Uni Life

So last night turned out a little stranger than I would have expected... but its all good in the neighborhood lol. I had a really good time though, which is all that counts. And thats all I'll say about that :)

Today was another gorgeous day. Walking through the park this morning was definitely a treat before about 5 hours of very very boring class. My lab report was graded quite harshly, but the one lab professor said that it was the best she'd seen all day... its kind of scary considering that I only got a second class (B) on it. But it was only because of stupid mistakes, so I will definitely try harder and get a first class next time. Then my inorganic chemistry lecture was kind of a blur, the lecturer definitely went a little too quick. But the real icing on the cake was my Vikings! lecture. I was really excited about the course, it sounds so interesting to me! But after this lecture I'm kind of having second thoughts. Normally the advancement of the different types of ships leading to the Viking long boat would slightly interest me, but I really wanted to just lay down. It really was the worst lecture I've ever sat in on... the lecturer really just read from notes out loud to us and showed a bunch of boring slides with seemingly meaningless information. The most exciting part was when she gave a (slightly) dramatic reading of a Beowulf excerpt. And anyone who has read Beowulf knows that there is nothing exciting in that book... exactly lol. 

But the day definitely brightened after class. Toni and I went to the grocery store together and we got some things to make a nice dinner, which turned out to be amazing. We had a lot of fun cooking and hanging out with Mina and Johanne. Toni and Mina tried to teach us some Bulgarian, so they wrote some catch phrases down and posted them on the board... that will be interesting in the following days lol. Mina, Toni, and Johanne are still astounded by my microwave cooking skills, so astounded that they bring it up all the time and have a good laugh lol. But Johanne is practically as American as I am, except Norwegian. We had a showing of multiple Lonely Island music videos and that was amazing... and the very tasty boxed wine definitely helped :) But overall it was a very fun night. I must say that I really like my flatmates :) 

Holy Internet

So for the past 24 hours my internet was not working, and it really might have been the most stressful 24 hours of my life. But thank god for the nice asian guy at the IT center who figured out everything for me. It was kind of hilarious how it took him about 5 minutes of clicking, typing, and muttering to figure out something that I couldn't even begin to understand.

Yesterday involved an enthralling day of vikings, physical chemistry, and pipetting in lab. Actually it was not very exciting, especially the pipetting in lab. I kind of wanted to harpoon someone with my pipette and then throw my malfunctioning bulb at their head. It was kind of aggravating lol but all turned out well in the end. I'm just hoping that my Vikings! class picks up a bit in the next couple of lectures. The course sounds really interesting to me, but there are over 100 students in it and it might just turn into a kind of blow off class. Learning about the etymology of the word viking was not exactly how I pictures the lecture to go. But it was only the first one, so it will probably get a little more interesting.

After my three hour long lab of useless pipetting, I was definitely excited about the prospect of a free Wednesday. I find it very exciting to have a day off from classes during the week. It's something completely new to me lol. However, my hopes came slightly crashing down when my internet completely failed. I really like to stay up to date with my blog and school emails, so it just wasn't a good feeling going through the evening completely cut off from everything. But my friends definitely made up for it with a showing of Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. We finally got around to watching it, and it couldn't have come at a better time lol. The silly dialogue and witty actors took my mind off of a lot of stuff and I just enjoyed the evening.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day, probably one of the prettiest that I've seen in a while. It was about 68 degrees, sunny, and fall feeling. During my walk through Seaton Park to campus nothing could get me down! Not even overly expensive school books, multiple lurking 3,000 word essays, or faulty internet lol it was just too beautiful of a day. I bought a physical and inorganic chemistry book which greatly helped me finish my lab, I made plans to hang out with Bri, Jo, Kelsie, Lindsay, and Tara... and of course my internet was fixed! Sometimes things really do work out in the end. I just need to remind myself to not get so stressed in the beginning. :)

School Days

So today was my first day of classes in over 4 months... Very strange, I know. This morning I was super freaking out about it but once I sat down in my physical chemistry course, I felt so much calmer and reassured. I know chemistry and feeling like I have a purpose in life again is great! But really I guess it's nice to have something constructive to do. I must like learning or something lol. The two lectures I had today were interesting, even though they were only overviews of the material. I'm really looking forward to my Arthur in Medieval Welsh and Gaelic Tradition course. I think it's going to be really interesting and the professor seems really nice. Also, it's taught in an old classroom that feels like a library because all these old books are on shelves around the room. It definitely adds some mystery and hush to the room.

