Au Revoir Ecosse...

Well now, it's currently 01.06 on the morning of the 28th December and I'm about to begin my biggest adventure yet. And I'm terrified. And excited. But mostly terrified...

So, in the true spirit of goodbyes, I sort of want to blog a farewell to all my family and friends that I am having to sadly leave behind in Scotland. It's going to sound slightly like an Oscar Acceptance Speech so I would get comfortable.

I hate leaving all my family and friends behind, adventures are all well and good but it's nicer to share them with someone. If I could take all of you with me to Canada, I would in a heartbeat but unfortunately TARDIS Suitcases have yet to be invented (definitely a potential niche to invest into though).

Firstly, to my Sainsbury's buddies, who have been the best work colleagues I've ever had the pleasure to work with, it's been fun moaning about customers and joking around and I have loved working with all of you. However, I can't deny that the thrill of never having to be on Self Scans again is utterly fantastic and I have to be honest and say I will not miss that part of it.

To Facebook friends who've had to put up with constantly moaning about the snow or posting something Montreal - related. I'm just going to apologise now. Sadly, I'm a drama Queen by nature so I can't promise I'll ever stop complaining but I will be sure to reduce the frequency of my posts in the future to give your eyes a rest.

To Fraser Shaw, who deserves a massive chocolate medal for putting up with my inane and constant questioning about Montreal. You Sir, are a trooper and a fabulous friend.

To everyone who has bought me a card or a gift for leaving, you're all far too generous and kind, so thank you! I'm very blessed to have such lovely, caring friends and family.

To my best friends, you know who you are. Thanks for spending the day with me today, you have no idea how much it meant and the fact I won't see you all for five whole months is a wee bit heartbreaking. I love you guys so much.

And finally, to my wonderful family, who I'm going to miss the most. Twenty years is a long time to live with the same person and the fact that I've only ever spent two weeks away from you makes it even more harder. You're the best family a girl could ask for and I love you all so very much. The airport tomorrow is going to have puddles everywhere, just saying.

The closest to Heaven I'll ever be...

When I first began my degree path in 2010 (which seems so long ago now), the thought of going to study abroad for a semester was a distant place in the future. But it's funny how things creep up on you so quickly and the time has now arrived.

So, without further ado, I am pleased to announce the first milestone of my twenties: I'm off to study in Montreal, Canada for four months in January, next year (providing that the world survives the impending apocalypse on the 21st December 2012, naturally). The very fact that I am going to Canada is almost too exciting to bear but to actually live there, properly, is incredible. Fair enough, it is not the most exotic place in the world but it is a very interesting country. 

It's like a mini New York!

If I'm completely honest with myself, I am so surprised I got allocated Canada. After the hoo-hah in January, when my exams had went so badly, I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to drop down to Business BA. Normally, I am of the frame of mind that things will turn out alright in the end but not this time. I actually began celebrating the fact that short-term, my finances would be brilliant but in the long-term, my career prospects would have taken a serious dent. 

Then BOOM! I find out I have passed all my exams (maybe Marketing was a marginal pass but who cares?) and International Business is back on the cards. I can honestly say that those exams frightened the bejesus out of me and I intend to study hard for the next lot. At this point, I think that if I had been allocated Ireland, I would have been quite happy. The opportunity to go anywhere would have been fantastic.

However, in hindsight, Canada is a far better allocation that Ireland. For those who do not understand where all this negativity about Ireland is coming from, in my course, it is a well-known fact that being allocated Ireland is a bit of embarrassment. With the chance of going to study in places like Australia, USA and other cool countries, getting an allocation to a place where the ferry is like half an hour would be a genuinely gutting thing. I mean imagine asking where your pal is going for exchange and they say Brisbane, Australia and you reply with Cork, Ireland. Somehow, it just doesn't inspire the same grandeur.

Anyway, I digress. Canada will be amazing and I was literally leaping for joy. However, as I spoke to other people in my course and they knew who they were going with, somewhere, deep inside of me, I knew something wasn't quite right. So I emailed the co-ordinator, Shelia (who is proving to be as useful as bottomless teacup) and she stated that currently, it was just me going to Montreal. Yeah, I'm not going to lie. That burst the proverbial bubble quite significantly. I had a wee mental breakdown but I won't go into that.

The more I think about it, the less worried I become about the potential of going by myself. Although, in saying that, I'll probably be shitting it when it's a week to go. However, I have two saving graces. The first saving grace is my cousin Michael who lives in Montreal. Although whenever I saw him at my auntie's conversation proved to be slightly difficult, I think I could make it work if I had to. My second saving grace is Fraser, who is over there right now doing his exchange, doing everything I will be doing. It will be nice to have a friend who's been there and done it and he's offered his help (which will be getting heavily utilised).

So all in all, future-wise, I am relatively positive. If only I could get some darn money saved up.

Also, I forgot to mention the one negative of Canada. In January and March, the temperatures do not tend to rise above freezing. For a girl who detests snow with a passion, the hope of escaping a winter without snow is sadly not going to be realised for a few years to come. I'll just have to dress up as an eskimo, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Clearly, it is that cold, her teeth have fallen out...

I think I'm all Canada'd out now. I feel like I'm annoying people by talking about incessantly so at least here, I have somewhere to stand on my soapbox and rant and rave!