Where to even begin? This morning Grace, Amanda and I made the trip to Edinburgh without any issues except for finding our way out of the train station! We made like rats, and just followed the light, and eventually got ourselves out! After that, we made our way directly to Starbucks, where they speak my language! (I've been getting in trouble here because people don't understand what a tall is or what double means...)
After feeding my addiction, we decided to find Greyfriar's Bobby, the statue of a little dog. It's a really touching story...this man's dog went with him everywhere and they were really good pals, and when the man died, the dog wouldn't leave his grave. People tried to get him to go home with them and coax him away, but he just wouldn't go. He ended up living at his master's grave for 14 years!!! We found the statue of Bobby, after wandering the same road for about 15 minutes. The dog is on a corner, up on a pedestal, and is relatively small so he's easy to miss.
Conveniently, Bobbie is really close to The Elephant House, which we went to for lunch. All three of us were unfortunately a little bit disappointed with our lunches, but we enjoyed the ambiance! After lunch, we spent a few hours shopping, browsing all the different stores. Amanda and I were particularly interested in warm weather clothing, since we're hopefully going to the Canary Islands for spring break!
After shopping, we were all pretty hungry, so we went to this Italian place on the Royal Mile. It was pretty good! I tried their carbonara, and they had this really good cheesy bread. Almost as amazing as the cheesy naan we found in Stirling.
After dinner, our real adventure began. We got to the train station in Edinburgh, and realized that the train back to Stirling wasn't going to say Stirling on it, so we were trying to find a map of the railways or something when Amanda and I heard the announcer say Stirling and platform 11, leaving in five minutes so we ran around the train station finding platform 11, and made the train! Sadly, that train was going to Glasgow, with no stops in Stirling. Oops. Luckily, we didn't have anywhere we needed to be immediately, and we all thought our mistake was pretty funny. The only problem was that it was dark, about 8 pm, and we had no idea how to get to the train station we needed to leave from (because they couldn't have made it easy for us and have the train leave from the same place). So, getting off the train we asked a girl how to get there. She said it was really easy, and then gave us really complicated directions. So, I asked a guy who was standing outside of the train station, and he gave us directions that were a bit more clear, despite the fact that we were acting a little bit crazy in reaction to being in the wrong place. We eventually found our way to the Queen Street Station, and thankfully the ticket office was open, and the man there told us we could get on any train going to Aberdeen, Alloa, or Stirling, and we would get home. I'm not sure why no one else could have given us that information, but it was very helpful!
After figuring out a timetable for ourselves, we decided that since we were already in Glasgow, we might as well have a pint or something! We first tried a bar across the street, but there was very loud and awkward karaoke going on in there, so we tried another, only to find that we were walking in on someone's private 18th birthday party, but the third time proved to be the charm! We found a bar! The bouncers carding us were really friendly and really funny, and we made friends with them pretty fast! Our drink at the bar was pretty uneventful, which was good because I'm not sure if we could have handled any more excitement! Our bouncers were sad to see us go, and told us that we needed to come back to Glasgow for a proper visit, which we agreed with! Then they called me blonde for a silly comment I made...we decided not to tell them how we had accidentally ended up in Glasgow in the first place.
We went back to the train station about an hour later to catch our ride, but we made sure to ask the conductor, who was still standing outside, if the train would stop in Stirling. All three of us had images in our minds of arriving in Aberdeen with no more trains running. He laughed at us a little bit, and told us that the train did stop in Stirling. Whew! Then he threw in a joke that he would do his best to not forget to stop there. Ha. Ha.
We did not get the memo that Car D was the party section of the train, so that's where we sat, serenaded by a group of drunk men the whole way to Stirling. When we were sitting there, laughing about how odd our night had been, this older man walked by, told us in short that he wasn't going to flirt with us like other young men, petted by head for a few seconds, and then walked on. I think that was the moment that we all really wanted to be home in our beds!
