Stay abroad Stirling

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So a Dutchman, two Germans and a couple of French girls walk into a pub. Is this the beginning of a joke? No, not if a backpackers hostel is one block away from the pub. This is how I spend my first evening of my ten week adventure in Stirling, Scotland.



On the 1st of September, I arrived in Edinburgh after a short and relaxed flight. I took a tram to Haymarket and from there I took to the train to Stirling. I still had some cash from my week in Canterbury, which came in handy. As I sat in the train, enjoying the unexpectedly sunny weather, I thought about the summer and made a list of things I definitely want to see and do while I’m in Scotland. I still had a smile on my face because I heard that I got a sufficient on a portfolio which meant I got my Propedeuse a few days before my flight. That was a very pleasant surprise and I could start my second year with a great feeling.



Once in Stirling, I walked immediately to the hostel, which only took around 3 minutes. The manager was not there when I arrived and my colleague did not know of my arrival. She showed me to a room where all the staff members sleep, a 12 person room and 9 beds were already occupied. I choose a bed and sat down, wondering about the upcoming weeks and I was feeling a little bit lonely. That changed very soon as I introduced myself to the people who walked in the room. In the evening they showed me their favourite pub, as they often do with newcomers. I have colleagues from Australia, Ireland, Germany, Italy and France. I’m not even beginning about the guests themselves.



The next day I had a morning shift and I had to change the beds, I worked together with Kerstin, a nice girl from Austria. After that, Margaux and Katya invited me to join them on their hike near Callander. We took a small bus where we were the only people under 50. It was interesting and funny to hear old Scottish people talk and you really had to listen if you wanted to understand them. The weather was lovely and it didn’t even rain, which was a nice surprise.



In a hostel, you talk with many different people about many different things, especially stereotypes of our own countries, politics, religion and Scotland itself. I spend one night talking to a 40 year old stonemason from England who travelled a lot and even lived in the Netherlands for a while. My manager was in Edinburgh for a few days so I met him two days after I arrived. He turned out to be a tall, long haired French metalhead with a big beard. So we can get along quite easily.



Last Sunday, while still being a little hangover from the previous night. A few colleagues and myself decided, after a few hours of doing nothing and sitting on the coach, that we would walk to the King’s Park. The park was a bit disappointing but the ice cream was nice. Then something typically Scottish happened, within 5 second, the sunny weather changed to driving rain. We sprinted to a little museum/ church. Because we were the only one inside and the people felt pity for us drenched teenagers, we got a personal tour through the museum, instantly learning a lot about the history of Stirling.



This Saturday will be my first shift for the reception, until now I only cleaned the hostel, the first time I did that I was trained by a very short Scottish woman with a good sense of humour, so that was definitely a good start of the day. The Scottish people are very nice and polite. I’m certainly going to make more contact with the locals to gain further knowledge about their culture and their, sometimes incomprehensible, language.





For as my manager told me, I will not learn about the English speaking culture here, I will learn about the Scottish speaking culture.





















Personal Development Plan LSD4





POP for LSD3



1. What goals/sub goals do you set yourself?

As I said in my POP for LSD2, I want to continue my goals. I will use my summer and the weeks of the Stay Abroad to focus on my reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. I have a lot of books that I want to read, I will continue expanding my vocab list with words that are unfamiliar to me. So that my vocabulary is expanding. I will write letters and assignments in English and I will ask for feedback from my peers. Hereby is my focus on the grammatical points like tenses and spelling. So that I can write an essay or article in the correct tense and that have a formal setting without too much small paragraphs. I still have some books which I bought in Canterbury so I have anough to read.



2. How are you going to achieve them/what activities?

I will achieve those goals by watching TED talks, films and series. With expanding my vocabulary of course, it also helps me with my listening skills. If I watch a British series I will pause it and repeat the sentences for my accent and pronunciation. I will try to keep up the writing in the summer. Create some stories or articles about things that have my interest. During the Stay Abroad, my whole live will be English, which is very convenient for me. I can talk with colleagues, locals and develop my writing skills while working on my portfolio’s and blogs.



3. With whom?

I will continue talking to classmates and fellow students. In summer, I will speak with my dad, who has a proper British accent to continue my English. When in Scotland, I will talk to the people there and ask them for feedback. So that I can learn as much as possible. When we are at school again in December, I will have conversations with my teachers and peers, as well as my native friend from London, Judith Wright. Which I hope to see then.

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