Please, someone, shovel some sidewalks!

It has been a week since it stopped snowing and the sidewalks are still covered in show but now it has turned into ice so it is SUPER slippery (as my skinned elbow and bruised buttock can attest)

Anyway, since you don't want to hear about how I would reform the Scottish snow removal services here are some pictures that I took earlier this week when the snow was pretty and I wasn't feeling resentful about it.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed those, I gotta go study for my exam tomorrow (an exam on Saturday o the injustice!)

But it isn't your fault!
Love ya!

Well I had my first Scottish final exam today...

...and it went fine, though I am really tired now (might have something to do with my OH SO lovely neighbor and the fact that he just broke up with his girlfriend and seems to be trying to make up for lost time BUT I digress)
Anyway, I just had a final and I spent a fairly significant amount of time trying to figure out whether I was spelling things right (drat those extra u's that they keep sticking in words over here!) but other than that it went rather well and I am starting to get excited about coming home soon.

Now that my final is done and I have a few days before I have another I need to do all the things I was putting off, like cleaning my room and doing my laundry (I would show you pictures but I am afraid you would never speak to me again).  The laundry situation is particularity dire because, you see, I have to go outside to do my laundry and walk through about 100 yards of this and its dark and cold outside:

(excuse the funny lighting, I don't really know what happened except that it is dark at 4 here)

It just seems like a lot of work for laundry, you know? (please understand, and please still be my friends after this rather embarrassing episode...)

Anyway, I'm off to do my laundry, wish me luck (I'll need it, how sad is that that I need luck to do my laundry)!

Your rather messy friend,
Eliza

Love ya!

So much snow...

...Sorry I have been MIA, things got a little crazy around here what with exams around the corner and the fact that we have been absolutely inundated with snow (and at one point my computer crashed but you don't need to hear about that story, it was too traumatizing to share)

Anyway, this is what the view out my window has looked like for about a week

 All snowy and foggy

And pretty

(Did I mention the fog?)

(Just for reference  the top picture here is what that view used to look like.)

Weather like this is especially crazy here because it isn't as common as it is at home and they are not as good at figuring out what to do with it.  At home the snow is gone from sidewalks the day after it snows, here I have been waiting a week and it is still there making my walk to classes more difficult.

Anyway, I gotta get back to studying, exams start in two days!  (wish me luck)

Love ya!

Can't wait for my family to visit!!

Hello,
I have been writing papers pretty much nonstop since I last posted (though you will be glad to know I took a break yesterday to dissect a locust's head) and it is very hard to work up enough creative juices to write on the blog when I have already been writing all day (so, I am sorry I have been absent!)

But I am back now and I have big news...on Saturday I am going to have my first visitors!!  I can't wait to see my family again (and have some good food for a change!).  Another somewhat selfish reason I am glad to see them is that their apartment has an extra bedroom so I can sleep in a big bed for a couple of nights while they are here.
I am really excited to share this lovely city with my family, I just wish I didn't have classes all week!

I promise that I will get some more photos up soon (though things are kinda grey and dreary right now), but here are some old photos that I took when I was visiting last year!

A Highland Cow (I may have trespassed to get this photo, shhhh! don't tell)

What the sky looks like most of the time here

The part of town that my family will be staying in on an astonishingly clear day

Anyway guys, I hope you all have a lovely thanksgiving break (I am sooooo jealous, I could use a break right about now)

Love ya!

Some random thoughts I have had today...

So you know how gmail shows adds that are relevant to your email content (for about a month while I was waiting for my visa to come through they were trying to sell me a visa to Guam) well currently my gmail is advertising a school where one can learn to be a manicurist and I have no idea why, none of the emails I have sent or received have anything to do with manicuring...it is very strange.

Also, while the UK has technically made the switch to the metric system, you wouldn't really know it based on day to day life.  They still serve pints, people give their heights in feet and inches and they use stones as a measure of weight.  Brief side-note; stone is such a confusing measure especially when you consider the fact that no one seems to know how many pounds in a stone, in my rigorous and scientific survey of my friends absolutely no one knew how much weight a stone represented (for your edification dear blog readers; 1 stone=14 lbs).  The only place that seems to use the metric system is my gym (which is soooo confusing, you have no idea.  The first time I went to the gym here I grabbed a weight labeled 10 and tried to do bicep curls...I thought I had gone insane until I finally worked out the whole pound vs. kilogram thing.)

