Out in the Cold Rain and Snow

I woke up too early, and in my half-asleep state, I thought it was snowing. I told myself I was wrong because yesterday's weather had been great. So I went back to sleep and then woke up again an hour later to this:

I was not excited to go out in it (and later it turned into freezing rain which was worse), but I had more Stuff To Do, so I put on my boots and headed to Tesco to get some groceries. I also wanted Command Strips, which I had not been able to find at the last four or so stores that I tried (note to all people visiting Scotland in the future: bring your own Command Strips). They didn't have them, but when I tried to do the self-checkout with my groceries, it didn't want to take my credit card. I had to get an employee to swipe it for me because credit cards in Scotland use chips instead of the swipe method. So anytime I want to use my credit card, it's kind of a struggle because you have to let them know right away that there's no chip and then the cashier has to do some manual stuff and see your ID and then try swiping it like five different ways before it works. I'm not sure why there isn't just one uniform way to use credit cards, but the younger cashiers get really flustered when you don't have a chip because they are not prepared for that kind of a drastic change today. I had a conversation about it with the lady who works at the student union shop, and she said it's because people are like sheep and they don't think outside of their little world, haha. She was a fun person to complain about stupid little things with.

Anyway, I mailed my postcards and then went to the library to look for some of my weekly readings. Unlike at Denison, the professors want you to find the articles yourself, so instead of posting them in PDF's for you on Blackboard, you have to go looking on an online database or in the library. I wouldn't have had a huge problem with this except for the fact that I didn't really understand how to navigate the library yet, so it took me way too long to find only two books. I was kind of glad that they had the articles in books though because it meant I didn't have to use any of my print money.

After getting the books, I wandered around campus to find all my classrooms, which are unfortunately really far apart. During this expedition, I discovered that my boots are not waterproof, and by the end, my feet were totally wet and freezing cold. So I had to walk through the slush in my already soaked shoes to buy some rain boots at Sainsbury's (and some Command Strips, hooray!). They have ugly pink bows on the side and look kind of like they're made for little girls, but my options were extremely limited. I was just glad to be able to walk back home with dry feet.

I didn't have time to go change before the bus tour though, so I just had to deal with it for the time being. I still had some fun on the tour, especially seeing Dunblane and the Dunblane Cathedral, which is this really beautiful 7th century church that is still in use today. While I was there, I bought a couple funny little books with facts about Scotland and quotes by Scots.

My favorite part of the trip was seeing the mailbox that was painted gold after Andy Murray won in the summer Olympics. I'd heard about the mailbox, but I didn't know it was so close or that we were going to see it. Apparently, because Andy Murray lives in Dunblane, right next to Stirling, he sometimes practices tennis at the university.

Our bus tour guides were two university students. One of them said it was his first time leading a tour, and it definitely seemed like it. He had a script with some interesting facts that would have been better if he hadn't glossed over them, saying they were "really boring." I did learn that there's a castle in the nearby village of Doune where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed. I kind of want to visit that one sometime.

Doune Castle

Also, I learned that the premiere of Braveheart was held at the macrobert arts centre (officially spelled with no caps), which is the theater on the University of Stirling's campus.

There was a funny part of the tour where they mentioned Loch Lomond (which isn't very close at all, so I'm not sure why they brought it up), and then they played a weird, Michael Bolton type version of "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" over the bus loudspeaker.

At the end of the tour, we were supposed to go in the Wallace Monument, but it was closed, which was just as well because I'd already seen it, and it was probably terribly cold and nasty up there in the snow. So instead, the bus driver offered to drive us past some Scottish Highland Cows, which people got really excited about. They also got excited every time we drove past some sheep, even though I'm sure lots of them see plenty of sheep at home (I know I see a lot in Ohio). I was excited too though because highland cows are really adorable and very sweet, and I'd never seen one in person before. We couldn't see them up close from the road, since they were hanging out in the back of their pasture, but I'm glad I know where they are now so I can come back in better weather.

After another busy day, I really wanted go to bed early, but I had to go to the fitness centre at 8:30pm for induction, which is basically a short tour where they make you sign a waiver and show you how the equipment works. It was all pretty straightforward, though the guy who showed us around was really nice, and I got to see how great Stirling's fitness centre is. Supposedly, the Scottish national rugby team works out there sometimes, and as I said before, Andy Murray uses the courts, so everything must be top of the line. It actually made me excited to work out, especially after having to use Denison's mostly broken machines for the past three years.

By the way, while I was on campus, I discovered that the little grocery store in the student union sells some American candy for a reasonable price. You can actually buy a king size pack of Reese's for about 65p. I have no idea how I never noticed that before. They sell pretty much every kind of candy there, and it's not outrageously priced.

Anyway, tomorrow is my last day of no classes before the weekend, so I need to start on my reading for next week. Not sure what's going to happen tomorrow, but hopefully I'll have something to write about.

Song of the Day (in the title again):

Takin' Care of Business

Today was very productive, although I was almost afraid it wouldn't be because much of it involved wandering around the mall with my Arcadia friend Stephanie, who lives in my old building.

