My final week in Dublin started off with a weekend in Scotland. One of my goals while being abroad was to go Scotland, and I’m glad that I was able to do so. It was a really fun trip , Edinburgh was probably my favorite city that I have been to. It was a really beautiful city. On the first day that we were there, we went on a hike. There was a big hill called and the top of the hill was called Arthur’s seat, and from up there you could see the whole city, which was really cool. After we walked back down, we went and sat in a park for a bit and got some ice cream. After that, we headed back into the city to tour the castle that was in the middle of town. It was a pretty interesting castle to see, they have the oldest still in use cathedral in the world. They said that people can still be married in there, although it is really small and costs a lot to actually be able to do that. After that we all went back to our hostels to get ready for dinner. We went to an Italian place which was pretty good. After that we started to look for places to go to for that night. We ended up finding a club that had a legit ball pit in it, that was pretty cool. We stayed there for a while and then actually ended up at an Irish bar after that which was a little ironic. That was it for our first day in Scotland.
For our second day in Scotland, about half of us went on a day tour up to Loch Ness. We left at eight in the morning, and so along the way there were a couple of stops for us to take pictures and see stuff. The first stop was at a rest stop that also had a couple of Scottish cows there, which they called “hairy coos”. It was fun to see them, you got to feed them potatoes and carrots for a dollar. One of my friends actually got hit in the head by one of the horns on the cow because she was a bit to close to it. After that we got back on the bus, and there were two places that we stopped in the highlands to take pictures. The highlands were really beautiful. I wish we could have had more time to walk around in them, that’s something I’d like to do if I ever get the chance to go back. The places that we stopped for pictures were really pretty. Then the next stop we had was for lunch. After we got our food, we went and looked around a souvenir shop for a little. I was able to do some shopping for my family which was good. After that we went straight to Loch Ness. While we were there, we toured some castle ruins and took a ferry ride across the loch. The ferry ride was probably my favorite part of the whole thing, I’ve always liked to go on the water. It was really cool getting to see the loch and the surrounding wilderness from the water. After that we got back on the bus and had one more stop in a little town that was on the way. We got dinner, and I also got some whiskey ice cream that the town was known for, which was really good. Then we got back on the bus and went back to Edinburgh.
From what I could tell, the way that “success” is defined is pretty close to how it is at home. Doing a good job and getting your work done on time is what was viewed as successful. I’d say that they are a bit more laid back in Ireland than they are in America. In America, I think that there are more expectations that are put on employees, and usually they can be higher expectations. I do think though that Americans care more about being more successful than the Irish do. Most things in America seem to be based on how successful you are, when in Ireland it isn’t really like that as much. It’s an interesting difference to see and be a part of. I think that we can take a page of their book and realize that not everything needs to be about how successful you are. I think that the Irish go about it in a healthier way.