And lastly, all British brands bear a label with a little crest that says, "By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen Manufacturers of..." (with whatever they make in place of the ellipses, for example, my dish soap says "... of Soap and Detergent").  I think it is really funny and I truly hope that somewhere in the palace there is someone whose job it is to decide what companies get to be appointed manufacturers of soap and crackers and things (I also dearly hope that that person is the queen, but I think that might be stretching it).

Anyway, gonna go sleep now that I have finally finished my biology paper,
Love ya!

Rain, rain, go away (and please take these essays I have to write with you)

I have been very busy lately (finally starting to feel like I am in school for real!)  and I have had my first real bout of homesickness...I miss knowing exactly what I had to do and having someone make me do it, but mostly I miss having good food on a regular basis (the cafeteria here is awful).

I am not sorry I moved here, it was the right decision, I needed the challenge, and I have no desire to go back to high school but now I understand why people wax nostalgic about their teenage years.

I have always been of the opinion that high school should not be the best time of your life in fact,  I may have said (in a sarcastic manner) "if I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life - remind me to kill myself"(a quote I borrowed from the seminal nineties flick about the seventies Dazed and Confused)  However, thought I do not under any circumstances wish to return to high school, I now understand why people feel that way.  High school is easy in a lot of ways (while of course being incredibly hard in others), you don't have to worry about things, your parents are always there for you and you can kind of shut down and go on autopilot (or at least I could).  Here is different, I have a whole host of concerns that I didn't have before and my autopilot is shot; however, I have come to the conclusion that this is a good thing, I needed to do this...but I do wish there was a little less rain to contend with...

I am very tired of rain...I wish that the weather was like this again

Again, thanks for bearing with me when I ramble
Love ya!

Sorry, My Life Has Been Pretty Uneventful Lately

Hello,

Sorry about the lack of posts, I have just been schooling away and there have been few exciting events to tell you about.
Anyway, here is a tally of my last 10 days

Number of jogs taken while the temperature was approaching zero degrees Celsius: 2
Number of times Nikki tried to talk me out of said runs: 2 (sorry Nikki, your reasoned arguments are no match for my stubbornness)
Funny looks gotten on said runs: at least 10
Rainy days: 4
Number of aforementioned jogs taken in the pouring rain: 1
Number of other runners seen on said run: 4
Number of said runners who were male: 1
Number of said runners who were better equipped for the rain than I was: 4
Number of twisted ankles: 1
Taxi rides taken: 1
Taxi rides considered: at least a dozen
Visits to the Botanic garden (for biology class): 2
Visits to the Botanic gardens when it was freezing: 1

Current age: 19
Birthday packages received: 3
Cupcakes contained within packages: 12
Kindles received: 1
Books read on my new kindle: 1

Newspapers read on new kindle: 2

Comments about the new kindle: (about) 7 

Chocolate mice received: 2
Birthday gifts from friends here: 3
How much my friends liked my birthday: directly proportional to the number of cupcakes I gave them
Dances watched: 1 (Alvin Ailey, it was amazing!)


Thanks for voting on the pictures below!  I am still deciding but I will let you all know which one I eventually submit.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes.
Love ya!

So I need your help...

Hey y'all,
There is a photography contest for international students here and I am planning to enter but I would love your help picking a photo.


The official rules are as follows, "send us a photograph of something which encapsulates their idea of :"I *heart* Edinburgh.  Edinburgh will be your home for the next few months or years. Send us an image that sums up what Edinburgh means to you - maybe it is your favourite place, or a view of the city/university which reminds you of your time here. It could be your friends, the place you live, a building - something serious, funny or quirky. If you love Edinburgh - show us why."


And now for the entrants (there may be more as I take them):


Photo 1:  (I had some fun playing with the editing on this one so there are a lot of versions)


edit A

 edit B

edit C

edit D

edit E

edit F (this one is just for fun)

Photo 2:

Photo 3:

Photo 4:

Photo 5:

Let me know what you think!
Love ya!

Just wanted to share something funny with you guys...

So I like to keep track of how people get to this site, you know do they come from Facebook or are they following me on Google Reader etc.  I think its fun to see how peopel get here (and it is something to do instead of writing this paper I have to finish).

Anyway, today I got a google hit that made me laugh, someone found my blog by googling "how to spell 'ooph'" (if you don't get that see this post).

Just thought that was funny,
I should get back to this paper,
Love ya!

PS Check out that liking action!  I knew that informatics class would be good for something!

I miss this guy (and the assorted family in these pictures)

I miss my pooch!

