The Scottish Differences

This morning I witnessed one of the oddest events in my entire collegiate career, academically speaking anyway. I arrived at the library at 11:15 a.m. assuming that they would be open by this time since their hours during the week are 7:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m. Yes you read correctly, they're open til 2:30 a.m. I figured by 11:15 a.m. on a Sunday they would be open. Well they weren't. Apparently they don't open until noon but that's fine, I just started reading some of my book that I was going to read at the library anyway and drank my gingerbread soy latte while waiting for it to be open. A couple people tried and failed to open the door to enter the library as it was locked. More people came. People started explaining the library didn't open until noon. A crowd started to form as noon drew nearer and then the library man came forward to unlock the doors. People started rushing them to get in to the library before everyone else. I'm not really sure if they thought all the books and computers would be taken before they got in there but it was really interesting to see considering there were probably only 30 of us waiting there. This brings me to my main point that people in Scotland really enjoy the library. I always head straight to the 5th floor when I get here which is supposed to be the Post Graduate studying area but theres no way to know if people are actually Post Grad or not so it's just a studying area. There's just tons of work stations in the Silent Study area. Each station has a place for you to plug in your laptop and theres a wonderful view of Arthur's Seat or the rest of the city depending on where you sit. It's quite lovely actually. But people fight for these seats. I've only been here for 10 minutes and already the room is half full. By 2 p.m. there won't be room for any new people. I have had to do laps around the different floors of the library to find a place to sit. It's prime essay writing time and everyone is in the library. It's kind of interesting actually. I have never had a problem trying to find a seat at Northeastern University's Library. I'm not sure what the difference really is here but people enjoy coming to the library to get work done apparently. Anyway, I'm going to provide you with a list of differences I have found between Scotland (and the UK/Europe in general) because that's what I feel like doing this morning instead of reading about Scottish Heritage and Tourism.

1. This is an odd observation but public bathrooms in Europe are way cleaner than they are in the U.S. Some of my friends have speculated that since you have to pay to use some public restrooms here, they have to be clean.
2. They say 'toilets' instead of 'restrooms'. I haven't been able to bring myself to use the word 'toilet' just because of my general American snottiness and the fact that we think that word is generally rude or not proper.
3. Before traffic lights turn green here, they turn yellow again first. At first I thought it was interesting but now I'm used to it. I guess it's better then people inching forward because they EXPECT the light to turn green but aren't entirely sure that it's going to turn green yet.
4. When we were in Oslo at the movie theater, their popcorn was refrigerated.
5. When you walk in to a building, you're not on the 1st floor you're on the 'ground floor'. When you go to the 2nd floor, you're on the 'first floor'. So if someone lives on the fourth floor, you actually have to walk up five flights of stairs. Gets to be a bit confusing at first.
6. You don't really tip at restaurants here. If you leave 10% that's considered good tipping. It's kind of awkward because you don't really know when you do and don't tip so you kind of just use your own discretion.
7. When you go to a pub, you don't have table service. You have to go to the bar, tell them the table number that is provided on your table and order from them.
8. At the end of statements people say yeah? For example: 'You're going to that party tonight, yeah?' I guess it's kind of like using the word 'right' at the end of sentences. I've started doing it and kind of hope I stop.
9. Fortnightly = 2 weeks. I didn't know this at first.
10. Potato chips = crisps. French fries = chips.
11. There are interesting crisp (potato chip) flavors here. They don't really have your general sour cream and onion although they do have salt & balsamic vinegar which I quite enjoy. They have flavors like prawn cocktail (shrimp cocktail) and roast chicken. I tried Aberdeen Angus flavored crisps and they were actually really good.
12. They have this chain called Baguette Express which is basically a UK Subway which is awesome. You can get a sandwich, crisps and soda for £3.50 which is quite a deal.
13. Food here takes awhile. At Subway it's not uncommon to wait 10-15 minutes for them to make your sandwich. Sometimes it can be a pain but sometimes its nice to not have to be in a rush to get food. However, when your sushi takes literally 45 minutes, you start to question if they forgot to order your food.
14. You can get nachos ANYWHERE. I think I already made a big deal of this in my last post, but I just want to reiterate that point.
15. Bars close way later here - like NYC timing I would guess, but it's different than Boston.

Alrighty, I guess I should get on with my essay research but just wanted to take some time to let you all know about my European experiences. There's less than 6 weeks til I go home at this point now - 41 days to be exact. Kind of crazy but I also can't wait to go home for Christmas, it's going to be awesome. Have a great day all!