don't walk around at night

Glasgow is pretty far north, more northerly than you'd think. Here's a map of Glasgow Vs Other Northern Places.

You will note that Glasgow is close to Iceland, Norway and Sweden and kind of on par with Canada. I'm from the Northeast of America, which is (relatively) much more southern. While this explains the fact that it's always cold - I had no idea that we were so far above the inhabitable parts of Canada - a side effect of being this for north, there is not a lot of sunlight during the winter months. Seriously, in December the sun set at like 3:30pm - you get maybe 7 hours of sunlight on a good day. If it's raining, which it might be, you might not get sunlight for days. It takes some getting used to! (I would not recommend having Seasonal Affective Disorder here.)
Okay! So what is the #1 piece of advice for living in a city? "Don't walk around at night."

As you can imagine, this isn't very helpful, because it means that you can never walk around after 4 pm. (Obviously there are places in a city - any city - you shouldn't walk alone in at night, and I know that.) This strikes me as being rather inefficient, especially as the places I would be going are safe/well lit - I live quite near the big shopping streets (the high streets, as they're called here) and if I'm coming from/going to another major part of the city I'll be on public transit, so I generally try to disregard this warning, but I've studied rape stats and all that long enough to not be a little bit wary sometimes.

Luckily, the sun's been setting at more reasonable times (4 pm) now that we're inching into springtime. However... this means that in the summer, the sun will stay out laaaate - like 10, 11 pm late. All this nighttime takes some getting used to; I imagine 10+ hours of daytime will take some adjustment too.

we've been going transcontinental

It's good to be back in America, but I won't lie - it's been a little strange. I'm sometimes slow to warm up to new places until I get really comfortable there. It's like coming home after your first semester of college - everything is comfortable at home, because you know it.

Though I do really like living in Glasgow, I had missed America a lot; there's a lot of familiar American things that I had taken for granted for the past 22 years. On the other hand, it was like reverse culture shock to come back to the States. I guess I've integrated myself into Scottish/UK culture pretty well. It helps that I'm surrounded 24/7 by Europeans.

My friends in the UK are convinced that everything about America is huge. I respectfully disagreed with parts of this - America itself is huge, you could travel for hours and only make it across a few states - until I came back. Everything IN America is massive! The roads, the portions, the stores.... I went to supermarket recently and was just floored by how much stuff we can cram into one store. I'd have to go to three separate places to get all the stuff we sell in one store. It's almost excessive. I was equally amazed by Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. (The other thing that floors me is how expensive America seems to be - I've been thinking in pounds rather than dollars. Of course, when you convert everything, it evens out.)

Now, I am not a fashionista in any sense of the word. I can barely put together an outfit by myself - I have effectively one outfit in a few different colors. When I first came to Glasgow I was amazed at how fashionable and well-put-together everyone was; coming back I am amazed at what some people wear in public - American standards for clothing is appalling. I mean, cargo pants? really? Simultaneously I feel awkwardly underdressed for UK standards and overdressed for American standards, which is a little strange.

I even speak this really weird combination of American and Scots English that I didn't realize I was doing. While I was in London, I kept throwing people off by saying really Scottish things with an American accent, but I chalked that up to simply still being in the UK. I came back here and catch myself saying some really BrE/Scots things, like "hiya" and "cheers", which must make me sound really strange. The other day I said "jumper" - I don't even say jumper in the UK! It's nice to hear so many American accents and not have to mentally translate them, but I almost fell out of my chair when I heard a proper Boston accent the other day in the coffeeshop.

I have an ex-boyfriend who lived in Europe for some time growing up. There's a lot about him I understand now, that I didn't understand before. I've definitely noticed how I feel about a lot of things now have changed from three months ago. For starters, I am really alarmed at how self-centered and self-congratulatory American news is... Yes, there's a lot of America, but things that are happening in the world affect us much more than we think! Previously I was amazed at what UK news chooses to highlight about American news, but I came back and read the past months' TIME magazines, like the Person of the Year stuff and all of that, and it is SO us-centric, which is really kind of disappointing, you know?

I do miss how ridiculous the UK can be over simple things. But it's good to be back in the land of fame & excess.

little cream soda

submitted without commentary: signs in Tesco

jive turkey

Happy Thanksgiving week, blogfolks! Continuing on the theme of my blog as a food blog...