The walk to campus was really nice, since it's been so sunny and pretty here. Everything is so green and the botanical gardens that I walk through have such pretty flowers and trees. I'm really enjoying the weather so far, which is really good considering that I haven't received my winter coat from home yet lol. But I'm sure one random day Aberdeen will decide to be full force late fall/winter and I will be shivering in my long underwear. But until then I'm definitely going to enjoy the weather as much as I can!

This evening I made pasta for my flatmates and that was a lot of fun. It reminded me of the dinners we used to make in Siena and I felt pretty homesick for that city. That trip was literally like a dream. But anyways, I had a really good time hanging out with my flatmates. I really like living with them and I know that I will definitely be very sad to leave when the time comes. For now that seems so far away and I'm going to take advantage of the opportunities I have here. After all, who knows when I might be living in another country again! :)

Hamsters and Elderberries

It's kind of surreal for me to think that I'm starting classes tomorrow. I've had the longest summer break in the world! These past four months have been really interesting, but I'm definitely not feeling in the school-type mood. Hopefully I will be able to get back into the swing of things easier than I think... I'm taking two chemistry courses (a p chem and inorganic chem), a course about Arthur in Medieval Gaelic and Welsh history, and a course called "Vikings!" lol I think it will be a fun semester. It's too bad that it's so short, though. I know that I'm going to be really sad to leave...

Today has been quite nice so far. So far Bri, Jo, Kelsie, Allie and I walked to the Hub for some lunch. We then attempted to get a bus to the tattoo artist, but thought that we missed it and started to speed walk to town. Once we were about 2 minutes from the bus stop we spotted our bus coming around the corner. I'm sure our unison looks of recognition followed by "oh crap" made the bus drivers day. We all turned on our heels and sprinted back to the bus stop. Lol it was pretty funny. Fortunately we made it in time for Jo's tattoo appointment, after getting slightly lost and randomly running into a group of guy friends. We definitely looked like the sharks and jets coming together, all that was missing was some finger snapping and off beat music. But anyways, I sat with Jo as she got her tattoo. It was pretty awesome, the tattoo artist did a great job with her thistle. But now I'm really itching for another one! I think the weekend after we get back from the Arcadia trip in the north I'll make an appointment. It's very exciting to think about!

Tonight we are hanging out in Bri's flat and watching some movies. We will probably end up going to the Union Bar for a little, what else would we do? Lol but I'm pretty sure that we will watch Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. What a great movie. "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

The End of Freshers... blah

These past couple of days have been kind of crazy. The mix of stress from figuring out my course timetables and the amount of available alcohol has resulted in an interesting week. Each night has an entertaining story, but none are quite as funny as last night. We have christened last night as our "hangover". Literally all that was missing was a tiger, a baby, and a chinese man. Lol it was somewhat horrific. I don't think we will have a crazy night like that again any time soon... I'm just happy that I have some good friends to hang out with and hold my hair back.

I have finally registered for all my courses, labs, and tutorials... the system is so different here but I'm happy I figured it out :) I'm really looking forward to classes starting. It should be really interesting to experience a new teaching style. More freedom in my studies will be nice, it feels like I'm finally growing up!

Today I walked around town with Bri, Jo, Kelsie, Tara, Zoe and Lindsay. It was a really pretty, sunny day so it was nice to walk around. Aberdeen looks beautiful when its sunny, but in the rain it is literally depressing as hell. The granite must emit some sort of enzyme... But for now it has been lovely and fall like. I'm sure all of a sudden it will become very cold though. In town Bri and Kelsie got tattoos, and I'm really envious. I would love to get another one! Perhaps I will get my Viking-esk one while I'm in Scotland. But maybe I will wait until I start my Viking class before I decide on any symbol lol.

