Hello!

So... As you can see, I've decided to start a blog about my year studying abroad in Scotland. I'm still 65 days away from my departure, but sometimes I get really excited and feel like getting prepared ahead of time. Of course, the more productive choice this afternoon would have been to continue filling out my application for a student visa, but somehow I felt like this would be better... or perhaps easier? Anyway, here's the deal: through my university's Education Abroad Program, I am lucky enough to have been given the chance to spend my senior year of college studying at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. I believe I'll be taking classes mostly in dramatic art, as that is my focus here at UCSB. I'm not completely sure, though, what my schedule will look like at this point -- I'm supposed to meet with an advisor upon my arrival to work it out. I'm also unsure of my living situation, even though I was supposed to have heard from them by the end of May. If I don't get any news within the next couple days, I think I'll send an email to ask what's up.

Apparently there was some kind of terrorist attack yesterday at the Glasgow airport. Some dudes ran a flaming car into a terminal and then tried to run away from the scene of the crime whilst one of them was on fire himself? I don't think their attack was very successful in doing anything other than postponing flights and causing people to have to queue all day today at various major airports around Scotland. This happened only a day after two attempted car bombings were stopped in London, and all three attempts are thought to be connected. Even though nobody has been seriously hurt except for the terrorist who caught on fire, it's still really scary to think that I'll be living in one of those cities in only a couple months. I've never felt I was in too much danger of terrorist attacks in the small cities I've lived in, but I've also always wanted to move to a bigger city... So it's definitely going to be different when I'm in Glasgow, but that's part of living in a big city. Nowhere is perfect.

I'm off for now, but stay tuned for more updates as my Scottish adventure grows nearer!



(I stole that picture, but when I actually get to Glasgow, I'll start posting lots of my own -- I promise!)