 He is cute

And likes to sit by the fire

 And tries to steal baby toys

And cuddles with his sister

And goes for walks with his mama

And he used to like to play with his yak...but then he destroyed it (oh and dad you are welcome for not posting the one where you are throwing the yak and you and Zeus are watching it with the same expression)

He (doesn't really) like to share his bed with little cousins (but he does, 'cause he is a good dog)

He likes to survey his domain

But mostly he likes to run (preferably with a stick)

And I miss him (and my family).

Love ya!

Are You Sure We Are Speaking the Same Language?

Someone much smarter than me once said, "America and England are two countries separated by a common language" (or something to that effect).  It is true, there are times when I am not even sure what language people here are speaking...

 

For example, you probably know that cookies are called biscuits here (what we call biscuits seem to have mutated into dinner rolls, that is if they exist at all, I have yet to see anything resembling a good biscuit here and people do not seem to know what I am talking about.  They seem, like grits and good pizza, not to exist here.)  One night at dinner I asked my English Friend whether the work cookie had any meaning here, she replied, "Well, those biscuits with chocolate in them, those are called cookies".  I then determined (based on this conversation and some grocery store snooping) that chocolate chip cookies have their own category here; they are the only biscuits that are granted the cookie designation.  Why I shall never know, perhaps they were imported from the States and the name stuck?  However this came to be, it is rather strange.

Another language difficulty that you will have heard of is the whole trousers/pants differential.  Here pants are undergarments (though they can also be called knickers) and trousers are anything we would call pants at home.  Simple (if sometimes hard to remember).  However, there is a third designation, trackie bums.  Trackie bums is a designation that seems to apply to all running attire and anything sweatpant like (in other lexicographic news, according to my spell check sweatpant is not a word but sweatpants is...curious).  

One more bit of word fun before I dash (gotta go to class!) here pudding is any kind of dessert and what we call pudding is called mousse.  On a related note it is very disconcerting to be asked, "What kind of pudding is there today?"  all I want to say is, "Pudding?  Isn't there only one kind of pudding...?"  (a word to the wise, don't say that, or you will find yourself suddenly surrounded by laughing British people, and no they are not laughing with you, because you have no idea what is going on.  They are laughing at you.)

Anyway, 

Love ya!!

Oooph...(how do you spell that sound is it ooph or oof or something else entirely?)

This has been a long week...it has also been one of those weeks that lead me to believe all the crazies who think that we only exist on someones dream.  If our live are dreams my life (at least this week) was dreamed up when the dreamer fell asleep in front of an I Love Lucy marathon (I'm Lucy but with consequences...and without the red hair).

This week has felt something like a montage of me being late to things..lectures, tutorials, dinner, you name it I have rushed in all sweaty just as things are about to get started (and a couple times after they have already started, but lets just pretend that didn't happen).

This week I have managed to; get olive oil all over my notes and the inside of my book bag (a word to the wise, don't put your groceries in with your books no matter how much of a pain it is to carry them), break a glass, loose my glasses (I found them eventually but there were a few tense moments), and break one of the spare batteries for my camera.  (Whenever you next see me DO NOT allow me near your valuables, Scotland has apparently turned me into a one woman wrecking machine.)

Above: a memorial to all the inanimate objects lost this week

(or you know, a gravestone in Holyrood Abbey, whichever floats your boat)

Despite what my apparent wonton disregard for my property might indicate I am doing well here, I am just really tired and in desperate need of a weekend (lucky me then, right?  You know seeing as one is coming up and all.  Sorry my jokes are so bad, I am really tired.)

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts this week, I will make it up to you I promise!
Love ya!

This is the View Out My Window...

(Full Disclosure: this isn't the view right now, it is currently very dark and cloudy out there, but it is the view some days)

I went for a walk up there the other day and I took some pictures I thought I should share.

Its kind of hard to see but the castle is on the left sort of above the other buildings.

And here is a close up of the skyline (you can sort of see the fog over the castle, most of my pictures came out much worse, the fog here is awful it makes the photos all blurry).

There was also a strange patch of grass in the middle of the road

I also walked by this cool ruin

Anyway, hope you enjoyed those!

Love ya!

Wow, I live here...

Just something that struck me today as I walked back from class.  I looked at a church as I walked by and realized, "Hey, this church is older than the US!".  What really struck me was that the church was just another church, there was no plaque or sign designating it a historical site, no banner promising tours.  In the states history is so important, we cling to our oldest buildings because we don't have many; here they have history coming out their ears and it becomes commonplace.  Just walking down the street there are cobblestones that are older than the printing press everywhere and no one cares...unless you imply that they don't care (then they get very offended and blustery).  I find this ambivalence mixed with pride fascinating and I thought you might be interested to.

