Finalities.

I'm up at 2:30 am.

I'm not working on my dissertation.

Because it's done. It's written. It'll be handed in with a shiny "I didn't cheat" form Monday morning.

And I'm sitting here, up this late anyway writing a blog post, because though I'm elated over having finished the largest piece of work I've ever written to date, I'm sad. Though I'm happy that next Saturday I'll get to see family, friends, my dog, my books, etc. that I've missed in this year away, I'm already aching to return to a place I haven't even left yet. In some ways, it's felt like longer than a year, and in others it feels far, far too short, but all the same over the past year, Scotland's been home. I've felt that way since the moment I stepped off the plane and was guided through the Glasgow Airport terminals (which seemed impossibly big at the time, but having been back to the airport twice now, I laugh at how small it really is) to await a shuttle that would cart me off onto the M8, through the City Centre and into the West End to find my keys and my front door.

I never once felt unwelcome or unsafe; I certainly did have my bad moments (adjusting to a new schooling system), upsetting moments (stress and overcoming several fears), and challenges (spending my first Christmas away) but I made many incredible friends, and the more I aimlessly wander the streets of Glasgow, the more I want to stay.

I want to stay because I had incredible opportunities to travel, to see friends I would've never otherwise have gotten to meet for the first time (looking at you guys, Charlotte and Louise, Màiri and family, Ramona and family, and Alex) and made friends within my department. I envy the ease of travel and the endless opportunities to wander the mountains, ferry out to an island, or take a train down south. There are things I wanted to do, and places I wanted to go that I never quite got to: Wales, Northern Ireland, back to Dublin, Scandinavia, Shetland, Orkney, Iceland, more of the isles - Skye, Lewis, Mull, walk part of Hadrian's Wall...

But instead of focusing on the things that I'll just have to come back for, I did do some pretty cool things, most in the company of pretty cool people, some on my own:

• went to Dublin, Bray, Glendalough, and Newgrange
• went to London and saw all the nerdy landmarks I could've hoped for including:
• Tour of Leavesden Studios/Harry Potter sets!
• Had an afternoon tea at Speedy's Cafe on BBC Sherlock's location for 221B Baker Street
• excavated on the Isle of Iona for a week
• walked the Antonine Wall
• explored the abandoned isle of Mingulay in the Outer Hebrides
• (and saw a dolphin)
• climbed up to a hill fort of the ancient royal centre of Dunadd
• explored the isles of Bute, Lismore, and Inchcolm
• climbed Arthur's Seat
• saw the bridge and Jacobite Steam Engine featured in HP2
• took a silly (but really pretty) loch cruise on Loch Ness
• experienced the rather confusingly popular Commonwealth Games
• got to spend time with Màiri and her family on Barra
• (and attempted to learn Gàidhlig - I'll keep trying I promise!)
• fed a stag carrots and petted a highland cow 
• sat on an empty beach on Vatersay past sunset and listened to the waves
• hiked around Loch Lomond with two dear friends who came to visit (shout-out to Alex and Leah!)
• experienced the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• saw John Barrowman perform live (twice! And almost met him!)
• went to Glencoe, my favourite part in mainland Scotland, filming location for Skyfall, Harry Potter, and others
• walked the halls of several castles and palaces: Stirling, Edinburgh, Blair Atholl, Linlithgow Palace, Urquhart Castle
• went to York and participated in a Vikings Conference and got to walk the medieval walls and see Jorvik, the most fantastic museum of the Vikings in York
• explored Liverpool with Charlotte (yes, it did include the Beatles Experience)
• spent Christmas in Inverness with friends
• got to visit and drive around the highlands with my dad and brother
• went hiking through the woods with Kristina in Chatelherault

and so many more... I also had made a map of all the places I went, which brought to light that I did do quite a lot of exploring:

Quite a lot, eh?

So, leaving was the last thing on my mind when I got here, and that fact hasn't changed. In the words of David Tennant:

But I'll be returning to a job to gain more experience (99.6% I've got it, at any rate), my dog, my family, my friends, Gettysburg - my other home that I've often ached for time to time, my books, and the challenge of finding a way back. As much as it is awfully, stupidly cliche as it is to say it, I'll be leaving with a huge piece of me still in Scotland and I don't think that'll ever change.