But, we had one more wee situation to experience before going home! This guy Denny, from Firth or something like that, came over to talk to us. I'm fairly certain that he had been drinking, because his sentences didn't make complete sense, and he told me that he liked my accent about three times. But he also thought that I was from New Zealand. When I told him that I was from Seattle, he asked me if people live in "the tower", and he was completely serious. I actually felt a little bit bad, because I laughed in response to his question, and he seemed really confused about why I was laughing. I informed him that no one lived in the tower. Then he got a little bit gender confused, and asked me if I would go on a date with him and be his boyfriend. He was very entertained with his mistake for the last few minutes of our trip, but we escaped without having to evade giving him our contact information.
So we made it back to Stirling finally, in a very roundabout fashion, but it was a laugh, and we definitely will be a little bit more careful about where the trains are going from now on! So, after that fun but exhausting day I am completely knackered so I'm going to sleep!
Ciao!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
A Moment I Don't Want To Forget
Last night Amanda, Grace and I went to go get a cider, and I remembered something that happened last Tuesday that I don't want to forget!
When Amanda and I were coming home after our Valentine's Day flop, we got a taxi because we were tired, it was late, etc. But, we had very little cash on us. So once in the taxi, and seeing the price go up and up, we were getting a little bit worried about being able to pay our fare. Then I see out of the corner of my eye, Amanda pull out a handful of change, and she's just sitting there with her hands cupped, looking fearfully at the meter. It was so sad, and so hilarious at the same time! So then we look at where the meter is, put the current bill into her left hand, and the rest of our money was in her right hand. So as our fare went up and up, I was putting coins into her left hand. We were both freaking a bit, because there was less and less change left! Then, thankfully, our cab driver realized that he was lost, and when we got home he told us we could just give him five pounds, which we had! Whew! It was a stressful moment, but really funny at the same time, and I don't want to forget it!
When Amanda and I were coming home after our Valentine's Day flop, we got a taxi because we were tired, it was late, etc. But, we had very little cash on us. So once in the taxi, and seeing the price go up and up, we were getting a little bit worried about being able to pay our fare. Then I see out of the corner of my eye, Amanda pull out a handful of change, and she's just sitting there with her hands cupped, looking fearfully at the meter. It was so sad, and so hilarious at the same time! So then we look at where the meter is, put the current bill into her left hand, and the rest of our money was in her right hand. So as our fare went up and up, I was putting coins into her left hand. We were both freaking a bit, because there was less and less change left! Then, thankfully, our cab driver realized that he was lost, and when we got home he told us we could just give him five pounds, which we had! Whew! It was a stressful moment, but really funny at the same time, and I don't want to forget it!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
A Relaxed Day Around Stirling!
Yesterday was really nice and relaxing! It was one of those days where the whole day I felt busy, but looking back on it didn't really do too much...everything just takes time I guess. Amanda and I went to the gym in the morning, which felt amazing. The rest of the day we went grocery shopping, watched some TV, made tomato soup and cheese sandwiches for dinner (yum!) and then we went to see the film The Vow with Grace and Ashley! Going to see the movie was really fun! We found ourselves in a different section of Stirling that none of us had explored before, which is always exciting! The "cinema" (we're not supposed to call it a movie theater here apparently) was a new experience as well! They actually assign you a seat unlike in the US, so we had to be sure that we got our tickets all at the same time. There was also a Ben and Jerry's ice cream stand in the movie theater! It was so ridiculously tempting, but we all got away unscathed! The movie itself was good, still a chick flick, but it was fun!
Today, Grace is going to show me an Indian restaurant she discovered a few days ago! She says that it's really good, so I'm excited! Thank god my taste buds changed before I came here...I have eaten so much spicy food lately! After lunch we're going to explore Stirling a little bit more, and head back over into the area that the cinema was in. I don't want to miss anything Stirling has to offer while I'm here! I also need to find a place to do laundry...I'm pretty much dying without any clean clothes, so Amanda and I might try to find a laundromat today. Wish us luck!
