Day 100: Looking Forward

I’ve been in Scotland for 100 days.

By a ruined abbey in Dunfermline

Not technically, of course. About ten of those days were spent in England or Ireland, so I’ve really only been in Scotland for around 90 days. Still, it’s been 100 days since I left Canada to begin my British adventure.

The past 100 days have been some of the best of my life. I’ve met so many people, done so many things, learned so much, and been so many places… It’s really been a time of excess, a time where two plays, two essays, and two tourist trips can exist in the same month. It’s been everything I expected, and more.

I hope you all know what this is...

It’s only going to get better. Once exams are done (next Wednesday!) I’ll head down to Nottingham (stopping in York for the afternoon to explore) to stay with my great aunt and uncle over Christmas. After about a week I’ll move on to Cambridge, where I’ll stay with a friend of mine from St. Andrew’s. We plan to go into London together for New Year’s celebrations, and then I’ll catch a bus/plane that will take me to continental Europe and a whole new set of adventures for January. I don’t intend to get back to St. Andrew’s until January 27^th, after visiting at least seven new countries.

Once I get back, second semester should be as much fun as the first. My module lineup (Scottish Literature and T. S. Eliot) looks like it should be fun, and I’ll have a better idea of the academic system now that I’ve already been through one semester.

Then there’s theatre. The Gilbert and Sullivan Society is doing The Sorcerer (a Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque show about people drinking a potion and falling in love) and I’ll be choreographer, which should be an exciting challenge. I’ve also been cast in a student-written piece called ‘This Breathing World,’ which is a futuristic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III. Finally, I might do tech for a few more productions, since I really enjoyed doing it last time.

Iolanthe faries <3

More travel awaits next semester. I haven’t seen much of the Scottish Highlands (though I have been down south a few times) so a trip up towards Inverness and Loch Ness definitely has to happen at some point. We have two weeks break in March, and the current plan is to head down to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, where it’ll (hopefully!) be warmish. There’s also the possibility of weekend trips to cities like Paris, France, and Oslo, Norway. And after classes are done, I might get to head down to Greece and Croatia for an early summer holiday.

My 'mum' and me at CU houseparty

But most of all, I’m looking forward to starting next semester with my lovely group of friends here. When I look around and see how close I’ve gotten with so many of the people here, how many wonderful people I can truly call “good friends,” I can’t help but look forward to another semester of spending time with them and getting to know them even better. The academics and the theatre and the travel may all be exciting and fascinating, but it’s the people that have truly made my time here amazing.

To all my St. Andrew’s friends: thanks for a wonderful 100 days.