Stephanie and I first went to the train station to buy tickets to Edinburgh, where we need to meet the Arcadia staff before we head off to the Borderlands this weekend. The lady at the counter told us that the price will be the same if we buy them the day of the trip (though train tickets are usually cheaper in the UK if you buy them way ahead of time), so she said we should wait until then. That was the entire point of heading into town, so after that we decided to check out the Thistles Shopping Centre for fun.

It's a magical place, I guess.

At the Thistles, I managed to find a sports equipment store, which I think might have been an outlet because everything had marked-down price stickers. I bought a pair of rugby shorts, spandex shorts, black and green socks (Stirling's colors), a mouthguard that you don't need to mold (awesome), a super cheap but huge water bottle, and some new cleats that were on sale for like 25 pounds. I really love how in this country you can just walk into a sports store and find rugby stuff. I saw an entire bin of rugby balls, and it reminded me that the last time I tried to buy a ball in the U.S., they had to drag their only one out of the storage room.

This is the local Stirling club, not the University's, unless those are combined somehow. I'm excited to play anyway, I'm glad to hear that they changed their practice times, so I won't have to miss one for my class film screenings. The team practices at a local rugby club field, which will be nice because I won't have to take a bus to campus for practice (although I still might need a bus to get there, not sure).

We wandered around the mall trying to find a place that served soup (because I just really wanted soup), and ultimately ate lunch at the mall's equivalent of a food court, which is basically a little cafeteria line with a lot of comfort foods like meat and potatoes. I had a cup of lentil soup and a Coronation Chicken Sandwich, which I thought was a mix between chicken and egg salad. I found out later that it's just a certain kind of chicken salad with a special blend of [seven] herbs and spices and mayo, but it looks yellow like egg salad, probably because of the secret spices.

Coronation Chicken Sandwich: Sounds Fancy, Needs Capitalization.

We also stopped at Primark, which is kind of a mix between Forever 21 and H&M and sells juniors clothing in the style of those stores for really cheap. They also have a little section with some sheets and curtains sorts of things, and I bought a memory foam pillow for only 8 pounds because the pillow that the university provided has been used a hundred times and, as a result, is flat as a pancake.

Speaking of which, it's National Pancake Day in the UK, and I have not yet been able to eat a pancake. Stirling needs a Bob Evans.

Anyway, I also bought some cool black and white spotted sunglasses at Primark, and then we went to the candy store that sells American candy at outrageous prices. It was oddly exciting to see all the candy from home that I suddenly realized they don't sell here. It was also amazing to me how much they charge for some pretty crappy varieties of candy, like Mr. Goodbars and those awful Dippin' Dot candies. Who is honestly paying two pounds and over for these things? I was complaining about it rather loudly, so the cashier was probably annoyed, but whatever. Also, she got mad if you tried to take pictures in the store.

I was surprised to see that they had Brach's candy corn, which I can't even find in the U.S. in February, though I wish I could. I also asked if they had my other favorite candy that nobody else likes: Necco wafers, and of course that was the one thing they didn't stock.

I saw some pretty weird, but interesting candy like a chocolate GPS and Blackberry and this chocolate bar made with that Irn-Bru soft drink (pronounced "iron brew") that everyone here likes. People tell me it tastes like bubblegum, but I think it's more like orange/mango-flavored gum. 

I really want to call it "irn-BARRR-bru." Emphasis on the BARR.

I also had my first Cadbury cream egg today, which was way too sugary and gave me a slight headache. That is saying something because I normally love overly sugary things. Although I did like it, I would have been better able to handle a smaller one.

I ended up buying Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey... FUDGE. It's really interesting because it's kind of like if you diluted whiskey with sugar and butter, which is surprisingly pleasant if you like whiskey (which I've found I apparently do?). Some of my flatmates tried it, and one hated it because, well, it tastes like whiskey. I kind of want to learn how to make the fudge so I can perfect the recipe and make it more widely appealing. 

Also, the tin it came in makes a cool pencil cup, which was about half of my reason for buying it.

I feel the need to mention that at Marks & Spencer (where they don't sell marshmallow fluff, by the way, though I have seen it at Sainsbury's), we saw some product related to Where's Waldo?, but they call it Where's Wally? here. I'm not sure why they felt the need to change that, but apparently, the books were made by a British guy, so Where's Wally? is the original name. I guess Waldo is a more common name in the U.S. than Wally? I don't here either of them very often, but I'm sure they did some extensive marketing tests that justify it.

A calendar of torture.

Once we were done at the mall, we went back to campus, and I got the spinach and milk that I'd left in the fridge before I moved. The same students I met on my first day at the University were in the kitchen making pancakes for National Pancake Day. They're really fun people, and I'm going to miss living with them.

Stephanie and I also went to the student bookstore to buy our books for class. The lady at the cash register was very helpful with telling us which ones we actually needed as opposed to which ones were more supplementary. My bill came in at about 104 pounds, which was frustrating largely because I couldn't buy anything used, although they do buy your books back from you at the end of the semester. Maybe they were just out of used copies of literally everything I needed. Normally I'd shop for used books online, but I didn't have the time to wait for them to come in because I didn't find out what books I needed until yesterday. Unfortunately, one class required me to get about seven books. They were mostly paperback novels, and there are also a bunch of other readings that I have to dig up throughout the semester. I hope they put them on Succeed (which  is basically Blackboard), but I don't know if that will happen. There are also long lists of suggested readings that worry me because you're not actually supposed to read them all, and I don't know which parts of which ones to look at. But I'm going to figure out which subjects interest me the most and then just read the books on those so I can start outlining my essays. 

