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!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, September 20, 2010
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!
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!
Friday, September 17, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, September 13, 2010
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!
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!
Friday, September 10, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
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!
Just thought that was interesting,
Love ya!
Monday, September 6, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
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!
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:
(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!
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??) |
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!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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!
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