Amanda Catalano: Why is Everything Backwards?



I have fallen in love with Scotland. Where do I even begin to explain this beautiful country and the amazing friends and memories I have already made here? 
 
Aberdeen Cows

Aberdeen Cliffwalk



When first arriving in Aberdeen, it seemed that this city was very similar to Vancouver, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. But throughout my time here I have realized how incorrect that assumption was. First of all, Scotland is an English speaking country, but don’t let that fool you because their accents are so thick that half the time I find myself wondering, “what language is that person speaking? English? No, it can’t be!” Also, everything here is backwards. Light switches are backwards, door locks are backwards, escalators are backwards, driving is backwards, and many more things that I continue to notice on a daily basis. This definitely keeps things interesting and gives me a laugh every once in a while.

Aberdeen is a smaller city on the coast of Scotland, and I can walk from my flat to the beach in 15 minutes. They call Aberdeen the “Granite City” because all the buildings here are made of granite, which also means all the buildings are grey. It is neat though because since the buildings are grey, people paint their front doors in extremely bright colours, fluorescent blue and fluorescent red being the most popular choices. Something else I find very interesting about Aberdeen is that in the city, there are many old churches. But the city has converted all these churches into restaurants, bars/clubs, and casinos. It is very odd to look at this beautiful historic church on the outside, and then to go inside and see tons of drunken people dancing, drinking, and gambling!

Stonehaven, Scotland
 
Edinburgh, Scotland
So far I have done a lot of traveling around Scotland, and I also went to Poland, which was absolutely beautiful. I have many trips and adventures planned now that some of my coursework is done at RGU, so stay tuned!
Poznan, Poland

Amanda is a third year Bachelor of Business Administration student studying abroad at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.
 

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