Every once in a while as I am walking down the street something like that happens and I think "I can't believe that I actually live here" I am not a person who takes risks but I did this, I moved 4000 miles away to a different country, I still have to pinch myself now and then, just to make sure this is real life.  I still can't believe I did this but I am really happy I did.

Missing everyone!
Love ya!

Hey, Sorry I've Been Away

Sorry!
I have been busy and I am sick so I haven't had time to blog much.  I think I am on the mend now but I am still rather under the whether.  I have been busily attending classes (and occasionally getting lost on the way to them) and marveling at the kid in my Psychology class who takes notes on an iPad with his iPhone (the latest generation of course) close at hand; I mean seriously, random dude do you need that many Apple products? (Also, how is the iPad?  Can I play with it for a minute?)  I also took a personality test for Psychology and you will (I'm sure) be happy to know that I am of average emotional stability and high intellect (or openness) and high agreeableness.
Sorry for the lack of posts and I promise I will get myself on a more regular posting schedule once things get a little less hectic.
Love ya!

Classes Have Started

So here I am finally getting to do the thing that I came here for...learning!

Today was a very long day, first I decided to take a quick jog (famous last words) down to a separate campus where one of my classes was since I hadn't been before.  Since I tend to plan ahead I took a map with me; however, this map was from the university and was missing most of the streets in the area and of course I ended up in one of the ones that wasn't on my map so I got a little lost...actually a lot lost but that is beside the point.  I finally found where my class is and got myself back to my dorm without further incident ( and feeling rather tired having run a lot longer than I had planned).  I got back to my dorm (finally) and then raced off to my first class (psychology).

The psychology class went well (though one kid came in about half way through and asked if it was a math lecture, despite the large sign outside that said Psychology 1) and I found out that "Research Participation" which I thought was working as a research assistant in fact means being a participant in research (or in the professor's words "being a data point").

After psychology I had an hour to get to the campus I had visited that morning for biology (which is approximately a 40 minute walk from where my psychology class was).  Now, full disclosure, there is a bus but you need a pass and I didn't know how long it would take to get one and I figured I had better walk because I really didn't want to be "that girl" who was late to the first lecture.  So I walked...and when I got there there were about 100 people milling around outside the "Lecture Theatre".  I determined that this was in fact my class (with the help of a friendly 3rd year) and decided to mill around with them, while eating my lunch (hummus, carrots and a piece of pita bread, which incidentally is spelled "pitta" bread here).  For some reason people seemed very confused by the fact that I was eating lunch which seemed strange to me seeing as the class goes from 12 to 1,  and I wanted to eat!  It soon became apparent that I needn't have worried about being late, there were 500 people in the class, so I doubt anyone would have noticed if I had been late (the professor was too busy being "wacky" and I think most of the class was too busy sleeping to care).  Also, as a side note, who sleeps through the first class!?  I mean really, there is actually important information being given, you know about stuff like grades and assessments and labs (or practicals as they are called here).

I then walked back to where I was that morning to go to informatics which was...strange.  I am pretty sure no one in the room know what the class was about (and that includes the professor).  All I took away from the lecture is that if you had a 128GB memory chip you could store the name of every person in the world along with their parents names and were they were born (the professor never mentioned why you would do this but, rest assured, you could).

Then I came back to have dinner and blog.  As I was sitting at dinner, trying to figure out why I was so tired, I realized that today I walked around 6 miles PLUS a jog of unknown distance.  Long story short I am exhausted and I think I will go to bed soon.

Love ya!

Waiting for Classes...

I am very impatient and I want classes to start!  I have officially decided I will take Psychology (duh, its my major), Origin and Diversity of Life (an evolutionary biology course that should be interesting), and Informatics Literacy (I figure a little extra computer knowledge never goes amiss).  Next term I will take Psychology, Environmental and Community Biology (which has won teaching awards and involves farm visits, so it should be fun), and History of Medicine (a fascinating subject and a nice break from hard science courses).

I met my Director of Studies today and he is about as useful as my high school advisor was (lets just say its good that I don't need much advice).

So far I have been having a really good time even though freshers week is not really my scene.  I have found others who agree with me and I have also found that if you don't go out often you will still have friends (people need someone to whom they can tell their stories of drunken shenanigans!)