Speaking of which, the good news about finals is that I only have to write papers for all my classes except one. The bad news is that that one is has an essay-based exam to be completed in three hours. Ugh, my least favorite kind of assessment. I'm also a little worried by the fact that each class only has two assessments, each worth 50% of the final grade, but at least they are papers for the most part, so I don't have to relearn everything at the end. I really need to start reading soon, and I really don't want to at all.

By the by, I feel like every time I say "little" or "small" I should say "wee" because people here use that word A LOT. You'd think it's just a stereotype, but everyone does it. 

Um, what else? My wristlet strap broke, so now it's just a regular wallet. My bookbag strap broke too, but since it's an over the shoulder bag, I hooked the broken side to the top handles, and that's been working well enough. And I managed to get some internationally-approved stamps on campus, so I didn't have to trek out to the post office in order to mail my postcards.

So that's basically all. It's been both a fun and fruitful day, and tomorrow I'm planning to walk through my classrooms so I know where everything is. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about having much larger classes, where we're even not supposed to talk, but the smaller group tutorials should help.

Song of the Day (which you should've already guessed):

Better Living

Today can pretty much be summed up in one sentence:

I MOVED INTO AN APARTMENT!!!!!

It was actually the only housing they had open, but it's what I was hoping for, since I heard it's quiet here. I am very, very happy now.
And as it turns out, I already knew like half of the people living in this flat from orientation, and the others whom I hadn't met are very nice too. The room is definitely quieter, which was my #1 reason for moving. I can hear the cars going by, but that doesn't bother me at all, especially not when compared to screaming party kids. And the kitchen is clean with a fridge that actually works (you seriously had to see the old common room kitchen to believe how bad it was; piles of dirty dishes in the still water sink, and there was a mysterious spoon on the counter covered in something green and gross which totally discouraged me from using the toaster behind it). My room is also bigger, or at least appears to be, and everything (ie the furniture and the carpet) is much newer and cleaner. I can also control my heating, so it's not a sauna like my other room was. The only real drawback is that we are responsible for collectively paying for electricity here, but I think we are going to talk to Arcadia about getting reimbursed for that. We're also not right on campus, but the commute is only 5 to 10 minutes, depending on which bus you take. And it's easy because the bus stop is right across the road, and buses come by about every ten minutes. I think this will prove a good starter lesson in teaching me how to commute.

Other than that it wasn't the most eventful day. I mean, the actual moving was pretty eventful because I got up at 8am to talk to residential services, got transferred right away, then had to pack everything up in my room and call a taxi to take me to the apartment off-campus, then go to the concierge to get my key, carry my bags upstairs, and unpack everything again. But after that, I got to relax and hang out with my flatmates before we left for another orientation presentation. I also signed up for my tutorials, which are supplementary to the lectures and consist of about an hour of group discussion. This made me realize that I really need to get my books and start reading them pretty darn soon. But I was only able to access the syllabuses today, so I must not be behind on things.

Anyway, there's not much else to talk about today that would be very interesting, so I'm just going to work on adding stuff to my agenda book now.

Song of the Day (Because I'm finally starting to get into the groove of things):

A Lot to a Little

Wow, I've been having way more trouble finding time to write than I thought I would. I don't know how much I can remember from the past few days, but I'll try to fit in all the interesting parts.

So on Friday, we all visited the Wallace Monument, which is a tower built on top of Abbey Craig (a really big hill). You can see it from pretty much anywhere in Stirling. There's actually a really good view of it from campus because it's just a short walk from the base of the hill to the university entrance. The monument opened in 1869, so there's no elevator, just a narrow spiral staircase with various little rooms on the way up (one of them had some busts of famous Scots, and there was one of the poet Robert Burns donated by Andrew Carnegie, who we all know was devoutly Scottish, ie. CMU's team the Tartans). But the view at the top is really great, and you can see the whole university campus from there. Actually it seems like most of Scotland's highlights are great views, haha.

This is pretty accurately what it looks like in person. It's really striking how it sticks out above the trees.

On a side note, our host families packed us lunch every day we lived with them, and for some reason, I'm really fascinated by the concept of putting butter on sandwiches. Everyone here seems to put a combination of butter and meat or butter and cheese on their sandwiches. It's not that I've never heard of buttering your sandwich, but literally everyone in my orientation group was given a butter-sandwich by their host parents for lunch, so it's apparently a really common thing.  I'm sure some of you don't find this odd at all, but  I personally just found it surprising because I've rarely encountered it at home, and I feel like all of the health nuts I know would find it disgusting. I was alright with it though. It's just one of those little cultural things I hadn't expected.

