"When you go, will you send back a letter to America?"

So I survived the first week of classes. I am starting to get the hang of things and soon essays will need to be planned and written so I am taking this time to enjoy the calm before the storm.

A few days ago, a few friends and I decided to watch “Sunshine on Leith” which is a musical movie using the songs of “The Proclaimers”. I absolutely loved the movie, highly, highly, highly recommend it! It was a general feel-good movie that makes you want to both hug everyone and celebrate life, yet cry at the same time. One of my favorite songs in the movie is “Letter from America,” so that was my inspiration for the title for this particular blog post.

This week entails more classes, and exploration of the city.

Tea, Hiking, and Classes

So the past few days have continued to be exploration days. A number of the societies put on taster sessions which were great fun to attend. Highlights included a few dance classes and a tea tasting by the SocieTEA.

In-between tea tasting and dancing, I decided to explore the surrounding nature and set out to hike Arthur’s Seat which is a dormant volcano that sits smack dap in the middle of Edinburgh. Turns out that Arthur’s Seat is in the middle of Holyrood Park, which is a park that has a number of different hills, ridges, and cliffs. So when we got to what we thought was Arthur’s Seat, we saw many different hills that could potentially be Arthur’s Seat. We decided to choose one at random and hike along it. It offered a beautiful view of the city, including Edinburgh Castle and Calton Hill. After some research, I have figured out that we either climbed Salisbury Crags or Samson's Ribs. Either way, we spent a lovely afternoon enjoying nature, and since it was a surprisingly warm autumn day, rewarded ourselves with an ice cream cone at the bottom of the hill.

Today was the first day of classes. I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that this is my last year in college. Perhaps because I am in a different country, but I don’t think that it will really sink in until I return back to Chicago. So for now I am basking in the glow of feeling like a freshman again and am diving into all my courses. I had all 3 courses today and so far they all seem very exciting and interesting. Excited to see how the rest of the semester goes!

Societies, Societies Everywhere!

The past few days have been jam-packed with random activities, including finalizing my course schedule, visiting the student union Jazz Lounge and Bar (yes, their student union is awesome!), a vintage fair where I picked up some rings and a red bandana to complete my Rosie the Riveter costume,  and attending a whiskey tasting! I even managed to win a free bottle of Ginger Grouse (ginger beer mixed with whiskey).

Today was another jam packed day of activities. After a morning of reading in the sunshine on campus and enjoying a very-reasonably priced latte, I decided to check out the societies fair. For those unaware, the Societies Fair is a chance for all the different societies, aka groups and clubs, on campus to advertise their existence and pass out flyers with how to find them. There are A LOT of societies available, so walking around was a bit overwhelming, so I ended up gathering a bunch of flyers and decided to sort through them later.

I was initially planning on heading to the gym afterwards, but I decided to attend a Ceilidh Crash Course class that was being put on by the New Scotland Country Dance Society. It was an overview of a number of different social dances that may traditionally be danced at a ceilidh, and let me just say that the amount of physical exercise was about the same as if I had gone to the gym for 2 hours. It involved a lot of skipping and galloping and was honestly a lot of fun. I definitely want to try and come to at least a few of the classes that they offer.

In the evening, I ended up going to the International Buddies meet-up. The International Buddies program pairs International visiting students with Edinburgh Students to provide a way to meet new people. I met my two International Buddies, Calum and Peter, as well as two of the other International buddies in my group, Merkel and Erin. We had a nice chat and I found out that Erin is in one of my classes. It is nice to have met some people so that now there are more friendly faces to recognize on campus.

While I was at the Societies Fair, I stopped by the booth of the Swing Dance Society and they told me about a social dance that was going on later in the evening, so after the Buddies meet-up, I dropped by the social for some swing dancing.

All in all, it was a very productive day. I am now faced with the task of sorting through all the flyers I picked up and planning out a schedule for all the societies I want to join and still leave time for my academics. Wish me luck!

So many to choose from!

Freshers' Week

I have settled in to my flat what will be home for the next few months, met my flat mates, and explored campus. Currently is “Freshers’ Week” which is a week jam-packed with activities where you can meet new people and get some important insight about being a student here. I learned that the campus library has a cat that wanders the stacks and naps in chairs, which was quite a fun fact to learn.

The Library Cat

One thing that I cannot get over is Teviot Hall, which is their student union center and it looks a bit like what I would imagine Hogwarts to be like, with Library, Jazz, and Sports Bar. Yes, there are bars in the university union center. Now only if such a thing would fly at an American Uni.*

Teviot. aka Hogwarts

 Quotes of the week include:

"I think you should interpretive dance your thesis."

"I just want to send a snapchat of a cat."

*they call University ‘Uni’

Calton Hill. aka Day 2

Today's adventure included Calton Hill, the National Monument, City Observatory, the Nelson Monument, Dugald Steward Monument, and fun with a telephone booth.

Quotes of the day include:
-*in a British accent* "Calton Hill Public Park. Entrance is that sketchy looking door."

-"Even Jesus needed a child leash."

Dugald Steward Monument overlooking the Balmoral Hotel and Scott Monument

When in Rome...

Let the Adventure Begin

My goodness, what a whirlwind the past 12 hours have been. After a surprisingly smooth plane ride where my neighbors were a darling man from Edinburgh and a woman from Montana, I arrived in Edinburgh at 7am local time. After schlepping all my luggage onto a bus and then getting a tad bit lost on the way to my hotel, I finally arrived, dropped off my stuff, and began exploring.

 North Bridge, right by my hotel.

It turns out that my hotel is quite close to the Scottish National Gallery, so after grabbing a quick cup of coffee, I headed out for some culture. I did appreciate that the Gallery had free admission and although it was not as large as other art museums I have seen, it had a good collection of art from various time periods, as well as Scottish Art.

The Edinburgh Festival Ferris Wheel that was up during the summer and The Scott Monument in honor of author Sir Walter Scott.

I then realized that it was only 11am so I still had a minimum of 3 hours to kill before I could check-in to my hotel room. Now this scared me a bit because I am not one of those people who usually picks up and travels solo to new and unfamiliar places. I like plans and schedules. But I swallowed my fear and decided to just wander. I walked up towards the Edinburgh Castle, checking out the floral clock on the way, and checked out the souvenir shops around there and then made my way back West along High Street, which is a touristy area of Edinburgh. A few hours later, I ducked into a narrow alleyway only to stumble upon an extremely charming tea shop. After enjoying a ham sandwich, scone, and some tea, my jetlag was beginning to set in so I went back to the hotel, where I am currently sitting and writing this blog post.

The floral clock.

The Edinburgh Castle and Ross Fountain.

I am excited for the next 110 days. I know that this will be an adventure that I will be glad that I had. It just may take me a few days (or weeks) to settle in and feel less lost.

And now for some random photos:

Apparently Edinburgh is really big into baked potato bars.

American Candy is apparently popular. 

There was a Anti-Scottish Independence gathering outside the National Gallery and for some reason there was a man in a chicken suit.

An add for a show that went up during the Edinburgh Festival.

This is a painting of the Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch by Sir Henry Raeburn. It looks like Putin to me. 

Just goes to show, there's a kilt for everyone and every occasion. 

Cheers for now!

Naming of the Blog

I must confess that this blog has been named 100% by Adam Logeman. Here is your recognition sir. I thank you for your creativity!