The days are winding down. I will be back in Auburn in only 4 days and the thought of it makes me excited. I already discussed my emotions during all of this in the last post so I won’t bore you all with a repeat but let’s just say that I have been having the hardest time packing. Deciding what can fit in my suitcase is a very difficult thing to do. Anyway, I have been giving a lot of thought to something my best friend asked me when he was visiting over the winter break. He said, “Dave, has this trip been worth it?”. I told him to ask me again in a year. As I said in the last post, it will probably be a long while before I realize all the ways in which this trip has changed me and made my life different. However, there are things that I can say with a certainty I have learned from this trip and I will try to list them here. I think one of the most important things I learned from this trip was the obvious fact that the world is so much bigger and different than I ever imagined. I know it seems obvious but having never travelled very far from MA it never really hit me just how big this planet is. I have met people from all over the world during this trip and they have all been amazing. Holland, Ireland, Japan, France, Canada, Spain, Italy, India…they are all amazing. I also learned that people can surprise you. To be honest, I never expected to make such good friends while I was over here and I never expected to have such a good time. I knew this trip would be fun but I never could have dreamed it would be like this. I will dearly miss all of my friends (especially my flatmates) when I return home and I will be doing everything I can to keep in touch with them. Who knew that some of the best people I have ever met would be on the other side of the ocean from me? Anyway, now for the more personal lessons and less worldly ones….

I have learned that while I am still dealing with self-confidence issues it is ok to be myself. I have issues being who I am sometimes, but my friends here and the way in which this country welcomed me with such friendly people made me realize that who I am is not such a bad thing. I can be my normal goofy, strange, geeky self and it doesn’t necessarily mean that I will be alone…this lesson was possibly the most important one that I learned while here. Back in the beginning of the trip I talked about trying to define “home”. I know I can’t really do that because I have, for the last 9 months, been calling 50 C Hillhead Street my “home”. What I have realized is that I now have more than one home. Home is a place with people who you care about and people who care about you in return. It is a place where you feel comfortable just being yourself and relaxing and enjoying yourself. It is a place where you can go when things seem to be stressful and you find comfort just being there. I will be at home when I return to Auburn because my family is there and I love them more than anything in this world. However, I have realized that I will also have a home here in Scotland. It won’t be a definitive place (next year there will be new people living in 50 C) but it will be wherever my friends are here. It is a strange feeling and yet it is comforting at the same time.

Finally, and this is by no means the final thing I learned here…it is just the last one I will post for now, I have learned that it is important to take chances in life because you never know how good they can turn out. It seems cliche but it is something that I had a hard time with before I came here. I remember talking to a good friend about whether or not I should come here for a whole year, I’ll paraphrase because the conversation was long but the ultimate message was, “Dave, why don’t you want to do the year? Is it because you are scared? Is it because it is something that would be different from anything you have done before?” I told him it was. He said, “Then I think you need to do it. Take the chance. Take a leap that you have never taken before because you need to get out of this rut you are in.” When I get back I will be thanking that friend profusely. This trip knocked me out of the cycle I was in prior to coming and it was exactly what I needed. I was terrified about taking a chance and leaving everything I knew and loved for 9 months but it has been the best thing I could have ever done. I learned so much, made so many connections and friendships, and, most importantly, I gained knowledge about life. As these final days wind down I will be readying myself but also feeling nostalgic about all the good times I had while here and I will not be saying goodbye to all of my friends. I will tell them that we will talk over the summer and we will talk next year and that we will continue to talk until I can afford to come back or they can afford to come over to the US. This is not the end of this trip…it is merely a change in scenery. The trip will never end.

