Couch, gym and a few charity workers. My second week in Stirling

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Now that you are completely aware of your surroundings and have the rhythm of working, hiking, talking and sleeping, time goes rapidly. And this week was full of walking and talking.



Last Friday I went to Edinburgh with two colleagues and my manager. He’d rented a car because he needed to go to the Ikea for a new couch, and offered us a lift. After an hour in the car, blasting metal and singing along to the songs, we arrived at the foot of the Arthur’s Seat. Because we all had been to Edinburgh before, we decided to take a long hike on the mountain. With a beautiful site from the cliffs, we walked around for a few hours. Although it was windy, it was warm and when the sun broke through the clouds even hot. After the hike we walked over the royal mile towards the castle. I had my first ever fish and chips in a nice pub and it tasted quite good. The pub had an Irish folksinger that night so the whole pub was in a good mood, I knew most of the songs because of the Irish/rock music I listen.



I try to talk a different guest every day, to see where they’re from and to hear the varies life experiences. Outside the hostel I try to talk with as much locals as I can, I take a short walk everyday trough the centre of Stirling. In one street there are often charity workers of the red cross and OxfamNovib and every time I see them I walk up to them. I am aware that the cannot use me for the charity because I don’t live here but it is funny to hear the stories they’re telling. I met a really nice girl yesterday who was working for OxfamNovib, she asked me where I’m from and what I’m doing in Stirling, she told me jokingly that we both wasted our time after five minutes of talking and wished me a great time in Scotland, just like all the other charity workers.



Just like everyone told me, the pub is a great way to meet new people and since I have a very fun group of colleagues, we go the pub quite often. The Settle Inn is the oldest pub in Stirling and perfect to talk to locals and other students as well. There are many students that go to the university so the pubs are always filled with people of my age. I noticed that there are a lot of German students and we have a few students in our hostel that are looking for an apartment.



The stonemason from my previous blog was still in the hostel this week and it became a habit that, when he came in the hostel from work, we sat on the couch together and talk about the events of the day. We share a lot of similar interests and he recognizes himself sometimes when I talk about my life as a 19 year old student. We came to the conclusion that he will be my life guru and that we’ll stay in touch via Facebook.



Another person that is definitely worth mentioning is Brian, an English teacher from Arizona with a terrible sense of humour, just like me. We began talking with each other when he filled me in on what happened to William Wallace (which was hanged, drawn and quartered) after that we talked about the Spanish inquisition, brutal Viking rituals and our weird teaching experiences. (He had quite a few) We discussed politics, the gun laws in America and the weed smoking stereotypes of the Dutch.





Stirling has some amazing walking routes, the centre is great for meeting new people but there is quite a big hill near the castle, it has some wonderful paths and you almost think that you are walking in the forest, if not for the sound of cars. It’s always clouded here and you never know when it will start to rain, but I got used to it pretty fast and you don’t even care at some point if it starts raining. I can always go to the nearby gym and spend a few hours there. It’s nice to be out of the hostel sometimes. And also another great way to meet the locals.

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