I have also been dealing with homesickness pretty well (certainly better than some people here!)  While I miss all of you back home there is so much to do and I feel pretty at home here so I am not too sad (plus I know you will all be there when I come back).
Anyway, long story short,

Love ya!

Oh My!

Well, I am exhausted (or knackered as they say here).  The last few days have been really busy (physically and mentally) and I am just so tired but things have been going pretty well.  I am making friends and figuring everything out well so that is good.  I am also trying to choose courses (unfortunately my advisor isn't much help) and I have run into a problem, I had finally found a schedule that I thought worked and I emailed the organizer of one of the courses that I was thinking of taking and he told me that the alternative lectures I had been planning to attend were in fact not running anymore due to reduced demand so now I have to decide between Cognitive Science and an evolutionary biology course and I really don't know which I should take (any suggestions?)
In other news, I saw a fox near my dorm last night, just wandering around, having a staring contest with a cat.  I was shocked but the British folks were unimpressed they said, "Foxes are like squirrels here, just pests".
Thats all for now,
Love ya!

I've Been Busy (and This Place is Crazy!)

So, I am all moved in and (mostly) settled ( I will blog about my room soon, once I get a little more comfy).  And freshers week has started, and boy is it crazy...since everyone can drink most of the events are about drinking which is strange.  Another strange thing I have encountered was at a meeting for people living in my house, the house warden (or resident grown up) told us all about the noise policy and the policy for fire safely...and then he embarked on a discussion of stripper policy.
Yes the official policy for bringing strippers into the dorm (if you were curious, you are allowed to have strippers in the largest common room but you have to put up a sign that says "Private Party" and shut the door; also you have to remember to tell the warden, for security reasons).  The best part was the he introduced the stripper policy by asking if any boys had birthdays coming up because he knew that often for their friends birthdays boys "Like to have female guests who seem to find out air conditioning rather hot and feel the need to take off their clothes" (allow me to point out, briefly, that my warden is a professor of divinity, which I think makes the story even funnier).  Anyway, that got me thinking about the differences between here and home and one thing stands out; here the prevailing attitude seems to be 'do whatever you want just don't bother anyone else' while I think schools at home are more inclined towards trying to police everyones actions and dictate what people should do (this is all speculation of course since I have never gone to college in the US).

Tomorrow, my first meeting with the other psychology students!  And a visit to the gym!  And a literary tour of the city!
Love ya!

Moving In (Tomorrow!!)

So I move into my dorm tomorrow, yay! I will have reliable internet and start this phase of my education/ boo, I have to haul all my stuff up three flights of stairs :( and put it all away :( :(.

I am very excited but also very nervous, this is a lot different from the last time I was alone (oh, last week) this time I have things to do other than nap in parks and read, I have to make friends and get ready for classes and do all sorts of things.  The university is very different from US colleges in that it does not drown the first year student in information, indeed it seems to require telepathy to figure out what one is supposed to do.  I was told to buy a card that would give me "free" entrance (its not so free since I had to buy the thing but that is what they told me) to events during "Fresher's Week" but I don't know what any of those events are (thought I hope they are worth $45!).  Oh well, it is probably good for me to be in a state of uncertainty (you know what doesn't kill you...).

Stay tuned for dorm room posts sometime soon (tomorrow if I have time)!

Love ya!

An Observation

So I was noticing the ads on TV and I was thinking about the differences between ads here and at home and aside from the many sensibility differences there was also another interesting difference; in the US a british or european accent is often used to communicate sophistication whereas here American accents are almost never used in ads.  The exception to this rule seems to be ads that are trying to be "hip" or those that advertise american shows (but even those announcers are sometimes british).
Just thought that was interesting,
Love ya!

My Daddy is Here!

Hello,
I am a hermit with no friends no longer!  My dad has come to hang out with me, and help me move all my stuff into my dorm (I am dreading that particular task...it will be difficult).  I never realized how much I rely on my parents and friends to bounce ideas off of and to talk to until I was alone.  I am sure that my 10 days by myself were very good for me but they were also very stressful and they really made me miss all the people in my life who let me talk their ears off and give me advice.  As a thank you for being there for me I have some virtual gifts, yay!
Here is a nice view of Edinburgh (and some blue sky!):

And here is a lovely picture of the sky over London and the London Eye:

So thanks for being there and I hope you like my pictures!
Love ya!

So I was playing with my Stats page...

