Living alone for two months in an unknown country, 2.5 hours of a plane ride away from your family and friends does not sound very good at first. However, you must also consider all the good things this kind of opportunity brings.
Firstly: A new country means all the new things you’ve never seen, new customs and habits you do not yet know. Secondly: You meet new people. And thirdly: You get to know yourself, too.
I spent January and February in Scotland as part of an internship in the Environmental Protection programme. I chose Scotland for a number of reasons; its beautiful landscape, rich history and practising English. I was working at the Scottish Wildlife Trust nature protection organisation. They manage 120 reserves all over the country, so they also have several centres in individual regions. I chose Jupiter Center in Grangemouth in the central region, halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. This is mainly because it’s a good starting point for exploring other parts of Scotland.
I lived with an older lady with two cats in a little house. Most houses in Scotland are small, but the space is very well used. There was about a half-hour walk to the centre where I was doing my internship, and walking there was a pleasant morning exercise. A workday in Scotland starts quite late compared to Slovenia, at nine o’clock, and ends at five in the afternoon. In between, they have lunch break at 12 o’clock, with a necessary cup of coffee or tea.
The standard of living in Scotland is slightly higher than in Slovenia, so the prices are a bit higher too; for me this was especially evident when buying public transport tickets and food at the store. Already at the beginning of the visit, I set myself a goal of saving as much as possible on food and thus making more trips. So, I mostly cooked at home and always brought lunch to work. It was of great help to me that their food is not exactly among the best. This was also evident in supermarkets, with half of the store occupied by frozen semi-prepared meals.
Since we worked from Monday to Thursday, it meant that I had three days a week for myself to explore the country. The weather was more or less always on my side, but of course there also had to be rain and snow. It snowed twice during my visit and we stayed home both times. Snowfall is not typical for this part of Scotland, so extreme conditions prevailed. This meant that flights were cancelled, buses were less frequent and some shops and pubs remained closed. There was even a shortage of milk and bread in the shops during the last snowfall, as deliveries to the shops were also cancelled.
As far as the landscape is concerned, Scotland is largely similar to Slovenia. Green meadows and hills. The landscape in the south is flatter, while the “mountains” rise in the north to an altitude of 1345m (as high as Ben Nevis, the highest peak of the British island). And the meadows are full of sheep instead of forests. The people in Scotland are very kind and always willing to help. Whenever anyone saw I was confused (usually at bus stations), they quickly came to help. And the saleswomen in the store always talk to you. You have to have some luck here to understand them at all due to their special English. My occasional co-worker at the working site, Mike, who moved from England to Glasgow a few years ago, also grumbled to me about it and admitted he sometimes still has difficulty understanding the neighbour.
I spent my free time discovering the country. As a true Slovenian, I was climbing a hill every Sunday and noticed they are significantly lower than in Slovenia. I visited the cities like Stirling, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth, and I liked rural villages the most. I also visited Loch Lomond & The Trossachs, one of the two national parks. I especially liked the weekend trip to the Isle of Skye with other Erasmus students. The Isle of Skye lies in the northwest of Scotland and represents one of the most beautiful parts of the country. Accordingly, it is packed with tourists. There are a little less of them in winter, so we did not feel any overcrowding. Throughout the trip to the island, we were tasting whiskey with the help of a guide and learned about the rich history of Scotland and their “Highlander” culture (the system of clans, wearing kilts, playing bagpipes...).
Although I was expecting the day of departure to Scotland with a lump in my throat, I was very pleased with the visit and would regret it to this day if I missed such an opportunity. The first days were a little harder and you need time to get used to the new environment and new people, but the more the end of the stay is approaching, the faster the time is passing by, and suddenly you are saying goodbye to your new friends.
