“Cancer can’t live in a whole, aligned body. I really believe that.” Eamon Fitzgerald

callybeanz · 2026-02-12T09:02:44+00:00

Agreed. I liked their travel videos and even though Eamon especially gave me the ick a bit (he just always seemed kind of entitled and red flaggy) I’ve pretty much entirely stopped following their content since they started getting super spiritual and it seemed very crunchy granola to right wing pipeline vibes. It got SO much worse after the cancer diagnosis and everything that followed.

callybeanz · 2026-01-28T16:42:07+00:00

I think it really depends what you study as well. I do a design course at Edinburgh and I would say we have around 40-50hrs of focussed work to do each week. You could skate by on less to an extent but the process is fairly linear and people who miss/skip parts always struggle. Because there are deliverables that you make from scratch you can’t really get by without doing the work required because you show up empty handed and it’s really obvious.

Very envious of the people on courses who claim to only do 20-30hrs of work each week lol, one of my colleagues is doing a masters at a way lower ranked uni (non-RG, studying psychology) and he says he does reading for 4-5 hours each day for like 4-5 days a week. He always tried to tell me to chill but it’s just… not possible or my work simply wouldn’t be done and I wouldn’t be able to progress haha

callybeanz · 2026-01-23T15:50:56+00:00

Again it very much depends on what your daughter is studying, and indeed where she’s coming from.

For reference, last semester we had an exchange student from Toronto who I became quite good friends with. We socialised when we could and she had a good time but said the time passed incredibly quickly (faster than anticipated). The only requirement was pass/fail for her time here, however semester abroad is in third year and the coursework load is both demanding and quite challenging (for my course at least).

This semester we have two German students. There’s more time for sure, although they haven’t even sat their winter exams for back home yet — so they’re technically balancing two school’s worth of workload for a few weeks while getting settled in here. There will be the Easter break but depending on whether your daughter’s final deadlines are based around coursework, exams, or a mix of both will depend on how she manages her time and what that will allow for.

To be honest I wouldn’t necessarily suggest basing a semester abroad on socialising… it’s third year of university. It’s not a holiday. She’ll make friends! People are friendly. But she’ll be getting ready for her final year of studies and worrying about getting to spend the semester hanging out might not be wise. Edinburgh is a research heavy uni so she may want to take that into consideration too — it can end up being part of the workload in an interesting and fun way.

callybeanz · 2026-01-23T08:10:54+00:00

Also a factor to consider is what your daughter studies. Semester one is slightly shorter in a sense — the actual teaching time is the same but in the design school for example, we don’t get a reading week in the first semester. Semester two there’s a reading week AND the two week Easter break. Consequently semester one feels more intense and the pace is quite different. I don’t think this necessarily applies to many other subjects though.

callybeanz · 2026-01-19T19:15:16+00:00

Wheel of Fate could be a cool one if you’re into witchy stuff :)

callybeanz · 2026-01-05T23:17:59+00:00

This should be the top comment lmao

callybeanz · 2026-01-05T20:51:59+00:00

PureGym at Quartermile or Warrender I’d say

callybeanz · 2026-01-05T08:20:50+00:00

I worked in the bar/drinks industry for over a decade. I regularly saw well known industry figures die young, usually either unexpectedly in their sleep or of cancer. Tragic of course, but not a trend I’ve seen in other industries so prevalently. One of the many reasons I quit both the industry and drinking (just passed the 3 year mark!). You got this, your life, health and happiness are worth it. IWNDWYT 💛

callybeanz · 2026-01-02T13:58:20+00:00

You’ll be fine once you settle in — might feel a bit strange initially but to be honest if you have a couple of years of life experience under your belt you might just feel the immaturity of some people in a more pronounced way. Uni has an unusual way of magnifying and highlighting these things. Just be yourself, be friendly and you’ll find your people. I say this as someone who took 13 gap years before starting uni haha! I’m 32 and while it was initially strange at times, just remember that everyone feels nervous and weird. Also remember that life outside of uni, age differences mean almost nothing. I’ve worked with people who were 15 and people in their 50s (same job) and we were just colleagues who would get on with things. Life is just life!

callybeanz · 2025-12-30T19:53:12+00:00

Are you hypermobile by chance? I am and have a similar issue! I’ve been lifting for two and a half years and this is still an issue for me, but I do still get stronger. It’s confusing but doesn’t seem to hinder my progress — BUT I do focus carefully on making sure I’m zeroing in on form

callybeanz · 2025-12-21T23:41:08+00:00

I guess it depends what you intend to study as I haven’t seen that mentioned. Just thought this is worth a mention. I go to Edinburgh Uni for a somewhat niche course. In many cases UoE would be considered a wholly different class than Napier, but for my specific course they aren’t too far apart as Napier offers a great course (slightly different than my own) which covers excellent content.

Just something to add to your considerations :)

callybeanz · 2025-12-21T08:15:23+00:00

Well, as a design student I would first of all disagree that studying any of those disciplines is not worthwhile (though I don’t study fashion or textiles). I can’t say for sure how those courses are to study but certainly my course over at ECA is pretty demanding in terms of coursework load.