Right now the seven of us are coordinating a pizza delivery competition. During the freshers week activities on campus everyone and their brother handed out all sorts of coupons for the different pizza places around town. So we decided to use them but I'm pretty sure we are going to end up with an obscene amount of pizza, bread sticks, and desserts. But who doesn't like leftover pizza??

Random Knowledge

So yesterday was quite interesting. It started off normally with Allie and I meeting up with Jordan to get some lunch and go to the Activities fayre (not fair). I signed up for a couple singing groups, like the Gilbert and Sullivan society. I'm really bummed that there isn't a performance this semester, they only perform in the spring so I'm not sure if I would actually audition even though I would love to be involved.  I could be a part of Iolanthe or Die Zauberflote, which would be amazing. I know I would absolutely love it. But Kelsie and I are both interested in a chorus so we will probably go to that together.

I discovered that Aberdeen has the oddest weather. It literally can't make up it's mind! While on campus it randomly started monsooning out of nowhere. It was like a normal hard rain, it was literally a downpour that ended 14 minutes later and the sun came out. There were rivers flowing down the streets and sidewalks. I of course got completely soaked through and was not happy about the entire fiasco. After running a few errands on campus and getting groceries, the rest of the day was pretty laid back. I'm still confused about signing up for my tutorials and labs, and getting my book lists, but I'm going to try and not stress out too much. It just goes against my instinct or something to not be completely prepared for classes a few days before they start. So I'm starting to feel a little peeved at the system they have going here, but that's just because I'm new and don't understand it very well. Everything will work out well in the end :)

Later I went over to Bri's flat to meet up with everyone and hang out a little before heading off to the union bar. We had a good time talking and drinking (I had started early, definitely a good idea). While we were walking back to Bri's flat to have a little flat party with some people we knew, I ran into my Bulgarian flatmates and met some of their friends lol. We talked for a bit, but the night didn't end there. In fact the night didn't end until about 5:00 (after the birds were awake) lol. After socializing in Bri's flat with our friends, I came back to mine around 3:00. I was completely exhausted and longing for bed, but when I walked into my flat I was surprised at the amount of Bulgarians chilling in my kitchen with Johanne lol. So I of course went into the kitchen and talked and listened to music with them all for a few hours. It was very interesting hearing them all talk about food and music and things like that. One of Toni and Mina's friends said he would make this really amazing soup for me. I said I had never heard of it before, but I kind of do know a some about some Eastern European cultures. I was just too embarrassed to say that I had heard of the soup from a book called the Historian which is about Dracula. It's a very good book that goes into extensive detail about the different countries connected with the legend. But anyways, I had a good time with them and hopefully we will hang out soon and I will bring my American friends along. Sounds like a party to me :)

Something, Something

So the course registration and adviser meeting went down and that was slightly confusing and stressing... Getting used to a different academic system isn't exactly fun. Especially since I've been having trouble with accessing my email and student portal for registering for the course tutorials and labs. But it will work out fine in the end.

What won't work out fine in the end is the amount of money I have been spending on alcohol... I'm definitely going to stop going out and buying drinks in the bars so much. It's sooo expensive. Since I'm getting a lot closer with my flatmates we are hopefully going to make a grocery pot and buy more stuff together. Saving some extra cash sounds absolutely great to me.

