St Andrews, Scotland
Welcome to my blog :)
My name is Megan and I've been living in St Andrews for the past year studying Scottish Historical Research.
I've had an incredible time and I wish I had been documenting this experience from day one.
I've managed to take some amazing photos. So each post in this blog is going to be devoted to me reminiscing about my time in Scotland. I will share some of my photos and memories. Hopefully this blog will inspire people to study abroad or visit Scotland.
St Andrews is a beautiful place to live. This photo was taken around Halloween and it is a bit spooky with the purply-pink sky. This is one of my favorite places to walk to in St Andrews because it's often quiet. When it gets sunny outside I love to get a local Janetta's icecream and just walk along the coast. As well, around the first week of September loads of firework shows are set up here and you can sit along the east sands and watch them.
This year I lived at David Russel Apartments (DRA) and Fife Park Apartments which is student housing located on the outskirts of St Andrews. It's about 10-20 minutes walk/bike from town depending how slow you are. 2 minute bus ride. The flats are pretty nice, I had my own double sized bed and a bathroom. Then then kitchen and living room was shared with four other room mates. It was very VERY VERY over priced, but that is Scotland for you. It was about 900$ Canadian X5 people for a little flat. This uni is probably making a fortune. Anyways, unlike my experience studying at Stirling University, the staff did not clean common areas or take out garbage. So good luck if you end up living with messy people. The good thing about these places though is there was no mold yet because the buildings are relatively new. In almost every building built in Scotland before 2000 there is a mold problem... so be weary of that when looking for a place to live. Scotland does not have the same standards of living as Canada/ USA. Even the university's gym had mold all over the walls and windows which was unfortunate and terrible for your health. Anyways. Don't let that get you down. When in Scotland pay a LOT extra for your health :) and exercise outdoors.
This is my girly dorm room. I purchased the cheapest blanket I could find from ARGOS.COM. Sadly, argos has shut down in St Andrews but you can find a lot of cheap blankets at Primark and shops in Dundee which is about 20 mins away from St Andrews. As you can see the room is quite spacious for a dorm room. The bed is originally in the middle of the room with two nightstands on either side. I decided to move the bed to the window for more room. Then I placed one of the night stands under the computer desk. The room also comes with a book shelf and a large poster board for pictures. The bathroom is pretty weird by North American standards. It reminded me of a bathroom in a boat where the shower and the toilet are basically one. There is an inch step down into the shower and a curtain. But no one i know uses the curtain cause it does nothing. EVERYTHING WILL get wet. I've also discovered that people who leave their doors open while showering will set off the fire alarms ahhaha So if you ever live in DRA don't do that.
Other negatives to this room: The walls are paper thin so you will be able to hear everything all around you. The beds are steal frame and very squeaky and loud and the sound carries if you know what I mean. All the doors are heavy fire doors and constantly slam. So all you will hear throughout the building is fire doors slamming and beds squeaking. But you will get used to it... most of the time. Sadly, Scottish builders only made kitchen drawers have that feature where it slows down before it closes so it doesn't slam.
What else.... Oh the rooms have hotel like card keys and if you want to keep your bedroom unlocked you double dip the key. Sometimes it doesn't work though and you get locked out of your room. The warden/porter will only come and unlock your door if its during a certain time of the day... or when it is convenient for them. You haven't lived at DRA unless you've been locked out of your room for hours. One time it took 3 people to come unlock my door for me. The first person came to tell me they wouldn't unlock it until after lockout period. Even though they had the key to unlock it they said it was university policy to wait until a certain time. So he left. Then two ladies returned a few hours later and unlocked it for me. THAT IS ST ANDREWS FOR YOU. NO RATIONAL sense at all.
Other negatives. The heater is set on a timer. So it works from like 7am to 2pm and then is off until I think 7pm. Then it turns off at 11pm and isn't on ALL NIGHT. I don't know about you but I for one like to be warm at night and don't give a crap if the heater is on in the day when I'm moving around. So that was a bit lame.
Positive: Already mentioned no mold. Dry. DRA organizes loads of social events so you can meet other students. That's about it. It's probs the best accommodation in St Andrews sadly LOL I mean look at it, the walls are painted and the carpet is new. It's quite nice. But the building was just built very VERY poorly.
That's a view of my room before I moved the bed to the window. You can see the white bathroom door. Then hiding on the opposite side is a wardrobe closet with some shelves and hangers that came with the room.
This is the main path that leads from DRA into town, pass the sports center, down a hill, pass the chemistry buildings and math buildings, up a hill, pass the museum, and lawn bowling and tennis... then there's the bus station and TOWN :) I caved and bought a bike from Argos online. You can find cheap used bikes in the beginning of the year all over the place too if you don't want to buy anything new.
It's definitely worth it if you live in DRA and want to get around fast. Just be careful biking in town because you haven't lived in St Andrews unless you've been hit by a car. I've been hit by a car on my bike and nearly everyone I know who owns a bike here has been hit by a car. People here don't really understand how to drive. They go through stop signs a lot, they go through red lights. They don't know what a cross walk is. I don't think they shoulder check. After I got hit by a car on my bike I decided to only bike from DRA to the museum. Sometimes you might get yelled at by old women to not bike through the museum path... but they can mind their own business. I've had old ladies yell at me for having my bike on a side walk too... so watch out for that. British old women in St Andrews can be snappy. Anyways I tried my best to just stay safe. Even as a pedestrian you have to be careful because drivers don't stop for cross walks unless you're like holding a baby. Solution! Carry around a fake baby and stroller??? You can use the stroller to carry books LOL I'm kidding. Seriously just be safe while walking and biking around St Andrews. Definitely wear lights... even though that probably won't do any good. Do not trust any cars because they honestly can't drive properly.
That's about it on this post about living in St Andrews and DRA.
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