Monday 25 January 2016

Hello 2016!

I am aware that we are most of the way through January, so this New Year post is a bit belated! Let's rename it to Hello Burns Night!

As the Scots among you will know, Burns Night is huge in Edinburgh. Haggis, neeps & tatties (that's turnip and potatoes to the rest of us) and the obligatory whisky is a celebration to the famed Scottish poet Robbie Burns. Those of you who were terrorised by Of Mice and Men may know the poem from which the title is taken.

As soon as you hit the border though, Burns Night is all but forgotten/ignored, and that's what I want to blog about. Even though we're all on the same land mass, there are some culture differences between Scotland and England, especially when you're a student from one in the other. Pizza crunch (deep fried pizza) is actually a thing, Irn Bru is the best hangover cure, and I'm not even going to talk about the joys of square sausage, tattie scones and haggis. It's not all food though, the Scots practically speak a different language. I often have to ask friends to repeat words or explain what they mean- patched, ned and jakey to name a few... When your flatmates live close to home, it does make it sink in how far away Scotland actually is. A lot of the Scots here have loads of friends from home at the same unis because there aren't that many Scottish unis, but for residents of Scotland, they're £9000 cheaper per year than studying in England. It can get a bit lonely knowing that your closest friend from home is in Newcastle/ Durham/ Leeds/ Liverpool/ even further away, and that it's hard to visit when trains are so long and so expensive. That being said, there are lots of English students up here, particularly from London, so it doesn't feel too foreign! 

My only advice to anyone accepting offers right now is to visit the unis one last time, and to really think about what's the right choice for you. It's not about which one is highest ranked or oldest or most prestigious, but which is the best fit for you. Had I have thought more about it, maybe I wouldn't be writing the next blog post that will be up next week!

Keep reading lovelies x