Halò From Edinburgh!

Halò my fellow adventurers! I have finally arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland!

Well actually, I arrived in Edinburgh on January 7th, 2018, however I didn't officially start my University classes until the 15th, which means I am now officially an official

University of Edinburgh Student!

As promised, are you ready for your first fun fact of the day!

You may or may not have noticed that when I said hello to you at the beginning of this post I spelt it, halò... interesting, right?

Give or take, somewhere around the year 200 BCE, many of the Celtic civilisations started up their own language known as Gaelic. If you happen to be an Outlander fan like me, perhaps you may have heard some Gaelic words spoken on the show, however, because the show is set during the year of 1743, the Gaelic language was still often spoken around parts of Scotland, thus it had not earned the title of being a 'dead' language yet.

Even though the Gaelic language is considered to be dead, still sometimes around parts of Scotland or even Ireland, you might find people speaking the language (as I think it's quite beautiful), thus the word for hello in Gaelic is halò (pronounced: ha-lò).

Aside from learning (and loving) all of the new Scottish/UK/Gaelic words, sayings and terms that differ from what I am used to hearing in the United States, I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with the different architectural aspects that make up the city of Edinburgh that one does not see in the States. Considering the fact that the city of Edinburgh can trace its earliest existence back to the 12th century (far older than anything in the States), getting the chance to go to school in Scotland is like a dream come true as I feel like I have just walked back in time though history (or better yet, walked right onto the streets of a Harry Potter film)!

Now of course, if it wasn't for the fact that I am studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh, I would spend every moment I have exploring coffee shops, garden markets, traveling the rest of the country and furthermore the rest of Europe on a daily basis! However, while I do have plans to travel to the Highlands, Loch Ness (where the Loch Ness monster lives), St. Andrews (aka. where William and Kate met), Stirling, and other various European destinations (still yet to be determined), I am already beginning to enjoy my University courses.

Currently I am taking Scandinavian Civilisations, a course all about the vikings and the norwegian/scandinavian cultures and settlements, that I can honestly say after one class is going to be amazing! My second course is called The History of Edinburgh: From Din Eidyn to Festival City, a course that explains all about the Edinburgh from its architecture, to its geographical settlement structure, to its early kings and queens, all the way up to its 21st century standing, covering all I could possible need to know about the city! And lastly, while I am/was signed up for what seemed to be am amazing art course, I have decided after attending the first lecture/ workshop that the course is just not for me or rather not quite what I was expecting. But lucky for me, here at the University of Edinburgh, all students have the first 2 weeks to add/drop courses until the schedule becomes finalized, so by the time I write my next post, I will have added another class and I will be sure to tell you all about it!

For now, since I have just started my classes and furthermore, am still getting to know my new home city, as a wrap up to my first post I would like to put on the record that I am already falling in love with the city of Edinburgh, for every day seems to get more magical than the day before it! From the people I have met, to the beautiful romantic scenery, the country air may be cold (and it may have already snowed once or twice) but I don't mind because I feel like this city was the right choice for my study abroad journey!

Also, stay tuned my fellow adventurer for restaurant, excursion, and hotel reviews coming your way! Even though I have only been in the city for 10 days now, I have eaten at quite a lot of pubs/ restaurants, visited a few popular tourist attractions and stayed at one hotel, so be sure to be on the lookout for those posts as well!

Until next time my fellow traveler, thanks for adventuring with me!

Cheers,

Meghan Chayka