

So before I knew it, I was applying, just to see if I could get in. Less than a month later, I found out I got accepted and then I had to decide whether I was actually going to go through with it. I didn't know if it was financially feasible, I wasn't so sure I could just move to a country I'd never been to, and I'm sure there were other doubts. By April, I had two options. I could either go to college an hour away from home, where a few dozen people from my high school were also going, or I could move to a different continent and have a completely different experience.

So I made my decision and committed to go to the University of Edinburgh. I bought a plane ticket, I applied for a visa, I packed up everything I thought I would need, I said goodbye, and I was off! I arrived in Scotland with my mom and we traveled around for a few days and then came back to Edinburgh for a bit of tourism and then moving in.

So that's how I got here. Now I'd like to share 5 ways I've changed in the past year.

ONE: I'm a blogger now

 The first thing that comes to mind is this blog. I started this blog after I got here. I think there was one post I made in the US before I came here, before I had decided whether or not I was going to commit to this. Nikki and I were talking about blogs one day and she convinced me, because she was also writing a blog. After that conversation, I went back and did several blog posts on my trip to Costa Rica that summer. Those were the first blog posts I wrote. I then started writing weekly blog posts every week. I then started doing them whenever I had something I wanted to talk about, whether that was a language-related thing, or a trip I wanted to write about.

I've really enjoyed writing this blog and I don't intend to stop anytime soon. It has been a great way to remember things I've done, to keep friends and family updated with what I'm doing, and has been a fun way for me to get to write and work on my photography skills. I think it has made me

TWO: I'm an independent woman

 Another thing that has changed this past year is that I've become quite an independent person. I've never been super dependent, but I've done so many things I didn't really imagine myself doing by myself or at all since coming here. I am genuinely proud of myself for moving to a different country at age 18 - not to mention a country I'd never been to.  I've learned to travel by myself. I've learned how to live in an flat without anyone to take care of me, I've learned how to apply for jobs (still working on how to actually get one), I've learned how to make friends, I've learned how to talk to strangers, I've learned to go places and do things by myself and not be scared of that. I really am proud. I think this year could have gone a lot differently if I hadn't taken the opportunities I was presented with or just done the things that scared me a little.

THREE: I'm a world traveler

One of the reasons I gave to people for going abroad for university was that I wanted to travel more. The only time I'd ever been out of the country before the age of 18 was when I went to Costa Rica when I was 9 or 10 with a group from my school. I have only vague memories from that trip. The second time I went to a foreign country was actually also to Costa Rica (here's a link to the first post about that trip). Other than that, though, when I came to Scotland, I hadn't been to any foreign countries. I had a long list of places I wanted to go (that list is still very long), and one of my goals while being here was to travel. I'm really happy about and grateful for all the places I've gotten to go to and all the wonderful experiences I've had. Other than all the cool places in Scotland I've gotten to go, I've gotten the chance to go to Ireland,

Belgium,

Germany,

the Netherlands,

the last three at the same time,

Italy,

Spain,

England,

Sweden,

Finland,

and Estonia.

A lot of those places I didn't originally have on my list or have a strong desire to go to, and that's the beauty of opportunity. A lot of those places I went to because I had a friend I could visit or stay with. The only reason I went to Ireland was because those were the cheapest flights we could find. I didn't know I was going to London until 6 days before I went. Again, I am so grateful that I could have those opportunities and I hope there will be many more trips in the next year.

Getting to go to all these cool places has made me much more internationally minded. I grew up bilingual and most of my friends come from foreign countries, but I still think traveling is the thing that has made the biggest impact on my ability to look at things from the perspective of different countries, that has taught me the most about foods I probably never would have tried otherwise, that has made me realize that there are different (and better) ways to do things than the way Americans do things, that what they teach you in your language classes isn't necessarily how people really speak, and that the things I learned in my history classes are things that affected real people and continue to affect people to this day. Every time I came back to Edinburgh from one of those countries, a little part of that country came back with me and became a part of the way I live my life.

