As if going back to university after travelling so far wasn't depressing enough, I took on extra hours at work (God knows why) and studied and worked until my soul was charcoal - the past couple of weeks I haven't felt anything but tired and empty, I haven't had a moment to myself to think and my creative energy got sucked into a vacuum and left me completely in the dark. Glasgow gave me the space and air that I needed after the blur that has been the past few weeks.
So the short trip has somewhat rejuvenated me, I felt it as soon as I disembarked the train in Glasgow Central, that bracing and fresh northern air that stings your cheeks and stimulates your senses, my creative energy was eagerly waiting to greet me there on the platform and so I was reunited with myself.
How I had missed the high-ceilings, stripped wooden floors and modern quirk of Kai's uncles' flat - a man with a very important job that doesn't take himself seriously considering - and how I had missed crisp, cold Scotland that made the winter season bearable with its blue skies and cobbled streets lined with trees the colour of pumpkin orange and cherry red.
Kai's uncle took us on a tour of the BBC buildings where he works as a producer and allowed us to take a trip into the filming studio, where many programmes and game shows are recorded, and what amazed me was just how much man power is needed to put together one show on one channel that all of us flick through at our discretion as we laze about on the sofa. Also whilst touring the modern airy offices of BBC Scotland, was the ardent desire in my heart to be working in a job I love in a bustling, vibrant city instead of despairing at the UK legal system in a private university with no idea how or why I'm doing it to myself.
Kai's uncle took us on a tour of the BBC buildings where he works as a producer and allowed us to take a trip into the filming studio, where many programmes and game shows are recorded, and what amazed me was just how much man power is needed to put together one show on one channel that all of us flick through at our discretion as we laze about on the sofa. Also whilst touring the modern airy offices of BBC Scotland, was the ardent desire in my heart to be working in a job I love in a bustling, vibrant city instead of despairing at the UK legal system in a private university with no idea how or why I'm doing it to myself.
Whilst up, we had arranged to see Jamie XX of The XX. We firstly went out for drinks in the Hillhead area, to the book club which is the ultimate hipster den with a ping pong table, upstairs bar behind a curtain and an entrance into the kitchen through a wardrobe. Here I drank the salted caramel White Russian (amazing) and listened to a live DJ showcase his knowledge of hip hop records. Jamie was on at 11 and so we got the subway across my favourite city over to the O2 academy, ready to be immersed into the music.
The concert itself was incredible - for any of you that are fans of The XX or Jamie XX himself, you will know that they manage to take you through a journey of haunting electronic melodies and feel good mixes with bass that vibrates in your very bones. (I am no music terminology whiz so I hope that makes sense) Before the end of the show, Jamie played his track 'Good times' and reality gave me one of it's slaps round the face, I realised my current situation wasn't as bad as I was telling myself: I only have 7 months of university left, I have a boyfriend and family that would do anything for me, and I have my health, and so I let myself be taken in by the music once more with the resounding lyrics of 'I know, there's gonna be good times' ringing in my ears. After the concert Kai and I hung around by Jamie's tour bus and managed to have a quick chat and photo with the man himself, who looked absolutely knackered - making me even more grateful that he actually stopped to talk to us.
Our last day on our quick trip was spent eating 'breakfast' at about 1pm in TriBeCa - The Lebowski milkshake is a must try if you visit - and then taking a wander around the Kelvingrove Museum which was free entry and had some pretty cool exhibitions going on inside, one being a load of facial expression casts suspended from the ceiling giving the effect that there was a cloud of floating heads above us, almost like wandering into a scene from Harry Potter.
During the journey home, nestled into a seat by a panoramic window on the train, I watched the concrete of the city disintegrate into grassy peaks and dips, where cottages lay - small windows of warm inviting light glowing from them, resembling some faint memory of happiness around a warm fire. Fields bathed in the sunset soon turned into black silhouettes of trees and grey clouds, closing in on a final line of amber, the last expanse of golden sun before the night came. I finally felt as though all the bad events of the year had come to pass, and the winter season was closing in, giving way to a new, happier year. With darkness, comes silence, and with silence comes peace. Waves of melancholy and joy washed over me and my juxtaposed disposition, my reflection staring blankly back at myself in the black of the train window. My favourite season was over and I knew that, but so was the pain of 2015, and I knew that I could make it through the next few months and find freedom in the summer - the battle is almost over, the sea almost calm.
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