Doctors, Essays, and Tourist Attractions

Ha! I suddenly remembered that I have a blog I've been neglecting for ages! The update has been on my to-do list, but first I've had to take care of more important (?), or at least more time-consuming stuff, which are:

- Familiarizing myself with Scottish health care
- Getting my essays done
- Exploring Scotland
- Acting as a host for Satu & Pasi
- Acting as an amateur online therapist for fucked-up friends.

That pretty much sums up all that I've been up to the past two weeks. A detailed description follows, as always. Not about the last point though, because as a therapist, I'm bound by discretion.

1. Getting Familiar with Scottish Health Care

First of all, you remember case #3 from the last post, the awful tinnitus I got from that loud flat party? Let's start with that.
So, on the Wednesday following the last post I decided to go and see a doctor about the beep, to find out whether it was something sinister or just some aftermath of the flu I had.
It wasn't all that easy, though. A bit of essential info: if you ever move to Scotland or to any place in the UK, be sure that you register with a local doctor straightaway. I didn't, and that's why I had to wait until the Friday to get an appointment. There are no such huge health centres here as in Finland, but only these wee street surgeries with 3-5 doctors. I couldn't find any huge private clinics either (like Diacor or Mehiläinen), just these little surgeries. Health care is not a profitable business here, it seems. And if you need to see a specialist, first you need to get a referral from your GP (general practitioner), stating your condition and why you need to see a specialist. Quite different from Finland, where you can surf the net for doctors, choose your preferred one, and book the appointment online. You can even choose to get a text message before your appointment to remind you.
This must be the first time I explicitly compare Scotland to Finland, but health care is one thing that really pisses you off if it doesn't work as efficiently and conveniently as back home.
ANYWAY. I got an appointment for that Friday 1,5 weeks ago. The doctor exceeded all my expectations, I loved him! He took me seriously, offered me some nasal spray to clear up my Eustachian tubes (korvatorvet, he suspected that they were blocked from the flu), and referred me to a private ENT specialist to explore my ears further. I also got some antibiotics for free from the University Health Services, in case I had an infection in my ears.
The tinnitus subsided a bit last week, thank god, but I still went to see that specialist on Thursday at Nuffield Hospital like planned (nice sightseeing, now I know that part of Glasgow as well). And what a relief! She ran some tests and found out that I have NO hearing damage whatsoever - in fact my hearing is excellent for my age. Her diagnosis was that my ears are extremely sensitive to loud noise, since the beep gets worse after noise exposure. There's no cure for it, but at least no I don't have to fear of being deaf in ten years. Since then, the beep has faded even more (now that I got my essays done and am no longer stressed out), and at this point I could deem the case closed. But seeing doctors was worthwhile though, now I know how the healthcare system works here and can boast about my excellent hearing ;)

2. Essays, essays, essays! Hate them!

The most plausible explanation for not keeping my blog up-to-date are the THREE 1250-to-1500-word essays due last week, one for the Scottish literature course and the other two for Culture and English Language Teaching. I made a personal record by writing one of them from start to finish within just 24 hours, something I've never done in my whole life (unless you count high school essays).
Just to take the above comparison between Scotland and Finland a bit further, I must share the printing show with you.
The CELT essays were due Wednesday at 3PM. I had taken my MacBook with me to Uni, 'cos I had to finish the last essay and wanted to avoid a 15-min queue for a PC before getting started.
I was finished at 2PM, and thought that an hour would be enough for printing. I couldn't print from my MacBook you see, so I had to allow for the PC queue and stuff, and I thought that an hour would be ok.

However, here's an important note for all of you studying in Glasgow: an hour is NOT enough for printing your essays! Allow at least two!