After looking at the monument, we walked to the University of Stirling and looked around. The campus isn't very big, but it's a little more spread out than Denison. I found my dorm room, which is virtually a closet, but it didn't seem quite as small once I put all my stuff in it (it's much easier to unpack two suitcases compared to a entire car full of stuff for college). And there's a sink right in the room, which is convenient for getting ready in the morning. The kitchen isn't too far away (although it's messier than even the kitchens I've seen at Denison), and the bathrooms are interesting because they're split up into several one-room deals down the hall. Like there is one room with just a toilet and sink, then another room a few doors down with two showers, and then a third with a bath tub. There are about three of each of these units per floor. I'm a little worried about having to wait in line for a shower in the morning, but we'll see how that works out.

My main concern turned out to be the noise issue. I've been saying that I'm living in the Scottish Shorney because the freshmen are SO LOUD, and the noise resonates. The weird thing is that the sound is only bad on my side of the hall. My friend across the hall doesn't have nearly the same problem, and I suspect that's because the building is a C-shape, so the rooms with windows facing the inside of the C get the echo effect.
Also, the walls are cinder block, and something about cinder block carries sound like no other, as I learned during my time in Kappa Sigma. Yet the important difference is that Kappa Sig is generally a very quiet place with no parties, whereas this is freshman housing.
Anyway, the result of this was that I couldn't sleep until about 2am the other night because of the constant yelling and music. I couldn't even focus on reading or any other activities, it was so bad. I know that supposedly it's only like that on weekends, but there are still things like Wasted Wednesday and Thirsty Thursday, and I don't want to take my chances. Partying just isn't my scene, and I want to be able to sleep and study in my room whenever. Tomorrow, I'm going to try talking to residential services and see if I can convince them to let me move. I would most like to live in the off-campus apartments (which are supposedly very quiet and which I didn't have the foresight to sign up for the in the first place), but even a room on the other side of the same building would be better.

Although they're loud, there are nice people here. I ran into some full-time students who live in my building, and they invited me to come to lunch with them and then to go into town, where we visited a few charity shops, a bookstore that was like a British Barnes & Noble, Primark which is basically Forever 21, Marks and Spencer which is a little like a Super Target, and a cool candy store that sells both British and American candy (for a high price, might I add). We ran into this guy on the street who tried to sell us a "monk rock" CD, and he had some bizarre sales pitch with weird compliments, and he said I looked like Jennifer Aniston. Dude has clearly never seen Jennifer Aniston. But he was hilarious, so we all enjoyed that.
I actually spent the whole afternoon with this group of students, and they were surprisingly inclusive and actually talked to me and took me to fun places rather than just leaving me tagging along the whole time. I really appreciated that. If I do end up moving, I hope they don't think it's because of them, because they're really nice and I like them a lot, even though they're crazy freshmen. ;)

Anyway, if I move, I'm going to have to lug some extra some stuff with me because my friend's host mom took us to the British home store and Sainsbury's in town to get some basic groceries and room stuff. I bought some beans, soup, bread, apples, and milk, as well as a couple wall decorations and some really nice but cheap dishes and silverware. I also found Skippy peanut butter, which was exciting. And yes, I do have to mention peanut butter in every single post.

It's that important.

So moving on to today, I was comparatively less active than I've been throughout the past week. I got up at 10am and went to get lunch at the Starbucks on campus (which is something nice that we don't have at Denison), and I got some water which is only about 35 pence at the student grocery store. All bottled water should be that cheap. Actually everything there is surprisingly cheap, and that's also where I got an Ethernet cord for 1.50. The internet on campus is weird because there's wifi in places like the student union, but in the dorms you have to use an Ethernet connection. I've been struggling with trying to use the campus network, until today when I finally got a hold of an IT guy who told me that my computer has been automatically directing me to the wrong network on the log-in screen. So he typed in the right one, and everything was fine. Ugh, such a big hassle for such a tiny problem.

After that, I tried going on a campus tour, but the guides didn't show up. So hopefully I already know where everything I need to find is. Then I did some mandatory orientation presentation and waited in line for way too long to get my student ID card. While in line, I met some girls from Norway, which I want to note is my second favorite accent (next to Scottish and tied with Swedish and Finnish). I also headed over to the fitness center to sign up for a discounted membership, which for some reason I can't activate until I show up at the gym for some induction thing at 8:30 at night. Um, okay.
So I think everything is as ready as it can be for now. I've spent the rest of the day trying to relax in my room and watch some movies. But I feel kind of antisocial because I suddenly don't have anything to do but sit in my room. I figure I'll start doing more once I start rugby and maybe find some other clubs. I got an email saying that the rugby team's first practice is on the 18th, so that will give me time to get new cleats (which I need anyway) and shorts and spandex.

It's kind of loud right now at 9pm, and people aren't even partying. I think part of the reason for that is that there are no RA's here, so there's nobody to tell anyone to shut up, and the porter downstairs probably doesn't hear it or particularly care anyway.

One of the girls on my hall invited me to come with her and the rest of the international students on my floor to a club. I might go just to be social, considering that I probably won't be able to sleep anyway, but it's also possible that I will be too tired to do anything by the time they leave (I'm guessing that will be at 11). If it gets too crazy, I'll catch a taxi back to campus. I have their number in my phone. Always be prepared.

