Be A Newbie

       To speak bluntly, this week has been amazing.

        Does anyone remember those times when you were the newbie? Maybe it was the first day of college as a freshman and you stared out into the campus as your parents drove away with tears in their eyes. If so, you probably experienced two key phases. Phase One: Initial anxiety and reluctance with a small dose of fear at the prospect of beginning in an entirely new environment. Phase Two: Pure bliss and acceptance, knowing that where you are, in this moment in this place at this time, is exactly where you are supposed to be.

        God I love Phase Two.

        This week is known as Fresher’s Week at the University of Glasgow, similar to any freshman orientation at college but with one simple twist: non-stop activities and enjoyment. There have been parties every night at both student unions on campus, allowing my friends and I to decide which one we wanted to go to. In addition, there were fairs and activities for every club, academic program, and sport on campus as well as local clubs, pubs, and shops promoting themselves with discounts and free food. I have never experienced so many possibilities for free things in my entire life; I love it.

       Starting Monday night, my group of friends and I made it our mission to get the most of our £40 Fresher’s Pass, which allowed us access to everything that went on throughout the week. We first attended a concert hosted by the Glasgow University Union (GUU) that began with two small bands and headlined with a UK award-winning band titled We Were Promised Jetpacks. They were sort of an indie rock band but were really good performers. My favorite song by them was called “Quiet Little Voices.” They ended around 10pm and in the city of Glasgow, that’s early; so we all came back to mine and Joe’s flat and played Cards Against Humanity until about 1am. It was a hilariously great night.

        The other student union (which I personally prefer over the GUU) is called the Queen Margaret Union. Every week, they host a trivia night with prizes for the top three teams. Thinking we were going to do horrible after looking at some of the sample questions, my team actually did fairly well and though we did not win, we discovered some pretty interesting facts and met some Glaswegians along the way. We stayed in the QMU until about 2am that night, but y’all are going to have to come back because the rest of the night is going to be an entire blog post on its own. Just wait.

        One of the last things I did this week was sign up for the University of Glasgow Hares and Hounds. It is the running club here on campus where anyone can just come Monday through Thursday to just go for a run with some pretty cool people and get a different look at the city. I did a 5 mile run on Thursday and we went along the river that cuts through Kelvingrove Park. I had never been down there and it was such a beautiful sight; hopefully sometime soon I can go back there to get pictures.

        The last few nights have been mostly relaxing and hanging out. I’m getting to know some people really well and seeing some of the things we all want to do while we are abroad together. Hopefully the next few weekends are going to consist of traveling around the UK. Apparently I’m just an anxious little person because while I am thousands of miles away from home, I still want to keep moving and see more. That’s the best part about being a newbie- you allow your mind free reign over every opportunity that is out there.