*For those of you who don't know, I am spending the semester abroad in St. Andrews, Scotland*
(Which is basically Hogwarts.)
I've been in Scotland a full week at this point. In some ways I feel like I hopped off the plane at Heathrow and in others I feel settled in quite nicely here, adjusting to a new routine, new food, and of course new accents without too many hitches. While it hasn't been exactly smooth sailing (homesickness can be rough... but more on that in a day or so), I have been overwhelmingly blessed thus far on my trip. Hopefully, this blog will become sort of a travel diary these four months while I'm abroad, a place to mark my adventures, funny moments, aspirations, and lessons learned along the way.
To start off, I want to share the Bucket List my friend Suzanne and I made for this semester.
1) Visit a church in every city we visit. (If you don't do this while in Europe you are doing something wrong.)
2)Learn to say 'I Love You' in 25 different languages. (<3)
3)Try haggis (Already done!! and I'm alive. Miracles happen.)
4)Learn to like black coffee. (Just to say that I can!)
5)Start a blog (or continue one) and post at least 2x a week.
6)Take pictures. (I have 7500 on my phone from America. I need at least 2000 from Europe.)
7)Take a walk on the beach. (My school is a 20 minute walk from the ocean)
8)May Dip (St. Andrews tradition where everyone runs into the frigid ocean on May 1st. Sounds cool! Get it? Cool?? Cuz it's cold?? Okay I'll stop now.)
9)Join a club. (Disney club? Competitive life saving club? Haggis lovers club?)
10)Do one thing every week that scares you. (BOO!)
11)Send two letters/postcards a week. (I'll send one to you if you give me your address!)
12)Ask and answer one question per class. (Does "I'm sorry can you repeat that because I am having trouble making out which words you're actually saying"? Count?)
13)Try a new drink a week. (In the works of Bon Qui Qui "But DONT get crazy.")
14)Have a meal with a random stranger. (Think less 'Taken' more 'Knight and Day')
15) Make one new friend a day. (Not hard... everyone here is so nice!)
16) Read one book for fun a month. (Open to suggestions!)
17)Go to a ball. (Each dorm has one!)
18)Develop a convincing Scottish accent. ("Ef ya haad thuh chaance to chenge ya feht whouldya??"
19)Buy and sell something at a secondhand shop. (Most of them go to charity which is really quite nice)
20)Many friends from at least 10 different countries. (I've got Italy, Czech Republic, Scotland, and Brazil so far)
Boom. 20 things. Epic Adventures await. Follow along if you wish! I'll post something each time I complete a task. I've got virtually 120 days to do all of these. Wish me luck!!
