One Year Later

In one week my time in Scotland will officially come to an end.I didn't know it was possible for a year to pass so quickly, yet when thinking back to the beginning of the year it seems more like five years ago rather than one. There is no way to express in words how much this year has meant to me or how much it has changed me. I will forever be grateful for this experience and all the opportunities it has afforded. I came to Scotland in the hopes of adventure and in the meantime uncovered travel, education, friendships, history, tea kettles, big cities, the countryside, famous monuments, pretty things, scones, umbrellas, the Loch Ness Monster and even love.

While I love Glasgow and all that the city has to offer, it is not the city that has made my experience. Rather it is the people I have found in Glasgow that have made this experience such a definitive one. While I may never forget standing atop the Arc de Triomphe or boating down the canals of Amsterdam, it is the memories I have with my friends and classmates that hold the most significance. I am so greatly indebted to each and every person who has not only made this year possible but such a success. And, while I can never thank each and every one of them enough I will do my best below:

The "Hey You have Made My Scottish Adventure All That it Could Be and More" List:

--First to my parents. Pretty sure they thought this was the most ridiculous idea I have ever come up with (And trust me there have been quite a few). Your love and support throughout the year, and of course the years leading up to this experience, have enabled me to take full advantage of an amazing opportunity. Thank you for all the care packages and words of encouragement... the themed parties wouldn't have been quite the same without them!

--To my brothers Kevin and Michael who have always encouraged my sense of adventure and inspired me through their own. Your skype sessions have been a great source of entertainment this year and no one else can quite keep me up on the current events of America like you both.

--To Stuart who was my friend before I even arrived in Glasgow. It was of great comfort to arrive in Scotland already knowing a Scot! Your advice and our adventures around the city helped me to learn so much about Glasgow quickly, I got to play expert on Glasgow many times because of all that I learned from you.

--To the other Americans studying in Glasgow. You were the first people I met in Glasgow and it was like having a bit of home in a foreign place. While we all went our separate ways throughout the year  it was always a lot of fun to reconnect with you all and compare experiences. It was also a blessing to have people in my life with similar vocabularies... sometimes you just need to use the word crock pot, sidewalk, Popsicle, etc.

--To my American Studies Classmates or Really Four of the Best People I have Ever Met. It is not often when you find yourself in a class in which you like every single individual and even more rare to find yourself in a class where you all become good friends. I am so lucky to call you all my classmates and my friends, you have taught me more about America than I have learned over my 22 years of actually living in the country.

Joe- Your academic writing prowess inspires me immensely. Especially seeing how late you start all of your assignments. I am so happy to have found someone that challenges my procrastination abilities and does so with impeccable marks. I also want to thank you for showing me the greatest shortcut in Glasgow.. in which I had to scale a fence in a dress in the middle of the night after a Thanksgiving feast.

Jamie- Attending the first lecture of American Studies I was terrified that I would know less about America than all you non-Americans. And, thanks to you that theory was proved correct when within five minutes of meeting me you asked me a question that I had absolutely no idea how to answer. In all seriousness, your intelligence regarding America is impressive and I have enjoyed our many in-depth conversations regarding my homeland. Thank you for always being so kind and taking our jokes regarding your dating life in stride.. Jodie really is one lucky girl!

Sandy- As I have told you numerous times, thank you for being the most Scottish person I know. I will always remember attending a movie screening with the American Studies group and you partaking in a massive box of chips. I will greatly miss our lunches in the Fraser building and late night facebook chat rants regarding our lack of progress on the dissertations. In addition to being the most Scottish person I know you are also one of the kindest and I must say that I not only greatly admire this about you but aim to live up to your example. But, I am sorry to say that I will never appreciate Kid Rock on any sort of level.

Sanne- Oh Sanne. As the only women in the American Studies group we had quite a lot of work to do. Thank you for completely frightening me on the first day of class by marching up and asking if I was in fact "Kate Garrett." While this terrified me it opened the door to many coffee dates, lunches, films, quiz nights, parties, cocktail evenings, feminist rants, matchmaking, political discussions, travel talk and all the other millions of things we have done together this year. I am so lucky to have you as a friend and your support and love throughout this year has been not only much enjoyed but much needed.