Today, Grace is going to show me an Indian restaurant she discovered a few days ago! She says that it's really good, so I'm excited! Thank god my taste buds changed before I came here...I have eaten so much spicy food lately! After lunch we're going to explore Stirling a little bit more, and head back over into the area that the cinema was in. I don't want to miss anything Stirling has to offer while I'm here! I also need to find a place to do laundry...I'm pretty much dying without any clean clothes, so Amanda and I might try to find a laundromat today. Wish us luck!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
St. Andrews!
What a fun day! Amanda and I decided to take a trip out of Stirling, and find our way to St. Andrews! Neither of us really knew anything about it, but Rick Steves sure did! So off we went! We left our flats at 9:30, and walked down to Stirling Train Station, where we walked straight up to the ticket office, and told the guy working there that we had no idea what we were doing. He was nice enough, and helped us buy the right tickets. The last leg of the trip is done by bus though, so our tickets said we were going to Leuches, not St. Andrews. But the train doesn't end in Leuches, so none of the signs told us which train was going to be able to drop us off there. Sooo back into the ticket office, and apparently our train's final destination is Aberdeen. And we were off! But, our train was also not a direct journey, we had to switch trains. Which we discovered in Perth, thank god, or we would have gone all the way to Aberdeen! We had to get off at Dundee, and catch the Train to Leuches! Apparently people here have the rails memorized? We don't. So that was very confusing, but luckily we were able to make it to St. Andrews by asking just about every person who works at each train station what in the world we were supposed to be doing!
Upon arrival to Leuches, Amanda and I both realized that 1) The bus to St. Andrews does not take anything but cash 2) Neither of us had cash. Soooo we hired a taxi to drive us (only 10 miles thank god) to a cash machine in St. Andrews where we were able to solve our problem. Yay money! Then, out came Rick Steves from by bag, and we were off! As Amanda and I studied Rick, a girl stopped on the sidewalk and asked if we needed help. Amanda and I looked at each other, and before we could say anything, the girl explained "There are only three streets in St. Andrews, and you have your tour book out, so I was just guessing that you needed help". We had a little giggle about that, and she directed us to a street called The Scores, which was right on the water. It was so so beautiful! The trip to St. Andrews was worth it just for that view. The golf courses (unfortunately mini golf is closed until April, so I cannot say that I've golfed the course at St. Andrews yet...stay tuned!) are right next to the ocean, and I can see why it's a coveted location! We walked down and enjoyed looking at the cliffs, until Rick informed us that during the Reformation the water we were looking at was called "Witches Lake" because of all of the people who got pushed off the cliffs for being witches and warlocks. Our view slightly tainted, we continued to walk along the Scores until we got to a dorm which Rick informed us used to be Prince William's dorm while he was at St. Andrews! This excited both of us, and we decided to set aside our pride and idiotically take our pictures in front of the sign to his dorm. Granted, it was the good's entrance, not the best, but I covered the sign with my arm when Amanda took the picture. As I was explaining that I didn't want that sign in my picture, an older man walking by said "yeah you don't want that part of the sign in there, good idea". It was pretty funny.
Our next stop (This was one of Rick's self guided tours by the way) was St. Salvador's College, which is the heart of St. Andrew's University, since the whole campus is kind of spread out around town. We were very careful not to step on the initials PH in front though, because according to student legend, which we learned according to Rick Steves, when professor Patrick Hamilton was burnt at the stake during the Scottish Reformation, he threatened that any students who stood where he was being burnt would fail all of their exams. As Rick said, "And you thought you had hard-nosed teachers". Amanda joked that when we finished with school we could go step on it just for the hell of it, but then decided that would be a bad idea...we would probably end up deciding to go to grad school and fail out immediately. This part of campus, by the way, is located on a street named Butt's Wynd. That's right, I could not make that up if I tried. I got a picture of that for sure.
The next stop on our walk was St. Andrew's Castle, which is more ruin than castle now, because of the Scottish Reformation again. A recurring theme in St. Andrews it seems. We opted not to explore the ruins since it cost about 7 pounds, but we got lots of pictures from the street. Next was St. Andrew's Cathedral, which was again, mostly ruins. We explored it, and guessed at what different walls and stuff would have been. It was pretty hard to tell, but it was crazy to think that at one time, this cathedral one of Scotland's most magnificent churches.
