BBC - Scotland on Film

John Beattie from Glasgow. Posted 12 Mar 2002.
I spent most of my childhood in Malaysia only coming back to Scotland when I was around eleven. Malaysia was very different to Scotland: it was hot and sunny and full of exotic wildlife. We ate Chinese food for lunch at school, I though it was paradise.

My journey back to Scotland was an epic boat voyage across the Indian Ocean, then through the Suez Canal, it was on this journey that I first realised how different Scotland was, as when we got near we could see condensation forming from our breath: we thought this was amazing and pretended we were smoking. My first impressions of Scotland were mixed to say the least: I thought Glasgow was a dank depressing place and that compared to Malaysia the Scots were small and unhealthy. I thought all the other children at school were weedy and after playing a variety of sports at my previous school I was surprised at the total obsession with football.

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