I am Eli Johnson, a junior studying Creative Writing at the College of Charleston, and am currently studying abroad at the University of Stirling in Stirling, Scotland. One of the reasons that I picked Stirling out of all the other wonderful choices I was provided with by the CIE was primarily because of Scottish history and culture. So I was even more pleasantly surprised when I saw the beauty of the campus as well. But, I have always been extremely interested in the way of life in the UK, and more specifically in Scotland. So it was very exciting to research more about the history of this country before I decided to come from across the pond. I mainly focused on the culture of Scotland and how it is different from American culture. I found that many said that the people of Scotland are extremely nice and very interested in talking about politics, two things that could be debated are true in all American cultures. After conducting this research a few of my goals became very clear of what I wanted to accomplish while studying abroad. One was to gain a better understanding of their culture as a whole. To try new foods, especially haggis, and be more open to differences that may be shocking to Americans. Another, and in my opinion, the most important, is to go and see as much of the country as possible. Similar to the United States, the culture is affected by the environment and I would like to have the best understanding of the culture as possible, so that means going out and seeing as much as I can! I am very excited to explore everything that Scotland has to offer from their food and culture to their beautiful landscapes and lochs, that may or may not have a hidden monster inside.