After the ruins, Amanda and I found B. Jannettas, a highly celebrated ice cream shop! I got chocolate brownie,Amanda got Dutch chocolate, and we were both very pleased with our choices! As we continued down, happily eating our ice cream, we realized that we didn't know where we were, and that even Rick Steves couldn't get us back on track. So, we asked a nearby taxi driver. My first question, "Where is St. Mary's College?" He laughed, and pointed to a nearby building. We were not as lost as we thought apparently. My next question, "Where is St. Andrews Museum?" He said, "Which one?" Amanda and I looked at each other, and then I asked the question we were both most interested in, "Where is Fisher and Donaldson bakery?" He was very amused with us, directed us how to get there, and we could hear him chortling still as we made our way to the bakery. Once at the bakery, we discovered to our dismay that it wasn't really sweet stuff we could take home, more savory, and we decided that we wanted to eat lunch instead. So off to The Grill House, suggested by Rick. Where would we be without him? The wait there was a little bit long, but offered us the opportunity to run across the street and get Amanda a St. Andrews sweatshirt. Once seated, we both made like Americans and ordered hamburgers. Represent. It took FOREVER for us to get our food, but definitely worth the wait! Our burgers (and fries) were SO good! And we also decided to go crazy and have dessert. I had the chocolate fondant, and Amanda had the toffee pudding, both of which were wicked good. And we are not allowed to eat for a week now, but totally worth it!
After lunch, we were going to go back down and walk the beach before leaving, but we came across the bus stop on our way, and decided that since we were both a little bit uneasy about getting home, we would rather get a head start on that adventure. The trip home actually proved to not be an adventure, which was a good thing! We knew we had to get to the bus station, and buses are pretty self explanatory (we did ask the bus driver if the bus made it to Leuches train station though, just to be sure). When we got to the train station, we picked up a train route guide, only to find that it made absolutely no sense, so we asked the ticket man instead, who told us where to wait. So we did as we were told, and got on the train to Dundee. From Dundee, we asked again, and were directed to take the train heading to Glasgow. I hurried to go to the bathroom, and when I got back, Amanda hurried to go to the bathroom, but our train was five minutes early! I saw the train, freaked, and ran and got Amanda. Luckily, we made it! Amanda had heard the train from the bathroom and hadn't decided whether to go yet when I ran in to get her, so we were safe! On the train, we realized that Rick had outlined the major train routes in the back of his book, (handy!) so in the future, we might be a little bit less confused about where to go.
When we pulled into Stirling, got off the train, and were pretty convinced that we had made it home safely, Amanda and I made sure to give each other a high five for doing our first trip together! We were pretty pleased with ourselves for making it back in one piece! Although Amanda still needed to go to the bathroom, poor thing!
All in all, it was a really fun day, and I can't wait for more adventures! I'm definitely getting more comfortable with my surroundings, and settling in. Stirling is feeling more and more familiar, and I'm feeling less and less transplanted. I also found out how to watch American TV online. Muahahaha! Tomorrow is pilates, working out (in an attempt to rectify my horrible eating today) and then I'm going to just walk around Stirling to get a better feeling for the different shops and stuff. There are lots of alleys with little shops that I haven't looked into yet, and I think the more I explore, the more at home I'll feel! So that's all for tonight! Ciao!
