In a Dear Green Place

I’ve been a barely employed student for so long that I can’t really imagine what it would be like to have money. And I don’t think I’ll be faced with that prospect for awhile. Just a week ago I was again reminded of how much education costs these days. I’ve tried not to let it get me down however. I’ll continue living in sweet denial. Before I start cashing in those massive checks that teachers get I can still live the good life while being totally skint. Here’s some stuff I’ve enjoyed over the last couple of weeks that has been free or nearly free.

On the cultural side: our class got a real treat last week when Liz Lochhead, the poet Laureate of Glasgow and the writer in residence for the University, graced our seminar with her presence. She read some of her poetry and from a couple of her award-winning plays. The day before had been pretty crappy with worries about school and money and other annoying things. Liz was just great and that class totally made my day, my week even. I was hoping to have some of her stuff to post but I haven’t been able to get any of her books from the library yet. I’ll have to add another entry when I do just to share the beauty. There’s something so satisfying and inspiring hearing poetry read out loud, even more so when it’s read by the artist themselves. I never get tired of listening to people talk here in Scotland so that also adds another level of enjoyment to the poetry readings I’ve attended. Cost: 0, enjoyment: immense.

On the food front, I’ve found some great places to eat lately. I don’t eat out often but I do love finding good restaurants. A few weeks back a friend and I popped into a Greek place called the Parthenon up on Great Western Road for lunch. It’s very reasonable and the food was wonderful. Very filling and comforting on a chilly day. Just yesterday I decided to treat myself to a solo lunch and tried an Italian bistro in Ashton Lane. The highlight for me was the roasted pepper and goat’s cheese brusquetta. Cost: Under 8₤, food: great.

Lastly, I got a real treat yesterday morning. I have a friend who’s training to be a complementary therapist at the CCC in town. She’s nearly finished, licensed and everything and I got the first of a couple of free full-body massages yesterday morning. Apparently she has to do a case study over the next few weeks and I’m the lucky winner. The only downside was that I was so relaxed that I found it hard to concentrate in class afterwards. But my friend says that next time we’ll use oils to invigorate the mind. Cost: 0, benefits: immeasurable.

I may be living on very little but I’m living well. Glasgow is so full of wonderful things to do and I’ve only scratched the surface. If you know of a good place to eat around here, do let me know. My parents are coming to visit in the spring and I can’t wait to show them some good food (as well as other things of course).

This entry was posted on Friday, November 17th, 2006 at 4:40 pm and is filed under Glasgow. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.