It really was another beautiful day and I quite enjoyed walking around Seaton Park and campus, despite my annoyance at a strange system. The weather has been so lovely the past couple days, I'm not sure how I will feel when it starts to get cold and rainy... I'll just have to tough it out lol. I'm registered for two chemistry courses, a vikings history course, and a celtic course about Arthur in literature. I'm super excited for the vikings course lol thinking about it makes me want to watch how to train your dragon. When I got back from my advising meeting I actually had some free time! So I finally finished decorating my room. It feels very homey now lol. While bounding around in my room, my flatmates came back and we decided to cook together and hang out. We had a really good time, despite the lack of actual food to make. We ended up cooking rice and putting bacon, onions, and mushrooms in it lol. It really wasn't that bad once you could get past the porridge-type texture. My roommates are from all over the place. There are two Bulgarians, one Norwegian, and one girl from France (somewhere around Nice I think). They are all really nice and funny. Joanna (from Norway) speaks really good english, sometimes I forget that she doesn't natively speak American english. She learned it when she was quite young so she doesn't struggle nearly as much. The two Bulgarians, Mina and Toni, have thick accents but speak english quite well, they are still learning a lot though. Marie has the most difficulty with the language, but I can tell that she's picking it up better. I'm the hardest for her to understand but I'm helping her out a lot lol. They tell me how lucky I am to grow up speaking english, and I guess that's true since the world has become so monopolized by the english language. I just think it's so interesting that they have such colorful cultural backgrounds. Living with them is going to be very interesting, so far it's already been a lot of fun. When Mina, Marie, and I were cleaning up after dinner I mentioned something about needing saran wrap to cover the left overs and they both looked at me like I had turned into a newt. They had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and just started laughing about that weird phrase. I of course had to explain it completely and I'm going to go out and buy some so they can see it lol.

After dinner I met up with my Americans and Kelsie and Tara from Bri's flat and we went out to the union bar for a little. The same group of guys found us again and we were just like ok... we want to make friends with other people now lol. We ended up hanging out with them for a little. Jordan and I walked around the Hillhead area, even though it was pretty chilly, and we were so excited when we saw bunnies hopping around! It was so strange to see like a little herd of them out in the middle of the night. I was ready to chase after them, but Jordan restrained me from acting like an idiot lol. But we still ended up having a good time. I'm just going to have to keep a lookout for the nocturnal bunnies :)

Fit Like?

Yesterday was kind of all over the place. It started with an international student orientation and ended at 4am after fiercely dancing in a club lol. Freshers week is kind of crazy.... The expression "fit like" is a perfect one for this week. It basically means "hanging in there?" or "doing ok?". It's an appropriate title lol.

In the morning all the Arcadia people had to meet with the Aberdeen international advisers and talk about a lot of things which we had previously talked about in Edinburgh... therefore it was a very boring hour. It was a beautiful day and we walked around the campus a little and walked through Seaton Park, lovingly known as rapey park. But during a sunny fall day it was absolutely gorgeous. There is even a little botanical garden part that's really nicely kept with fountains and stuff. But apparently that well trimmed rose bush is perfect for hiding creepy men... ew.

In the afternoon a little apartment shopping was necessary, so I finally picked up some silverware and a bowl for my cereal. Lol no more eating frosties out of a mug :) We tried to buy some alcohol at the store but they wouldn't accept our American drivers licenses, only passports and UK ID's. I could have shit a brick I was so peeved about it. But it all worked out in the end with plentiful mixers and vodka in Bri's flat lol. We ordered some pizza and just hung out watching funny youtube videos and drinking. We were originally going to think about trips we want to take beside the Arcadia ones, but that didn't really happen lol. I'm sure we will figure everything out later. As far as I know we all want to go to Ireland, Inverness, and the Isle of Skye. That sounds pretty reasonable to me... I just hope the short 3 months we are here will offer plenty free weekends.

We ended up hanging out at the Union Bar again, where we ran into Daniel! Lol that was exciting, and we ended up seeing some other people we met the other night. After hanging around there and watching some freshers play this game about doing whatever to earn as many points as possible. One girl licked whipped cream off this creepy guys stomach... it was kind of gross considering he had just eaten two onions and smelled horrible. But we left before anything got too obscene. Eventually we found ourselves at a club where a couple shots went down and some crazy dancing came out lol. It was a good time... but finding our way back was not so fabulous. I have no idea why we decided not to get a cab and walk the 3 miles back to our apartments lol. It was a really nice night but some creepers were out. We walked by Seaton Park and saw why it has a bad reputation. Aberdeen decided not to put any lights in there and it's so forested, who knows what may be lurking just a few feet beside you. I'm sure the stragglers get picked off first lol. But by the time we got back I was completely exhausted and it was about 3:30 am... so I passed out like a champ. :)

The Start of Freshers Week

So today was supposed to be all easy and just getting set up, and it was to some extent. I'm super excited about my interior decorating in my room and the prices at the grocery store down the street. Getting my apartment starter pack of basics felt great! It makes me feel like this is really happening!

