Cecilia: Why I Withdrew and Other Stories…

What an absolute whirlwind of an exchange! A lot has changed since my last post. Following the devastation of Covid-19 on the world, I made the extremely difficult decision to head home and actually withdraw from my exchange. This blog post will be very personal reflection to give you a glimpse of what went down in the last few weeks for me. This post is intended to be brutally honest and hopefully provide support if you are ever in a similar situation or are needing to withdraw from exchange for whatever reason. I will also include a few “what I wish I knew before going on exchange” tips at the end!

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My silly looking mug at the Duomo in Milan on Valentines Day before it all turned to custard. Lucky we escape here – we got out literally days before Italy locked down!

THE DECISION TO WITHDRAW

I had finished almost all my coursework in Scotland when the University of Auckland notified me that there was the option to withdraw and enrol in papers back home. The semester was well into week 3, but due to the circumstances, returning exchange students would be offered the chance to enrol even though the deadlines had passed. This meant that all my time and credits spent overseas would not be transferred back. I would resume semester 1 2020 in Auckland, as if I had never left.

I had to make this decision without guidance on whether exams would be moved, or whether there would be flights home to New Zealand at the end of my exchange.

I decided to withdraw because I was quite worried that there was a possibility that once lockdown period ended, I might need to come back to Europe to sit final exams. I had also taken an honours paper for history and was quite worried that moving the exams online would be a severe disadvantage for me as many of the resources I need were physical books in the Glasgow library. I was also far more familiar with the coursework and examination styles of UoA compared to Glasgow.

From a personal perspective, I came home because I would no longer be able to travel Europe during my mid-semester break as I had planned. A major element of my decision making for going on exchange was being able to travel through Europe in their summertime with my friends. With flights being cancelled everywhere and borders closing all through the continent, this dream seemed further and further away. It didn’t really make sense for me to be paying rent up until summer time without a reason to be staying until the summer anyway.

Another major factor in my return to New Zealand was the international impact of the virus upon available flights. I actually booked a flight to leave from London on the 28^th March 2020, but following New Zealand’s closure of borders to non-nationals, I paid for a new flight that left directly from Glasgow almost a week earlier than my planned departure date.

My biggest recommendation during such times of uncertainty is not to delay. I was extremely lucky to even get a flight home – I know of a few friends on my original flight that ended up being cancelled, and they were unable to find another one home in time. I did pay a lot more to book an earlier flight, but the amount of time and worry saved was priceless. I remember waking up every day fearing that my flight would be cancelled, and I would be stranded in the UK. I think when it comes to emergencies like this, having peace of mind was more important than a few hundred dollars.

Finally, loneliness was also important to consider as all my flatmates had to go home too. American borders had shut to non-nationals, and several of my fellow American exchange students were told that they had to come home immediately, or credit would not be transferred. I think this was partly because they had come on their university’s insurance policy so if they had caught Covid-19, their home university would be liable for costs. I knew I did not want to be stuck in an empty flat by myself for the next three to four months when there was such widespread panic and fear.

THE JOURNEY HOME

I booked almost the next fight home from the day that I withdrew from Glasgow and re-enrolled in Auckland. My flight was scheduled to leave from Glasgow and stopover in both Dubai as well as Bali. My biggest worry at this point was that one of those borders would close during the stopover, leaving me stranded halfway as I would no longer be allowed back into the UK.

It is important here to emphasise the need to stay flexible and aware. Although I was extremely sleep deprived and overly nervous upon my stop overs, the airports during Covid-19 was a complete mess. I literally made it through security for my transit with an extra 5 minutes to spare – the flights were leaving on such tight timing that there was no room for mistakes. Make sure you are speedy through transits and do not spend that much time shopping if you are not sure where your gate is. Dubai airport was pretty enormous, and I ended up having to run from one end to the other. I’d recommend maybe downloading a map ahead of time if your transit is less than an hour – with the added number of passengers and stricter security screenings, I ended up needing every extra minute.

Several people on my original flight from the UK to Dubai faced sudden visa issues half way, owing to a change in flight plans as countries closed their borders. I was very lucky to be travelling on a New Zealand passport as we have visa waivers with a large number of countries. Please do remember to triple check that your stop overs do not require a transit visa!

THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN:

1. Withdrawing from exchange is NOT a waste of time or money!

Originally, I was quite upset to be withdrawing because I felt that the exchange was a waste of effort. I didn’t manage to get any Glasgow merchandise because the visitor shops had shut, and I didn’t get any acknowledgement of my time spent here on my academic transcript or anything. I really didn’t have anything to show apart from the experience and a lighter wallet.

But the amount of life skills that I learnt during this time was absolutely priceless. I had such a unique exchange and faced situations that I probably will never see again. I originally wanted to go to the UK during Brexit because I wanted to witness history in the making – I guess I got that wish!

I had to make decisions during a time of uncertainty based purely on my own judgement. I learnt to trust my gut feeling and that it was always better to be safe than sorry. I formed friendships that will continue long after the exchange is over and experienced life to the absolute fullest (we went to Ireland for St. Patricks day literally in the middle of their lockdown. All the pubs were shut, the parade was cancelled, AND our hostel dorm had one fellow in the back bunk coughing his brains out at 4am. It was a miracle we didn’t catch coronavirus to be honest!). I wouldn’t have learnt any of this from a lecture or textbook!

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In Ireland – all the pubs were shut so we climbed a mountain for St Patrick’s Day!

2. Double or triple check your insurance!

I never even knew such a clause would exist, but many travel insurance policies include an ‘epidemic or pandemic exclusion’ where disruptions caused by an epidemic or pandemic would not be covered under their policy. I had taken out the more comprehensive option and was pretty annoyed to find that I was still excluded under this clause. I know that situations like Covid-19 happen very rarely and that pandemics are not expected to happen for every exchange, but many of my friends were relying on their insurance to pay for flights if theirs was cancelled. Unfortunately, some of them had to learn about the exclusion clause the hard way.

One friend in particular was very disappointed as she had booked three individually connecting flights throughout Europe to return to the US. The first one was delayed which caused her to miss the next few, and due to the insurance clause, she was not covered at all. Later she told me that if she had known it was not covered, she would not have chosen those flights.

Therefore, be aware that even if it all turns to custard, insurance may not always work through the way that you want it to. Always make sure you have excess funds in case of emergencies like these, and do not assume that insurance covers all everything. Being flexible is SO important!

3. Pack light and always assume you will buy more things than you expect

I showed up with one 30kg bag and left with almost double the amount of clothing that I came with. I do recognise that Scotland was freezing and so half of my new wardrobe was warmer clothing, but shopping in Europe was so much fun! There is much more variety, especially towards the semi-formal and formal side of the spectrum. Plus, it is always raining so hiding in the department stores became a social event. I could go on and on about their specialty discount bargain stores (think Rebel Sports but for high end brands like Dior and Gucci), and because of we were in Europe the quality of goods was also much higher for things like Italian leather.

4. Bring wet weather boots

Waterproof shoes are so important. Enough said.

5. You are not alone!

It feels so isolated and scary being half way across the world away from home during such scary times, but I learnt a lot about people and their willingness to help.

A massive shout out to both the 360 International team here in Auckland, as well as the international exchange team in Glasgow. They gave me unbiased advice and their full support for every step of the journey.

If you are ever feeling lonely or confused or start freaking out like I did when I first realised that Coronavirus was actually really serious, know that there are people out there who are willing to help! I was running around like a headless chicken and emailed the exchange teams like 5 times each and was given such reassuring and professional responses that I never once felt like I was left on my own in high water.

I really appreciated the other exchange students checking in on me, and in return I know I went to check up on a few of them too. We are all in this together so look after one another.

6. HAVE FUN AND BE SAFE!

I look like a proud mother hen!

This is my last post, and I hope that you have enjoyed this wild ride with me! If you are considering going on exchange I wish you the very best experience. I had the time of my life in the 3 short months that I was in Glasgow and I cannot recommend it enough.

Take care all – sending love from my bubble to yours,

Kia Kaha New Zealand!

Cecilia: Glasknowing the Lifestyle

After being here for almost two months, it finally snowed! Storm Ciara brought freezing temperatures and stormy weather, but for someone that has never seen snow before it was so pretty. Unfortunately the snow has yet to reach a level where the streets are blanketed in white, so the photos I have don’t show the scale. The motivation behind this blog post is to share a little bit about the lifestyle here in Glasgow, from restaurant recommendations to supermarket content.

