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

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Now that I am completely aware of
my 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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