More haggis, please!

As of tonight I feel much more connected to the Scottish culture. I had three unique Scottish experiences all rolled into one, compliments of an invitation by Paddy and in honor of the Scottish bard.  

Cultural experience number one was attending a Robert Burns supper, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the highly lauded writer's birth. From what I've gathered Burns is the Scottish Shakespeare/Beatles/insert national superstar here. Scots are nutty for him (but I had no idea who he was until I learned he wrote "Auld Lang Syne"). The interns joined the Scottish Folk Society, chaired by Paddy, at a cabaret bar where we watched the somewhat eccentric festivities unfold. 

[caption id="attachment_151" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Awaiting the start of the festivities."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Lovable Paddy giving the introductory remarks."][/caption]

The night started with music by a folk group who sang some lovely Burns poems set to music as well as other traditional Scottish songs. I was suprised at how much I actually enjoyed both the words and the melody; My favorite song by far was one about an old woman who is granted three wishes. For one of her wishes she asks for her tomcat to be turned into a handsome man, and the song ends with him whispering in her ear "now you'll regret taking me to the vet!"

We then dined, and that's when cultural experience number two took place. A bagpiper "piped in" a serving dish of haggis, and then a man "slaughtered" it (aka cut it) on stage. 

[caption id="attachment_153" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Kilted man "piping in" the haggis."][/caption]

Haggis: sheep innards, including pieces of heart and lung. Think meatloaf but no meat. Suprisingly I really liked it! I liked it so much I got seconds. I'm planning to become a haggis connoisseur now. 

[caption id="attachment_154" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Delicious innards!"][/caption]

I mentioned in my last post that I had managed to stay away from hard alcohol since I've been here. But no more. Cultural experience three was trying my first Scottish whisky. A man led us in a toast for Burns (who was apparently quite the ladies man) and we raised our glasses and gulped. I only had a wee bit, but wooooo it burned as it went down.

The second part of the evening consisted of various members of the audience getting on stage and singing or reciting Burns poems. We all joined in for the last one, of course "Auld Lang Syne." The tradition is to cross your arms and grip your neighbors' hands and raise them up and down as you sing.  I'm a bit of a sap, but it was a beautiful moment. I love Scotland!

Moving backwards to Sunday now and to the charming town of Stirling. I took my second daytrip with fellow intern Megan. We hopped on the train Sunday morning and made the fifty minute trip to the town famous for its castle. So of course our first stop was the castle, which had gorgeous views of the Highlands.

 

[caption id="attachment_157" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Inside the castle walls."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_158" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="We asked a guy to take our picture and this is what came out. Nice cannon, huh?"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_159" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="One of many lovely views."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_160" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Castle chapel. The tapestries, which are reproductions, each took four years to make. I would never have that much patience."][/caption]

After leaving the castle we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Stirling, and I'm beginning to think most towns in Scotland look the same: old. We stopped for lunch at a place claiming to be the best teahouse in Scotland, and while I'm not so sure that's true the brie sandwhich I had was amazing. You can find brie almost anywhere here.  

The rest of this week has been mostly consumed by writing a brief for my Scottish politics class on whether Scotland should have control of its own elections. They definitely don't need no Westminster telling them what to do! But luckily I'm done now and am getting pumped for this weekend's trip on the West Highland Railway. Cheers!

Pints for a pound, or $1.35

I hardly remember what I did this week because it went by very quickly. Much quicker than last week, for sure. I think as I've gotten more settled here it's become apparent to me that this is not just a vacation - it's my life for the next four months. 

Admittedly four months is a somewhat daunting period of time from where I sit now.  I'm having a wonderful time so far and am excited for the travel and experiences that await me, but that's a darn long time - likely the longest I'll ever be living outside the U.S. It's been pretty easy to make the adjustment so far, probably because the people here speak English too. I feel confident going anywhere and doing anything since I know I can always ask for advice or directions. And ask I have!

But now on to week two:

On Tuesday the interns attended a meeting of the finance committee at the Scottish Parliament. I wish we had known anything about what they were discussing, but we didn't and thus it was hard to follow and boring. I always feel bad when I think such things are boring, cause that's supposed to be my area of interest. But I will not tell a lie. It was interesting to finally make it inside the building, though. More on that later.

I watched the inauguration in a pub at the student union, surrounded by hundreds of excited Americans, Scots, and people from all over the world. The atmosphere was electric. I've heard before how much people from other countries follow U.S. politics, but it really impressed me that all these people would take the time to watch the inauguration and speech of another country's leader. I'll always remember where I was.