Le Song of Today (because it's the first time I've had an afternoon to relax):

Too Much To Talk About

I've been having a lot of trouble finding the time to blog about what I've been doing, since I've been so busy doing it.  So, again, I’ll have to recap the last couple of days in one post.

On Wednesday morning, we had to pack up all our things and check out of the hotel before 9am, which wasn't too bad.  I accidentally packed my camera though, so, unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures from that day.  But that was alright because we spent most of our time at Arcadia’s study center talking about important stuff we needed to know about going to the University of Stirling. Even though I already knew how different the academic system was from my own research, it was still pretty scary to hear about the specifics.  Apparently, the grading system goes by percentages, but it’s essentially impossible to get a 90% or over because essays at that level are considered academic journal material. So the average score is around 60%, which would be awful in the U.S., but isn't really that bad here. It seems kind of ridiculous and mean to have an unattainable percentage that points out how imperfect your writing is. I mean, what is the point of having a grade that nobody is going to receive anyway? I guess some people might be encouraged by it to do better, but personally, it would just make me feel awful. 

However, the program directors told us that most students do just as well in Scotland as they do at home, and I hope that’s true for me. I’m still not extremely confident in my ability to write a twenty page paper that counts for literally half of my grade, since I have never written one that long before.

There are aspects of the system that I like, however. For example, two of my classes only meet once a week for about fifty minutes, and I have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, totally free. I also get to choose when I want to schedule my tutorial classes, which are kind of supplements to the regular lectures that allow you to ask questions and discuss the material with other students and a teacher, since you aren't supposed to ask questions during the lecture.  Focusing your knowledge on one main thing is also big at British universities, so you get to focus your final paper on something very specific that interests you, although I have a lot of freedom to do that a lot at Denison too, so that’s not totally different for me.  I've heard that you should look up past essay exams at the start of the semester and then start planning your essay right away based on those prompts.  This worries me a bit because, even though the prompts are always almost exactly the same every year, I do not love timed essays, even if I do get three hours.

I think the main reason I'm so apprehensive of the new system is that I'm so used to the way I do things at my own school and don't want to change my habits. But I know that I’m a good student and that I have good writing skills, so even if I don't do quite as well as usual here, I don’t think I will totally fail. I just have to stay up on the reading and writing, and maybe I can even get my papers done way ahead of time.  Apparently, we only have about eleven weeks of class total, and we get the majority of May off for exams, so hopefully I can finish everything early and use that extra time to travel.

On a somewhat related note, the guy who gave us the academic presentation is from South Carolina, but I would never have guessed because his mannerisms seem so British and he has a really strong, rather British accent that he's developed from living here for so long. Moreover, the other Americans who work for the program have slight Scottish accents, which is also interesting. I highly doubt that I'll gain an accent in only four months, but I think I'll at least get better at understanding the thicker accents that I hear.

There was also a presentation about what to expect when living on campus, which wasn't very in depth but was encouraging after the unnerving description of the academics. I found out that I can actually get a discount on gym membership, and since Stirling has a huge, world class gym where the national rugby team has practiced, it should be worth the extra money anyway. I’m also considering joining the University’s women’s rugby club. I’ll have to buy new cleats, spandex, and rugby shorts, but there are a few stores that sell rugby equipment around here, so it should be easier to find everything than it is in the U.S. I’m going to make sure the team actually has a spring season before I buy anything though. I hope they do because I’m really excited to play again and to meet people. Plus, traveling with the rugby team will help me see more of Scotland, so I’ll have an opportunity to go places I might not make it to otherwise.

Anyway, after the presentations, we had some free time for lunch, and I went with some other people to a cheap Indian restaurant, which actually had pretty good food for the price.  After that, we went on a short walking tour of Edinburgh and saw some interesting things like the Greyfriars Cemetery, which is supposedly the most haunted cemetery in the world. I was excited to go there because I'd seen it on Ghost Adventures, a terrible, yet often hilarious show. The cemetery wasn't scary at all, at least in the daytime, although I know you can sign up for ghost hunts at night. It's also associated with a cute, kind of sad story about a little dog called Greyfriars Bobby. After the owner died, the dog waited on his master's grave in Greyfriars every day for him to come back until he eventually died too. I was told that the story isn't true, but there's a statue of the dog and a grave at the entrance where he is supposedly buried.

I've also heard there's a gravestone in Greyfriars that says "Tom Riddle," and that JK Rowling was inspired by it when she was wandering the cemetery as she was writing Harry Potter. The Elephant House where she wrote the first book is right down the road from Greyfriars, but we didn't get to eat there. Our tour guide took us past it and the National Library of Scotland, which contains every book ever published in the UK and has tons of floors that stretch beneath the building. We also saw St. Giles Cathedral and Holyrood Palace where the Queen stays when she visits Scotland. I was frustrated not having my camera with me, but I'll definitely return to Edinburgh at some point, at least to see the National Museum and the underground vaults, so I can take pictures then.  