The best I could get was this photo to show the mushy ice that formed.

Student Life and Facilities

• Glasgow University has two unions: the Glasgow University Union (GUU) which has traditionally been the more male dominated one, and the Queen Margaret Union (QMU) which was formed in response to the exclusion of women from the “old boys” club at GUU. You can choose to join both, and gain access to discounts at the Union cafes/restaurants. GUU also has a student club called “the Hive” which is extremely popular on a Thursday night, which is student night here.
• I was very impressed by the student newspaper, the Glasgow Guardian which has a long history behind it. The raw, uncensored journalism is a refreshing read.

A vividly honest response to Brexit was a super interesting read.

Food and Drinks

Glasgow has a range of impressive foods and cultures. Here are some of my favourites for whatever mood that might strike:

• Wetherspoons: also known fondly as ‘Spoons’, you can order the traditional Scottish pub fare of Haggis (a savoury pudding/oatmeal thing), neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes) here. Whetherspoons is a chain of pub restaurants, which serve decently priced meals and alcoholic drinks. I love the risotto and toasted sandwiches here, and would recommend trying some of their alcoholic cocktails which are served in big jugs. It does frequently become extremely busy during sporting events on the TV, and this was quick to become a cornerstone of my weekly pint habit with my friends.
  
• Mother India : conveniently located close to campus, this is one of the best Indian restaurants in Glasgow. Indian cuisine is British staple, with reports stating that their favourite dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. I am sure the long colonial history between the two countries has led to the intense love affair with eastern curries. Pro tip: order smaller dishes to share here so you can sample all the flavours, as the curries are served in an almost tapas style.
  
• La Vita Spuntini: if you want something a bit fancier or if you want to go for cute drinks near uni, this venue has a full artificial cherry blossom tree inside! As a winner of Glasgow’s best Italian food award, they serve many traditional Italian options as well as some dishes with a Scottish twist. The waiters/waitresses wear the most adorable plaid outfits, and the food is decently priced. You definitely want to come here with friends though – both to help split the bill as well as to take photos of you in this #superinstagrammable decor.

The cherry blossom tree inside Spuntini was absolutely gorgeous

For those of you who love to cook, the fresh produce (and their prices!) of Glasgow is definitely something I wish we had in New Zealand. For example, they sell a whole ball of mozzarella at most supermarkets for £0.45 which is equivalent to $0.90 NZD! I literally ate an entire ball of mozzarella as my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the first two weeks that I was here. Add a little bit of balsamic vinegar, tomato, or a basil leaf and voila! Masterchef, eat your heart out!

There are plenty of supermarkets within a short distance of each other (the closest to campus are Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Iceland, Marks & Spencers), and they also sell cheap ‘Free From’ or specialty diet products. Almond and soy milks are almost the same price as normal cow’s milk, and gluten free and vegan products are so much more affordable than back home. In particular, meat substitutes such as Quorn or other plant based meats come in so many quick and simple cooking varieties such as ready made tacos or pad thai stir fry’s. I was also so surprised to discover plant based meatballs at Subway, Quorn chicken served at KFC and seasoned with their herbs and spices, and vegan sausage rolls at my local bakery chain Gregg’s. This means that it was really easy for me to try vegan options, especially as I was searching for more environmentally friendly and healthier options. I am really really going to miss my $2 NZD per litre almond milks!

One cannot think well, love well, or sleep well if one has not dined well

Virginia Woolf

Entertainment and Attractions

In terms of my favourite places to visit in and around Glasgow, I have highlighted both attractions as well as entertainment options:

• The SEE Hydro: this massive stadium is a 15 minute walk behind my flat, and the top class artists all perform here. It’s great because I can just walk home after an act – Halsey was only $60 NZD!
• The beautiful Kelvingrove Park is a section of my daily commute into uni, and is lovely for an early morning run before it gets too busy.

The skate park at Kelvingrove on a rare clear (but chilly) afternoon

• The Clydeside Distillery gives a good glimpse into the process of making some of Scotland’s finest single malt whiskies in a stunning dockside venue.
• The Glasgow Science Centre is like an interactive museum, filled with interesting experiments and hands on activities.