[caption id="attachment_124" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The crowd of international students attentively watching the inauguration coverage."][/caption]

Wednesday was cultural field trip round two, and Paddy escorted us to the John Knox house and St. Giles Church on the Royal Mile. For those of you who did not have 13 years of Catholic education supplemented by the tour of a bearded man who knows everything there is to know about Scotland and its history, John Knox was a preacher during the Protestant Reformation. I've been less-than-impressed with the multiple museums and points of interest in Edinburgh thus far, and the John Knox house was another example of historical hokiness. At one point Paddy pushed all 15 of us into a teeny-sized room and made us listen to an audio presentation, of which the only line I remember is "Mary, Queen of Scots is a WHORE!" 

St. Giles Church was really beautiful, though. It's famous because John Knox delivered an important sermon there during the Reformation but even without that it would be worth visiting. There's a chapel within the church that was absolutely stunning, full of intricate carvings . It's called the Thistle Chapel and it's the meeting place for some semi-secret Scottish society. Sorry, no pictures since they are not allowed inside (which I found out the hard way - I took a picture and as soon as I put my camera down I looked over to the information table to see a sign saying "no photography" and a guard looking disapprovingly at me).  But as in journalism it's always better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

[caption id="attachment_126" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The not-so-fabulous John Knox House."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_127" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The exterior of St. Giles Church."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_129" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The interns being talked at by Paddy, who can amazingly lead tours not only on the streets but also inside every historical building and museum in Edinburgh."][/caption]

One more interesting tidbit from our tour: there's a design on the cobblestone in front of St. Giles known as the "Heart of Midlothian." Imagine my surprise when as we are standing right by it, random people spit on it. Who would want to spit on a pretty heart? But apparently, according to our omniscient tour guide, it's a football (for you Americans that's soccer) thing. Supporters of the team it represents spit on the heart for good luck and other teams' supporters spit on it as a sign of dislike. Confusing Scottish people!

[caption id="attachment_130" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The oft spit on Heart of Midlothian. "][/caption]

 Of course I had to go out Wednesday night because it's the thing to do around here, so a group of us met at a place called "The Tron" where the special was pints for a pound. It's a great deal and getting better all the time...I read today that the pound is at its lowest value in comparison to the American dollar in 24 years.  We also went to another pub/club that night called "Rush,"  but nothing notable to report from there except that creepers abound when the students are out. 

[caption id="attachment_132" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="With the flatmates ready for a night out."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_134" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="At "The Tron" enjoying my pint for a pound."][/caption]

The interns toured the Scottish Parliament building Thursday afternoon after we watched a question session in the main chamber. The first thing that struck me when I entered the chamber was how new it looked. Not new like just born new, new as in not the old style I'm used to seeing all around the city. I quite like it although it's apparently not so popular with the locals. Admittedly it would work better if Scotland was known for its sun rather than its gray skies and rain. The next thing that struck me was how much more entertaining MSPs are than U.S. congressmen. They're not afraid to seriously attack eachother and tell pithy jokes when giving their speeches. I think I picked the right country's legislature to intern with.

Friday was off for me but I still had to do some work; I met with my presentation group at the library. The workload is really picking up now that we're almost halfway done with a 5-week program. I had a presentation last week, another one next week, a presentation write-up due Wednesday, a media review due Monday, and a legislative brief due Friday. Whew! But I'm trucking along just fine, although every time I go to the library to get books or do work I manage to set off the alarm for one reason or the other. My count now is four times, and I'm sure it will keep increasing right along with my workload.

Friday night we celebrated the 21st birthday of one of the guys in the intern group, and it was a fun time. We met at his apartment first and then went to a pub called "The Three Sisters" - major creeper alert there - before reaching our final destination, a club called "Shanghai." As a note of interest, I've managed to completely avoid hard alcohol of any kind since I've been here. I prefer beer, wine, and of course cider. 

 

[caption id="attachment_144" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Before venturing to the Three Sisters and Shanghai - oh yeah, and check out the wall decorations."][/caption]

Today I spontaneously ventured outside of Edinburgh for the first time. I woke up relatively early this morning and decided there was no better time for a train ride, so I picked Perth as my destination and left. I don't really know why I chose Perth other than it had a pretty good review in The Rough Guide I brought along with me, but it turned out to be a very nice day. I think my favorite part was the train ride, actually. I've been itching to see the countryside and it didn't disappoint. The hour and a half ride to Perth was full of great views of charming small towns, the North Sea, and lochs - Scotland's got lots of them. 