This afternoon the Aberdeen Arcadia group (all 5 of us) went to a nice restaurant for a large lunch, and it was sooo good. Omg there is this pudding type toffey caramel dessert there that you pour this cream on and it tastes like heaven... literally lol. It was amazing. Jordan and I nearly shit a brick when we saw someone eating it lol. After our lunch we stopped in the grocery store and while setting up some of my groceries in the apartment I got to know my flat mates a little better. They are all nice girls, if not a little shy. But I'm working on being really friendly and social to make the transition to university easy for them. This is their first time living away from home and I remember that it could be kind of difficult. I kind of feel like a mom here, but I don't mind. Getting to know more people here makes me feel happy, whether it be at a pub or helping them set up their internet lol.

The girls in Bri's room are totally fantastic. I went over there to cook dinner with Bri and we had a great time talking and then we all went out to the bar on campus. It was pretty funny watching all the newly legal drinkers, but we had a good time hanging out there. We met up with some other people we knew and before we knew it a herd of guys had descended and they were completely sloshed. When they heard some of us were from American they got all excited and started talking about malls and juice boxes in American accents lol. It was pretty hilarious. What was even more hilarious was their attempt to make passes at us, it was pretty pathetic lol. I felt so old and experienced compared to these 17/18 year old guys lol it was kind of like I don't really belong there. Some guy asked me how old I was and I said nearly 21 and he was like "fuck off! I would have said 17!" lol but just being more or less sober and watching all of this go down was super amusing. It was kind of like reliving an extreme Wooster orientation all over again. I probably acted stupid too, but seeing it all from a different view really made me realize what it's like for all these people trying to kick off university the right way lol. The night did get pretty crazy, especially back at the guys' flat which they completely trashed with spilling drinks and crap. So it really turned out to be a lesson in freshers and not pouring beer on other people.

Aberdeen!

Omg today has been insane and I'm beyond tired... but I will faithfully copy down the numerous events :)

This morning came wayyy too early. I felt totally fine considering how much I've been watching my alcohol input, but Bree was pretty hung over. She decided to try the Scottish cure for a hang over, Irn Bru. It's this weird bright orange sugary pop drink that tastes exactly like bubble gum... I haven't figured that out yet. But a ton of people swear by it, but maybe it only works for the Scottish since it had quite the opposite effect on Bree. But Mags and I enjoyed a nice breakfast and I gave her the Amish potholder and key chain thing. She seemed to like it a lot and she told me how she was interested in the Amish, since there is no culture like that around here. It's kind of funny how keen Europeans are about the Amish... but I guess looking at them from another view does make them seem something different. But anyways Mags took us to meet up with the Arcadia people and jump a train to Aberdeen! The ride was all excitement and the scenery was beautiful, of course. We rode up nearly the entire way by the east coast, but we of course saw a ton of farms and little villages. As we got more north the terrain became much more rugged and the forests more thick. It really was a nice and easy trip from Edinburgh. If only the nice and easy could have lasted, though....