The Science Centre also does cool events later at night with cheap student tickets. No kids, no lines, and plenty of live music and drinks.

Transport

I have tried to navigate as much of Glasgow as possible by foot. Although the city is well linked with both buses, subways, and trains, I prefer to walk (when it is not pouring down) as I definitely need the exercise after all the food I have been eating. I would recommend ordering a subway card online for free though, as it provides cheaper transport compared to both one-use paper tickets and purchasing the card at the stations (£3). The subway runs in a continuous loop around the River Clyde, and circles to all the main areas around Glasgow. It is super handy for when you need to go into Glasgow’s CBD district (Merchant City) when it is pouring with rain and you are too tired to walk 30 minutes or don’t want to pay for the Uber.

Student Accomodation

Finally, one of my favourite places has to be home! I am staying at Kelvinhaugh Street student accommodation, which is actually about a 15-20 minute walk away from campus. The entire street is filled with students, so you often bump into friends on the walk to or from class. I personally would have preferred to be closer to campus, especially when it is raining cats and dogs, but the accomodation is located close to supermarkets, beauty salons, and several amazing cafes. It is about a 30 minute walk to Glasgow Central (the train station equivalent of Britomart here), or around a 10 minute (£5) Uber ride.

The student support services also often run events, such as streaming the Oscars, watching sport games, and Movie nights every week.

I love home because of my flat mates! I quickly became fast friends with the two other students that I share my flat with. They are both from America, with one from Boston (which has affluent suburbs, MIT and cold wet winters), and the other from Texas (hot, dry, yeehaw).

Friends are the sunshine of life.

John Hay

An event at the student accomodation was to hand make Valentine’s Cards – which I made for my flatmates!

That’s all for today folks – I will see you very soon for another update in the life of Cecilia and her mozzarella balls part 2!

Ta-ta (goodbye) until next time,

Cecilia: Welcome to Hogwarts! First Impressions of the University of Glasgow

My first week at the University of Glasgow (U of G) was such a blast and I cannot wait to see what is ahead. I got lost more than just a few times whilst walking around campus, but this was mostly because I was too busy taking photos of absolutely everything! Once I got used to the harsh weather and the even harsher accents, I quickly found my feet and settled in to my surroundings.

I have created a list of my top 3 favourite things about the university which I will call home for the next few months:

1. Historical Architecture

I swear everything looks like a castle here

The university celebrated its 569th birthday in my first week here, and was founded in 1451. Considering that the Treaty of Waitangi was only signed in 1840, the university is literally older than our entire country! Some famous alumni from its long history include economist Adam Smith, the creator of the steam powered engine James Watt, actor Gerald Butler, and the politician Nicola Sturgeon.

I got lucky to see the cloisters still decorated from Christmas! These lights are not permanent.

Walking into the university is like entering a different era, with gothic styled towers and turrets creating the feeling of walking into a fantasy castle. The university buildings look like the set for Hogwarts, especially early in the mornings when the fog is rolling over the hill. You can almost feel the magic in the air!

2. The Library

The top floor offers an amazing view of the campus

As someone who spends a lot of time at the library back home, I was very impressed with how big and well resourced the University of Glasgow library was. Despite the recent renovations making the library seem more modern, it is one of the oldest and largest university libraries in Europe. Even better, it is open from 7:15am until 2am in the morning – perfect for late night exam cramming sessions!

There are 12 floors in the library with separate study rooms scattered throughout. They also offer library tours in person as well as a virtual reality tour online. You do have to have a valid University of Glasgow student ID to be able to enter/exit the library, so it is not as freely open to the public as our library. I personally find this quite reassuring and a little bit safer, especially with such late opening hours.

3. Art and Culture at the Hunterian Museum

The oldest museum in Scotland is located right inside the university! The Hunterian Museum, which is dedicated to the anatomist and physician William Hunter, also includes the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology Museum and the Anatomy Museum.

The Hunterian Museum always has new and exciting exhibits, and also run events and tours such as “Night at the Museum”. The Hunterian Art Gallery is also worth checking out as it has one of the most distinguished public art collections in Scotland, with permanent artwork by famous artists such as Rembrandt and Rubens on display.

These are all located on directly on campus, and are free to enter for students. They are a great way to spend a rainy day (which happens quite often in Scotland).

