As counter intuitive as it may sound, the lack of "grinding" & its social acceptability in European dancing just makes things MORE AWKWARD! Yes, I am fully aware that the idea of some random guy entering into one's personal space (See attached link for diagram)while getting one's funkk on seems both like an assault and he definition of "awkward", yet last night when I found myself on the dance floor of the ONLY "club" (of sorts) in St. Andrews, I quickly came to the realization that I missed American’s assault on one’s personal bubble.

Let me explain: Last night Erin, Mike & I met up with a UofM student that has been studying abroad at St. Andrews since the beginning of the year – Hannah (Confusing, I know. Roommate Hannah will be thus known as “Roomie” to deter confusion). After meeting & loving nearly every person in her hall, we proceeded to walk to ‘The Lizard’ which is he only club in the little town of Fife, but in actuality is a very tiny, one room, crowded basement of a bar with an illuminated dance floor. It being located down the street from me made the walk to this one roomed “club” that much easier. I had been warned that there was no dancing with guys in European dancing prior to this excursion, but I NEVER thought it would really make a difference. Dancing is dancing; no matter the country. Oh how I was wrong. On this tiny, crowded, glowing dance floor I found myself trying to edge into a circle with the group of girls I came with, with guys standing on the outskirts emanating pure discomfort. Having Mike in our group made this social difference that much more apparent. He didn’t know whether to dance next to us, near us, or just slink to the outskirts with the afraid-looking men.

But what occurred to me during this dancing fiasco, was the question: How in the world do you meet people then? NOT saying that I need to be danced all up on to meet someone, because more often than not you don’t, but everyone seemed to stick in their own small group, waving their hands around, ignoring or disrupting the tiny group of waving girls next to them. Perhaps the dance floor just isn’t the place to meet anyone at all, and me (Miss Naïve grinding American) just isn’t aware of that. I guess I am now. Also, Note to self: NEVER listen to another Rihanna song when you get back home to America. You will have your fill (Plus a bit more) here.

That excursion explained, I’ll jump earlier into yesterday & tell of our little shopping adventure into Dundee. Dundee is a city only about a 30min bus trip out of St. Andrews. After deciding to stay in St. Andrews for the weekend and not making a long weekend trip to Edinburgh, Erin, the Roomie & I decided that we wanted to take a day trip to Dundee to not void the entire weekend of some new adventure. Having asked around, we were told that there really isn’t anything to do in Dundee but shopping – which we were not against in the least. We were also repeatedly told that Dundee was “a dump” and nicknamed by the locals as “Slumdee”. Having been misinformed about Glasgow & its comparison to Detroit, we thought we should save our judgment until we saw for ourselves.

After trekking to the bus station only a block away from my dorm, we find that our bus is already there and near departure. We scramble on, and after being berated by a bitter bus driver for “Grabbing the ticket wrong”, we took our seats at the back of the bus and sat back to enjoy the country side. Have I mentioned that bus drivers here KNOW HOW TO GET WORK DONE! With NO exaggeration, I feel as though their huge double decker status gives them MORE confidence where a little apprehension should probably take place. Despite (what I thought) the many near collisions with wee cars, we enjoyed the trip because we were finally able to see the landscape of Scotland! Picture what you think is Scotland: rolling hills, wandering sheep, tiny dirt lanes, cobblestone walls randomly placed. Yep, you’ve got the general idea of the landscape from Fife to Dundee. By the time we entered the city of Dundee, Erin, Hannah & I had come to the conclusion that we needed to make a goal to hug a sheep before we leave Scotland. The Serta commercials are just too convincing, so wish us luck on this ambitious endeavor.


At first, I didn’t see what everyone was so flustered about. The center of Dundee looks like any great city. The bus dropped us off RIGHT in the center of the city & therefore in front of the mall (NEVER say mall, its “Shopping center”) and shopping lanes. We merely had to turn around to see our new favorite store, PRIMARKS! Where the quality might be low, but for $5 boots & $3 dresses, what do you expect? (Mary & Marty, this store is a MUST on our agenda when you come. Please make sure to remind me to add it into our agenda). After nearly an hour in Primarks & then a succession of shopping within the mall. Three shirts, a pair of boots, bracelets, tights, and only $15 later… we decided to see a bit of Dundee outside the Shopping centers. Between stores we ran into gorgeous churches, quant lanes, and random art galleries. But we found that outside of the nearly 4 block square of the center of town, there really was nothing else. With empty stores, questionable buildings and boarded up windows, we realized that outside of the happy little shopping center, Dundee REALLY was nothing else. During our bus ride out of Dundee and toward St. Andrews, it became apparent to Erin & I that Dundee mirrored Detroit more than anyone had let on. It looked like a beaten & forgotten city, just as Detroit is.


While Glasgow may mirror Detroit’s propensity for crime, Dundee seemed to be its exact image in its ware & tear. As many people don’t give Detroit, I am probably not giving Dundee it’s due. As an outsider I have no idea the reality behind Dundee and I actually heard that there is an AMAZING sports center located somewhere within the town that allows people (after April 1st) to raft, scale mountains & jump into rivers below etc. I never thought this was available in SCOTLAND or anywhere outside of central America or something, so THIS is was I am MOST excited for in Dundee, and it is what I will be dragging my father to when he comes to see me (: SO GET YOUR ADVENTURE TROUSERS ON PADRE!


Not much else occurred when we arrived back at St. Andrews beside hunger and meeting the fellow Michigan girl and her floor. I have a quiet weekend ahead of me, so hopefully going to catch up on my Robert Louis Stevenson novel! Had a little bit of homesickness this morning /: so quick Hello’s via skype or FB or (if your feeling reaaally ambitious, MAIL!) would be greatly appreciated.

I love you all<3