Living in Scotland at the moment I heard a lot about the Brexit situation, it is a very hot topic especially over here where 62% of the voters voted to remain in the European Union.

I thought I should ask one Scottish and one English friends there thoughts about the Brexit.

I have asked them three questions :

• What do you think about the Brexit situation ?
• Do you think that Scotland should leave the UK to join the EU back ?
• Do you think that leaving the EU will impact your life ? If yes how ?

Ailish 18 years old, form Isle of Bute (a small island on the west coast of Scotland) :

« I was not in favour of the Brexit vote as i voted to remain as part of the EU. I do not feel like Britain will be able to cope without some support from the EU, however, i have never lived in a Britain that was not part of the EU so i am somewhat inexperienced in a way.

I do not believe this would be the right time for Scotland to be independent from Britain. The EU have made it clear they would not welcome Scotland back into the EU even if we were independent from Britain anyway. In 2014 i voted for Scotland to be independent but that was because we would still be part of the EU. I do not believe Scotland would have the resources to survive on it’s own, separate from Britain and the EU.

I believe Brexit will have an impact on my life, especially as a student. When i get into my 3rd or 4th year i may get the opportunity to study abroad, like Alexandra. However this will be made more difficult and more expensive as it will not be as simple to travel abroad. »

Chris, 21 years old, from England :

” Terrible, I expected us to stay in and found out that we’re going to leave. Very disappointed.

I’d prefer Scotland to stay with us, but seeing our current situation, I wouldn’t surprised if they leave, it’s their decision after all.

To some degree, yes I think there will be a difference. Travel will be more expensive, and international job opportunities might be a little more awkward than if we were still in the EU.”

alouedec

Scotland has its own government since 1999. The government is led by a first minister, who is Nicola Sturgeon at the moment, she is also the leader of the Scottish National Party. She is the first woman to hold that position.

The headquarters of the government are in Edinburgh as well as the Scottish parliament. The parliament counts 129 members elected called the MSPs which stands for Members of Scottish Parliament.

The original Scottish parliament existed from the 13th century until Scotland merged with England.

At the present time the Scottish National Party is the party who have the most MSPs at the parliament, indeed they have 63 seats over 129.

SNP is the largest party of Scotland in term of membership, it is a pro european party.

See you next week

alouedec

In Scotland, the traditions are still very strong in the society. The Scottish identity is very important here to everyone, even young people feel very proud of their customs. Today I am going to talk about few of the most iconic habits in Scotland.

• The kilt :

  I was very surprised when I first arrived in Dundee to see men actually wear a kilt. I have asked my Scottish friends who told me that wearing a kilt is very normal in Scotland for special occasions such as weddings for example. However you can see boys wearing a kilt in a club or at Uni for example. The kilt tradition comes from the Highlands, the tartan of the kilt was at first a way to know from which family each person was from.

• The music :

  The traditional Scottish music is still very present in Scotland and not only in touristy shops ! It is very common to hear some traditional music in the street. The instruments used to play this music are : the fiddle, the accordion, pipes and chanter, guitar and clarsac.

  

• The highlands games :

  Their are a lot of events during the summer, nearly each city has her own Highland Game. The Highland Games are composed by few heavy contests the most well known is the trunk throw.

  

• The Scotch Whisky :

  The Scotch is a whisky which is made in Scotland. To be consider as a Scotch Whisky, the whisky produced in Scotland as to follow some laws like being aged in oak barrels for at least three years.

• The haggis :

  The haggis is the most emblematic food of Scotland, it is a pudding which contains : sheep’s pluck, onion, oatmeal, suet, spiced and salt mixed with stock encased traditionally in the sheep stomach. However today if you buy haggis there is great chances that an artificial casing will be used rather than the traditional animal’s stomach.
  The haggis is actually very well loved in Scotland, you can find it in cans or you can choose to taste it in a burger for example.
  The haggis as a major importance in the traditional Scottish breakfast but it is mostly eaten as a starter.

Scottish people have as well their own language, their own banks and government.

See you next week !

alouedec

If you are thinking about studying at Abertay University next year you might have already looked at the modules catalogue. It is kind of hard to figure out what your courses will be like only with a small description, that’s why I decided to present you the modules that I am studying. In France I am in L3, in Abertay I have a module from the second year and two from third year because here students start since the first year to really study accounting. In Abertay you only need to take three modules to validate your semester.