It is also worth noting that the University is within a short walk to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. I pass by these cultural landmarks every morning on my way to and from the student accomodation – they are definitely worth a visit.

Back entrance of Kelvingrove Museum

I cannot believe that it has only been one week since I started here! It already feels so familiar and I am certain that the weeks ahead will bring much more entertainment.

Catch you very soon,

Reflections – Cathy

It’s hard to believe that my semester abroad has finally come to an end and we’re back to the reality of going back to UoA for semester 2 in the Auckland winter. I feel like reflecting on the past 6 months will be full of clichés, not to mention impossible. How do you even start to sum up the most adventurous and full on 6 months of your life? But hey, let’s get right into it anyways: I’ve had the absolute time of my life, I’m met and befriended so many amazing people from all over the world and it’s been an amazing experience that I’d recommend to everyone.

I’ve been tagged in this by my friends more times than I can count. Source

I’ve been back in Auckland for just over a week now and there’s definitely been some ups and downs. It’s been great to see family and friends again, I’ve definitely missed the feeling of being home and not living out of my backpack and drifting from place to place. It also feels surprisingly normal to be back, almost as if I never really left because things are just going on exactly the same as they were when I left. On the other hand, coming back to winter after the European summer is definitely a bit of a bummer and it’s definitely been a challenge to get back into studying after being on holiday mode for so long.

Spent my last few days in Europe sunbathing on the beach and exploring Santorini which was absolutely unreal

Throughout the semester I did feel as if I wasn’t making the most of my time away because I wasn’t travelling or going out with people, but in hindsight I’m totally ok with the times that I’ve stayed in and just enjoyed living in a different city. Everyone has a different experience when they’re abroad, and at the end of the day it’s about enjoying your time there. Personally, I’m really happy with how I spent my semester. Being able to move to a new city where you knew pretty much no one to start with and make it your home is an amazing feeling to come away with. There’s also nothing like that feeling of wonder when you’re looking at something that you’ve only ever really dreamed of, and being able to say you ticked that off your bucket list. For me, these two things are what makes everything worth it.

Stopped for a few days in Singapore on the way back home because why not?? I’ve always wanted to see the Gardens by the Bay and they were every bit as amazing as I anticipated!!

I think one of the beauties about doing a semester abroad is that it’s hard to get it wrong; no matter what country or university you pick, you’re bound to have a ton of adventures. You’ll never know what you’ll do, who you’ll meet or where you’ll end up, but it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a good time. I was on the fence about doing an exchange for quite a while before I decided to go for it, and I’m so glad that I did. I came back with so many more experiences and cherished memories than I ever bargained for and I’d jump at the chance to do it all over again.

The iconic Duke of Wellington statue. Seeing this will always make me super nostalgic and glad that I ended up in this amazing city

This is the last post I’ll be doing for the 360 Blog. It’s been an amazing journey and it was super cool having the opportunity to share that on here! It’s back to uni for me now but always happy for questions and feedback ❤

Behind The Scenes – Cathy

As cliche as it is, I’ll be writing this post on my travels during my semester abroad. I know that most of my friends must be thoroughly sick of me and my travel posts on social media, but c’mon, this is pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity. Part of the reason I chose to do my exchange in Europe was because I got a severe case of travelbug after my last backpacking trip here 2 years ago. There’s just so many places to see and explore, and having budget airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet made it far too tempting.

My trip over Easter break wasn’t particularly well thought out – the majority of my planning involved sitting in a cafe on my phone checking Skyscanner and Hostelword to see where the next cheap flight was. All I had were some vague notions of places I wanted to see and that I needed to be somewhere sunny and warm (despite how much I love Scotland, I felt like I needed a healthy dose of vitamin D in my life after 3 months of snow and rain). I spent my Easter break of 3 weeks hopping around London, Toulouse, Barcelona, Malta, Naples and Portugal, seems like a random mix of places nowhere near each other, but all I did was see what cheap flights there were from each city and strung this trip together. I went to all of those places except London by myself. Although I would’ve loved to have joined some of my friends on their adventures over break, my last minute and spontaneous planning made that extremely difficult and besides, travelling alone was a challenge I was ready to take on.

Comino, Malta. New Zealand is obviously the most beautiful country in the world but Malta sure gives us a good run for our money.

