Justine goes to Scotland!

Ok, so since I am studying abroad, I am supposed to talk about how different this country is to my experiences in the United States, right? Honestly, Edinburgh is not very different than the United States. I did not have to adjust a lot to a different culture. There is a different culture of living in a city, but I think it is very similar to a city in the US. Edinburgh is a very small city, so it is not like living in New York City. Sometimes I feel like I am back in Fredericksburg. The other day I went to the grocery store and I ran into one of my flatmates and then 5 minutes later I ran into 4 more of my flatmates!

There are small things that are different. Everyone here uses a kettle to boil their water for tea. When I had tea and put the water in the microwave, a lot of my flatmates said that they have never seen anyone do that! I do that all the time at home. We don’t have a kettle.

Clothing: generally, most Europeans dress better than Americans. I agree. Most of the girls here where a skirt with tights and boots. I don’t know how they do it in freezing temperatures outside! I do not see people wearing sweatpants. At Mary Washington, it is very common to see people with sweatpants, but not here. They do wear sweatshirts, though. Oh, and sweatshirts are called “Hoodies.” And a jumper is like a sweater.

If I would compare Edinburgh to another city in the US, I would say the main difference is how most of the buildings are very old. Everything here is so historic. There was a pub I went to that was 100 years old…the building was older, but the pub has been here for 100 years. And that is not even old here! The number of pubs and cafes here are astonishing! There are too many great pubs and cafes, I can’t decide which ones to go to!

Language: I am used to the accents now. Everyone here has a different accents because people come from different parts of the UK. There are of course some phrases and words that are different here, but I have had no problem understanding them and they have had no problem understanding me. I was talking to my flatmate, and I told her that when 2 people say the same word at the same time they say “Jinx.”  And she said that they do the same thing here!

Globalization is causing a lot of places in the world to be more alike. I know many years ago the Scottish accent used to be thicker and harder to understand because they were more isolated than today. This is still true for places in the Highlands and the islands. Soon everyone who speaks English is going to have the same accent! (No, just kidding.) Activities and entertainment is very similar to the US. Now people here watch almost the same popular television shows as we do in the US (Lost, 24, Grey’s Anatomy.) I have realized that there are a lot of comedy shows on television. This includes stand up comedy and things like “Whose Line is it Anyways.” I don’t think there are a lot of stand up comedy shows in the US, or if there are, they are not popular. The only thing that comes close is the Daily Show and the Colbert Report…but thats political comedy, so it is different. My flatmates said that it could be more popular here because there are less regulations on what you can say on TV. In the US, there are so many rules about what people can say on TV, probably half of the stand of comedy show would be bleeped out.

So that is my update on Culture Shock. I am adjusting very well to life in Edinburgh, and I will let you know more differences between Scottish and American culture.