UK 2026 | Day 5

2026-06-29T13:17:01+00:00

Glasgow -> Edinburgh -> St. Andrews Fasten your seatbelts (as our bus driver Ali told us) for a wild ride as we traveled from west to east in Scotland!  We woke up in the wee hours of the morning, grabbed our nicely packed breakfast bags, and departed Glasgow for Edinburgh. Study tour group photo in front of the Edinburgh Futures Institute Upon arrival at Edinburgh, we were ushered into the new Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI), which has only been opened for a few years. Previously, it housed the Old Royal Infirmary (1879-2003), which is reflected in the motto and [...]

UK 2026 | Day 52026-06-29T13:17:01+00:00

UK 2026 | Day 4

2026-06-29T19:25:51+00:00

Welcome to Scotland! (Fun fact: Scotland has about 30% of UK land but only 8% of its people.) We woke up to another unseasonably warm and gorgeous day in the UK and made our way to the University of Glasgow. Our student accommodations—simple bedrooms with small en suite wet-room-style bathrooms and a shared kitchen on each floor—were a short ride through the city’s West End past lush botanical gardens and streets lined with historic 19th-century sandstone buildings. Upon arrival, university staff member Charlie led us into the Gilbert Scott Building, the university’s most iconic structure, where ceremonies bookend the student experience [...]

UK 2026 | Day 42026-06-29T19:25:51+00:00

UK 2026 | Day 3

2026-06-25T22:35:34+00:00

We started the morning off at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) with a welcome and campus tour. I have included a couple of slides from our opening presentation because first of all, I'm 100% confident that the professional campus photographer can do a better job than my old-timey android phone, and second, I want everyone who's reading this at home to get a sense of the general information QUB staff shared with us. Queen's University Belfast is a friendly, beautiful campus and certainly seems deserving of its 2026 recognition as the "University of the Year" as voted on by What Uni? Student [...]

UK 2026 | Day 32026-06-25T22:35:34+00:00

UK 2026 | Day 2

2026-06-26T12:49:55+00:00

On Sunday, the 35 of us headed up the north coast to see the Giant’s Causeway, a geological formation of more than 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns formed during the Paleocene Epoch. Group photo on the drive of the Northern Irish coast, in front of Dunluce Castle With a high of 22°C (71°F) and clear skies, we could not have asked for a more perfect day. Our guide for the journey was Connor—a gregarious Belfast native with a love of Irish music, a superstitious streak, and a clear gift for spinning a yarn. None of us are quite certain which [...]

UK 2026 | Day 22026-06-26T12:49:55+00:00

UK 2026 | Day 1

2026-06-29T19:28:09+00:00

It’s now the evening of a lovely Saturday in Belfast, with blue skies, a nice breeze, and lots of folks out and enjoying the city center. Wonderful weather to welcome most of us to the city! (Those who arrived a day or so early had quite a bit of rain yesterday, I hear.) Salmon of Knowledge After over two years of planning, and with many thanks to Fulbright UK (Jessica McIvor and Lisa Sadler in particular) for their incredible work, 35 NAFAns have made their way to Belfast to start what will be, for many of us, a 17-day [...]

UK 2026 | Day 12026-06-29T19:28:09+00:00
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