Saturday, January 31, 2009

Week Numero Uno

Well, it has been a week since I have arrived here in Scotland and what an interesting one it has been. One advantage to being an international student is that everyone wants to know everyone else. This first week has been a whirlwind of social chaos. The dust is starting to settle, and while I meet a new friend every day, I have found a good group of friends within the international crowd. We have been enjoying our nights out on the town and even today I got to go to Edinburgh with a fun group of people. It is the capital of Scotland and I got to see a huge castle and a chapel from 1185. There were also a bunch of fun touristy shops with Mel Gibson everywhere and kilts. I then got to eat at a pub that is named after the guy who inspired the book Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hide. Lastly, we went to a gallery that had original Van Gough and Monet paintings. Crazy stuff, huh? Also, this other night I had the most amazing pizza with salmon on it. I thought I had died it was so good… Other than those fun stories I really just love the school and town. The only thing I do not like is that the guys upstairs will drink every night and come home yelling at like 3am. Oh, well. I guess I am experiencing the culture. However, one thing I really like is the school chapel. It is a really friendly place with very inviting people. They have a coffee shop and hold daily services. It’s a very calm place to get away to when I need to get away from being so high paced all the time. I met a couple girls there to go to church with there and hang out with; I actually went with them and my flat mate to Edinburgh. I look forward to more good times ahead. Pictures of Edinburgh should be up shortly after this. Miss you all!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Travel

Part : In the Air

Yay! My first Scotland blog post. I am writing this as a word document as I sit in the sketchy airport in Amsterdam. It has been a very long day. At home right now it is almost 2am, but here in the A-dam it is 8am and I am sitting and waiting for my flight to Glasgow. I was up this morning at 6am and up till 3am the last night because I needed to pack, see someone special before I left and there was a really good movie on so I had to watch a good deal of that. I am getting excited about finally being in Scotland. My feelings towards being abroad have waived back and forth. First I’ll be scared out of my mind and then the next minute I am ready to go. Something about landing in Amsterdam and knowing I was in Europe has just made things so much more exciting… The plane ride over was really nice (America needs to step up). I had a choice of movies, TV shows, GPS, video games and more. All this was on my own little personal TV which is nice because I could not sleep at all. I don’t really know what else to say. It is just good to almost be there and in the hotel. I want to just walk around the city today and see what life looks like for the next 4 months. Its crazy to thing I’ll be gone that long. I feel like this is just a week trip or small vacation. Crazy! We shall see what the week brings when school starts.

Part 2: Move In

Well I finally have settled in here in Scotland. I have some of my classes figured out and I just figured out how to get my internet up and running in my dorm room. I live in a small room and a small flat (apartment), but it is cozy. I already have made a mess on the floors with clothes that I have scattered everywhere. The people here are very cool and the natives are friendly. It is hard to describe the town because there is nothing like it in the US. Until now the oldest thing I have seen has been in places like NY or Philly, but here the building go far beyond that and so does the history. I went out last night with some fellow students to pop in and out of pubs and talk to locals. It has been so much fun to hear the language here. I have made it a goal to start using the dialect here, like “cheers” and “ta” and “wee.” My only real cool story so far has been watching a bagpipe rock band named the Red Hot Chili Pipers that did ACDC covers and Scottish rock. I do not have any pictures yet. I wanted to take some today but the rain is coming down pretty hard. I will hopefully be able to go out tomorrow for some snaps. I miss everyone and can’t wait to come home and share these and more stories in person.