Scotland- And There It Goes

Well, that’s it. As depressing as it is to say it like that, it’s true. Scotland is done, at least for now. This will be the last blog post for this one. I’m sure somewhere down the line I’ll get another one up but for now, this is it. These are my notes, in point form to save time, from the past 8 months. This isn’t a complete list I’m sure, and isn’t in order, but it’s good enough.

- Learned a lot of sweet new words

- learned more about drugs and drug use than chemistry ever taught me

- discovered what actual wind feels like. Constant and cold.

- learned to brew world class beer where I picked up the best habits of all the brewers

- was introduced to Johnny Cupcakes

- watched loads of TV shows (how I met your mother, big bang theory, the league etc.)

- went to England to see friends and drink

- tried over 250 new beers

- made lots of friends and connections in the industry

- learned loads about whisky

- got dickered twice (probably not what you think it means)

- I hate tourists despite being one. That makes me Scottish, right? Don’t come to Fringe and see the castle. Go see a show you stingy cunts

- train travel is fun and way cheaper than home

- living alone blows and I need people around to keep my sane

- people here are absolutely amazing and much nicer

- North Americans are loud apparently (I’d argue its more Americans, not Canadians)

- I love Canadian stereotypes and being Canadian more than anything

- I fell in love with this country and it breaks my heart to leave. The shitty thing about travelling is that you have to leave. If you don’t leave, you aren’t travelling are you?

- If there are any hot Scottish girls reading this, I wouldn’t mind moving back and living here down the road. ;)

- I like my beard and think I look better with it

- I love my family to bits but only in small doses

- My liver can take more now and I get less hung over for some reason. Training?

- If I’m not learning anything, I hate my life

- Rain is okay, but rainy days are amazing when you are inside. Thunder storms are still better and don’t really exist here

- I need to learn how to say goodbye so I don’t blurt out things I don’t mean and lose friends because of it. #idiot

- I’m much more drawn to performing than I’ve ever realized. I just love comedy, magic and everything Fringe has to offer. Very inspirational

- Nessie is a fuck face and never said hi

- I don’t know where I’m going but it isn’t where I am right now

- I have a problem with authority but not due to lack of entitlement

- I don’t want to just know beer, I want to know everything about the beverage industry including coffee. I will learn coffee.

- My friends mean the world to me and losing friends might be the worst thing ever

- Sorting out rooms and roommates from across the pond is a bit tricky

- I can wake up and have perfectly coherent conversations at any time

- There are no calories when travelling or at the pub. Beer does not have calories. Science fact of the day

- My hands a very beat up and tough but I now have a high tolerance to heat

- I’m a list maker (case and point right here) and count on my fingers (like I’m 4)

- Scotland has lots of sheep

- Edinburgh felt more like home than Fraserburgh ever did

- The collective group of men known as douche bags seem to be in smaller numbers

- The Scottish breakfast is actually one of the most amazing meals

- The people here are probably the nicest in the world (aside from Canadians of course)

- When in doubt, use more hops

- Trains are better than busses any day of the week

- The people I worked with are some of the greatest people I’ve ever met ever

- I might be repeating points but don’t really care because that’s how important they are

- I don’t have a drinking problem, I hardly ever spill

- Travelling takes a lot out of you but it is well worth it

- Coffee is for the weak and sleep is a bit overrated

- Cask ale isn’t all shit but BrewDog is by FAR better than it can ever be

- BrewDog bar staff are all amazing but I do have to say that Edinburgh is tied with Aberdeen, and Glasgow I just don’t know well enough

- The only animal more common to see in the fields than sheep are the noble Haggis

- I can now hear Canadian accents and yes, they do sound a bit like the stereotypes

- The word “out” is how most people distinguish Canadians from Americans

- No one likes gingers, not even gingers. Bit of a pickle isn’t it?

- Scottish Duty Free shops have a better whisky selection than the LCBO. Fail.

- Harry Potter might have been “born” in Edinburgh but he isn’t Scottish. He never gets drunk

- I love everything about beer from ideas to brewing and consumption

- I love people but fuck are most of them retarded

- “Awesome” is a very north American word to say which is too bad. It’s an awesome word.

