They like soup here...

Hello Friends, I got registered officially for classes today and started attending. Yee-haw. I suppose that is what I'm here for, but I'd so much rather sit in a cafe and people watch all afternoon. Such is the life...

Anyway, Tuesday was super mellow, my flatmate (don't say roommate here, that means like "life partner," can be slightly awkward...) Steph and I went to the Buchanan Galleries down the road and did a little shopping for things we needed around the flat. I needed some push pins so I asked a guy where the nearest office supply store was, but apparently they don't have office supply stores here...or they do and they just don't call them office supply stores. Tape will have to do for now. We went to lunch at a little cafe and had organic tomato basil soup (the Scottish are very into soup, and many things are organic, which is great). On the way back we walked past a place called "Best Kebab" which I am looking forward to trying. I hope that they live up to their lofty name. I've not seen a Mexican restaurant around (although I did see a TGI Friday's, so maybe I won't have to go four months without a margarita) so I'm thinking that this might be a post-pub kind of stop for the Glaswegians. Then we came back to our flat and hung out and then I went to bed early because I was still kind of jetlagged. Jetlag is very strange, the sleeping is going fine, but I still get hungry at the wrong hours, like I'll wake up in the middle of the night with my stomach growling, bizarre.

Yesterday I went to daily Mass an met a girl who is studying abroad from Michigan and a guy from North Carolina. They both seemed very nice. We had lunch with the Catholic chaplain and a Scottish student who is a part of the Catholic Society here (for all you DePaul people, think Karl...it's almost uncanny) Then I met back up with my flatmates and some other international students and we walked over to our international student orientation where we met our adviser Jim (think Alfred Pennyworth, no joke) After some of us went to the Pound Shop (like Dollar Tree) but we were promptly kicked out because everything closes at 6pm. Thursdays, however, is late night shopping night where everything closes at *drumroll please* 7pm.

After that we went to our 1st International Pub Night. This week it was at The Counting House, which is a bank that was converted into a pub. I think it was kind of a commercial chain pub, but it was really good for visiting with a lot of other international people (or in my case, not so international, supposedly a majority of the international students are American) I asked the bartender what I should drink and he poured me a Tennent's lager which is brewed in Scotland I believe. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I met a guy who graduated from high school with our DePaul friend Jay, which was super frickin weird. We hung out with a guy from North Carolina who was having his first beer (a good law-abiding citizen apparently), and chatted with the chattiest guy I've ever met, who was from Germany. I am definitely looking forward to next Wednesday!

Today was my first run with classes, which went pretty smoothly. They go to class a lot less often than we do in the States, so Lord knows what I'll do with my free time (study maybe?! ahh!) Later we are going to have dinner at the Lord Todd, a pub in the Campus Village. And then who knows what!

Anyway---I'm really enjoying it here. I was thinking that it was going to be difficult to make friends, etc, but I think that freshman year people learn two really important life lessons about awkward social situations, 1. You have to be extremely friendly to everyone and their brother. 2. In order to meet people who you are going to get along with you have to do thinks that you like to do and then you will meet other people that you will have stuff in common with. Thank you DePaul University.

Besides that, I do miss you all. I just got my pictures hung up and now I can look at your lovely faces while I am sitting at my desk. I'd love it if you sent me a picture or anything else, you can send it to:

Miss Jillian C. Gindy
Block 2 Flat D Room 1
Birkbeck Court
105 Cathedral St.
Glasgow G4 0Np
United Kingdom

Time for dinner! but first...

Reason to love it: Incorporating cool words like "cheers!" and "wee" into my vocabulary
Reason to leave it: The weather is every bit as disgusting as they said it would be. I might need a UV lamp.

Cheers!
JCG