By Justice Bufford Abroad writer
The pre-departure seminar I took at Susquehanna before I arrived in Scotland was very helpful in getting me to think about where I was going. In fact, the entire semester before my time abroad made me think about the big details about my trip: things like packing, budgeting, financing the program, traveling and cultural differences.
After arriving in Scotland, I was truly prepared to tackle this, but I was met with challenges that were unrelated to these big-ticket ideas. Immediately upon arriving in Scotland, I exchanged the U.S. dollar for the British pound and encountered a currency I was unfamiliar with. They were only 20-pound notes when I received them. The fare was about 2 pounds, so I handed them a 20 and they gave me back a strange assortment of bills and change. It was at that moment I realized I knew nothing about living in Scotland.
The GO preparation course was great for the big things such as adapting to the culture and the like. But it didn’t prepare me to live here. Things like counting change became far more important than worrying about offending someone because of cultural differences.
While I have quite a few things I wish I would have known before I got here, I will say my top three.
First, I wish I knew how to count the money before I arrived. I ended up sitting in my room later that day with the change spread out on my bed just so I could figure out if 100 pence added up to 1 pound.
The second thing I wish I would have known was how to work the bus system. Buses don’t stop at any bus stops unless you press the button. Also, everyone seems to know the names for different stops, but neither the bus nor the bus stops have names disclosing this information. Despite all this, paying attention and asking questions really helped me master the system.
Finally, I wish someone told me it’s extremely windy here. I’ve seen countless jokes from the British about this and it’s usually the thing people associate with the U.K. But no one ever says it’s windy. Sometimes, if the wind is particularly bad that day, it’s difficult to breathe because the air is moving away from me so fast. There’s a reason almost everyone wears scarves and headbands or beanies.
And there are plenty more things I wish I knew before I got here, but these affected my everyday life and stood out the most. But I can’t say I hated learning about these everyday tasks first-hand. It was difficult at times but also fun to figure out what it meant to live in another country.
I’m grateful for the experience, but I still wish someone told me about the wind. I would have packed more appropriately.
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