Making Global Connections

This is a recent post for my Global Connections and Reflections 101 Class.

This link will take you to a video of a day in the town of Stirling where I tried to make the things unfamiliar to me, familiar, and make comparisons about the familiar and unfamiliar.

This video shows a recent trip to the Stirling City Centre. Having to travel a little to get to the main part of town where the shops and etc. are located because I live in a suburb at home. It is unusual that I would have to take public transportation. Many students live off campus and use the buses daily and those who do live on campus use it for the same reason I am, to get essentials not available on campus. Where I live, there are buses available, but almost no one uses them- just about everyone has a car. I did, however, begin to use SEPTA once at Arcadia to get to rehearsals in Philadelphia. It was not a good system and I often found myself waiting in the cold for long periods of time for a bus.

After the short ten minute ride, on a clean, prompt bus, we arrive in the center of Stirling where it is always bustling. There are people everywhere getting the goods the need (and want). There are little shops along the mostly pedestrian streets. A nice break from the large chain stores. The main hub is the Thistles Centre, basically a mall. This is where many department stores and small boutiques, including but not limited to Primark, Zara, Peacock’s, Claire’s, and Debenham’s.

In town there are many restaurants that smell delicious. One of my favorite spots is Gregg’s. It is a chain bakery that offers many sweets, along with breakfast and lunch foods at a low cost. There are also many Indian restaurants, McDonald’s, and coffee shops such as Costa and Cafe Nero.

The smell is basically the same, it is mostly just the sound of the people. I am not quite used to the crowds yet or the accents. The chicken bake that I had from Gregg’s for lunch taste’s like chicken pot pie in a convenient “hot pocket” like pastry.  It feels like home, after a mere few weeks, I feel the love of family and friends around me. People I didn’t know 5 weeks ago are now like family, and I could not imagine myself without them in my life.