Now, I want to make sure I mention everyone that has helped me during this trip (warning: it’s a long list) because they deserve a massive shout out….here we go: First and foremost I want to thank my parents, I love them dearly and they have been more supportive than, at times, I felt I deserved. I will be forever grateful for them for helping me have this trip of a lifetime. I want to thank my sisters for being supportive and for sending me little messages from time to time to let me know what they are up to and to just let me know they care. I want to thank my grandparents for all of their love and support. I want to thank my best friend Bobby for coming over here to give me a little reminder that my friends back home are always there for me and that they will be there when I get back. I want to thank my best friend Dave for being the only friend who was pretty much always online at the same time I was. Having the ability to just chat with a friend back home about what was going on both here and there was a godsend. He kept me sane…or insane. I want to thank Erik, Heather, and Ben for Skyping with me to let me know they care and to keep me up to date with how Ben was growing up to be a big boy. It was nice being able to still be there for some of Ben’s first year. I also want to thank Dr. Wally for convincing me, in his amazing way of making me realize it was what I really wanted, to do this trip. The decision, ultimately, was mine but Dr. Wally helped me get there and I am grateful to him for that. I want to thank all of my friends here in Scotland: Matthew, thank you.  You were always there to play some Smash Bros., to chat, to hang out, to do whatever…you are a good man. Gleb, I kinda already thanked you in the last post but thank you for being there to go on trips, hang out, and for introducing me to the wonders of TF2. Josie, my Scottish fuzzball, I will miss you dearly…you have been a source of love and support while here and have been the person I could always go to for a hug. Sean, thank you for introducing me to the idea of having fun. You have been a great person to party with or just hang out with. Melanie, thank you for being the Canadian who understood all my American jokes. Thank you for also being willing to participate in the year long Canada vs. USA argument Rowan, thank you for being the kindest person ever who always supported me even when I was being an idiot. Rachel, thank you for providing me with amusement while you ranted about one thing or another. Melissa, thank you for being the person in the flat who was always willing to unite in some anti-people cynicism when I needed it. You were a good person to complain with/to. By the way, how’s Paramore doing these days? Yuki, thank you for being an awesome roommate. I will miss sharing a room with you. Christina (aka Cali Girl), thank you for being my crepe buddy and for being someone who I could just talk with for 3 hours without even realizing it. I’m sorry we didn’t meet earlier in the trip but I’m glad we did. Desi, thanks for being the best Dutchie in the world. Despite the fact that you tower over me, I always felt that you were down on my level with things and I will miss you dearly. Shhn, thanks for being my Gaelic study buddy and for being a great friend on top of it. I will miss our failed attempts at studying and our hours long MSN conversations about silly things. I will miss you lioness.  To the rest of my Scottish friends and people I have met while on this trip, thank you so much for everything…you have made this trip worth it.

P.S. Gleb is a good guy, he’s one of my flatmates and is the guy who I can count on for amusement when I’m bored…or want to go to Ireland. There, I wrote about you Gleb…feel proud.

Ireland-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=412371&id=819900390&l=c4de855851

Family visit-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=406611&id=819900390&l=da6a626632

The link to the photos from the ball last night is:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=399037&id=819900390&l=491fdb756b

Anyway, on Wednesday I spent much of the afternoon at this wonderful crepe place down the road from my flat. I was with my friend Christina, whom I met at Arran, and we ended up just sitting around chatting for a good 2 and a half hours. Thursday was the big day for me. I wasn’t terribly busy but at around noon I received an email letting me know that I was being offered the RA job at Siena that I had applied for. Not only was I being offered the job but it was in Hennepin Hall, the one place I hadn’t even considered being placed so I didn’t know what I was going to do. You see, for me the RA job last year was an experience I will never forget. I learned so much from it and loved it so much that the idea of trying to repeat that next year is kind of intimidating. I’m not sure what will happen and I was very uncertain about whether or not to take the job. Fortunately, after several hours stressing out, calling my parents, talking to my godfather, talking to my flatmates, and talking to my friends back home, I managed to make a decision. I am taking the job. It is worth it. So, next year I will be RAing like crazy. Anyway, yesterday I went to see Alice in Wonderland, which I also saw last weekend, and went back to the crepe place with Christina and Desi. Alice in Wonderland is  a fairly decent film, amusing to all, and well put together. Johnny Depp does a fabulous job as the Mad Hatter and I think that it is definitely worth seeing for the sheer fact that it is not like any other version of the story that I have seen. So here I am, on a wonderful Saturday afternoon, having just woken up, and wondering what to do with my day. I am glad I could get you all caught up on my life since I know that each and every one of you are basing the entire course of your lives on whether or not you get to read my blog or not. Hopefully this helps!