Upon arrival to Leuches, Amanda and I both realized that 1) The bus to St. Andrews does not take anything but cash 2) Neither of us had cash. Soooo we hired a taxi to drive us (only 10 miles thank god) to a cash machine in St. Andrews where we were able to solve our problem. Yay money! Then, out came Rick Steves from by bag, and we were off! As Amanda and I studied Rick, a girl stopped on the sidewalk and asked if we needed help. Amanda and I looked at each other, and before we could say anything, the girl explained "There are only three streets in St. Andrews, and you have your tour book out, so I was just guessing that you needed help". We had a little giggle about that, and she directed us to a street called The Scores, which was right on the water. It was so so beautiful! The trip to St. Andrews was worth it just for that view. The golf courses (unfortunately mini golf is closed until April, so I cannot say that I've golfed the course at St. Andrews yet...stay tuned!) are right next to the ocean, and I can see why it's a coveted location! We walked down and enjoyed looking at the cliffs, until Rick informed us that during the Reformation the water we were looking at was called "Witches Lake" because of all of the people who got pushed off the cliffs for being witches and warlocks. Our view slightly tainted, we continued to walk along the Scores until we got to a dorm which Rick informed us used to be Prince William's dorm while he was at St. Andrews! This excited both of us, and we decided to set aside our pride and idiotically take our pictures in front of the sign to his dorm. Granted, it was the good's entrance, not the best, but I covered the sign with my arm when Amanda took the picture. As I was explaining that I didn't want that sign in my picture, an older man walking by said "yeah you don't want that part of the sign in there, good idea". It was pretty funny.
Our next stop (This was one of Rick's self guided tours by the way) was St. Salvador's College, which is the heart of St. Andrew's University, since the whole campus is kind of spread out around town. We were very careful not to step on the initials PH in front though, because according to student legend, which we learned according to Rick Steves, when professor Patrick Hamilton was burnt at the stake during the Scottish Reformation, he threatened that any students who stood where he was being burnt would fail all of their exams. As Rick said, "And you thought you had hard-nosed teachers". Amanda joked that when we finished with school we could go step on it just for the hell of it, but then decided that would be a bad idea...we would probably end up deciding to go to grad school and fail out immediately. This part of campus, by the way, is located on a street named Butt's Wynd. That's right, I could not make that up if I tried. I got a picture of that for sure.
The next stop on our walk was St. Andrew's Castle, which is more ruin than castle now, because of the Scottish Reformation again. A recurring theme in St. Andrews it seems. We opted not to explore the ruins since it cost about 7 pounds, but we got lots of pictures from the street. Next was St. Andrew's Cathedral, which was again, mostly ruins. We explored it, and guessed at what different walls and stuff would have been. It was pretty hard to tell, but it was crazy to think that at one time, this cathedral one of Scotland's most magnificent churches.
After the ruins, Amanda and I found B. Jannettas, a highly celebrated ice cream shop! I got chocolate brownie,Amanda got Dutch chocolate, and we were both very pleased with our choices! As we continued down, happily eating our ice cream, we realized that we didn't know where we were, and that even Rick Steves couldn't get us back on track. So, we asked a nearby taxi driver. My first question, "Where is St. Mary's College?" He laughed, and pointed to a nearby building. We were not as lost as we thought apparently. My next question, "Where is St. Andrews Museum?" He said, "Which one?" Amanda and I looked at each other, and then I asked the question we were both most interested in, "Where is Fisher and Donaldson bakery?" He was very amused with us, directed us how to get there, and we could hear him chortling still as we made our way to the bakery. Once at the bakery, we discovered to our dismay that it wasn't really sweet stuff we could take home, more savory, and we decided that we wanted to eat lunch instead. So off to The Grill House, suggested by Rick. Where would we be without him? The wait there was a little bit long, but offered us the opportunity to run across the street and get Amanda a St. Andrews sweatshirt. Once seated, we both made like Americans and ordered hamburgers. Represent. It took FOREVER for us to get our food, but definitely worth the wait! Our burgers (and fries) were SO good! And we also decided to go crazy and have dessert. I had the chocolate fondant, and Amanda had the toffee pudding, both of which were wicked good. And we are not allowed to eat for a week now, but totally worth it!