Holyrood Palace

At the end of the tour, we headed back to the hotel, from which we finally departed for Stirling. When we got there, we met up with our host families, and I ended up staying in a house with two other study abroad students, which made staying with a host family much less awkward. The first thing I noticed when we met the family was that they had a Bichon Frise, and I found out his name was Leo, which is almost Rio, the name of my aunt's Bichon. The family has been really nice so far, although I find it hard to understand what Frances, our host mom, is saying sometimes because she has a surprisingly thick accent and talks very quickly, adding lots of extra words and phrases like "aye," and "right then, that's good." For our first dinner at the house, we ate chicken burgers with baked beans, french fries, and Heinz ketchup. I really enjoyed talking over dinner with Sarah and Bailey, who are other study abroad students I'm living with.

After dinner, we watched TV and found out that Britain broadcasts a lot of American TV shows, way more than I realized the last time I was here. I even found a broadcast of NHL Tonight (though they don't actually have NHL Network), and the moment I turned it on, they were recapping the Penguins vs. Islanders game. After I watched that, we found The King's Speech on TV and talked with our host sister Staci, who's sixteen, about her favorite shows. She watches all of the same reality shows that most American teenagers watch and knows a lot about American pop culture. She's really nice and fun to talk to, and she also told us about the shopping in Stirling and this store called Americandy that sells all kinds of American sweets that you can't buy here normally. I'm definitely making it a point to find that place, although I'll bet everything is stupidly expensive. I also found out there's a record store in Stirling called Europa Music, and it has great reviews online. I'm putting that on my list of must-sees, as well.

We stayed up pretty late talking to Staci, (we still haven't officially met her older sister Stephanie, though she did say hi to us while she was walking through the living room once), so the next day I got tired kind of early. We had cereal for breakfast and then went to visit the Smith Museum, which is dedicated the history of Stirling. It's really small, but I took a lot of pictures anyway to make up for the other day. Afterward, we walked up the hill into town and all the way to Stirling Castle at the end of the road. It was definitely bigger than Edinburgh's, probably because it was used to house royalty rather than just serving as a military post. The views from Stirling are really great, but different than Edinburgh's because Stirling is so rural. Instead of a ton of buildings, we saw more green fields and the snow-covered Highlands in the distance, which were awesome. I really hope I get the chance to get closer to them.

(obviously not my pictures)

The most interesting thing about Stirling Castle is that there's a courtyard that served as the lion's den, meaning that when the royal family received a lion as a gift (which was common in the Middle Ages), they would keep it there.

When we left the castle, we received free Historic Scotland calendars and key chains that had a picture of a famous tapestry from the castle on them. It's from a set of tapestries about a unicorn hunt, which are actually currently at the Met in New York, but they had reproductions hanging in the castle. I learned that together they tell the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. It's cool to read about the symbols used in ancient paintings and tapestries and how the people who lived back then would have immediately recognized the hidden meanings that seem so obscure to us today.

By the way, the unicorn is the official animal of Scotland, and the red lion also pops up a lot too because it's on the alternate flag of Scotland:

The next thing we were supposed to do was visit the Old Jail, but it was closed for some reason, so we all went bowling instead. I was too tired to care much about bowling and honestly would have preferred going to the jail. After the game was over, Bailey, Sarah, and I called our host mom and had her pick us up at the bowling alley.

When we got home, we had mince and tatties, which is a traditional Scottish meal that basically consists of ground beef, carrots, onions, and potatoes (tatties). The potatoes were really good and perfectly cooked. Our host mom told us that we're having lasagna for dinner tomorrow, which is exciting, although I'm also looking forward to cooking my own food when I move into the University.

That's about everything that happened today. Tomorrow we're going to see the Wallace Monument and then to check out the rooms we'll be moving into on Saturday.

Song of the Day (because we're in the country now):

More Tennessee than Scotland, but still.

The First Full Day

After the awful Flight From Hell, I decided not to blog last night and to wait until I was in a better mood. To summarize that experience though, I had to fly from Detroit to Amsterdam, and as the plane was backing out to leave, the pilot announced that one of the valves was failing, so he had to delay the flight and call the mechanics to fix the problem. We all had to stay on the plane during this, and as they worked on the valve, they kept pushing our departure time back until they finally said we would most likely be leaving at 9pm. Note that we were originally supposed to leave at 6. I was getting really worried about missing my connecting flight to Edinburgh, and then the pilot told us that they had misjudged the source of the problem and had no idea what it was. At that point, they finally let us off the plane, and I knew they probably weren't going to fix it, so I headed to the transfer office and got on a flight to Amsterdam scheduled for 10:25. Unfortunately, because everyone else was trying to transfer too, that flight didn't leave until about 11:30. The whole thing was really miserable and stressful, and I knew that I was going to miss the first part of my orientation, so when I finally got to Amsterdam, I had to call the program and tell them I'd be late. The bad thing about that was my abroad cell phone needed a PIN number, which I didn't have on hand, so I had to use a payphone, which was way more complicated than it should have been because I had to ask around for the UK area code and then figure out how to enter it into the phone (even though the instructions were right there, I was too tired to understand them, so I didn't realize that the area codes were posted right above the phone). I actually got to the point where I started crying because I was so tired and frustrated. But I made it to Edinburgh, finally, and I just went to my room (my room mate was gone at orientation) and cried again because I was mad that I couldn't call my parents and that I needed an access code for the internet and that I couldn't use my voltage converter for more than 10 minutes straight, so how was I supposed to use my laptop to write papers, and I just felt so alone and didn't feel like being in Scotland at all. I also really wanted my luggage, which was stuck in Detroit with the broken plane. It did eventually arrive at the hotel late last night, and I was absurdly happy that I wouldn't have to wear the same sweaty, dirty outfit two days in a row.

