Two weeks ago I started a new chapter in life - this time I am doing an internship in Scotland. In my last year at university in Brussels, I decided to apply for the scholarship granted to students who want to gain more experience abroad after their studies. I ended up in Stirling, a small city also known as "the gateway to the Highlands". My internship is at a language service provider where I am learning how to manage translation projects. It is a very international company and I have met people from all over Europe and beyond, especially Italy. I will definitely learn Italian while I am here :)
Stirling is really easy to explore by foot and the city-centre is a 40min walk from my flat. The main sight is a castle on top of a hill that overlooks the city and has nice views of the Highlands. The Wallace Monument is the second most visited sight in Stirling and proudly stands as a symbol for William Wallace, the guardian of Scotland who defeated the English at the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. The hardest part of getting used to this new environment is the driving on the left side of the road and the lack of zebra crossings. Pedestrians don't have much priority. Also public transport is not the cheapest in the UK compared to Belgium. Luckily I can walk to the office! In addition, the work at the office is a big change from the children's work I did on month ago in Romania. It is not as satisfactory, especially when your heart is still with those little ones whose dreams often are destroyed by their environment. However, through this contrast, I am seeing how we can become so comfortable in a certain bubble and do not think to much about what is outside of that. I realise that wherever I am, no matter how much control I have over the things I am doing, I still depend on my Heavenly Father, from whom I owe my wisdom and strength. I am thankful for the opportunity I have here and I believe God will teach me many things and give me new friends. I am sharing a room with an Italian intern. We walk together to the office every morning and thus have gotten to know each other quite well already. Francesca has been here already since November and quickly introduced me to her friends. Last Sunday we went to Callander. Auriane, another intern from France joined us. Callander is a 40min bus-drive and one of the first towns at the foot of the Highlands. The hike was easy and quite short but we took our time and made many pictures. Before taking the bus back we drank a hot chocolate in the local tea room. My third weekend here I went on my second day trip. Together with some other interns, I visited St. Andrews! This city is named after Scotland's patriot saint and is the home of golf. There is also the university of St. Andrews, one of the best in the UK and the university where Kate Middleton graduated from :) It is a small city by the rocky coast that is definitely worth visiting for its Castle and Cathedral ruins. It's a two hour bus-ride from Stirling with nice scenery. However, we had only 5 hours to visit the city - just about enough time to visit the castle, the cathedral, the university and the beach. In order to reach the beach we had to quickly cross a golf course and pay attention that no one was playing in that particular moment, as indicated on the sign..:) For some reason, I cannot upload any pictures into my blog anymore. See my pictures on facebook by pressing the button below.
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