After lunch, we were going to go back down and walk the beach before leaving, but we came across the bus stop on our way, and decided that since we were both a little bit uneasy about getting home, we would rather get a head start on that adventure. The trip home actually proved to not be an adventure, which was a good thing! We knew we had to get to the bus station, and buses are pretty self explanatory (we did ask the bus driver if the bus made it to Leuches train station though, just to be sure). When we got to the train station, we picked up a train route guide, only to find that it made absolutely no sense, so we asked the ticket man instead, who told us where to wait. So we did as we were told, and got on the train to Dundee. From Dundee, we asked again, and were directed to take the train heading to Glasgow. I hurried to go to the bathroom, and when I got back, Amanda hurried to go to the bathroom, but our train was five minutes early! I saw the train, freaked, and ran and got Amanda. Luckily, we made it! Amanda had heard the train from the bathroom and hadn't decided whether to go yet when I ran in to get her, so we were safe! On the train, we realized that Rick had outlined the major train routes in the back of his book, (handy!) so in the future, we might be a little bit less confused about where to go.
When we pulled into Stirling, got off the train, and were pretty convinced that we had made it home safely, Amanda and I made sure to give each other a high five for doing our first trip together! We were pretty pleased with ourselves for making it back in one piece! Although Amanda still needed to go to the bathroom, poor thing!
All in all, it was a really fun day, and I can't wait for more adventures! I'm definitely getting more comfortable with my surroundings, and settling in. Stirling is feeling more and more familiar, and I'm feeling less and less transplanted. I also found out how to watch American TV online. Muahahaha! Tomorrow is pilates, working out (in an attempt to rectify my horrible eating today) and then I'm going to just walk around Stirling to get a better feeling for the different shops and stuff. There are lots of alleys with little shops that I haven't looked into yet, and I think the more I explore, the more at home I'll feel! So that's all for tonight! Ciao!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The Most Confusing, And Fun, Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day is over!! People all over the world can let out a sigh of relief! Mine was a pretty odd one...since we've only been here for a few days, I had already given up hope that I was getting any flowers, so I decided to spend the night watching graphic British TV mystery dramas such as White Chapel, Law and Order UK, Blue Murder, you catch my drift, and eat lots and lots of scones and marmalade! But then Amanda and I decided that we should go out and see what single people in Stirling do for Valentine's, so we got dressed up and cute and hit the town! Well, it turns out that people in Stirling don't really do Valentine's Day? At least not like the US does. The bars were pretty empty, and the only people who seemed to be there were 19 year olds. We suddenly felt like we were 1) Really out of place and 2) In the middle of a comedy show. Just as we were feeling at the height of our awkwardness, discussing how the situation would be dramatically different back home, a guy came over and asked us if we were using the extra chairs at our table. Amanda and I just looked at each other with facial expressions that said it all, and then said "no", proceeding to laugh for about five minutes after. I don't think it's possible to explain that situation, but it was at once really awkward and really funny! We tried a few other bars, and a club up on campus, but since we felt like even flirting with the guys at all these places would put us behind bars, we decided to call it a semi-early evening. It was a really fun night though, despite being very socially confusing, and I wouldn't have wanted it to go any other way!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Moving Into My Flat!
Wow...I have definitely been out of commission for a few days! The home stay was a great experience. I really connected with the girl I was sharing a room with, Grace, so that was really fun. One night we decided to go get a pint of cider, and ended up getting a few drinks bought for us, so we were a little bit tipsy when we got home. Then, we laid out a feast of all the random food we had with us, which consisted of gluten free pretzels, chocolate covered pomegranate seeds, and Haribo gummy bears. It was very tasty and really fun.
Yesterday I officially moved into my flat, even though that feels like a year ago! Time is so crazy! I immediately went to Tesco, the local supermaket, and bought all of the home stuff I needed, like towels and dishes and of course food. And on the topic of food, wow! They have so many cool things I want to try! I felt like a kid in a candy shop! It was very difficult to take it all in. I am so so excited to try their scones and stuff! I bought these little chocolate caramel shortcake bites because they were a pound and I wanted to try something new--best decision of my life. They are AMAZING! Definitely taking some home with me in my suitcase! My room is getting a little bit homier, I have a pink polka dot duvet cover and have all of my stuff in here now, so it's not quite so barren. We also went to check out the local mall, Thistles, and did a little bit of shopping for clothes and home decoration!