...and I found out that I had 117 page views from the US (yay for my fellow yankees), 10 from the UK (not sure who those are, maybe me? maybe my family here?), 2 from Canada (could be from when dad was there a couple weeks ago?), and one from Israel that I am completely at a loss to explain...I don't know anyone from Israel who would check out the blog...maybe they came by accident?  Whatever the circumstances they came they didn't stick around very long, they only checked the blog once.  Just some interesting information.
The really exciting news is that I have had 504 total page views!  Thanks guys, its nice to know I am not shouting into the ether, to know that someone is actually reading my ramblings (and that its not just my sister and my mommy looking at it).
Anyway, to make a long story short,
Love ya!

Chilling in Edinburgh

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...nothing has been going on.  I have spent the last few days sitting and reading in various parks around the city so there has been little to write about; though I did see this the other day:

Now these mannequins are dressed ridiculously but they have another strange trait.  In case you can't quite see (sorry!) those mannequins have fox heads (the first time I typed that I accidentally typed "foz heads" which sounds even more entertaining).  (Also, please ignore the fact that I appear to have giant gloves sprouting from my hip, it is just an optical illusion, I do not have a gloves shaped tumor.)

I don't like being alone, it makes me mopey, I have been doing quite well but I miss this crazy kid:

(This is what you get for threatening my care package, who wins at life now kiddo??)

(and the dog, and my parents but I only have a few embarrassing pictures of them and I want to save those for a very special occasion).
My dad is coming on Monday!!  (someone I know! Now I won't have to harass sales people to get someone to talk to me!)
Love ya!

My Whirlwind Trip to France

            Sorry I didn’t blog yesterday, the Starbucks I usually use was having trouble with their wifi and I wasn’t sure where I could find another one near me.  Anyway, here is my belated account of my whirlwind trip to France.

            So the trip started off smoothly enough except for the fact that when I checked in I only got 3 out of 4 boarding passes so I had to get another from an attendant who kept calling me “Beth” which was pretty strange considering she was holding my passport at the time.  My flight to Heathrow was delayed because some guy checked three bags and then got lost in the terminal and didn’t make the flight so they had to find his bags and take them off the plane which took a while and was very irritating.  Once we got off the ground we got breakfast which was pretty awful…airplane scrambled eggs should never happen (thought I doubt that there were any actual eggs involved).  Thankfully I had brought my own breakfast.  Parenthetically, while you are allowed to bring a grapefruit on a plane but they frown on eating it during the security video.  The flight was otherwise uneventful and we got to Heathrow in time for me to have a little lunch before my next flight.

  

That is a vegetarian bento box and it came with a little bottle of soy sauce and collapsible chopsticks that were pretty cool.  Another cool thing that I saw in Heathrow was an elephant!

(I know it isn’t real but it was cool nonetheless)

My flight to Paris was uneventful as was my stay in the airport.  This was all I saw of Paris:

The rest of the day was pretty much a rehash of the morning’s activities with lots of sitting and reading and chilling out this time with more French.  One interesting thing I discovered is that French airport employees will try to joke with you in French even if you have indicated that you do not speak any French.

I was very glad when the day ended and I got to go back to the apartment.

Love ya!

Alone in Edinburgh

Hello,
So this is it...the week I have been dreading/looking forward to all summer...I am on my own.  It is pretty strange to be all by myself in a strange city but I am proud to say I am handling it rather well (in my humble opinion).  I have been exploring the shops around Edinburgh (and especially near campus) and reading and relaxing in our apartment.  I did some shopping today and bought a pair of grey skinny jeans (I know I was shocked to but I liked the way they looked) and a couple presentable sweaters (it has been cold here and I wanted some sweaters that looked a little more professional/grown up than the ones I have now).
I am working on a few picture heavy posts for next week (I have to edit all my photos and get them all ready to go online) and a HUGE post about all the shows I saw so those should be exciting (I hope).
Other than that it has been a rather boring couple of days alone (thought I have made friends with a lot of people who work in the shops here)
Tomorrow Paris! (for three hours, because of stupid visa laws)
Love ya!