I also felt a lot better after I went to dinner at 7 and met other students and talked to the program directors about what I missed, which wasn't too much. I also found out that most laptop chargers convert voltage for you, so I didn't have to worry about the converter overheating and just used the adapter setting instead.

Anyway, my second day was way, way better. I had breakfast with some people I'd eaten dinner with the other night, and then we all walked to Arcadia University's (my program provider) study center and did more orientation stuff. We got packets with all kinds of discounts and cards, including a really cool pass that lets you go to castles and other historic sites in Scotland for free. We talked about our goals for study abroad in small groups, and I met some cool people who I ended up spending most of the day with. We had about four hours to do a scavenger hunt around Edinburgh in small groups, but my group ended up going to the store to buy phones, then to lunch at a pretty nice restaurant, and finally to Edinburgh Castle, which has beautiful views of the city and the mountains in the distance.

Edinburgh Castle is really neat because it looks like it should be out in the country, but it's right in the middle of the city. You can see it pretty close from Princess Street, the main shopping district. From the the top of the castle, you can see the Old Town on one side and the New Town on the other.

This view is of the New Town. Princess Street borders the far side of the green area.

That little triangle of grass at the bottom with headstones along the wall is actually the castle's dog cemetery where some soldiers' dogs are buried.

(These aren't my pictures, by the way. I still need to upload those.)

There was a neat mini museum about the history of Scots in the British military. I figured out that the Seven Years War is the French and Indian War, and that was kind of interesting to read about from another perspective after having just read about it at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. By the way, Heinz ketchup is everywhere here, and it is a wonderful thing.

My favorite part of the castle, besides the views and the dog cemetery, was the mini museum about the prisoners of war who apparently stayed in Edinburgh Castle.  There was a recording of a hypothetical conversation between some prisoners, and I got so excited because they were talking about John Paul Jones, who was a naval captain for the Americans in the Revolutionary War.  He's one of my all-time favorite historical figures and one of my all-time favorite Scots.

He's also in my favorite episode of Liberty's Kids, just so you know.

Also, just to clarify,

Not this Jonesy:

This Jonesy:

But honestly, I will take both.

The lady I filed my baggage claim with at the airport said that she doesn't understand why so many people want to study in Edinburgh because "it's rubbish." I'm not sure if she meant the school or the city, but I personally think the city is gorgeous. Everything is so old and Gothic and ornate, and the unevenness of the terrain makes it prettier because you can see the buildings and hills as a backdrop in the distance. There are a ton of great views all over town, but the castle has the best ones.

After exploring the castle, we went back to the study center to discuss what we were supposed to find on the scavenger hunt. The team that won the scavenger hunt got a free box of mini Mars candy bars. Apparently "fun size" is even less fun in the UK because they were the size of Tootsie Rolls. (Note: Mars bar = Milky Way and Milky Way = Three Musketeers). But they were still super delicious. I ended up making friends with the girls who won the candy (not exclusively for that reason), and we commiserated over Scotland's lack of Reese's peanut butter cups and processed, Skippy-type peanut butter. We talked a lot about peanut butter.

Anyway, we learned that the charity stores (or thrift stores) in Britain have some quality stuff you can get for cheap, so I'm planning to utilize those if I need anything, since things here are pretty expensive on average. I also found out that you can do online grocery shopping, but I'll probably try shopping in person first. I hope I can make local friends in Stirling who will tell me where to shop for what because I feel like that's the most reliable way to go.

I also signed up for some of Arcadia's co-curricular programs, which I had not expected to do, since I originally hadn't signed up for anything when the email about the programs went out in December. Now I'm going on two day trips and one weekend trip over the course of the semester, which will basically allow me to see castles and other historical stuff in places like the borderlands, the Western Highlands, and the Isle of Arran. I got on the waiting list for the pro rugby game between Scotland and Ireland, but if I don't get to do that, I'll just find someone to go to a game with me on our own time. There's also a Ceilidh in the spring which is free to attend, and apparently it's just a big party with traditional Scottish dancing, which I really want to see if I'm not busy that week.

After all of that, we all went to eat dinner at a pub that I forget the name of, and I sat with my candy bar friends, and we had a really fun conversation about dogs and other pleasant things we all enjoyed. One of those girls is going on two of the same co-curricular programs as I am, and we seemed to get along really well, so I think I might have someone to hang out with during those programs.

At dinner, I had what were essentially spring rolls filled with haggis. At least in that form, haggis tasted a lot of like gyro meat, so I liked it. I also had a salad with some unusual mixed greens, including clover, which I actually really liked. My main course was a steakburger, which was alright. For dessert we had more candy bars because our table won the quiz on facts about Scotland by a large margin. I never realized before today how much I know about the UK, but I guess I am somewhat better prepared to live here than I thought.