Upon arriving in Aberdeen there was some confusion about getting a taxi (money) or taking the school provided buses (free), and we ended up voting for the buses since everyone wants to save some money (even if Arcadia did give it to us... shh lol). But the glamor quickly faded when we had to wait for nearly 2 hours with a group of people to actually get on the bus. Everyone (and their brother) moved into Aberdeen today and there are a shit ton of freshers here so even coming up the street to the apartment buildings was impossible. So the bus ended up dropping us off at a grocery store at the bottom of a massive hill which we had to walk up ourselves with all our luggage. That was no fun journey... the cobblestones make it impossible for bags on wheels and my duffle was crazy heavy. We were supposed to be brought up all the way to our hall so this was definitely not fabulous and if I have any back problems in the future, I'm blaming Aberdeen :P. We ended up getting our keys just fine though and we had much assistance from the other Aberdeen students volunteering over break since they heard that we were made to walk up the hill. In the end we laughed it off, but I'm for sure sore.

My flat is nice, or as nice as it can get in the sketch building complexes loving called (the ghetto). There are definitely some alarming differences between this and Wooster lol but I'll do just fine. The kitchen area is really nice, and my room is more or less small and comfy. Or it will be once I get more moved in and get some posters and photos up on the walls. The lack of provided bedding by Arcadia was not superb, and the quest for pillows, duvets, and sheets was quite interesting and long. We spent more than 4 hours walking and riding all over this city to find a store with cheap bedding. It was proving to be a most stressful and unhappy adventure since so many places close at 6, which is inconvenient considering we didn't even get moved in until 4:30. We did get lost a few times and fruitlessly found some stores. But we ended up talking with some nice younger people who pointed us in the right direction and at about 7:30 we reached a wal mart type store with all we could ever want and more. On this journey I discovered that the store which is known as TJ Maxx in the states is actually called TK Maxx here... I have no clue why. Also, walking up to someone stopped at a light and saying "just one question" isn't as creepy as some people might think lol.

We ended up eating pizza right by the ocean and the views at night were so beautiful. The moon was out over the water and you could see distant lights of the barges way out. With a surprising quick ride back, I decided that this really is a lovely city, and I'm excited to get to know it better.

Day (something)

Last night was a lot of fun,  despite creepy older Australian and Scottish men in the pubs. The day was quite boring since it was so crappy outside and we only went to visit Parliament (the strangest looking building ever). So Bree and I napped a little back at Mags', after much snickering about Americans always sleeping lol. But I didn't sleep much and ended up spending some time drinking tea and talking with Mags in the kitchen while she prepared an amazing pasta dinner. We had a really good time chatting about lots of things, mostly about babies lol (random topic, I know) and I think she really appreciated my company. I always feel awkward being in someone's house and not going out of my way to be helpful or friendly, and it really made a difference here. 

After dinner Mags and Daniel took us to a really nice pub by their house. The inside reminded me of an antiques store and it had a very nice atmosphere. No tourist would ever have found it, let alone be allowed inside. We met Mags' manfriend (?) Steve, and had some really nice conversation over some drinks (provided by Daniel lol... he probably just wanted to show off that he could buy drinks now). It was really nice to spend that extra time with the family, and I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel again sometime this week.

We of course ended the night at Biddy Mulligans, the cops and bartenders now know us lol. I was pleasantly surprised that some of the other girls actually came out, but they didn't stay long. I think the creepers really frightened them off lol, and they were there in force let me tell you. Kenny of course was there and started buying us drinks, I think he was a bit shocked when he ended up buying for 9 girls instead of 4 lol. He definitely had the creepiness on, but he kind of shielded us from the other people who were eyeing us up. The DJ played some good music and I just really wanted to dance, but the group of middle aged Australians on holiday was a bit much. After our group thinned out, Kenny left and it was just like craziness with men all over... I kind of felt like a steak lol. They were so drunk that they were sloshing their drinks and acting crazy. One fellow grabbed both Bree and me and started dancing with us. It was kind of hilarious lol. Unfortunately the pub closed at its normal hour and we had to leave, but not without a picture with our Irish bartender friend. :)

Alcohol = Money Suck (BIG time!)

I might as well start off listing the events of the past few days...