I was worried that I was going to miss Thanksgiving and be sad about it, but this was not the case! Instead I am going to not one but two Thanksgiving parties. The first one is tonight, with the Scottish Lesbian Army & Friends. My international friends are having a Thanksgiving party on actual Thanksgiving, which is going to be a lot of fun - they really like the concept of getting everyone all together in one space.

On the whole the UK is very confused by Thanksgiving, which is adorable. They get the concept of it, but not much else. They don't really get the customs or the food you'd eat. But I have a bunch of friends who are also Americans, and we've been trying to explain it as "everyone gets together, gets dressed up, drinks a lot of wine, eats a fuckton of food, watches tv, takes a nap, and eats more". Everyone likes the idea of it, and we've told them to think of it sort of like Christmas, but with more food. Christmas is their big holiday, with turkeys and stuffing and whatnot. I had a "Christmas sandwich" yesterday, which was chicken, ham and stuffing. (And probably mayo.) Close, guys...

We have cranberry sauce here, but it usually comes in a small jar and is very expensive. Dried cranberries are pretty easy to come by, but nothing beats a good cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, right? It took four stores in two different parts of town, but finally found some! LOOK AT THIS:


I bought three bags of them, had to go hunt down nutmeg, and ran home to get down to business. My flatmates thought I was NUTS. They watched me do it, deciding that I was in fact making cranberry jam. Not quite... All my friends (except for the Americans, they are clearly excited too) think cranberry sauce is "mental" and simply cannot wrap their minds around it. I hope they are ready...I just tasted it & it's delicious.

remember remember the fifth of november

Today is Guy Fawkes Day! (If you do not know who this is and you are reading my blog, I am going to need you to go obtain a copy of V for Vendetta - the film or the graphic novel are both acceptable - and check back in when you are done.)
Scotland is a very... nationalistic place, to say the least. Though it is part of the United Kingdom, it is very much it's own country: Scotland has its own parliament and Scots law is different than English law. Yes, it's technically English, but it is its own variety of English. (They even have their own dictionary.) Here in Scotland, we are SCOTTISH DAMMIT. Someone who is a native of Scotland would probably be very offended if you thought they were English.

(The closest analogy I can give you is that Scottish nationalism is much like Southern [American] Nationalism - it's as if Texas was the most liberal part of America and constantly threatening to leave as a result of the rest of the country being too conservative. Perhaps more accurately, Scotland is what would happen if Vermont got its act together and decided to become its own country once and for all.)

So naturally the Scots are very, very excited about Guy Fawkes Day. How could they not be? Dude tried to overthrow an entire government by blowing that shit up. I imagine if their Personal Life Hero role had not been already claimed by Robert Burns (more on this in January), Guy Fawkes would be a close contender for the position. People don't seem to really excited about going out for Guy Fawkes Day like we would for the 4th of July, though I have been promised many fireworks tonight. I assure you that my daily life is not full of bagpipers and kilted men - though this does happen, but mostly for weddings and other severely formal events - but I would not be surprised if they were out in full force today.

today in adventures in grocery shopping

YOU GUYS LOOK WHAT I FOUND. This really is A Thing here!
--
In the United Kingdom, most people go out for lunch, getting a sandwich/snack/drink combo for about £3, but for whatever reason, the UK is insistent that mayo must go on everything and that vegetables are a sort of rare event. I wholeheartedly disagree with this sentiment, so I bring a vegetable-filled mayo-free sandwich for lunch to my office instead. Since I essentially sit and read all day, I try to go for a walk around lunchtime down The Death Hill, just for a change of scenery. I usually just go to one of the corner grocery stores and pick up a yogurt. (UK food has a reputation for being pretty terrible - this is only 85% true; it took me about three weeks to find a vegetable that wasn't a potato here and I almost cried with happiness the first time I found a bag of spinach in a grocery store - but god damn this country can do yogurt well.) I am pleased to report that in this particular Sainsbury's, spotted dick lives comfortably next to the yogurt. I think this could be a fairly terrible accidental purchase.

I still love you, New York

One of the first questions people ask me when I open my mouth here is "Where in the States are you from?" I'm not particularly upset by this question - while I certainly don't sound like I could be remotely native to the United Kingdom or even any other part of Europe, maybe it means I am temporarily fooling them by looking kind of European, and I will accept that. (This is very unlikely, however; more to come on this topic, stay tuned.) I usually say Boston, and I either get a bit of a blank stare while they try to recall where that is, or an excited "Oh, BOSTON! My friend/sister (choose one) lives there, I was just there a few years ago!"