London: Day 2

Hello,
Our second day in London was a little less crazy than our first; we started things off with a breakfast with my mom's Aunt Ruthie who gave me lots of contact information of friends and family should I need it.  After breakfast we went to Camden Market and bought some pretty Indian textiles and a few little statues and things to furnish my room with (pictures to follow, you see I forgot my card reader and thus have no way to get my pictures from the camera to the computer)  We also bought my sister a headwrap and a jaunty pinstripe fedora (which she has not taken off since we bought it).  At Camden Markets we also found a really cool ice cream shop that uses liquid nitrogen to flash freeze the ice cream to order, which was super cool (haha, get it? [I am so sorry but I couldn't resist]).
After our day at the market we went to dinner with mom's cousin Austin and his kids which was a lot of fun.  Georgia and Austin's kids got on famously (based partially on a shared love of hats and greek mythology) and I knew they were kindred spirits when the eldest told us that they were "all great bibliophiles".  We had a lovely time in London (but we like Edinburgh better) and are getting ready to go home on the train today (and maybe buy me a mobile [cell phone for my fellow yankees] from the store near the train station).
Tomorrow we are planning an Ikea trip to get a few more dorm essentials (and to compare and contrast with the Ikea at home).
Love ya!

London: Day 1

Hey!
So our first full day in London was very busy!  We went on a riverboat tour down the Thames which was fun (and the guide was very punny which was...interesting).   We then decided to check out the Tower of London since it was where our tour boat stopped (clearly a conspiracy of some sort).  The Tower was not that cool (Edinburgh castle is better, and I'm not just saying that because I live there).  The most interesting part about it is the fact that it isn't a tower!  It's more a sort of complex with lots of little castles and towers; it isn't even very tall, nothing was higher than two or three floors.
After the Tower (and a lunch of ben and jerry's, yum!) it started raining so we (logically) decided to walk the the Globe (which has no roof).  Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but being a clever girl I had accidentally left my umbrella in the hotel room and my raincoat in Edinburgh so I got soaked.  We got to the Globe to late to see a tour but we were able to get tickets to the afternoon's performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor which was lots of fun (I am going to be writing up full reviews of all the shows I have seen when I have a little more time).
We finished off our day with a trip to the London Eye which was cool but not particularly exciting ( I spent most of the time taking photos of the wheel, trying to figure out how it works).  When we finally got back to the hotel room (12 hours after we left it in the morning) mom's cousin Austin called and we all trooped out for drinks.
Tomorrow we are breakfasting with Aunt Ruthie then going to Camden Market and then headed out for dinner with Austen and his family (his kids are all near Georgia's age so that should be fun).
Love ya!

Overheard In Edinburgh (and London)

(sorry its been a while...I have been very busy...I am working on a looong post about the last week)
Just a few things I have overheard in the last few days:

Overheard in Tesco-
Boy: "Oh look they have fruity tea cakes!"
Girl: "You're a fruity tea cake!"
Boy: "Your face is a fruity tea cake"
(A lengthy discussion of "your face" jokes followed as Hannah and I tried to keep straight faces)

Overheard on the street-
Boy dressed in 40s era clothes: "Its just that my liver is getting restless"


Overheard in a London restaurant-
Whiny woman (the highlights): "Noooo mum just let me talk to dad"; "But every time we break up you tell tales on me"; "People have been speaking about me haven't you...why haven't you stopped them speaking about me"
(This went on for a while, she seemed to think repetition was the best way to get her point across)

Love ya!

We Have Internet! (at this Starbucks)

Hello,
I'm back!!  (did you miss me?)
Sorry it took so long we have been busy getting over our jet lag and not getting lost that we have not had much time to find Starbucks to use the computer in (actually we keep finding them, but only when I don't have my computer with me).  But here we are sitting in a Starbucks near the University campus from which I can finally blog.
We have a lot to cover!  First we will start with finding the apartment:
So when Hannah and I arrived in Edinburgh all tired and dirty we still faced the challenge of finding the apartment people and what a challenge it was...We walked from the bus stop to the address we were given to find (dun dun dun) a cashmere store and a plaque telling us that all correspondence for the apartment people should go to the store.  Being greatly confused we asked the lady minding the store about apartments and she pointed us to an alley (or close in Scottish) next to the store just wide enough for one person to walk through:

We proceeded (with great difficulty due to our many bags) down this narrow (and very steep!) corridor and found the apartment office where they didn't laugh at any of my jokes but did confirm that we could return at three to claim our keys and go to the apartment.  So then we had to wait until three.

We spent a lot of the wait in a coffee shop staring at each other and trying to marshall our thoughts into coherent sentences (and not really succeeding)

So I wrote an awesome post about our apartment...

...but the internet at Starbucks is too slow right now (and our apartment is sadly internetless) for me to upload the pictures that go with it so it will have to wait until we have a more reliable internet connection.