Solo travel is an experience I’d recommend to everyone. There are definitely a lot of challenges, tough times and breaking points, but it’s amazing to have the freedom to go wherever I want at my own pace and only be doing the things I wanted to be doing. It was completely up to me whether I wanted to be on my feet all day, or to take a nap in the afternoon, or spend the day sitting in the park reading a book. There’s also definitely a sense of accomplishment when I finally made it back to Glasgow after 3 weeks. I planned and booked everything by myself and I managed to make all my flights, trains and buses and to the hostels. Logistically, everything went as smoothly as I could’ve hoped.

Naples, Italy. Gorgeous sunset with Mt Vesuvius in the background. Was an absolute hike to get to this view but I loaded up on pizza and gelato straight afterwards.

There’s this notion that travelling alone as a young female is dangerous, and I’d just like to say that it’s absolute nonsense! There’s danger everywhere you go and as long as you’re aware of your surrounding and take precautions, I wouldn’t say solo travelling is any more dangerous than wandering around Auckland by yourself.

Barcelona, Spain. View of Barcelona from Bunkers del Carmel and finally enjoying some warmth and sunshine. There’s also no shame in asking strangers to take a photo of you on your phone.

I also wanted to make a note and say that it’s totally OK to feel lonely at times and to take a break when you’re travelling for long periods of time by yourself. There’s definitely been a few days where I’ve just gone for nap in the afternoon or just sat in the park and read a book. Don’t feel like you need to always be on the go and making the most of your time there – remember you’re on holiday! It’s easy to get sucked into believing that every minute of travelling is amazing and fun. Although my Instagram game has definitely improved from my travel snaps, obviously I’m not going to be posting pictures of being in a cramped bus at 3am or feeling deathly seasick on the boat ride to Comino.

Valleta, Malta. I actually can’t get over how amazing this country is – walking into the upper Barrakka Gardens makes you feel like you’ve walked into literal paradise.

Cathy’s Top Tips

• Skyscanner, rome2rio, Google maps (offline) are all your friends – would be ideal to have a phone plan/ provider that lets you use data across the EU. GIffgaff is an excellent one based in the UK with great deals for students
• Bring your student ID or proof of age for concessions on transport and attractions (doesn’t work everywhere but always worth a shot)
• Always bring a towel and jandals
• HEADPHONES ARE ESSENTIAL – Spotify Premium is a great investment – download all the music and podcasts that you can or else your head might cave in on your 8am flight with a crying toddler. Having a book is a good option too – I finished a whole novel on my trip
• Be aware of your surroundings!! Trust your gut instinct and remember it’s better to be safe than sorry. I decided to sit around at the bus station in Barcelona for an hour at 6am waiting for it to get lighter before walking to my hostel. Also if you’re feeling a bit shifty about the areas that you’re in, ask your hostel reception about what areas to avoid.
• Let friends & family know about your plans. Although nothing unfortunate happened on my trip, it’s always a good idea to have someone check in on you to make sure everything’s ok!

Porto, Portugal. Absolutely gorgeous and underrated city! Unfortunately it looks a bit underwhelming because of the weather. There are also basically no photos of me in Portugal because I only had about 4 outfits with me and I had started to resemble a raccoon with the dark circles under my eyes by the end of the 3 weeks.

As always, happy to answer any questions! I’m currently in Poland with my parents who are up to visit and it’s a whopping 25 degrees! Hope everyone back in Auckland is staying warm.

Campus Life – Cathy

It’s hard to believe that in another 2 weeks, exams will be over and my time in Glasgow will be coming to an end. Honestly, the thought of that breaks my heart a wee bit (or a lot).

One of the reasons I’ve loved my time here so much is the campus life and student culture in Glasgow. Let’s start with the campus itself; one of the biggest features of UoG is the Main Building which gives off some serious Hogwarts vibes. I’ve been here for a full semester now and walk past the building pretty much every day that I’m at uni, and I sometimes still get awestruck by how it looks, especially on the rare days where we see a few rays of sunshine.

She’s a right stunner in both the snow and sunshine

Another iconic feature of UoG is the Cloisters, where graduations are held and have also featured in TV shows like Cloud Atlas and Outlander!

