I was fortunate enough to have my big brother around to pick me up from the airport and help me find my feet in Scotland that first weekend. He dropped me off at my flat on a Sunday and then I was on my own. (For those of you who don't know me, I'm currently in Edinburgh to do my MSc at the University of Edinburgh, so this blog is sort of a record of the events and experiences I'm having , will have and hope to have while I'm here)
The start of Induction week at the school; registration, matriculation (call it what you will), selection of courses, all the necessary processes for becoming a fully registered student at the school take place during this week. Being both a postgraduate and an international student, there were other events which were catered to a person in my category (I think ?).
My main focus for the day though was to get my student ID card. There were two reasons for this: 1) the student card is my passport/visa in the country that is the University;it grants you entry into most of the places on campus and, 2)there are several discounts for students (food, clothes, transport, the list is endless!) provided you can SHOW a valid student ID. You decide what my most important reason was...;).
There were several obstacles which threatened to impede my acquisition of this treasured, tiny but powerful card; A)The weather( I strongly believe the wind in Edinburgh is actually a person who is using a cloak of invisibility and gains great satisfaction from messing with people's hair, clothes etc. Seriously), B)My completely hopeless sense of direction compounded by the fact that I have never been in Scotland before (and also the fact that I come from Ghana where we drive on the right side of the road-not the left- and if you need directions you can ask just about anyone and they are bound to have some idea of where you're heading-even if that idea is wrong) and C)My exhaustion (I hadn't had a chance to rest properly since I'd stayed up late chatting the night away at my brother's apartment + I had neglected to order a duvet and pillow prior to my arrival so had slept terribly on Sunday night). However, I was determined!
Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) I was not the only international student feeling like a headless chicken that had been spun round several times; most of my flatmates also needed to figure out where we were to pick up our ID cards. Thus, our little adventure began.
I forgot to mention, we had lunch with other students in our building before setting out so this gave us the chance to come up with a common plan on how to get the card and also to fuel ourselves with much needed energy for the 'excursion'.
Through some miracle (thank you, God!) one guy in our little group knew the way to the registration centre,so we followed him dutifully like obedient sheep follow their shepherd. And we made it there in one piece (YES!).
I think after finding this previously elusive venue, I was feeling stupidly overconfident and so I decided to go and do a little shopping for my essentials (i.e. a duvet and a set of pillows). This is not where my overconfidence steps in though,watch this space. Thankfully, 2 of my flatmates also needed to buy similar things so we went together to buy our stuff. (Now this is where my stupid overconfidence kicks in, just watch.And this is after we've all paid for our items)
My flatmate: I think I'm going to explore Princes street a bit, wanna come?
Me(feeling very confident):Oh, you go ahead. I think I'll head back to the flat.
Flatmate: Oh ok. Guess I'll see you later then!
Me: Sure! (we both smile,wave and head off in opposite directions) I think to myself, 'I've got this! I remember the way back!' Not!
So,guess what happened next? your guess is as good as mine...:) (To be continued)
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