Last night was really fun, we all went out to the pubs and a club called Dusk. At a pub, not sure what it was called, I made friends with this group of maybe mid-twenty aged guys, and one of them I beat in a Guiness drinking contest! That kind of made my night. His friend was really cute, but I came to find out that he was engaged, which was unfortunate for me. Then on our way to the club, they all took turns carrying me, which was kind of hilarious. Dusk was fun, but Amanda, another girl in our group, and I left a little bit early because the club was so packed and we were a little bit tired.
This morning I woke up, had some of my almond honey oatmeal (they have such a better selection of oatmeal here than we do in the US!) and went up to campus! My flatmate Glenna, Amanda and I decided to walk, to see how long it would take. It was a bit of a trek--I think it took us about 40 minutes. So not that bad, but a little bit too much to do everyday probably, so I bought a bus pass. We met Grace up at campus for lunch, and I tried chili Doritos! Most. Amazing. Doritos. Ever. I am so in love with them! They also have jalapeno ones, which I am really excited to try!! It's a little bit sad that the things I've been most excited about have been food, but oh well! I was also able to get my internet figured out while I was on campus, which was a godsend! Now I can be connected to the world finally! Orientation for Stirling was good, pretty standard. Tonight at midnight I'm able to sign up for seminars and stuff, which will be good, because then I can know my final schedule.
I have also discovered a way to watch British TV online, alas, not American, but I got to catch up on Whitechapel which was very exciting! I also ate almost an entire package of digestive biscuits while watching it without realizing. Not one of my proudest moments...
I really hope I can Skype with people soon! I got to talk to Anna a few days ago, which was really nice! Let me know when you guys have time, now that I have a more concrete schedule I can plan Skype dates!
Yesterday I officially moved into my flat, even though that feels like a year ago! Time is so crazy! I immediately went to Tesco, the local supermaket, and bought all of the home stuff I needed, like towels and dishes and of course food. And on the topic of food, wow! They have so many cool things I want to try! I felt like a kid in a candy shop! It was very difficult to take it all in. I am so so excited to try their scones and stuff! I bought these little chocolate caramel shortcake bites because they were a pound and I wanted to try something new--best decision of my life. They are AMAZING! Definitely taking some home with me in my suitcase! My room is getting a little bit homier, I have a pink polka dot duvet cover and have all of my stuff in here now, so it's not quite so barren. We also went to check out the local mall, Thistles, and did a little bit of shopping for clothes and home decoration!
Last night was really fun, we all went out to the pubs and a club called Dusk. At a pub, not sure what it was called, I made friends with this group of maybe mid-twenty aged guys, and one of them I beat in a Guiness drinking contest! That kind of made my night. His friend was really cute, but I came to find out that he was engaged, which was unfortunate for me. Then on our way to the club, they all took turns carrying me, which was kind of hilarious. Dusk was fun, but Amanda, another girl in our group, and I left a little bit early because the club was so packed and we were a little bit tired.
This morning I woke up, had some of my almond honey oatmeal (they have such a better selection of oatmeal here than we do in the US!) and went up to campus! My flatmate Glenna, Amanda and I decided to walk, to see how long it would take. It was a bit of a trek--I think it took us about 40 minutes. So not that bad, but a little bit too much to do everyday probably, so I bought a bus pass. We met Grace up at campus for lunch, and I tried chili Doritos! Most. Amazing. Doritos. Ever. I am so in love with them! They also have jalapeno ones, which I am really excited to try!! It's a little bit sad that the things I've been most excited about have been food, but oh well! I was also able to get my internet figured out while I was on campus, which was a godsend! Now I can be connected to the world finally! Orientation for Stirling was good, pretty standard. Tonight at midnight I'm able to sign up for seminars and stuff, which will be good, because then I can know my final schedule.
I have also discovered a way to watch British TV online, alas, not American, but I got to catch up on Whitechapel which was very exciting! I also ate almost an entire package of digestive biscuits while watching it without realizing. Not one of my proudest moments...
