Walk like a Glaswegian-An American Abroad: A Game of Wordplay

I've been meaning to do a new post for a few days now and have had many moments of inspiration but simply haven't gotten around to it. I could post my million and eight excuses but instead I will simply take the blame for being a bit of a blog slacker and move forward with a new post.

The University is currently in Week Zero or "Freshers Week" meaning classes have still not started. Freshers Week is a time for all new students to come together in a myriad of social events. Most consist of music, socializing, dancing, introductions to the University and all consist of drinking. Okay, not all, but a great deal. I decided not to purchase a Freshers Pass.. there are so many social events to take part in outside of the actual Fresher's week events that it simply wasn't worth the money. However, Fresher's Week has introduced me to the Glasgow University Unions.

Coming from the US the idea of a Union was completely foreign to me. We, of course, have student unions. But, when I think of these unions I generally think of some building in the middle of campus labeled "student union" that you can have lunch in or purchase your textbooks. Here in Glasgow we do have a building like that, we call it the Fraser building. But, the student unions are entirely different entities. If you were equate the student unions to anything in the states it would most likely be a fraternity or sorority. Now imagine a fraternity or sorority that accepts the entire student body population, is free and sits directly on campus and there you have the Glasgow Student Unions. As previously mentioned, there are two Unions the GUU (Glasgow University Union) and the QMU (The Queen Margaret Union). Both unions have their fair share of social events including cheesy pop, salsa dancing classes, movie nights, both also have amazing drink specials. After a week of consideration, I have finally decided which union to join... But, I'm not telling! It just wouldn't be fair to publicize (I just spelled that the British way with an "s"! oh no they are converting me.) one union over the other..Clearly, this blog would sway people's decisions!

This past weekend I spent a little scrabble playing time with my favorite Glaswegian. It was decided we would play the game in our assumed native tongue, English. It became the most debated game of Scrabble ever played. That might be a slight exaggeration but a dictionary did take up permanent residence next to the board and was used at least every other turn. I had a marvelous turn with the word "taffied." My scrabble partner insisted this was not a word and I clearly meant toffee.. no I meant taffy and yes taffy is a word, the dictionary proved that. The word Ax can be spelled with or without an "e" depending on which continent you are from. Without an "e" if you are from North America with an "e" if you are from Europe. Yakel, however, is not a word... on any continent. In the scrabble war it is currently Glasgow- One Kansas-Zero.. (Only by eight measly points!).

I've spent this last week wandering around the free museums of Glasgow, meeting more people from around the World and sampling a bit of the Glaswegian food. No haggis yet! I did partake in Glasgow's most famous dish, curry. Glasgow was named curry captial of Europe. And, I can officially say it was well deserved. Although, in a tragic turn of events my delicious leftovers did not make it back to my own flat. I have enjoyed discovering little local places. The best discovery I have had to date is the Hidden Lane Tea Room.

I am very fortunate to live just blocks away from the Kelvingrove Museum. The Kelvingroove is in a beautiful building and sits just below the University. The museum is one of Scotland's most visited free attractions! I really enjoy the museum because it's a mashup of many different museums in one. There's exhibits on art, science, animals, human rights, etc.

A view of the Kelvingrove from the University

For some reason the pictures I took in the Kelvingrove turned out horribly, I apologize!

The River Kelvin.. which of course runs by the museum!

In addition to the Kelvingrove I spent some time exploring Glasgow's Modern Museum of Art and the Riverside Museum. The Riverside Museum was formerly known as the Museum of Transport and this title is still appropriate. If you love cars, boats and trains you would love this museum. For those of us that aren't transportation fanatics there is a replica of Glasgow's main street which was really fun to see.