Conversations

Besides getting to go on amazing weekend trips, day to day life here can be really interesting. I've met a lot of Scots in my community development class, who are all really friendly and talkative. Some of the cool things I've learned from them or about them:

Some of the specifics of the education system- Scottish people can go to university for free. (!!!!) In this case of the community development program, there's different ways you can get into the program for free. You basically have to show your commitment to community development or organization. Many of the older people in my class have done this by working in something like a non-profit or non-governmental organization working to tackle community problems for 2 years or more. Others have come in from a year at college (basically community college), others have a kind of certificate of some practical schooling, and I think some people do come in straight from high school.

Uni here is so cool- I feel like people come from a much more diverse background than people at Chapman. Part of that has to do that Chapman is a private school and expensive, and uni here is free. I think it opens it up to a lot more experiences and opportunities to widen your world.

The world is so big- Europeans and the British people I've met seem to have a much better grasp on that fact than Americans do.

They also have a better approach to race- if you don't want it to be part of the conversation, then it doesn't have to be. I don't feel so aware that I'm Asian here. I was talking about it with Jon, and it's not that all people are racist at home, but it's a thing. It's almost tangible, and he felt that change when he moved from Canada to California too.

The U.S is so so young- I'm so humbled by these ruins I've seen that date back to the 12th century, and archeological finds in the northern islands from B.C. Even the buildings in Glasgow all seem to be pretty old. I was showing my mom my sweatshirt from University of Glasgow I just got, and it says "est. 1451".  We were joking that when I go back home, people will ask "Is that a typo? Does it mean 1951?"

Scotland is so cool in general- I did chose Scotland because it had it's own unique culture- it wasn't just English, and similar to home. But I've been learning more about it, and the mix of cultures and languages that have historically made up Scotland is really cool to learn about. Glaswegians themselves have their own unique culture too- one of the cleaning people came in today, and I swear I could not understand what she was saying in the Glaswegian accent. I'll keep on trying though! I'm also going to explore more of the city this weekend since I'll be around, as well as trying really really hard to not procrastinate on my essay. Wish me luck!