P.S. As is fairly common with my posts, the title is from a song by the Dutch rock band Within Temptation. Their singer, Sharon Den Adel has an amazing voice and the lyrics of their songs tend to speak to me in a way that only Frank Turner really matches. Here’s a link to a video of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nmq1h5cQdk

“Our beer,

Which art in barrels,

Hallowed be thy drink

Thy will be drunk

I will be drunk

At home as it is in the local.

Forgive us this day our daily spillage

As we forgive those who spillest against us

And lead us not into the practice of

Poncey wine tasting

And deliver us from alco-pops

For mine is the blonde

The dark and the light

Forever and ever,

Barmen. “

While some might consider that a bit heretical (my dad told me he was condemning me) I found it greatly amusing and plan to hang it up in my room. Anyway, after the distillery, we went and hung around Brodick for awhile, wandering in and out of shops until we headed off to the hostel. The hostel was by far the best place I have ever stayed. It was comfortable and welcoming and the woman who ran it was so friendly! Just two minutes from the hostel were some castle ruins that we all went to visit and photograph as the sun set. Later on that evening, my friend Ally and I met two new friends, one named Christina from California and another named Desirèe from Holland. We played card games, mostly Hearts, until the wee hours of the morning and then all retired for a wonderful night’s sleep. The next morning we went off to another part of the island where the entire group split up to go on a walking tour of the amazing countryside (despite the entire island being countryside) and to go find some ancient stone circles and caves that were marked out on our maps. It was a marvelous walk. We got up close and personal with some sheep who were wondering why there were a bunch of humans wandering through their fields and then we meandered around and took tons of pictures. The only problem was that we were allotted 3 hours for this tour and the map we had was not the greatest at telling us exactly how far things were from us. About 45 minutes before we were supposed to be at the bus, my little group and I realized we were a good two miles or more away from the meeting point. We booked it as fast as we could and ended up being 15 minutes late but at least we made it. I calculated we did about 6 1/4 miles that day in all of 3 hours. I was damn impressed and, despite my legs being rather sore yesterday, I was happy we got to see as much as we did! After that we just hopped back on the ferry at Brodick and came back to Glasgow. Unfortunately, there was no rest for the weary because I had my last essay of the term due yesterday so I had to spend Sunday evening finishing it up and then Monday  morning I put the final touches on it. I was so exhausted that after turning in the essay I came back to my flat and shut my eyes for a tiny nap and ended up sleeping for 4 hours. It was a little bit absurd. Ah well. I am so glad I went to Arran and I have already told my dad that we are going back when he comes over in less than a month! I am so excited for the visit from him, my sister, and my uncle!!!! I’m also excited that I have a considerable amount less work to do than I did at the beginning of last week. Anyway, here’s the link to the Arran pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=391007&id=819900390&l=76b101cdd9

I warn you that there are only a few pictures with people in them. There are a lot of scenery pictures and a fairly ridiculous number of sheep pictures…what can I say? I like sheep! So, if you are wanting to see pictures of me there are probably only 4 or 5 of em. Anyway, hope you are all well!

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/

Anyway, the point is I’m an English geek and I love it! In my last post I contemplated whether I had picked the correct major and I think I have. Despite me not particularly caring about most of the things that I had to read this year for classes, I still enjoy studying the way that things are written, the way that words form an amazing image in one’s head. I love it. So, at least I now know that I didn’t completely botch my Major choice. I suppose I should probably get going on that essay now…but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am, in fact right where I am supposed to be. I’m sure most of you knew that but now I know it as well. As parting words, allow me to share a quote from Neil Gaiman that I love very deeply. It pretty much defines my belief system at the moment. It is from his novel, “American Gods”:

“I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren’t true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they’re true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen — I believe that people are perfectible, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkledy lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone’s ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we’ll all be wiped out by the common cold like the Martians in War of the Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind’s destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it’s aerodynamically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there’s a cat in a box somewhere who’s alive and dead at the same time (although if they don’t ever open the box to feed it it’ll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself. I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn’t even know that I’m alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck. I believe that anyone who says that sex is overrated just hasn’t done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what’s going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman’s right to choose, a baby’s right to live, that while all human life is sacred there’s nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you’re alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”

Now, as a light way of ending this post, as I did in the previous post…let me share something amusing:

These are real labels on real products:

On a Sears hair dryer:   Do not use while sleeping.