- School sucks and at the end of the day, a degree isn’t much more than bragging rights. Marks don’t mean shit

- Engineers are useless and need to get proper jobs. Wankers

- When you do something stupid you need to laugh it off. Stupid things are usually the best stories

- Having a childs attitude but an adults intelligence is a dangerous mix. I’m bound to get beat up

There are many more and coming home is like nothing changes. As I type this I'm sitting in Northern Quebec looking out over the water on a patio at a sick chalet with 2 great friends and beer. Life is good but I miss Scotland already. I might see you guys sooner than later.

Cheers

bt

August 3- Pure Excitement

Let me start by saying that I am on night shift so I'm posting this at my 4 am. Why? I'm not really sure but I woke up and can't get back to sleep so I thought getting some of my excitement out on the web might help me get some more sleep before work.

This next month of my life could very well by the most epic and very drunk month of my life. These are my plans and I can't wait to execute them.

This Saturday I'm heading down to Edinburgh to see my mate Chris, get a small taste of the Fringe Festival and hang out with my good friend Laura before she heads back to the land of fat people, baseball and god blessing everyone. This is only phase 1.

On Monday I'm heading back down to Edinburgh for 3 nights to get a real taste of Fringe. Last time I was down I saw the city just at the start of the summer just as the tourists started to come (I say that like I live there but hey, in a year or 2 it will be home. How ballin' is that?) . I'm stoked to see the city and Fringe at its busiest. I know I'm going to see lots of shows (whatever is free at least) and meet lots of people. I plan on doing what was suggested to me by my friend George. Go around and tell blatant lies to tourists about statues, buildings and the lot. This has to be fun since one of my favourite things to do is mess with people.

After coming back up here I only have 5 shifts left. That is a scary small number and can't really believe it. That is almost 8 months gone and I'm still wondering where the last 7 went. Then I have a MUSA dinner before I go, then 1 more shift. After my last shift I am heading straight out to Glasgow to see the new bar. This might be the most exciting moment of it all because I hear nothing less than it's amazing.

From Glasgow I'm heading to Edinburgh for 2 nights to meet up with my friend Mike who is coming up from Reading for the weekend. Seeing as how we both managed to get jobs in the UK it would be stupid not to get together in the best city during its busiest and raid the BrewDog bar for all it has. That weekend will again be very messy.

After I wake up on the Monday I'm back up here to finish packing my stuff, say my goodbyes and then heading back to Aberdeen for my last night in Scotland. Obviously I'll be spending it at the BrewDog bar as this will be the last time (I'm tearing up thinking about it) I'll get to drink BrewDog beer for a long time since I can't get it in Ontario. This is also the last BrewDog bar experience I'll have for at least a year. I might need to come visit next summer for a week or 2.

After I spend a day in and out of airports I'll be home and I gotta admit I'm looking forward to it. While Scotland is great this town is a bit dead and seeing people will be amazing. I also miss driving (on the correct side of the road, the right) and a ton of other little things. I'm only home for 1 night, cramming seeing my family, especially my cousins Blake and Brooke, into the next half a day before I head off to Hamilton to move into school (shivers). I have a night there and then I'm off on my road trip for 2 weeks. Tours set up for Brooklyn, Dogfish Head, Flying Dog and Southern Tier. There are also a bunch of other perks including a saturday night in Montreal (bound to be epic) and a few days in NYC. If anyone has suggestions as to where I should go and what I should see in New York, let me know. It isn't all about beer.

This seems like it might be the "August of Dreams" and let us hope it turns out that way. I'll be keeping you posted in this space with updates as to how it all progresses in Scotland. Once I leave I'll probably start up a YouTube channel for the US trip and then who knows after that. Maybe I'll just travel the world and not go back to school. All I know is that this year will be the best year of my life and school is going to be taking a back seat to travelling, brewing and living (it already did the past few years but my schedule is such a joke I could just forget it and still pull off A's).