Scotland

Kevin O'Shaughnessy
MU in Edinburgh at Napier University, Winter Semester 2002

"Hi. My name is Kevin O'Shaughnessy, and I studied abroad my junior year at Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is impossible to describe how much fun I had while in Europe, but I will try to do my best. When I first came to the UK (in London to transfer flights), it was a little humbling because I noticed that I was now the one with the accent, but once I stepped foot in Scotland, I was shocked by how friendly the people were. In fact, the entire time I was in Scotland, I don't think I ever came across a rude adult. Everyone respects everyone else-that is if you don't talk about the wrong football (soccer) team with them. Edinburgh is a fantastic city. I'm from Chicago and thought Edinburgh would be a similar type of metropolis, but it wasn't, as I could tell just by flying over it in the plane. Rather, it is a small and comfortable "large" city. I had never seen any pictures of it before I arrived, so it made everything more remarkable. There's a 700 year old castle overlooking the entire city center. There is also an old 900-foot volcano on the city's east side that you can climb all the way to the top. There are also old medieval buildings everywhere as well as many cobblestone streets. In fact the "New Town" is 250 years old. The nightlife is vibrant and, for UK prices, everything is pretty cheap. Also, I had the opportunity to travel around Europe, similar to Mike Stoll if you read his comments. On weekends, I made trips to London, Amsterdam, Spain and Ireland. Spain was beautiful as well as Ireland, which was also very homey. I also went to the Scottish towns of St. Andrews (the golf course is there right on the North Sea) and Stirling, which has a tall William Wallace memorial building that also has his sword on display. For my spring break (they give you about two and a half weeks of it at Napier) I went to Paris, Prague, Budapest and Vienna. I considered Prague to be an Edinburgh of Eastern Europe and had a ton of fun there. If you do travel out there, you can have the fun of taking an overnight former communist train where you don't know if you're going to Hungary or the Ukraine. This actually happened to my friend and I, but it gives you quite a story. The last week I was in Europe, my friend and I rented a car and drove throughout the Scottish Highlands, which was a great place to hike and hang out in the small towns. The lochs were bluer than blue, and the mountains were everywhere. Being over there for over four months was by far the best time of my life, and I would not hesitate to go back. Don't pass up this opportunity if you have it. You'll never regret it." E-mail: kevino317@hotmail.com.