Wednesday night Bree and I met Mags (our host mom) and Daniel (her 18 yr old son), and we really like them. They are all witty and Scottish so the conversation is always a lot of fun, especially when them two are together. Daniel just turned 18 and will be attending Aberdeen also, so that was definitely welcomed news. Mags is great to talk with and have a cup of tea, and she is amazing at cooking! Also, she is really cool about us going out or being bums during the wee hours of the afternoon. In short Bree and I will be sad to leave, but will definitely keep in touch!

Yesterday included a shit ton of walking around and sightseeing with the Arcadia people. We toured the Edinburgh castle, which was awesome (it's a castle!), and then took a hike in Blackford (??) park. The castle is really beautiful and well kept, and the views from the walls are amazing! You can see so much of the city. But we hiked up a smaller mountain and the views of the countryside and city were just mind blowing... it was definitely worth the trek up to the top. Also, we discovered that the grass is really soft and the ground like springy from the water... so silly pictures were of course called for. A bonus discovery was the amount of friendly dogs and cute babies on the paths (sounds creepy, but its true lol). But upon our return to our house a nap was definitely needed in order to really enjoy the night. Mags thinks we are hilarious for napping all the time, but it's not like we always do this. It's just that being a tourist is very exhausting... so I recommend not traveling like a tourist!

Last night we met up with Jordan and Allie at Biddy Mulligans, after some random wandering in the city to find our pub where the bartenders and cops know us lol. Other people from the group were supposed to join us, but apparently they hadn't thought ahead to take a little cat nap in the middle of the day. SO the Aberdeen girls met up and had some drinks and listened to a great band who played a ton of 90's music! It was pretty great and we were all singing and having a ton of fun, until guess who shows up... Kenny our borderline creepy Scottish friend. He of course sat with us and we talked and had a pretty good time, but he's a kind of awkward fellow so the mirth of the night slightly decreased unfortunately. I have yet to be properly drunk in this country, so I was much more on the guard than Jordan or Bree but we still managed to have a good time until Jordan and Allie had to go home to their parents. After that the band finished, kenny got us a cab and we go to Mcdonalds for a much needed midnight snack. Eating was definitely good, but the shananigans in the restaurant were hilarious. Especially Bree walking into the bathroom on an Indian man and then running away without shutting the door... I had her back though and made sure to close the door lol.

So the night went really well and I had a great time, but I nearly shit a brick when I looked at my wallet and saw that I spent nearly 30 pounds on alcohol (and fries and a cheap cab)... It definitely wasn't a good feeling considering how much I try to watch spending money. But in this city it's really hard to buy the alcohol in bulk ahead of time and save some money, so I'm looking forward to getting up to Aberdeen for that aspect. It's just amazing how quick it can go in a few hours, so I'm definitely going to be more careful tonight. Even though it is our last night in Edinburgh :(

Catching Upppp

Ergg I hate falling behind in anything, even blogging lol. But yesterday after Allie and I walked around we met up with our Arcadia people and went to the Edinburgh Cookery School and made all these small tasty biscuits and scones and shortbread, etc... it was a lot of fun to work in a really cool kitchen like that. The evening hours became much more entertaining though when Bree, Jordan, Thomas, and I went out to Biddy Madaggins and some other pubs for some drinks. I mean, who doesn't enjoy being cat called while wandering around a beautiful city at night lol. We even got some fish and chips to ensure no hang overs (a fabulous idea). SO the night when quite smoothly, with no sign of our creepy friend from the night before and plenty of birthday festivities for Jordan's 21st. :)

Then today was kind of crazy with Hemish and Anna explaining all these scary facts about Scottish universities compared to American ones. For example our courses will be less structured and very based on independent learning. More freedom to pursue the subject is nice, but that also means more responsibility. In the end we won't have any exams but we will have one or two papers to base our entire grade off of and no one NO ONE gets A's... thats is quite scary to me. But then we talked about how everything will work out fine and there is a good support system around with people who understand that international students want to do other things beside study. So thats reassuring. :) Then we met with a representative from Aberdeen, and ours was really nice and helpful. But I was definitely relieved to put that stuff away, pack and check out, and go to lunch. We went to a really nice , cheap place for lunch and hung out for a bit before going to the National Museum of Scotland and had a guided tour with Hemish and the other Arcadia people. THe guide was really nice and gave a lot of cool info about the things we say. But just walking around and souvenir shopping afterwards was really great because it's actually sunny here today! AMAZING!

