The Actual Scotland Post and My Experience with the NHS

I know I mentioned Scotland in the title of the previous post and then proceeded to only talk about Wales, but this time I promise I will actually talk about my Scotland trip especially considering it's actually finished now.

Scotland was, honestly, very fun, but getting there was perhaps the one of the greatest hassles I have ever faced. For starters, I got a pretty nasty stomach bug after I got back from Wales that I thought was going away by the time I started my journey. If you pay close attention, I'm using a literary tool called "foreshadowing". I left for London Euston Station where I would catch a train to Glasgow and arrived incredibly early, as one should so that they can get through security and all that. Imagine my surprise when I show up and find out that train stations are nothing like airports and have no security, like, not even a metal detector. I board my train about an hour later and head north to Scotland. I was sadly unable to enjoy the English countryside as it was already dark by that point. I then arrived in Glasgow for my 8 hour layover, which I thought would be a simple waiting game at the train station. However, I quickly learned another way train stations don't operate like airports: train stations actually close. I now had no where to stay in Glasgow until the train station opened again the next morning. For 8 hours. On Halloween night. I spent the first 4 hours bouncing between KFC and McDonalds and then another hour and a half on a bus bench somewhere. Thankfully, the Queen Street Station opened around 5:30 in the morning, so I was able to sit somewhere and sleep for a bit.

However, you remember that stomach bug I mentioned earlier? It was becoming apparent to me that it was only getting worse, which was only compounded when I couldn't find a bathroom for several hours. Eventually, I caught my train to Oban and arrived at around 11:30 that morning. I hadn't been to this town in 10 years and when I stepped out, I found... that absolutely nothing had changed.

This is basically exactly how I remember it back in 2014, minus any EU flags that may have once flown. Despite my stomach bug, I did have a great time in Oban and enjoyed some amazing food. I visited the old Oban distillery again and even booked a ferry out to the Isle of Mull and got some amazing sites of the Argyll sea.

It was wonderful to return to the home of my ancestors. Argyll is home to many ancient Scottish clans including the MacDougalls, whom I am a descendent of. However, I could only stay for a weekend as I had classes waiting for me, so I hopped a train back to Glasgow and then back to London. That night, though, by stomach bug was getting so bad, I called the NHS hotline and told them what the issue was. The next morning, they called me back and recommended I go to the Kingston hospital.

I arrived and had to fill out some paper work since I wasn't registered with them and then proceeded to spend most of my day waiting as the hospital was pretty packed at the time. On the bright side, they weren't wrong when they said healthcare was free in the UK. I didn't have to pay a dime, but part of me would honestly have paid for it to go faster. They determined it was nothing serious and I went to the Putney Mead doctor (I am registered with them as a patient of the Student Medical Center at Roehampton) who are still running some tests. I should probably call them soon, but I feel better now. Anyhow, because there's no Thanksgiving in the UK, Christmas time has already begun and I need some decorations and cookies.