The
morning started with some breakfast at the hostel. We had the choice of eating
bread with an assortment of toppings, and cereal. After breakfast we walked to
the Museum of Scotland. The museum consisted of five floors and is free to the
general public it reminded several of us of the Museum of Science and Industry
in Indianapolis. The museum featured different wings about science and
industry, art, communication, animals, and Scottish heritage. Kayla, Josh, and
I had a lot of fun exploring the communication wing on the first floor we
powered a light bulbs, radio, and a small TV with our arms. We also pulled our
body weight by lifting ourselves up on a lift chair with pulleys. Beniah &
Steven really enjoyed looking at the Science and Industry wings. At the museum
they had Dolly the first cloned mammal on display.
After
the museum we began walking towards The University of Edinburgh for our 1 p.m.
tour. By the university they had a place called The Little Bistro it was a
Portuguese restaurant. I enjoyed a warm ham and cheese croissant with a small
side salad. Kayla got a chicken shish with pita bread and cous cous. Steven got
hummus with pita bread. Josh got salmon and cream cheese panini. Beniah got mousaka with cous cous and
tea. After we enjoyed our lunch we headed over the University of Edinburgh to
the Visitors Center for our tour.
Once
arriving at the University of Edinburgh we met our tour guide Brian. Brian is a
student at the university and he is Scottish. The University of Edinburgh is a
beautiful campus full of rich architecture and a warm sense of community. On
our tour we had a family with us a couple with their daughter. I began engaging
in a conversation with the mom. She said that she was from Poland and her
husband was from Belgium but they live in Switzerland. She told me that her
daughter had gotten into the university and was trying to make her final
decision on which school to attend. The mom also said the higher education
system in Switzerland is very poor so her daughter only applied to schools in
the UK.
On
our tour I noticed many things that were different than from American Education
college system. One thing particularly I noticed was the open mentioning of drinking
in the campus student center there is several pubs. The credit hours are also
different they take 120 credit hours a year. Students have more time on there
own instead of in the classroom. They don’t even begin their major until their
3rd year so it’s very difficult to switch majors. When referring to
the year they are in school they don’t say freshmen, sophomore, ect.. They say
year 1, 2, 3, and 4. Most students get out of college on an average of 3 or 4
years. In Europe it is very easy to go to a different school in a different
country and if you go in the UK you could even go free.
After
the university tour everyone had the opportunity to go his or her separate
ways. Lois, Kayla, and myself went out shopping and picked up a few things at
the grocery store. We also enjoyed a lovely desert at M&S café. For dinner
we met up with Nathan a University of Edinburgh student that is from the United
States and graduated from Indiana University. Lois and David got into contact
with Nathan through a facebook post on the NPR facebook page. We went to a
small quant pub and he told us about living in Edinburgh and traveling around
Europe. Nathan was very knowledgeable about the Scottish and their customs.
After dinner we had the opportunity to have free time.
Once
we got back to hostile Kayla, Josh, and I went to the chill out room for a bit
to get on the Internet. After being there for a while Steven and Beniah came
down to the lounge also and talked for a bit. Later on Steven, Beniah and Josh
went down to the pub. Kayla and I had a conversation with an older man that was
in the chill lounge also. He told us he lives in Paris but is originally from
the United States and lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. The man said that he moved to
UK in 1960 and has lived in Paris for the last 20 years. We asked him what he
was doing in Edinburgh and he said that in the UK everyone is assigned a
doctor. His doctor is from Edinburgh so every six months he has to travel from
Paris to Edinburgh to go the doctor. He asked Kayla, and I where we from and we
said Indiana. He told us both that we spoke good English. The man mentioned
that we had no accent so he thought we were from California.
Since
tonight is our last night in Edinburgh, Kayla and I headed up to our room
rather early to pack and go to bed early. When we got back to our room we met
our new roommate she was from Australia. She was in her 40’s we guessed, and we
are pretty sure she was drunk and high. The lady informed us that she just came
from Ireland and is planning on going to London on Sunday. Soon after meeting
her she left the room to go to the pub.
We were packing and talking when two more girls came in the room. The
girls were from Brazil. They were so friendly they told us they just came from
London and were staying in Edinburgh for a few days. Kayla and I were not surprised
when all of our roommates had met Steven at the pub! We swapped stories with
the Brazilian girls about life, homesickness, traveling, and about places where
we should each go. Our conversation was full of life and laughter you could
tell we all very much enjoyed each other’s company. I must say they were my
favorite roommates we had thus far on the trip. Tomorrow we will be leaving for
London for a new city with new experiences:)
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