---Richard's Economic Classmates-- Thank you for showing me that economics people are actually quite exciting! I have enjoyed getting to know each of you and feel as though you are an extension to my own class. I also enjoy knowing that out of all of you I am the only one certified to teach economics.... that's a scary thought to many!

 

And, finally... Richard. While I can't say much at the risk of you becoming terribly embarrassed.. I will say this much... I came to Scotland looking for adventure and you have made each and every day the adventure of a lifetime. Everyone should be blessed with knowing someone like Richard at one point in their lives. I plan on keeping him around.

Again, I will never be able to thank you all enough and will forever be indebted to each and every one of you. While I am terribly sad to be concluding this chapter in Glasgow, I am looking forward to all that this next year has to offer and will be always anxious to hear how the wonderful friends I made in Glasgow are doing, as I am sure they will be doing great things.

I have truly loved creating and sharing this blog. It has been such a wonderful way to organize the many stories and photos I have from this year and to share them with everyone both in Glasgow, at home and even further afield. I plan on writing about Richard's trip to America and my planned trip to South Africa or the United Kingdom over Christmas. Otherwise, I am not too sure how exciting the ins and outs of me finding a job will be to write about! But, I promise to update this on occasion, I love it too much not too.

Thank you sharing in this year with me, it has been everything I hoped for and more. 

Olympic Fever

There's a video currently making the rounds on youtube documenting the "Happiest Olympic Worker" (Look it up if you haven't seen it, although I wouldn't reccomend watching the entire clip, it's not massively entertaining after the first minute). The video shows a woman perched high above an Olympic crowd doing her absolute best (albeit the monotone voice) to enthuse the Olympic viewers. The best line of the entire video is blared through the volunteer's bullhorn as she proclaims:

"I can not contain my excitement, everybody. Today is a special day. We are going to be telling our children’s children’s children’s children’s children about this day."

And, that quote accurately describes my Olympic experience. I have always had an extreme love affair with the Olympics. I remember celebrating the Olympic Committee's decision to split the Summer and Winter Olympics.... Now the Olympics would come every two years rather than every four! In 2005 London heavily campaigned for the 2012 Summer Olympics. I was actually in London during the summer of 2005 and got to experience those campaigning efforts at their very height. Finishing my trip I returned home to the news that London won the bid and felt as though I had lived in a tiny part of Olympic history. Little did I know that I would be living in the UK during those very games won through the campaign efforts I had witnessed. As mentioned in a previous post, I was thrilled upon discovering that a few Olympic soccer matches would take place at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Fortunately there were plenty of tickets available and Richard and I were able to secure tickets for not one but two full days of Olympic soccer action. The first match we would be attending was a women's match and featured the US and France. Having just celebrated the Fourth of July there was plenty of Americana garb to outfit our soccer experience. While trapsing across Glasgow to get to the stadium a mother pointed out our American support to her daughter by saying "Oh look that woman has a American flag she must be cheering for the US, who are you going to cheer for the US or France?" The little girls response was absolutely perfect "I'll cheer for whoever's winning!" While Richard claimed this was a "girl" answer I think it was brillant, why not walk away from a soccer game completely happy.. when you are five and from neither country?

As a part of our tickets we were able to take free transportation to get to the stadium. This meant that we were part of a massive shuttle bus service out to the venue. Thankfully, Glasgow did a wonderful job in organizing this service and we were shuttled back and forth relatively comfortably and quickly. Once at the park we had to pass intensive security proceedings. Reading the back of the ticket I had uncovered that Olympic officials "highly encouraged" women to not bring handbags to the game. Security passed out clear plastic bags into which everything that was being held in pockets, purses and hands was to be put inside... meaning our phones, wallets, keys, sunglasses. After all was deposited in the mentioned clear plastic bag each ticketholder was patted down. This wasn't like the airport where searches are random or done on suspicion, everyone was patted down by hand. After the pat down items could be collected from the searched plastic bags and one could finally make their way inside the stadium. My American Flag was almost confiscated as the wooden staff it was flying on was seen as a possible danger. Richard, the flag and I made it through security and were actually at the Olympic games!!

