I first got here on August 31st, and it has now been 3 weeks since I set foot in Europe for the first time. So far, I’ve absolutely loved my time here in Scotland! In this post, I’ll run through my living situation, travel stuff, and class stuff.
My living situation is an on-campus building, in a flat of 9 people. We all share a kitchen, but we each have separate rooms and bathrooms which is really nice (I’ve never had that at Champlain). At first, I really wasn’t sure who I’d be living with, whether or not they’d all be local Scottish students, or if I’d be grouped with more international students which is what I was hoping for. I want to be able to make friends with other students from all over, and my flatmates fit the bill as their home countries are all over Europe. We all get along fairly well, as there are always some rough moments since we have to live and cooperate together at the same time as we’re getting to know each other. Honestly, if you’re a first-year student (even staying in your home country for school) or an exchange student, make an effort to get to know the people around you, as they might be older than you and have more experience. I know that happened here in my flat, as all but 2 of us (myself and the only other American in my flat) are not first-year students. Trust me, the experience goes a long long way.
I know travel is the biggest thing on the list for most study abroad students. Most just want to hit the ground at their new University, and immediately begin traveling to surrounding countries. One of the other Champlain students here at Abertay did exactly that, even going to the extent of getting to Europe 3 weeks earlier than the rest of us to travel around. For me, travel outside of Scotland is 100% a goal, but the most important thing is getting to know the area and culture around you. That’s what I’m doing for these first few weeks, though I’m heading to Berlin for my birthday this coming weekend. My flatmates, some people from the flat above us, and myself have all been wandering the city, and the neighboring cities quite a lot, really getting into the local scene. That’s the best thing to do, in my opinion. This is my first time being thrown into multiple entirely different cultures, languages, and social structures, so why would I want to put even more pressure on myself by traveling to more foreign countries, on top of classwork? End rant.
This is the last section of this post. I promise they won’t all be this long, but hey, I have 3 whole weeks of action to cover here. Last, but not least, the classes. I’m here for 3 classes: Audio Programming, Network Systems for Games, and Digital Sociology. I’ve already taken 2 classes at Champlain that cover the Digital Sociology content, so while that is unfortunate, I do have Audio Programming, which is a Senior-level (400) course. That means that I have one big project to do over the course of the term, and yes, we started week one. I’m super excited for it, because they’re giving us (basically) free reign on what we want to do, as long as it covers 3 topics done in class. As for Network Systems, that’s basically “build multiplayer games from the ground up” 101. Naturally, the final project is to do just that. One thing I definitely notice as a difference between American and European university structure is that American universities give out much more “homework” meant to be done outside of class. So far, my classes haven’t done any of that at all, and instead prefer to handle work in labs and practicals. I really prefer this method, since it leaves me extra time to explore!
‘Til next week,
CS
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