I watched the sunrise from a train this morning as I headed to Scotland.

Before I left for the UK, I remember checking the weather daily only to feel disappointed because it would forecast rain but 4 days in London, there was mostly blue skies and sun with afternoon clouds and a few minutes of drizzle, that’s it. I was surprised by the weather and now I got to see a sunrise?

I arrived, at last, in Glasgow after a 5-and-a-half-hour train ride, well, 4-and-a-quarter with about a 30-minute layover in Edinburgh.

If there was a day to feel extremely overwhelmed, it was today.

Firstly, my alarm went off at 4 AM. Everything was going fine until mom and I got on the train. When I bought the tickets online the week before the trip, I had seats reserved for the train but mom decided she didn’t want to sit in our assigned seats. She put her coffee on the table but decided to sit in the row behind. So I decided to do her a favor and carried her coffee.

Who would’ve thought the moment I grabbed the coffee by the lid, the cup would fall beneath, spilling coffee everywhere. Mom was furious. “Why did you touch my coffee?” She growled.

“It’s an accident,” I told her. I was trying to be nice but she just made me feel bad as I stood there, paralyzed as she cleaned up the mess with napkins. I was afraid to move, paralyzed by anxiety and fear, afraid if I intervened, more would go wrong.

Was I wrong to stand there like a deer in the headlights?

Probably but didn’t I have the right to be afraid?

Fortunately, the train remained quiet until we reached Newcastle when 4 people came aboard and insisted in sitting in our seats, which meant we had to move. I took a row while mom took another.

To be honest, one of my fears on this trip was not being able to understand the Scottish accent but it wasn’t difficult at all. I knew exactly what the man said when he told me to pay at the “till” and exactly what it meant when the meat is labeled at “minced” (maybe it’s also an English thing, not a Scottish thing).

I actually think the Scottish accent is one of the most beautiful accent I’ve every heard. Of course, despite constantly bragging about learning to speak English by watching the BBC, mom hasn’t been able to understand a thing since we arrived in the UK.

At first, I thought it was the slangs that’s getting her but I’m starting to think she’s just like her family – lazy and just wanted to rely on me.