After dinner, my room mate asked if I wanted to go back to the pub and hang out with some people, so I did, and that was pretty fun. I decided to try a little bit of Scotch on the rocks because I'd never had hard alcohol before. It really wasn't that bad at all, and I didn't gag or get drunk or anything (it was basically a shot size). It just tasted like strong medicine at first, and I told the bartender it tasted like cough syrup, and he pretended to be offended. So I told him it tasted like high quality cough syrup, and he laughed and said, thank you. After a few sips I got used to the taste, and the bartender put some Coke in it for me. I really liked it that way, and it grew on me pretty fast after that. Not that I'm going to drink Scotch all the time now, but I'm glad that I tried it and know I can handle and even enjoy it. And anyway, if you're going to try Scotch, Scotland is the place to do it.

The pub was really cool because they had a record player in the corner with lots of great, classic albums. One of the girls I was with went over to put something on, but she said she didn't recognize anything. She found a copy of The Velvet Underground & Nico and thought it was a record by Andy Warhol because his banana painting is on the cover. That was a little funny to me because I've always known that was just the cover art, but I realized that's probably what a lot of people think when they first see that album. Anyway, I recommended she play Moondance because she said she liked the title song. Plus, Van Morrison makes for especially good pub music.

Overall, today was a really fun, interesting day, especially compared to yesterday. Tomorrow, we are doing some more orientating, including a guided tour of Edinburgh, and I'm really excited to meet my host family at the end. So far, I know I'm living with a lady named Frances who has two daughters who are 17 and 20 (almost four years apart like my sister and me) and a cat (fortunately I have Alavert to deal with that). I hope we get along well, and it will be nice to have someone in my host family who is my age. She might even go to the University of Stirling too.

Anyway, that's all I have for now, so I will close with the appropriate song of the day:

P.S. I must note that John Paul Jones's ship was called the Bonhomme Richard, so that's practically Bonham, so it's like John Paul Jones and John Bonham. Aww Zeppelin references before there was Zeppelin.

On my way

My title made me think of this song. Seems appropriate.

I'm currently blogging from the Pittsburgh airport because there is essentially nothing else for me to do over the next hour.  I've flown by myself before, both domestically and internationally, so I'm not that worried about transferring to three different planes over the course of this trip. The only thing that slightly concerns me is that I might have to go through customs in Amsterdam. I think it's like a mini customs where you show them your passport and state your business, but I hope that's all, if anything.

It's weird though how I am already starting to miss Pittsburgh and everything there, like my family and my room and even the Heinz History Center, where I just went yesterday (ya'll should visit their 1968 exhibit because it is boss). For some reason, I'm already pretty excited to come home and do my radio internship in the summer. That's the next big event on my mind right now, and I don't know why. I guess it's because I'm nervous about going to school in a different country, and I'm not really looking forward to the actual school part, even though that's really the main point of the trip. I just hope I can adjust quickly because I know that at European universities you have fewer assignments and more reading instead. And then you have like two big papers that are worth way more points than a series of small assignments would be. I hate writing super long research papers and putting everything on the line in one assignment, and I'm afraid I'm going to be stressed about that when it comes up. But I think they have special advisers for study abroad students who are supposed to help you cope with that kind of thing. It's a bit odd that the thing I'm most worried about right now is school, not flying or how I'm going to live my daily life in a new environment.

But enough about those stressful things because I have Scotland-related things to show you.

This is the official tourism website for the city of Stirling. Note that the top of the "g" in "Stirling" is a heart, which I must point out is just plain adorable.

Speaking of hearts, I don't think they sell those little conversation heart candies in the UK, which is rather disheartening because I am one of about seven people in the world who loves them. Actually availability of certain products is one major difference that I am concerned about. I mean, obviously I don't expect them not to have what I absolutely need, but it's surprising what they don't have when you go to another country. But then it's also fun to see what they have that you don't, so it works out. Except in the case of Reese's peanut butter cups. Because they have no equal.

Anyway, there's apparently some kind of antique show that happens every month, and I'm interested to see that. I also really want to go to either Edinburgh or Fife to see a Capitals or Flyers game. And I will wear my Penguins jersey. Ironic, yes.
I prefer to go to a Flyers game though (which would not be true in America ever), partly because they are the oldest pro hockey club in the UK, partly because the Capitals suck and the Flyers are better from what I can tell, partly because I'm going to Edinburgh a lot anyway and would rather have an excuse to go to Fife, and partly because of this video.

I'm planning to go down to London too, at some point, maybe for spring break so the long train ride will be more worth it.

Also, I totally forgot to include Bert Jansch in my list of favorite Scottish musicians and bands, so here he is. He was a folk artist from Glasgow and made his fame in the 60s as part of the folk revival going on at that time. He was also in a band called Pentagle, which was pretty cool.

So recap: Bert Jansch:

Pentangle:

I've realized that these blog posts tend to contain music videos, so I think I'll make that a conscious inclusion from now on. Like end or begin each post with "here's a song that relates to my day somehow." Sounds like a good plan.

Fun Fact of the Day: They play classical music in the Pittsburgh airport, and the hallelujah choir is on right now. Presumably, the airport is a glorious place.