Sorry :(

Love ya

Shenanigans In Airports

Hello,

            So we have arrived in Edinburgh (but not without incident), yay!  We were driven to the airport by Hannah’s dad and her sister Sophie.  When we got there we checked my bags (which were not overweight!) and went to security and this was when things got interesting…I just got new socks and I hadn’t worn them on slippery floors before and I wiped out in front of the x-ray machine thing (I almost took the bag scanner with me but thankfully I was able to catch myself) and all the security people judged me.

            Once we were on the plane things seemed to be looking up but I couldn’t sleep (perchance I was a little excited…) so when we landed in Paris I was seriously out of it.

            We arrived in Paris and were given confusing directions and had to take a bus from one part of the airport to the other.  I was very tired at this point and a little slap happy and I think all the people on the trolley (who weren’t on our flight) were rather glad to get off and get away from my jokes (my pride will not allow me to repeat them here but if you want to know, ask Hannah, she didn’t have the luxury of being able to leave early).  Eventually this got us to the correct part of the terminal with 20 minutes to spare when we were forced to go through security again.

            This was bad, first I failed the metal detector and had to get frisked then the guard decided that my backpack was somehow suspect and took everything out.  Even after emptying the bag they didn’t seem to find what they were looking for so they gave it up as a bad job (at least that is what I think, my French is a little rusty).  I was finally given back my stuff but I didn’t have time to put it all back in the pack because they were calling the last call for our flight and we had to race to the gate with my stuff falling out everywhere to make them plane but when we got there all we found was another sort of trolley bus that took us to little strip of tarmac where our plane would leave from (needless to say I embarrassed myself again here, I don’t do very well when sleep deprived, but thankfully most of the other passengers were Scots and therefore kindly ignored the antics of the crazy American girl).

Love ya!

Leaving Tomorrow!!

Hello,
We have been without internet for the last week which has prevented me from posting and made it much harder for me to waste time while I wait for it to be tomorrow.  One of the many things that I have learned about myself in the last year is that I am not very good at waiting for things to happen, I like to plan and do but not to wait...it makes me all antsy and agnsty.  Unfortunately sometimes waiting is necessary so I am working on it but it is not at all fun.
Well thanks for being there y'all (I'm trying to be as american as possible before I leave),
and as always, love ya!

PS Stay tuned for an airport and luggage post tomorrow!

Meet Hannah

This is Hannah

Hannah is super cute (as you can see in this picture!)

Hannah is coming with me to Scotland and we are going to have a wonderful week of fun and (to hazard a guess) we will be getting lost frequently.

I just wanted to introduce you since she will be featured prominently on this blog (you know cause of the whole traveling together thing).

When I took this picture Hannah asked me "Why are you taking a picture of me, we're just in New Haven" and I said, "Yes but you're cute!" and she laughed at me and made this face:

(sorry about the blurriness, I was laughing and the lighting was dim)

I think that proves my point, no?

Love ya!

PS  We're leaving in one week...eek!

I think I have found the solution to my packing problem!

I need this:

As seen in Camden Market in London.

If only I had one of these then all my problems would be solved!

t-12 days

Hello August, I didn't see you coming!

No really I didn't.  Now you might wonder how I managed to miss the fact that July was almost over and I didn't, I just forgot that August came after July.

You see for the last several months all anyone has asked me is, "So when are you leaving?"  In May I answered "Oh in a few months".  In June I answered "In a couple months".  And in July I answered "Next month" and began to worry slightly about packing all my jackets and converse sneakers (I collect jackets and Chuck Taylors...its a sickness, I know, and a very expensive sickness at that.  Once I get my degree I shall diagnose my illness and cure myself but for now I am going to buy a new coat).  The issue is that now it is August and all the sudden "Leaving next month" has turned into "Leaving in two weeks".  


You would think I would have noticed the fact that I was in fact leaving in two weeks two days ago and I am now leaving in less than two weeks (gulp...) but somehow the fact that August hadn't arrived yet made the short time I had seem longer (I know it isn't rational but I'm studying psychology so I know that no one is truly rational...this fact is both strangely comforting and very terrifying*).

The point of this rambling dialogue with myself is that I am leaving in 12 days and I am rather scared...and that I need to pack...

*This reaction is also not rational but you already know that, because I told you all about the nonexistence of rationality.  I'm helpful like that.

Love ya,
Yankee

Hello Internet

Hi,
I am moving to Scotland and I thought it would be nice to have a place where I could post my pictures and stuff for my lovely family and friends back home.  I don't know how this experiment will go but hopefully it will be interesting (even if my little sister is my only reader).
Here we go!
Love ya,
Yankee