Jauzaa!
5 weeks down and the real studies are about to start.
Well, to be honest, I started my own studying experience this week by doing a
minimum of 4-days journey somewhere in UK. So the task was to do a trip alone
or in a small group within UK and this trip should have some kind of
theme/mission. How boring, right?? And afterwards the trip is supposed to be
presented for the rest of the group.
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| NOKIA huoltaa Glasgowssa! |
Meet the Scotch
I’ve been keen to try hitchhiking for a long time so I decided to take that as
a guideline for my journey. Also I wanted to see Scotland so the plan was
ready: hitchhike from Ambleside to Glasgow and then go with the flow. Here is a
short summary what happened during the week:
Monday morning my mind was full of excitement with a
little scare for not knowing what was going to happen. Good breakfast and
thumbs up – for the first time of my life! I was totally out of my comfort
zone; what are people thinking about me? Why is everyone looking at me? A few
cars passed by and within 10 minutes I got my first lift. Paul, businessman
from Manchester, picked me up and the game was on. All together it took 5
lifts, 5 different stories and 4 hours to make my way up to Glasgow. And all the
fear was gone! Rest of the day just chillin’ around the city and looking for
the hostel, good start for the journey!
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| Derrick heitti Carlislesta Glasgowhun, huikee kaveri! |
The only plan for Tuesday was to see Champions League
match Celtic FC – FC Barcelona in a local pub. Before the game I did the
compulsory sightseeing including creepy cemetery, the Mitchell’s Library and the University campus. At the same time I
proved myself, again, that I’m not a city tourist.. I had to get to Nature.
Before that I still had the game coming up. By the early evening the town was
getting crazy: people singing, crawling towards the stadium and drinking beer.
Of course I joined them until I found the perfect bar to meet the real Scotch:
The Hoops Bar (a bar only for Celtic fans). Live band playing the Celtic songs
and bar full of testosterone! Such a positive experience with good small talks.
But one thing was particularly clear after the night: people in Glasgow don’t
speak English (the dialect gets even worse after a couple of beers and
whiskeys).
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| Glasgow Necropolis, cemetery. |
Wednesday, finally heading out of the city. Next
destination Oban: a small sea kayaking/fishing town on the west coast of
Scotland. Beautiful place, lovely people and amazing Nature. ‘First things
first’ in my mind I headed out to look for a place to rent a kayak. Easier than
I thought, and just around the corner I found company called Sea Kayak Oban. Tideraces,
Valleys, P&H’s, Arrow kayaks, just to mention a couple of their kayak
selection. I wanted to have a bit more playful kayak this time and there I go
with my P&H Dolphin! Pushed myself out from the shore, turned and saw a
seal five meters away saying hello for me. Not bad. Unfortunately the sea was
relatively calm so I didn’t get a chance to play with the boat but still
amazing feeling to sit in a kayak after a long time. While kayaking I saw, in
addition to seals, cormorants, storks, puffins, huge salmon pools, a variety of
unknown small special birds and beautiful islands. After this sea kayaking
session the only pain was how to make the journey any better..
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| Oban. |
With my mind full of enthusiasm and curiosity I jumped
in the bus to go to “the outdoor capital of Scotland”, Fort William. Thursday
was going to be my last day on action of this journey and I wanted to make it
unforgettable. Luckily the weatherman was on my side this time: constant rain,
high risk of gale, a risk of thunder and wind 13-20m/s. Despite of the
recommendations from tourist info and the staff in a hostel not to go the Ben
Nevis, that was the only thing in my mind. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in
all United Kingdom with its 1344 meters of height and with such conditions it
can be hazardous. Well, it was beautiful. “Slightly” windy and visibility under
100m it was still big fun. On my way up I passed by a Chinese couple with jeans
and Adidas Superstars as well an Australian couple wearing shorts. Somehow I
felt a little embarrassed with Gore-Tex jacket and trailrunning shoes but as I
say: there are no bad weather, only bad clothing.
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| Matkalta Ben Nevisin huipulle löytyi myös paikallinen Outward Bound Trust ryhmä. |
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| Pinkki Nalgene<3 |
As I said earlier, I thought that Thursday would be my
last action day and the only goal for Friday was to get back home safely. The
adventure was just beginning. See, thanks to Margaret Thatcher, the public
transport system in UK is kind of messed up. According to a chat with British senior
citizens, it is because of her, that there are nowadays plenty of bus and
railway companies. So to plan a trip from Fort William to Ambleside with 4-5
different bus companies and their own schedules was coming to be the biggest
adventure of the journey. Finally it took 4 buses, 3 lifts catched in the dark
and 13 hours. And Tor, thank you for the last ride!
In conclusion
- Hitchhiking can be a lot of fun but remember
to be careful. After all the fear and “shame”, I invented a game how can I have
fun with the cars passing by: I started to take weird positions and at least I made
people laugh.
- While walking around Glasgow I found the peddlers and beggars
slightly aggressive so I had to discover a solution against them. So simple:
start talking only Finnish and act like stupid. With the stickiest ones I had
to switch to Tampere or Turku to get rid of them. At least I had great fun
watching their faces!
- British people smokes A LOT
Nyt on saatu reissukiintiö täyteen taas vähäksi aikaa ja onkin sopiva hetki aloittaa opinnot toden teolla. Maanantaina alkaa ensimmäinen viikon kestävä intensiivijakso, jonka jälkeen kirjoitellaan n. 12 sivun essee aiheesta Critical perspectives of Outdoor Education. Ensi viikolla saan myös ensimmäiset vieraat, so welcome Essi and Mike!
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