Now we are all waiting around to meet with our host families. Bree and I are staying together with some unknown Scottish people. Hopefully they will be nice and cool. Tomorrow we are supposed to tour Edinburgh castle and I'm soo excited! Lets just hope everything goes well with the family...

Day 2 :)

Wow so a lot has been going on in the past 24+ hours... I met all the people in the Arcadia group (there are 14 total, 5 are going to Aberdeen lol) and everyone is really nice and we have been having a great time together. Besides a lot of orientation stuff dealing with all practical issues, I've been out and about with friends just sight seeing and having fun.

Yesterday I walked all over in the Old City to see all the really good sights and take some pictures. It was of course really cloudy and windy as hell but I still had a great time just immersing myself into this city. Then I met my roommate who is studying in Aberdeen with me (yay!) and we had orientation stuff together and met the two other Aberdeen girls, who are the exact same type of nerd as me and just as silly. The other guy who is going to Aberdeen actually goes to Wooster but he is pretty quite. I remember seeing him in a few classes, but I don;t think he has any idea who I am... lol. But anyways we all had dinner together and got to know each other a bit. Then after dinner Jordan, Bree, Allie, and I decided to go out on the town and find this pub that Bree's friends recommended. We found it after just a little bit of random walking through the city lol and we had a great time there! The pub was exactly how a pub should bee with wacky Scottish patrons, worn wooden tables and bars, and a creepy middle aged man who decided to buy us first a teddy bear then drinks and then talk with us well into the night. We got free drinks and some good laughs and memories out of it so it worked out really great... unti he asked us up to his flat and trued to persuade us to go out and sing for Jordan's 21st birthday (which is today, yay!) lol so we kind of walked off away from him and ended up walking in the complete wrong direction for like 20 minutes and promptly got lost in a random part of the city with a ton of houses. Fortunately a younger Scottish couple was out bicycling at midnight last night (???) and came to our rescue by calling us a cab b/c we had wandered so far out of the way. The funny thing is none of us were really drunk but we just wanted to walk around and explore lol but we got home safe and sound :)

Today has just been crazy busy with all sorts of orientation stuff with Anna and Hemish. They are both really nice, there's just a lot to know. We talked about traveling, what to expect in Scotland, Scotland through movies (Braveheart is not a historically accurate film lol), homestays, weekend activity trips, and all sorts of other things. During our break Allie and I got lunch and walked around and we  had a good time seeing some sights and hanging out. Its really nice to have a friend to be with.

Lots more has happened but I'm tireddddd!

Edinburgh!

So I'm now sitting in my room in Edinburgh and I'm really excited to finally be here! It feels like I've been waiting forever to go on this trip!

My trip started off kind of interesting yesterday, with emotions running high and a near fainting spell in the Pittsburgh airport. But I made it to Newark early which is kind of amazing, but then my flight was delayed for Edinburgh. Everything worked out really well though, in the end. I really enjoyed looking out the window of the plane before we were about to land. The topography of Edinburgh and the surrounding country is really interesting. There are all the random hills and cliffs in the city, and looming mountains in the distance. After I checked in at the hotel, I stored my bags and decided to go for a walk. The weather had turned windy and kind of rainy, but I was armed with my rain coat and I ended up really enjoying my walk. I was really able to get a feel for the city and my hotel is located in a prime position, where the breath-taking Edinburgh castle is only a few blocks away. The old city is really fun to walk around in and see all the cool little shops mixed in with cathedrals and castle remnants. I'm looking forward to seeing the "new" city sometime, I saw "new" because it's 300 years old lol. I did forget to grab my camera from my bag before walking around, so I'll have to go again soon!

I'm looking forward to meeting my roommate here and the other people in my group, too. I still can't get over that I'm finally here!