I really hope I can Skype with people soon! I got to talk to Anna a few days ago, which was really nice! Let me know when you guys have time, now that I have a more concrete schedule I can plan Skype dates!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Stirling!
I am laying in bed at my host family's house in Stirling! Can't believe I'm in the town where I will be living for the next few months! I'm so excited to see the town and explore tomorrow! For tonight, I'm exhausted! Some of the kids in my program are going out tonight, but I want to be well rested for tomorrow and I feel like I could sleep for a hundred years!
Today we had the last bit of orientation, where they talked to us about what to expect from our classes at Stirling. It's definitely a different set up! You're expected to do a lot more work outside of class, instead of relying on lectures to learn the information. On the one hand, I'm really happy about this, because I find it annoying to be spoon fed information. On the other hand, I'm a little bit nervous about adjusting to the new system! I'm sure it will be fine though :) And the good news is that I only have class on Mondays and Tuesdays, so lots of time to travel and stuff when I want to! Classes start this Wednesday though, so I'm going to have a week of doing nothing! It's kind of stressful trying to figure out a whole new school system, but I'm sure it will all work out.
We went to the National Museum in Edinburgh this afternoon, which has a lot of really cool historical artifacts. We spent the first hour looking at all sorts of historical artifacts from old standing stones to pieces of a Roman tent from 12 AD, and then we found the kid's section and had tons of fun playing dress up. Pictures to come of that!
After the museum we went back to the hotel, I had a few minutes to chat with my dad on Facebook, and then we loaded up in our coach to go to Stirling! We met our host parents right off the bus, and we will be staying with them for three days, until Saturday. I haven't gotten a chance to really talk to the dad yet, but the mom fed us (minced meat and potatoes, really yummy! I'm getting the recipe immediately!) and then she told us all about different restaurants and bars in Stirling and other stuff we can do. I don't think I will be going hungry, there are a million places to eat apparently! But currently I'm really looking forward to being able to cook for myself, since I've been living off of restaurant food for almost two weeks. It gets really old.
Tomorrow we are going to visit Stirling castle and maybe the William Wallace monument, not quite sure about the latter, but they are going to entertain us somehow apparently. I'm not too worried about it; I'm mostly just really excited to see Stirling and start to orient myself a little bit! Until tomorrow!
Today we had the last bit of orientation, where they talked to us about what to expect from our classes at Stirling. It's definitely a different set up! You're expected to do a lot more work outside of class, instead of relying on lectures to learn the information. On the one hand, I'm really happy about this, because I find it annoying to be spoon fed information. On the other hand, I'm a little bit nervous about adjusting to the new system! I'm sure it will be fine though :) And the good news is that I only have class on Mondays and Tuesdays, so lots of time to travel and stuff when I want to! Classes start this Wednesday though, so I'm going to have a week of doing nothing! It's kind of stressful trying to figure out a whole new school system, but I'm sure it will all work out.
We went to the National Museum in Edinburgh this afternoon, which has a lot of really cool historical artifacts. We spent the first hour looking at all sorts of historical artifacts from old standing stones to pieces of a Roman tent from 12 AD, and then we found the kid's section and had tons of fun playing dress up. Pictures to come of that!
After the museum we went back to the hotel, I had a few minutes to chat with my dad on Facebook, and then we loaded up in our coach to go to Stirling! We met our host parents right off the bus, and we will be staying with them for three days, until Saturday. I haven't gotten a chance to really talk to the dad yet, but the mom fed us (minced meat and potatoes, really yummy! I'm getting the recipe immediately!) and then she told us all about different restaurants and bars in Stirling and other stuff we can do. I don't think I will be going hungry, there are a million places to eat apparently! But currently I'm really looking forward to being able to cook for myself, since I've been living off of restaurant food for almost two weeks. It gets really old.
Tomorrow we are going to visit Stirling castle and maybe the William Wallace monument, not quite sure about the latter, but they are going to entertain us somehow apparently. I'm not too worried about it; I'm mostly just really excited to see Stirling and start to orient myself a little bit! Until tomorrow!
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