Often to counter this question, I ask people where they would like to visit in the States - not because I especially love America but I think it tells me a lot about what other people know about my (our) country. I think it also says a lot about the person I am talking to! I could ask them where in the UK or Europe they would want to go, but most of the time, they have already been everywhere they would have wanted to go, which sort of ruins the fun in that. At least the States are comparatively exotic and/or harder to get to!

Almost everyone I talk to wants to go to New York City and San Francisco. A lot of people seem be really interested in Las Vegas and Florida, too, though I am vehemently trying to talk them out of this, as I think both of these places are miserable. Texas is a pretty popular place, too.

It's really interesting to see that everyone sort of romanticizes the same parts of a country - how many people in the States dream of moving to NYC or San Fran? And everyone tells me that Las Vegas looks inviting because it is "so shiny and magical looking". (I still don't understand Florida.) Part of the draw, I've been told, is the intriguing vastness of American cities. European cities are so compact - I was so surprised to hear that I could walk from one side of Glasgow to the other in under an hour! Occasionally I get someone who says they want to see some nature - they want to see the Grand Canyon or the Rockies and the northeast in the fall, but even they want to see NYC. Washington DC may be the capital of the United States, but everyone loves New York.

HI FROM MY OFFICE

I brought my laptop to the office recently to try and see if I can avoid using our ancient brick machines and use my mac instead. Thus far it has been unsuccessful - I apparently have to call the IT people and ask for a new IP address before I can get online. (Have I mentioned how much I hate the Internet here?)

Either way, this is where I spend a majority of my time, in case you were curious. I face a window that gives me a perfect view of Glasgow - it's distractingly beautiful. I'll try to get a picture of that soon.

Things are going really well so far by the way, guys. I'm getting into a routine and I'm starting to get comfortable. It's still scary, but it's definitely getting better!

for security reasons, all unattended bags will be collected and destroyed

GREETINGS FROM GLASGOW, everyone!

I am in a hotel in glasgow city center with Mom. I was freaking out a little bit when we were about to leave Logan, which I think is understandable, but our flights are fine, we are safe, etc.

I originally wanted to sort of live-blog this journey (or be like, a Travel Writer, but I don't know how to make things interesting) but limited wifi access without paying ~$20 for wifi at Heathrow would have made this difficult. Also, there is no wifi in the sky.



8:30 PM EST, Logan Airport. LOOK WE ARE EXCITED TO START THIS JOURNEY

2:30 AM EST, On The Airplane
I don't sleep on airplanes -- instead I am watching Late-Night-Transatlantic-TV-Programming. So far I have seen the end of a Queen Latifah movie which severely lacks a discernable plot - though I might have missed it when i went back to reading my book - and I have just watched a game show of some sort where two children are given towels to throw wiffle balls into inflatable water ring in a studio. at 3:30 AM they start showing The Office (American). NOTHING ABOUT THIS MAKES SENSE.


10:05 AM GMT (5:05 AM EST), Heathrow Airport
we have been awake since yesterday morning including a 6-hr flight + 5 hrs of time zone changes

13:35 PM GMT our plane from Heathrow to Glasgow has been delayed. we were supposed to be on it right now. We do not have a departure time for the next hour.

13:40 PM GMT THE POPE IS ON TV. Apparently he is here too. Mom claims that his car is called the Popemobile. I doubt this.

14:00 PM GMT WE ARE BOARDING THIS PLANE... in 20 minutes. At least we have a gate for departure now. GLASGOW HO!

14:45 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzcoffee!

15:30 GLASGOW! Hello! You are pretty!


16:15 Check in to hotel. How do we make the light switches work? We have been awake for nearly two days now. (spoiler: we figured it out.)


LATER TONIGHT I am meeting the English Department! And maybe sleeping again! I would like this very much.

i don't pretend to know how time zones work, so you will just have to bear with me for a bit while I figure out how to change all my accounts.

a brief treatise on plugs OR, heather is a stupid american

[editor's note 1: once upon a time, specifically in 2008, i went to Cambridge University for a six-week study abroad program through the unh english department. today's post is edited and reblogged from my blog about that trip. if you are the curious type, you can read my old blog here.

editor's note 2: some friends of mine from college - wow that is weird to say - and i have just started a music blog, where we post playlists. check that out if you want some free music from us.]

---
Did you know that plugs are different abroad? I didn't until I was preparing to go to the UK the for the first time. I think it would be great if someone designed some sort of universal plug for every major part of the world; it would certainly make things easier.