Just 2 kiwis from Auckland having the time of their lives in Glasgow ❤

The West End houses a large majority of UoG’s students, making it super student-friendly and convenient. Having come from Auckland, it’s really nice to be able to walk everywhere I need to and not having to deal with commuting or traffic every single day. Uni is only a 15 minute walk away from my accommodation, and there are plenty of supermarkets, cafes, pubs, and bars minutes away from me. I generally don’t even take the bus or subway anywhere as everything’s so close and I actually like walking. Even a night out in town on Sauchiehall Street is doable on foot within 30 minutes.

Despite all the cool things to experience on exchange, let’s not forget that we’re here to study as well. I’m not going to lie, I have sometimes forgotten that I’m here to try and maybe learn a few things. As a conjoint student, I’ve had a bit more flexibility with which classes I could take. This semester, I’ve ended up taking all first and second year classes which are counting towards electives back in Auckland. In all honesty, I feel like I’ve put in less effort in academics this semester than I would in Auckland because I chose to do lower level elective classes. But I’ve gone to almost all my lectures, I promise! Very motivational since the lectures mostly aren’t recorded like they are in Auckland.

Outside of class, I’ve managed to keep myself fairly busy. I’ve been making good use of the uni gym in the Stevenson Building (or fondly known as ‘Stevie’), and going fairly regularly to fitness classes and the netball drop in sessions. Would highly recommend the Supercircuits class – absolute killer of a workout, but the feeling of achievement and endorphins afterwards is unbeatable. I’ve also decided I wanted to try a new sport and found myself joining Farflung, the Glasgow uni ultimate frisbee club. Joining a sports club is something I couldn’t recommend enough to anyone coming to Glasgow. Everyone in Farflung has been super friendly; I’ve learnt a whole new sport, met a whole bunch of great people and even ended up going to a rookie tournament out in Stirling which has definitely been one of the highlights of my time here.

Early days of my professional Ultimate Frisbee career. Photo courtesy of my friend Tascha

This semester has actually flown by so fast, and I’m really happy with how I’ve taken to living in Scotland. As always, happy to take on any questions and comments!

Accommodation Awards – Cathy

It’s a snow day in Glasgow! The ‘beast from the east’ has hit, classes are cancelled and the whole city is out enjoying the snow. It hit a tropical 10 degrees last week and now we’re back to 0, which I’m slightly peeved about, but it’s hard to look out at the flurries of snow falling from the sky and not stare in awe.

Currently on a red weather alert but that didn’t stop anyone from sledding through Kelvingrove today!

It’s been almost 2 months since I touched down in Glasgow and it’s safe to say I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this bustling and vibrant city. I’m living in the West End, known for its hipster vibes and being Glasgow’s cultural hub. The West End is full of students from UoG and there is a range of accommodation to choose from. For this semester, I’m staying at the Cairncross House hall of residence in the suburb of Finnieston, which I applied for through UoG. I would recommend staying in uni accommodation just to make the paperwork easier. However, there is some private student accommodation and even more student flats available, both in West End and the city centre. Glasgow is also a much cheaper city to live in than Auckland, and I find the rent in the city quite reasonable, especially considering the location.

Cairncross House is about a 15 to 20 minute walk away from the university. My daily walk takes me past the busy Argyle Street – with endless rows of restaurants and pubs that are bustling every night of the week – and through the leafy Kelvingrove Park, where you can get a stunning view of the university’s main building and maybe even spot a squirrel! I find that essentially everything I need is within 40 minutes walk. I thoroughly enjoy walking, so I make the most of it and keep public transport to a minimum (I’ve hit my target step count every single day this year so far!!). However, it’s convenient enough to catch a bus across town and there’s a bike renting system with stations all across the city. The only downside of where I live is that it is right in the middle of the subway loop; Glasgow’s subway/metro system is literally just a circle that goes both ways. It’s pretty inconvenient for me to catch the subway, but it makes for a great opportunity to do sub-crawls!

Rare sighting of sunshine and blue sky in Glasgow!

I have a single standard room at Cairncross House with all the essential furniture. I share a kitchen with 10 other girls – a mix of exchange students from Hong Kong and domestic/EU students from Scotland, England, Poland, Lithuania and Finland. Although Cairncross used to have a bigger mix of students, it’s becoming more popular for first years. I was pleasantly surprised by how spacious my room was; it came with almost everything I needed and a small window, which I’m currently watching the snowfall from. Everything I didn’t have, I got on a trip to IKEA. Admittedly, I also got multiple things that I didn’t need on that trip, too. Oops.