First, I stood in the queue for 15mins, cursing all those bastards who I saw surfing YouTube or some other all-important websites. Idiots! Don't you realise that some of us have essays due!
The queue didn't seem to be moving, so I gave up and sprinted to Round Reading Room, where you can always get a computer. I got one immediately, thank god, but I sighed way too early, since I didn't realise there was only ONE printer, and about 150 PCs! So, I waited, and I waited, and I waited. I got my papers in the end, only to find out that MS Word had messed up the margins and moved some subheadings in the last line of the previous page, so that the overall layout of the papers seemed utterly amateur. I couldn't tolerate it, perfectionist as I am, so I moved the headings back to their place, pressed the 'print' button again, and waited, and waited, and waited... Three minutes before the deadline the perfectionist in me gave up. Hands shaking, I stapled those amateur copies hysterically, and speeded like lightning to the English Department office. Made it! Just in time! But still! Fuckinell! I spent one hour for this printing show, and was compelled to hand in those frigging amateur copies! I hope the stupid layout doesn't affect the overall mark. So, all you exchange students out there, prepare for a show when you wish to print out your assignments...

3. Exploring Scotland and Hosting My Visitors

The past days haven't been all about seeing doctors and writing essays. I've also visited the noble town of St. Andrews, my beloved Edinburgh (again), and some tourist attractions of my home town, or acted as a host for Satu, my sister-in-law, and Pasi, her fiance.

First of all, St. Andrews, a week ago on a sunny Saturday. A lovely place. Great atmosphere, great ruins, great people. And Prince William. We didn't see him though. Damn. We saw:

- The ruins of a cathedral and of a castle, both dating back to the Middle Ages.
- A Scottish wedding and lots of men dressed up in kilts (gorgeous).
- Lots of colourful doors.
- A friendly old man (a local, but originally from the States), his lovely dogs and his lovely house covered in plant leaves.

The pictures speak for more than a thousand words.


St. Andrews Cathedral. Awesome ruins.


Gayathri climbing up inside St. Rules Tower.


The view from St. Rules Tower.


Lots of birdies in the towers! Hihi! :)


Graveyard.


Tombs. Wicked.


The castle front and me.


A jail in the castle. I wouldn't want to be thrown in there.


Then, last Monday I made a short visit to Edinburgh to meet Satu and Pasi, and mainly, to fetch the 3kg of bread and some other useful stuff (such as 0,5l of Salmari) they brought me from Finland. We climbed up the Calton Hill and had a dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Which was nice.


Satu and Pasi in Calton Hill.

Then on Wednesday, right after that notorious printing show, they came to Glasgow to stay with me overnight. It was kinda weird to act as a tourist guide when all I've seen of this city are the University area, local supermarkets, the main shopping streets, and people’s kitchens and flats. I did my best anyway. The first night we walked around the centre, had a dinner at Bella Italia and a pint at Drum & Monkey, and saw the seedy side of Glasgow's nightlife around the central station. Sitting comfortably inside the pub by the window, we witnessed, for example, a guy throw up in front of our eyes and saw another fellow rolling on a street totally hammered, 2m from passing cars. Next time I'll take my guests to the more civilised side of Glasgow, Ashton Lane and the West End.

On Thursday I gave them a quick tour of the University area and Byres Road, after which we headed to the centre again, first to a Celtic's store on Sauchiehall Street so that Pasi could buy a scarf, and then to the Cathedral. The Cathedral is truly worth a visit. It looks bleak on the surface but is actually quite impressing inside. And not infested by tourists, main point! Here are some pics to wonder at:


George Square and Satu's favourite lions.


It's spring here already! Can't you see the flowers!


Girls having a chat on University hill.


Glasgow Cathedral. Bleak outside, mysterious inside.


Glasgow Museum of Modern Art. Note the statue and his 'hat'.


Nothing else worth mentioning has happened.

Yesterday there were two parties on just 3 mins from my place. I was allowed to drink again (hated being on antibiotics!), gosh that Salmari tasted good! :D I've never fancied Salmari back home, but here I've started to miss the taste of salmiakki so much that even Salmari tastes awesome.
Today I started a new mission (now that I'm finished with the hiking boot show): I must find a backpack, since the one I use is breaking apart. I'll keep you informed on how this quest progresses.

This week is going to be the last week before the Easter Break, and Lauri is coming here on Wednesday :) At last!

I'll finish this post with a proof that I can't escape the teacher in me. This is all I got from St. Andrews:

A teacher-to-be cannot leave a tourist shop without buying some material for her future English classes! ;)