Moving this out of my head. Still in progress…

Things that are more difficult in Scotland than in New York:

– accepting the fact that a GAS station can be a good, quality place to buy almost all groceries (Sainsbury’s)

– signing up for internet in our apartment (this is the one and only time Time Warner Cable ever came out ahead)

– Figuring out our combination washer/dryer

– Figuring out our Celsius/fan oven..actually figuring out anything with Celsius in general..also figuring out the metric system

– understanding the Glaswegian dialect (general Scottish is totally fine though) and having Glaswegians understand me when I talk too fast

Things that are easier in Scotland than in New York:

– Traveling to school/anywhere

– finding nice/non pretentious people

– getting a student discount almost everywhere

– finding a flat with a living room AND eat-in kitchen AND dishwasher (which, of course, we don’t use)

– waking up without an alarm clock (often I wake up before my alarm goes off. Anyone in my family or anyone who ever stayed with us in New York knows how ABSURD and out of character this is for me..kind of amazing)

Things that are cheaper in Scotland than in the United States:

– shortbread
– Philadelphia cream cheese (not sure why this is)
– whiskey (this is an assumption – I haven’t bought any yet)

Things I did not expect to find here but are plentiful and can, in fact, be bought:

– peanut butter
– dove soap
– taco seasoning/all items relating to tacos..this was a major concern before coming here

Things I expected to find here but are not here:

– Sephora (just so happens I lost my favorite lipgloss the other day too)

Things I am now obsessed with:

– Porridge (very similar to oatmeal..not sure yet how/if it is actually different but don’t want to seem ignorant to locals)

– pizza from Vic Bar..the best I’ve had in Glasgow..also conveniently located at school..

– walking up very steep hills whenever I get the chance, except if it is pouring. Great exercise!

To be continued..

This was the view out my bedroom window today – turned out to be beautiful and sunny though!