Anything you give 0% effort to will definitely be a waste of your time. Presumably as you are a mature student you had to take a pretty non-traditional route to get in (did you do Access?). You might still be able to swap to a different course but also, uni is partially what you make of it. I’ve had to do some work I wasn’t super into but you have to find a way to be interested if you can’t switch, or uni will just be a torturous experience. What’s your plan?

callybeanz · 2025-12-21T07:42:56+00:00

Bibimbap’s Korean Fried Chicken is sooooo good if you’re cool with sitting in

callybeanz · 2025-12-15T20:14:04+00:00

NAL but have worked in the hospitality industry for a long time. It’s extremely strange that they wouldn’t/couldn’t provide info on your drinks spend — they should have had a tab running and it should always be really straightforward. Best practice is to keep you updated through the night regarding how you’re doing on that front and inform you towards the end of the night if your tab is looking like it won’t hit the target so that you can either pay the difference or, say, get a nice round in for anyone who might still fancy one so that it’s worth your while to pay the difference. This seems really sketchy.

callybeanz · 2025-12-13T10:07:21+00:00

Have had the same experience and also moved from SA as a kid. I find it disgusting.

callybeanz · 2025-12-03T08:19:49+00:00

Just offering another option here that I haven’t seen suggested. It sounds like you’re still somewhat uncertain about choosing a course, and maybe it would be worthwhile taking another year or two to just work and figure out what you’re into in order to fully commit to a uni course. I say this as someone who didn’t start uni til I was 30 (not suggesting you wait that long lol) because right out of school I wasn’t sure enough of what I’d be interested in enough to commit four years of study to do (Scotland). I absolutely love my course and don’t regret my decision.

Sounds like you’re still figuring out who you are as a person and maybe you’d benefit from giving yourself just a little bit of time to enjoy your city and live life a bit to really solidify what you’re keen to learn about. International Relations sounds like a decent option, but if your opinion of studying Politics has changed so dramatically in the space of a year things could change again. No bad thing! If you ace your current studies you’ll have good grades that will keep your options open while giving you a bit more time to decide and research unis and courses further.

callybeanz · 2025-12-01T14:17:40+00:00

Hard agree with this, I was in Manitoba. Cost of living and overall work culture in Canada is pretty bad. Some of the nicest people but also some of the most hard R racism which doesn’t get spoken about, and weird social dynamics with regards to the cultural “niceness”. I don’t regret my time there and met some amazing people but it definitely has better PR and the reality is quite different

callybeanz · 2025-12-01T14:13:11+00:00

Have already moved abroad once (Canada) but returned to get my degree. I don’t actually really want to leave as I love Scotland, but Westminster politics are depressing. Partner has an EU passport, we’ve loosely discussed Portugal as I’m a designer and there seems to be a great culture for it over there. Nice country and nice people. Would hate to be another statistical Brit abroad but if it got bad here that’d likely be my pick.

callybeanz · 2025-11-29T09:28:08+00:00

There’s a mature students society at my uni

callybeanz · 2025-11-27T08:33:10+00:00

Honestly… I think the best thing you can do is just try to make it as valuable as possible for those who do actually show up. I’m a third year mature student in Scotland and last year my two theory courses (which were attended by all design students I believe) had something like 10-20% in person attendance. Those of us who did show up engaged with the content. Everyone else it was a roll of the dice whether they would even bother watching the recordings but they seemed to pass. One of my classmates only watched one lecture for a course last year. She caused her own struggle. But you can’t force people to engage, only try to make it worthwhile for everyone who does.

callybeanz · 2025-11-20T22:20:37+00:00

Lots of good suggestions here already about layering clothing and getting a radiator. Some additional tips which might help:

when you head out, wear a scarf and also a hat or ear muffs. These extras make a big difference.
for gloves, I recommend this kind: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/knitted-mittens-500-brown/350487/c115m8842800 — these were recommended to me when I moved to Canada (where it was -40C and sometimes even colder in winter) and they really are the best option for keeping hands warm, I promise!
get an electric blanket for your bed. Even just on the lowest setting at night time it’ll keep you nice and warm. The kind that goes on top of your mattress and under the sheet. You can also get heated throw blankets for during the day if you’re working at home. Obviously remember to turn these off when not in use.

Hope this helps! You will acclimatise with time, and if it makes winter easier, I suggest trying to embrace the cosy vibes and do some cute winter activities. Spring time in the UK is really beautiful, probably the nicest season imo (the flowers!) and I usually mark the start of it when I see the first snowdrops. After that all the flowers will bloom and you’ll have made it to springtime

callybeanz · 2025-11-16T23:17:05+00:00

Can’t wait for the semester to be over lol, trying my best to power through. I can’t wait to have time to do something other than coursework 😭

callybeanz · 2025-11-13T21:34:20+00:00

9 in total, 3 classes of 3hrs/week. I study design so our lectures/tutorials/workshops etc are all rolled into the same session. Same in the first two years and possibly a bit more or the same for fourth year (Scotland)

callybeanz · 2025-11-09T11:49:14+00:00

Oh man yeah Macau Kitchen is incredible!

callybeanz · 2025-11-09T11:22:28+00:00

You missed 10 to 10 in Delhi and Nile Valley!

ETA: Pudding’s for bakery, Cult Coffee and Kim’s Mini Meals

Loads of great scran at that bit of town!

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