Freshers’ Week

Posted by Kalie on September 30, 2009

I’ll first give you a little background as to what Freshers’ Week is.  The term “fresher” refers to a student in their first year of college, as well as someone who is new to the university.  Freshers’ Week is basically a week to become accustomed to the Uni and Aberdeen, register for classes, meet new people, and have lots of fun!  (Imagine the Big Red Welcome weekend.  For an entire week.  On steroids (or more fittingly, alcohol.))

Freshers’ Week began as soon as I landed at the Aberdeen airport on Saturday.  I was greeted by a group of Aberdonians wearing pirate garb (to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day), who gave me a free ride to my flat and I settled in.  I did the typical ‘sign up for classes, take a campus tour, go to Visa meetings’ stuff, but it’s boring and you probably don’t want to read about it.  So onto more exciting stuff…

Throughout the week I became somewhat of a regular at The Watering Hole, the on-campus pub less than 200 meters from my flat.  It’s a nice place to watch a football (soccer) game and hang out with friends.  I’ve been meeting lots of new people from all over the world (France, Germany, Hong Kong, Finland, etc.).  One day I went with my French friend, Mathilde, to the ocean.  Another day I walked all around the beautiful Seaton Park in between my flat and campus with my German flatmate, Sarah.

I signed up for a handful of societies and “gave them a go” during Freshers’ Week.

• Aberdeen University Scottish Dance Society – This society teaches both the Ceilidh and Highland dances.  I have already learned several Ceilidh dances, and would like to focus more on the Highland dancing because it is an individual dance and not a group dance like the other (I don’t know how many Ceilidh’s I’ll be attending back in the states).
• Celtic Society – The Celtic Society gets together once every fortnight at the Blue Lamp pub to listen to Scottish music, poetry, dance, and have a good time.
• International Student Society – This huge society hosts a number of events that take students outside of Aberdeen to see more of Scotland.  I’m hoping to take a trip with them to the North Coast and Edinburgh around Christmas.

To top off a great Freshers’ Week, I attended the Freshers’ Fling.  This Ceilidh took place in downtown Aberdeen at a club.  As this was my first clubbing experience, I completely forgot to bring my ID, but they let me in anyway.  :)  I got to try out my newly learned Ceilidh dancing skills, and taste some traditional tatties (mashed potatoes) – a very Scottish way to end a my first Scottish week!

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