The week that was (sounds clichéd????)

I would be lying if I told you my first week in Scotland was awesome! No doubt it has felt like I have been living a dream! I actually had to pinch myself, like Alice in Wonderland, when I landed in Edinburgh and then made my way to St Andrews by bus, to make sure I was not dreaming!!! It all seemed surreal. One moment I was amidst all that was familiar to me, in surroundings that defined who and what I am (everything so hackneyed like the title of this blog! J), settings and people that evoked trite thoughts and sensations, but the next moment I was torn away from it all, whisked down a rabbit hole. And hey presto! Where did I find myself? Yep! In a strange land, which was not unlike the places I had visited earlier in my mind! (And now, like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland, I am led to believe that impossible is nothing!)

Week one has been a wonderful mixture of thrill, joy and fear, laced with loneliness and sadness within (and the occasional rain without, which caught me unaware more than once). What did I do? Discovered quite a bit in this medieval town, which overlooks the sea, and which is tucked into a small county called Fife! My major discovery would definitely be this - you need a pair of strong legs, which will not buckle easily, and calves, which will not protest painfully when they are made to half walk and half jog in search of the classroom, or the Church, or maybe just some good company!

Sorry, I am getting a little negative in my perspective there! What else did I discover? Yes, St Andrews is expensive, but breathtakingly beautiful! It is a microcosm of the wide, wide world we all live in. But, like all good Indians, I kept looking for good Indian company; and all the time Francis Bacon's admonition in his essay 'Of Travel' (pardon me students) kept ringing in my ears - 'Do not seek the comapny of your countrymen when you travel abroad'! But Mr. Bacon, did ever feel so out of place in a foreign land, that you waited for the earth to swallow you at times? Or maybe you weren't caught in a situation where your jaws ached because of the constant smiling you had to do while pretending that you understood conversations perfectly well, even though you couldn't follow the twang of the speaker? Okay, keep rolling in your grave, but don't let your words haunt me ever again!

I have met a few Indians, and a few Americans, and some Chinese! Incidentally, I have a good Chinese friend in class, who enjoys my company as much as I enjoy his! God Bless Him! May he and his wife, who sadly is in China, be blessed with many beautiful children once his sojourn in Scoltand comes to a happy end! The Chinese are great people! I feel a connection to them, maybe because we are so close geographically? Just saying!

I love my professors! And I don't have to 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' them! I just call them by their names. Got to get used to that! Then there's Mandy, my guardian angel, my beacon, I could use so many adjectives to describe her! I CANNOT imagine how difficult the transition and settling in Scotland would have been if destiny had not led Mandy to me!

I know this blog covers events that span more than a week. I will blame it all on procrastination! (I have to work on that!) The week has been easy and difficult. Difficult because of the street/building finding bit, the cold weather (a bit nippy eh? just felt like saying that :)), the 'I sometimes fit and sometimes don't fit into your group' feeling, the 'I miss mama and papa' phase (not to forget you, Carmel), the cooking, the walking, the aching legs. But the easy easily outweighs the difficult! It was easy to become friends with people from different cultures, different backgrounds (How cool is that!), while it would have been impossible to do so while in Mangalore! It is easy to boil water. (All I have to do is pour water into the electric kettle, and hey! I get boiled water in less than a minute. You could go to my house in Mangalore for a free demo!)

I am sure I am sounding so boring! What do you expect. The clock says it is 10 o'clock! Time for me to go to bed! So I would like to end on a very positive, though sleepy, note! My one year here will be one chapter of my life in itself! This is just the beginning. A promising one I hope with all my heart and with all my soul! Where this leg of journey will take me, I don't know. But this year is going to be an adventure-packed year (academically and otherwise). I can feel it in my bones. How? Well, with the beer and whiskey and canoeing and knitting and singing and umpteen number of societies to choose from, I know I will never feel bored or ever regret this seemingly bold step I have taken at this point in my life. Will I be different a year from now? I don't know. I do hope changes creep in subtly and for the better!

Alright then. Will see you all more often I hope. So much more to tell you all. But it will have to wait, cause, yawn! the pillow and the duvet are tempting me to shut my eyes and dream new dreams! Ciao....

P.S. I promise to put up more pics and more posts regularly :).....