I'm assuming we are all familiar with the American system of plugs: some have two prongs and others have three prongs. This (I think) has something to do with voltage; the three-prong plugs presumably use more volts than their two-pronged cousins. This system is also used in Canada.

However, the rest of the world uses different plug shapes. You can buy extensive kits! It's sort of exciting. To quote a plug-adapter seller,
"If you are planning to use electrical appliances in another country, you need to know which type of electrical voltage is used in that specific country and which type of plugs and outlets are using there. If the voltage is the same or you’re using a universal power supply, all you need is a plug adapter converter to change line voltage from one to another amount. Please note there are different types of adapters for the specific countries, please select the right one when you’re traveling (otherwise, the adapter will not work because this is not specific design for that country)."

Furthermore, "a 120-volt electrical appliance designed for use in North America or Japan will provide a nice fireworks display - complete with sparks and smoke - if plugged into a European socket."





Up there are a bunch of illustrations showing a variety of different plug types worldwide. The UK uses plug style H. The internet tells me so, and the internet is always right... I have a bunch of these adapters sitting around; I hope they work and don't make things go kaboom. [ed.: they were great. nothing blew up. always a plus in my book. they are coming back with me for round two.]

This whole system strikes me as vastly unproductive, or perhaps very lucrative, I'm not sure which. Either way, I think someone should get their act together and figure out a way to keep voltages pretty much equal or create some sort of consistent plug shape. I'm not saying everyone should adapt to American standards, but surely we can figure out how to consolidate electricity into one standard form. This system strikes me as being wildly ineffective.

The Dog Days Are Over

1. Happy September, blogotron readers! I am leaving for Scotland in two weeks. This is exciting! And terrifying! etc! I originally started this blog to write about grad school and my experiences living abroad and we are FINALLY GETTING THERE. In the meantime there are lots of feelings to process and many, many things to do. Soon there will be lots to blog about and probably not enough time to talk about it all. Thanks for sticking around even when things were boring. If you're new, welcome and thanks for dropping by!

2. I feel like I should mention this somewhere, but I can't figure out where else to put it. So - I guess I am putting it here. I have been to Scotland before, exactly once. In the summer of 2008, I went on a study abroad program through UNH at Cambridge University. It was a lot of fun, and one of the trips we could go on would bring us to Edinburgh for a weekend. While we were there, almost the entire group - myself included - had food poisoning, putting a bit of a damper on the whole experience. I distinctly remember feeling like hell but dragging myself down the Royal Mile, through a theatre festival, through The Scotch Whiskey Experience where we were given shots, through the Museum of Childhood, and trying to sleep on every available flat surface. (It was a strange time.) That was Day 1. (For the record, night #1 - prior to Day 1 - involved accidentally wandering into a Scottish punk club. It was awesome.)

By Day 2 I was feeling 100% better, and finally got to see the city - perhaps not in its entirety but significant portions of it. And I fell in love with Scotland. I felt like I was the only one who had fun, and I had completely forgotten about that until I revisited my diary from that trip. "You know how people talk about how they fall in love with a place the second they set foot there? That pretty accurately summarizes my feelings about Scotland. It was all so beautiful and so perfect; I could spend the rest of my life there. I was so immediately comfortable in a way I hadn't expected. I hope one day I get to go back."

GUESS WHAT, FORMER SELF. YOU ARE GOING BACK. Bet you didn't see that coming. This is going to be awesome.

quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock

In case you were curious, the Tour De La Bibliothèques is still ongoing. Here is an illustrated guide to my life as a professional reader.

This is what I am researching, explained with dinosaurs and probably much more helpful than my previous post about it:
(from dinosaur comics by ryan north)


I go to Widener every week or so to get copies of articles to read. I look at an on-line catalog, request items, wait for them to arrive, make photocopies of them, return the items, and repeat. Here I am making sure I have all the pages of one article.
If I want to borrow a book, I have to get Dr. Green to sign it out for me. Then I bring all of this home with me.

During the rest of the week, I come to Wheaton College's library, where I sit in the basement with the history books to read and take notes on my computer. Today I am reading about lying.
Because I am super-nearsighted, I have to wear my glasses when I read. Even though I wear contacts in my daily life, my lenses hypercorrect for distance and then I can't read. As you can imagine, this is counterproductive.

That's it! This is what I do every day instead of having an actual job. There's not much to say about being a research assistant. I don't have to get dressed up or anything; I just sort of sit somewhere, listen to music, and read. It's pretty self-explanatory, but I figured it was time to talk about something other than mail fails.