If we hadn't been so eager to go to the games we may have secured our tickets for free. The women's soccer games really struggled in pulling a large crowd and many tickets were given away at the last minute to try and fill the stadium. While there was a lot of support for the first match the stadium was far from full and by the second match it had almost entirely cleared out. The first match was  exciting, full of goals and fast paced ball movement, the American team ended up winning with a score of 4-2. Wanting to stay for as much Olympic action as possible we stayed for the second match. I am so happy that we stayed because we were able to witness the first piece of Olympic drama! Waiting for the second match we watched the players from Colombia and North Korea run their warm up drills. As the players were warming up the teams were introduced on the stadium's  big screens. The players left the field and the stadium prepared for the playing of the National Anthems and the kick-off. But, 10 minutes passed and no players...20 minutes passed no players...30 minutes and still no players. Finally a voice filled the stadium announcing "We are sorry for the delay but a behind the scenes issue is currently being addressed." As a curious person this excuse was not enough and suddenly Richard and I found ourselves on the case. After trolling news websites, google and twitter we uncovered the issue. While introducing the players the national flag featured next to the North Korean players' name was not the North Korean flag but rather the South Korean flag. The players were so offended that they refused to vacate the locker room and begin their match. After profuse apologies by Hampden park officials and the reintroduction of the North Korean players with the correct flag by each of their names, the match began. It was pretty exciting to see the story all over the news the next day knowing that we were two of the few people to witness the event!

 

                                                    The US Women's Soccer Team!

The next day were the men's soccer matches. The first match featured Honduras v Morocco and the second match Spain v. Japan. The stadium was much fuller for the first match than it had been for either of the women's games and by the time Spain and Japan took the field the stadium was almost full. While the games weren't quite as exciting as the women's games the crowd made it much more entertaining.

It was actually sunny and clearly by our squinty eyes we have no idea how to handle sun.

The day after our Hampden Park Olympic experience was the Opening Ceremonies. While it was disappointing that I couldn't quite afford a ticket to the actual opening ceremonies, considering the tickets were close to 2,000 pounds a piece, it was still exciting to watch the ceremonies live.I am always a fan of the opening ceremonies, no matter how strange they may be. My favorite part is of course the parade of nations.. and I watch the entire parade. I once went to watch the opening ceremonies at a friend's house and was absolutely appalled that they wanted to fast forward the Parade of Nations.. you can't do that! It's so much fun to see all the different countries especially the tiny little countries with one athlete that is so proud they cry while carrying the flag. With the Opening Ceremonies the Olympics officially started and I have become completely hooked. I now have so many countries to cheer for ..... USA-- I LIVED THERE FOR 22 YEARS!! GREAT BRITAIN-- I LIVE THERE NOW!!! SOUTH AFRICA--I DATE SOMEONE FROM THERE! BELGIUM---ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IS FROM THERE!! LUXEMBOURG--I'VE BEEN THERE!! CUBA--THE ULTIMATE FRENEMY!! EASTER ISLANDS--.....................THAT'S UNIQUE!

In addition to my rampant cheering efforts, I have become an expert in obsecure sports. Synchronzied diving is on every single day during my gym workout.. I could officially be a judge for this sport. I know what a 2 1/2 pike is, I know when your legs are supposed to cross, I know how high the splash is supposed to be and I also know that divers are no experts with motion sensors and the showers should  not have employed such high brow technology (Although it's pretty hilarious watching divers doing such an intricate dive and then fail at turning a shower on). I've watched gymnastics, archery, track and field, diving, handball, dressage and a whole host of other sports. I am also smug with the fact that I see all these events live and must keep results secret from my family who has been  suffering a six hour time difference. I receive texts from my brother updating me on his olympic watching so we can compare notes, I discuss such issues as US athletes being taxed upon winning medals at the lunch table, I've even taken the quiz which Olympic body do you most resemble. I believe its safe to say that in Glasgow we are all swept up in Olympic fever....or at least those of us working diligently to avoid disseration work! I will certainly be telling my children’s children’s children’s children’s children about these Olympic Games.

Happy Olympic Viewing!!