FOUR: I am more confident

I look different. I'm a year older. My style has changed. I have glasses now. I got my ears pierced. I cut my hair. I go to the gym now. I'm obviously still recognizable as the same person, but I feel different. I've changed up the way I dress (mostly because winter is actually cold in Scotland, unlike North Carolina) and I like my clothes more, though I definitely am still developing my ideal style. I got glasses in June, which I'm already so used to that I think my face without glasses looks kind of weird. I got my ears pierced - two piercings in each lobe - which is something I've been considering for several years. I am keeping my hair shorter and I think it looks way cuter, not to mention it's so much easier to manage. Probably the biggest change is that I work out now. I joined the university gym and I love it (though I probably wouldn't tell you that after a mile or so on the treadmill). I actually was training for a 5k and was so close to being ready, when I injured my calf muscle and had to take 6 months off running. I'm just now getting back into it and I can confirm that it's much harder to get back into shape than it is to get into shape the first time. Nevertheless, it's really rewarding and I've really been enjoying pushing myself physically to be stronger and faster. The next step is to eat better - more protein, less carbs. It's a work in progress, but all these things have made me a much more confident person than I was when I came here. I think that's a part of getting older, but I can trace a lot of my increased confidence to these things.

FIVE: I really, really love Scotland

Probably the most important thing that has developed over the past year is my love for Scotland. Before I came here, I was excited about Scotland, but I can't say that I really knew a whole lot about the country. I have since fallen absolutely head-over-heels in love with this place. I have learned a lot about the history (mostly from Nikki, but also from traveling), I have fallen in love with the natural beauty, and I am constantly amazed by the city I have the privilege of living in. One of my hobbies is now visiting castles on the weekends, which is not an opportunity many people have. I also get to climb around on an extinct volcano whenever I want.

On my first day here, about an hour or two after getting off the plane, I was standing on a platform at Waverley Station waiting for our train to Inverness and I was so terrified that I was going to hate Edinburgh. I was not feeling great (probably because I had missed a flight, gotten into the country a day late and after an extra flight and 6-hour layover, was bummed out by the overcast weather, and hadn't eaten anything for far too long). My first impression of Edinburgh was so different from how I feel about Edinburgh now, and I'm very happy about that.

Luckily after eating dinner and watching a beautiful sunset over the Highlands from the train, I felt much better.

There were no more planes or trains and I could finally enjoy myself. When my mom walked into the center of Inverness, where we were staying our first night in Scotland, we were greeted by a huge band of pipes and drums, because there was some sort of bagpipe competition going on that weekend. I would say that's a more accurate portrayal of Scotland, because I am often greeted by wonderful surprises here.

I have looked back at some of my pictures from September and it's just kind of funny. I have a picture of the first time I went to Calton Hill, which is now my favorite view of Edinburgh. I have since been there for many sunsets and one sunrise, not to mention almost every other time during the day. I could probably make an entire post of all the times I've been there and all my pictures of the exact same view, but I've just included pictures from the first time I went there and the most recent time. Anyway, it's still amazing to think that I loved that place when it looked like it did the first time, and I hadn't even seen it at its best.

A picture from my first time on Calton Hill (September, 2014)

(July, 2015)

Another place that comes to mind is Glencoe, which I could probably say is my favorite place in Scotland. I have a picture of my sitting in Glencoe in September, when my mom and I decided at the last minute to add it to our itinerary. We happened to get the most amazing weather and we got to explore the area and I have very fond memories of my first time there. Between it being a wonderful day with my mom and the area being one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen, it's pretty obvious why I love it. I've since been back twice and the weather has been pretty miserable. It's kind of funny to compare some of the pictures.

This is a picture of the Three Sisters at Glencoe. The left half was taken in April, the right in August.

There are so many things that I love about living in this country, I couldn't possibly do it justice in this post, so I'm just going to put in some of my favorite pictures from some of my favorite places (in no particular order). If you don't fall in love with Scotland just from these pictures, you might want to see a doctor.

This past year has easily been the best year of my life and I'm hoping the next year will be even better.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.