• Financial Accounting :

This module is from the second year programme, I am very happy that I took it because otherwise I would have had a hard time to manage my second accounting module. For this module I have one hour of lecture and two hours tutorial, however we are only 10 students in this module so the lecture and the tutorial look the same.
For this course as for every other one I am studying here the lecturers are really organized and they show you the module schedule on the first class so you are fully aware of what you are going to study.

As you can see we studied consolidation during the first half of the semester and now we are going to start to look at smaller subjects.

In this modules you have to give back an essay which counts for 30% of your grade for the semester, this year the topic is ” Integrated Reporting “.

Next week ( week 7 ) is feedback week so you can go to the class and ask your questions which is great because we had our first mock exam this week.

• International Financial Accounting :

For this module the lecturer is the same that for Financial accounting, it is the rest of the first module. I am not sure I would have understood this module without the first one.

We change topic every two weeks which makes this module very interesting. The final exam counts for 100% of your grade.

For those two modules the textbook is the same, I would recommend buying it if you want to work at home because you may have some lacks of knowledge on some of those topics.

Even if you will find a lot of informations and exercises on your intranet.

• Corporate Finance :

This module is the best of those three in my opinion. The lecturer is really good, he explains every concept very clearly so it makes it very easy to understand.
In this module like in every modules you feel like the lecturer really wants you to succeed. At the end of the lectures as on the end of the tutorials you have to take a ” clicker ” and press a number between 1 and 4, 1 means you perfectly understood everything and 4 means you didn’t understand anything.

This module is very interesting and because the lecturer used to work in banks he gives you real life situation to illustrate a concept, it makes the module less theoretical and way more captivating.

I hope you will find this post helpful.

See you next week

alouedec

When you are studying abroad meeting new people from all over the world is the most important part of your experience, even more important than the studying part.

At Abertay university there is a lot of international students, it is something the university is very proud of. It allows Scottish students to meet foreign people and discover new cultures and it gives to all students the feeling of being part in a very cosmopolitan community.

Since I am here I have met a lot of new friends. I have asked some of them three questions :

• Why did you choose to study abroad ?
• Why did you choose Abertay university ?
• After one month here what are your thought on this experience ?

Here are there answers :

Janna, 20 years old from Germany

” I am Janna and I am studying 3 modules in Computer Arts. That means drawing 2D and also working 3D mainly for video games but also maybe later for movies.

I study abroad because I could choose between either doing a project, an internship or an exchange semester. I chose that because I wanted to experience new stuff.

I chose Abertay because of the offered modules and I wanted to study in Scotland.

I really like my first month and I am glad I did this. I also learned a lot until now.”

Elisa, 25 from Italy :

” Hi, I am Elisa and I am studying international human ressources management.

I decided to study abroad because I wanted to have an international experience and improve my english skills.

To be honest Abertay university was my last choice, however I am still happy to be here and to be able to speak english.

My first month here was ok. I am happy because I found a part-time job here and I am discovering a new country which is great.”

Friedemann, 25, from Germany

” My name is Friedemann, 25, from Germany and studying Forensic Science (Bsc) in my final year.

Actually my mum had to convince me to go abroad. I thought it would only make sense studying abroad if you want to work somewhere else afterwards. But there is so much more to gain than just going to university.

I applied for two universities; Keele University in England and Abertay. The decision was made by our international officer who wanted to enable every student to go abroad.

The scottish way of studying is completely different from what Im used to. Back home we have so much more to do for experiments and lectures. Here it’s so much easier and less effort. On the other hand, they expect from you to do more on your own for university. No wonder I go out almost every day with friends having a beer or just chill somewhere. ”

Nicola, 21 from Switzerland

“Hi, my name is Nicola, I am 21 years old and live in Switzerland.

I chose to study abroad because I wanted to experience something completely different than what I was used to at home.

I chose Abertay because of its degrees, which are unique in Europe and cater the best to what I aim to accomplish once I finished studying. I chose to study Game Design and Production Management.

It has been going pretty smoothly so far. I still feel like I am not at 100% yet, but everything and everyone around me have been very fulfilling and interesting. ”

Thank you to Janna, Elisa, Friedemann and Nicola for answering those questions.

See you next week !

alouedec