Week One

After three different planes, Shawna and I arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland with no problems. After we gathered our luggage, we waited for our driver who was going to take us to our place of residence. Four of us piled into the van and off we went on the "wrong" side of the road. Our driver was very informative and pointed out places of interest along the way. The petrol plant that makes most of the diesel for Scotland is located between Edinburgh and Stirling and is HUGE. He also gave us a tour of the campus before dropping us off on Bayne Street.

But of course there always has to be some sort of hiccup when traveling. As I was dumping my stuff in my room, Shawna came up the stairs and declared her room a "massive construction zone." The toilet seat was on the bed, all the chairs were in one room, the shower stall was in her bedroom, there was no floor tiles, and the sink was in two pieces. So off we went to the porters (aka landlords) to find out that she wasn't supposed to be living in that flat because a pipe burst and flooded the apartment and she was supposed to be at Geddes Court which is on campus. The porters arranged for a van to pick us up, but in the mean time we sat with the three guys and listened to them talk. During the couple hours that I had been there, I had come to the conclusion that Scottish people love to talk.

The first three days of my stay here, Scotland was experiencing the tail end of Hurricane Katia. However, with my rose-colored lenses on, I didn't mind. I've met many people from around Europe and from the States, however, I have not met too many Scottish, but they moved in later than the international students and classes just started. My flat mates are from Denmark, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, and Texas. They are amazing girls and we all get along really well. The flat itself isn't too bad. It's definitely smaller than I'm used to. Six people share one dorm sized fridge and the freezer is separate, but still it is not enough space for six people. We each have our own room, two bathrooms, and one kitchen. There is no TV provided in the common living area and Hulu and Netflix don't work over here which the Americans that I know are slowly figuring this out and I think I speak for all of us when I say we are not pleased. However, we've been really busy so it hasn't been too bad.

Classes are a lot different than I am used to, but it's not a bad difference. Campus is beautiful!! The lake is full of white swans and ducks. And it's green. Everywhere. Campus is about the same size as UNI's which means that nothing is more than a 10 minute walk. Classes are held mainly in two buildings and it's okay to skip lecture but not seminars.

For my 21st, I went to a club and a pub. The club is nothing like back home and in jeans and a nice shirt, I was severely under-dressed, but it was okay because the other girls I was with were dressed similar. The pub was more my style. Low-key. Great music such as Bon Jovi, Blink-182, and Journey and of course we sang along :)

There is so much to tell, but I am sure you have other things you need to be doing, so I will end the post with we had two days with sunshine and clear skies after my birthday and we were able to see Scotland in all its glorious color!

Cheers!