Can you tell I cleaned up my room just for this photo? Also, spot the $2.50 laundry basket from IKEA!

It does get messy in the kitchen and bathrooms at times which is probably what I dislike the most about living here, but I guess that’s one of the necessary evils of communal living. Cairncross also has a silent study room with computers, a common room with tables, couches and a TV – perfect for movie nights. There’s always organized activities on, such as movie nights, Pancake Day and board game nights. It’s a nice hall and my only reservations about it are that the showers are too small and the fire alarm test which forced us out of bed at 7am.

What I found most interesting about Glasgow’s student accommodation is that many of them are in flats, unlike Auckland uni’s halls. In places such as Murano Street, Kelvinhaugh Street and the student apartments in Hillhead, you can have 3, 5, 8 or 10 people sharing a flat, with about 4 to 6 flats in each building. It’s always a bit of a gamble going for these; I know some people whose flats are super close and go on trips together, but others have flatmates that barely talk to them!

Cairncross’ resident kitty cat. Not sure who he belongs to but I think he’s starting to warm to me.

I’m off to enjoy the snow in Kelvingrove! Hope everyone back home is having a good time at O Week!

First Impressions – Cathy

After 40+ hours of planes, transits, security, customs and airports, I’ve finally made it to the other side of the world: Scotland – my home for the next semester, where I will be attending the University of Glasgow. I’ll admit that the trip here wasn’t ideal. I spent about 25 hours in total on a plane plus dealing with a missed connection, which wasn’t really my idea of a good time, especially to kick off 2018. I landed in Glasgow at 7pm on New Year’s Day, exhausted and sore all over, but nevertheless, I was excited to start my year off on a new continent.

View of the University from Kelvingrove Park

In a true Scottish fashioned welcome, the first day I spent here was cold, gray and rainy. It’s quite a bit colder than an Auckland winter, generally sitting at around 1 to 4 degrees Celsius, and my weather app tells me that the humidity is also quite high, making the cold really stick on to you. I made plenty of mental preparation for the weather differences though; leaving a kiwi summer was always going to be hard but I was expecting to not see the sun for about 4 months in Glasgow, so imagine my surprise when the weekend graced us with two days of clear blue skies and sunshine. It was absolutely freezing but amazing to see the city in all its wintery glory.

Scotland and New Zealand have many things in common. For example: some beautiful scenery, a love for fish and chips and comments on our respective accents by the rest of the world. However, there are also some major differences in culture which I’ve been lucky enough to experience already. On the first night, the university organized a social event for all the new international students. I wasn’t too sure what to expect – but it turned out to be a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee), which is a traditional Scottish (also Irish) social gathering which involves traditional Scottish music and dancing. So yes, I learnt how to do Scottish dances – I can feel myself becoming more cultured already.

The River Clyde

Another one of the great and unique things about going on exchange in Glasgow is that they also offer classes from the Glasgow School of Art such as sculpting and photography, as well as a bagpiping class and an introductory class to Scottish history. Unfortunately I didn’t have any space in my degree to take any of these, but we did get a demonstration on the bagpipes during our orientation talk!

The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451 and very recently celebrated its 567th birthday. To put a little perspective on that, that is 389 years before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. The main building was built in a 1400s style of architecture, despite actually being built in the 1870s. Nevertheless, the buildings are stunning and giving off some serious Hogwarts vibes. Most of the campus is on University Avenue, just outside of Kelvingrove Park. There are also several newer and more modern buildings in the campus such as the main UoG library, which has 12 floors!

The University courtyard – its meant to be bad luck to step on the grass, if you do, you wont graduate!

Although it’s absolutely freezing and kind of damp all the time, Glasgow is a lovely city. Everyone has been super friendly, there’s lots of green spaces and endless roads of cute little cafes, bars, pubs and shops. I’m super excited to see what this semester has in store for me and the places that it’ll take me… places such as Edinburgh this Saturday 😀 To keep up with my adventures, chuck me a follow on Instagram or flick me an email if you have any questions!

Instagram: c2849
Email: chan977@aucklanduni.ac.nz