On a bar of Dial soap:     Directions: Use like regular soap.

On Boot’s Children’s cough medicine:    Do not drive car or operate machinery.

On Nytol sleep aid:     Warning: may cause drowsiness

On a Swedish chainsaw:      Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals.

On a child’s superman costume:    Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.

Have a good day all

“University is basically a bunch of rooms where you sit for roughly two thousand hours and try to memorize things. The two thousand hours are spread out over four years; you spend the rest of the time sleeping and trying to get dates.

Basically, you learn two kinds of things in University:

1.Things you will need to know in later life (two hours). These include how to make collect telephone calls and get beer and crepe-paper stains out of your pyjamas.

2.Things you will not need to know in later life (1,998 hours).  These are the things you learn in classes whose names end in -ology,  -osophy, -istry, -ics, and so on. The idea is, you memorize these things, then write them down in little exam books, then forget them.  If you fail to forget them, you become a professor and have to stay in University for the rest of your life.

It’s very difficult to forget everything. For example, when I was in University, I had to memorize — don’t ask me why — the names of three metaphysical poets other than John Donne. I have managed to forget one of them, but I still remember that the other two were named Vaughan and Crashaw. Sometimes, when I’m trying to remember something important like whether my wife told me to get tuna packed in oil or tuna packed in water, Vaughan and Crashaw just pop up in my mind, right there in the supermarket. It’s a terrible waste of brain cells.

After you’ve been in University for a year or so, you’re supposed to choose a major, which is the subject you intend to memorize and forget the most things about. Here is a very important piece of advice: Be sure to choose a major that does not involve Known Facts and Right Answers.

This means you must *not* major in mathematics, physics, biology, or chemistry, because these subjects involve actual facts. If, for example, you major in mathematics, you’re going to wander into class one day and the professor will say: “Define the cosine integer of the quadrant of a rhomboid binary axis, and extrapolate your result to five significant vertices.” If you don’t come up with *exactly* the answer the professor has in mind, you fail. The same is true of chemistry: if you write in your exam book that carbon and hydrogen combine to form oak, your professor will flunk you. He wants you to come up with the same answer he and all the other chemists have agreed on. Scientists are extremely snotty about this.

So you should major in subjects like English, philosophy, psychology, and sociology — subjects in which nobody really understands what anybody else is talking about, and which involve virtually no actual facts. I attended classes in all these subjects, so I’ll give you a quick overview of each:

1. ENGLISH: This involves writing papers about long books you have read little snippets of just before class. Here is a tip on how to get good grades on your English papers: Never say anything about a book that anybody with any common sense would say. For example, suppose you are studying Moby-Dick. Anybody with any common sense would say that Moby-Dick is a big white whale, since the characters in the book refer to it as a big white whale roughly eleven thousand times. So in *your* paper, *you* say Moby-Dick is actually the Republic of Ireland. Your professor, who is sick to death of reading papers and never liked Moby-Dick anyway, will think you are enormously creative. If you can regularly come up with lunatic interpretations of simple stories, you should major in English.

2. PHILOSOPHY: Basically, this involves sitting in a room and deciding there is no such thing as reality and then going to lunch.  You should major in philosophy if you plan to take a lot of drugs.

3. PSYCHOLOGY: This involves talking about rats and dreams. Psychologists are *obsessed* with rats and dreams. I once spent an entire semester training a rat to punch little buttons in a certain sequence, then training my roommate to do the same thing. The rat learned much faster. My roommate is now a doctor. If you like rats or dreams, and above all if you dream about rats, you should major in psychology.

4. SOCIOLOGY: For sheer lack of intelligibility, sociology is far and away the number one subject. I sat through hundreds of hours of sociology courses, and read gobs of sociology writing, and I never once heard or read a coherent statement. This is because sociologists want to be considered scientists, so they spend most of their time translating simple, obvious observations into scientific-sounding code. If you plan to major in sociology, you’ll have to learn to do the same thing. For example, suppose you have observed that children cry when they fall down. You should write:

“Methodological observation of the sociometrical behavior tendencies of prematurated isolates indicates that a casual relationship exists between groundward tropism and lachrimatory, or ‘crying,’ behavior forms.”

If you can keep this up for fifty or sixty pages, you will get a large government grant.”

Hope you all are well!