Once I arrived I slowly made my way around town. There aren't really any famous points of interest other than St. John's Kirk which was closed unfortunately, but there was lots of charm. Here's a photo essay of my day:

[caption id="attachment_138" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Statue guarding the entrance to South Inch, one of two major parks in town."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_139" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="St. John's Kirk"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_140" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="A random city street - see the charm?"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_141" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="View from a bridge over the Tay River."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_142" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="An eccentric statue - Perth is known for them."][/caption]

Tomorrow I'm going to Stirling for the day and I'm also in the middle of planning next weekend's epic trip on the West Highland Railway. More to come!

And as a final note, a big shout out to the ladiez who valiantly defended my blog honor this week from its first enemy attack. I hope this blog doesn't want to make you puke, but if it does well just don't come back now, you hear? I'll keep writing as long as y'all keep reading.

Views of the city from both ends of the Royal Mile

No class on Fridays for this parliamentary intern-in-training, so I was free to do a little exploring. I slept in for the first time in a week and then took a jaunt on the Royal Mile,   home to Edinburgh's most historic sites.  To get there is only a five-minute walk from my apartment, and the perpindicular road from which I approached bisected the street that is, in fact, about a mile long.  I turned left on Friday, saving the right side for Saturday, and made my way past the kilt shops and numerous museums up to Edinburgh Castle. 

[caption id="attachment_96" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The Royal Mile in all its historic glory."][/caption]

Edinburgh Castle is the number one tourist destination in Scotland, and I wanted to make sure to check it off the list like any other American tourist. The seat of the Scottish monarchy when there was one years ago, it's on a hill, overlooking the rest of  Edinburgh and asserting the city's grandeur.

[caption id="attachment_99" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="I bet you can't guess what this is!"][/caption]

I paid my nine pounds entrance fee and walked up the cobblestone pathway to the main part of the castle. The castles of fairytales always seemed to be singluar structures to me, but this one was more commune than castle, with multiple buildings enclosed in its stone walls. I trapsed through a chapel, a great hall, a hokey exhibit about prisoners of war, and various other structures and museums before making my way to the room containing the crown jewels. I've seen the ones at Windsor Castle in England, and the Scottish monarchs really got the short end of the stick.  They only had a crown, a scepter, and three other items of blingy jewelry. 

But what was most impressive about the castle, I thought, was the amazing views it offered of the city below.  I could imagine Mary, Queen of Scots standing at the stone wall and thinking about her subjects below or perhaps reflecting on what it's like to become a monarch at the age of nine months. Ridiculous, right?

[caption id="attachment_100" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The Great Hall."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_102" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Castle path, with a view of the city and the North Sea."][/caption]

After I finished at the castle I hurried  my way back down the Royal Mile and to Princes Street (it was very cold). I made three important purchases: a hair straightener, a UK sim card for my cell phone, and a delicious cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. It really is all about the beverages here! 

I wrote before that the Scottish go out every night, right? Wrong! Curiously most Edinburgh students don't really go out on the weekends. Apparently it's way more expensive to go to pubs and clubs on Friday and Saturday nights, so the weekends are chill nights. I spent my Friday night watching "The Holiday" at one of my friend's apartments and enjoying American-style chocolate chip cookies. They don't have slice and bake cookies here, so don't come to Scotland if you're a lazy baker. Joanne, my friend's roommate from England, was shocked (and I think a little repulsed) when we told her such things existed.

On Saturday my friend Alison and I set out on the Royal Mile, this time turning right toward Arthur's Seat. We passed by the parliament building and I was able to appreciate just how weird it looks in comparison to the rest of the city for the first time.

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Not such a great picture of the building, but compare this to the pictures above."][/caption]

Alison and I then made our way into Hollyrood Park which Paddy said is basically a miniature Highlands in the city. He was right; although I never felt as though I were leaving Edinburgh it definitely gave me the nature fix I've been craving. We met a girl I know from USC and several international students from places like Slovakia, Lithuania, and Austria and started the ascent to Arthur's Seat. It was a much more physically challenging task than I had expected (should have worn more appropriate shoes), but man was it worth it. At some points the hike was almost vertical and when we finished the trek we had amazing 360 degree views of Edinburgh. 

My hair - and in fact my entire body - was assaulted by intense winds at the apex, but thankfully the wind also helped propel me upward as I made the difficult climb. I was legitimately worried at times that I would fall over. We stayed for a while to enjoy the incredible views and then started the descent, motivated by wishes for hot beverages.

[caption id="attachment_107" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="View of Arthur's Seat from a distance (hopefully giving you an idea of what it is!)."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_108" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Getting assaulted by the wind."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="What we made into a seat on Arthur's Seat."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_109" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="View from the top. "][/caption]

The hike down included a stop at the ruins of a chapel with  a view of a loch with real swans!

[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Saying hello from the chapel's door."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_115" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="My first Scottish loch!"][/caption]

Saturday night was a little more eventful than the last; I went to a nearby pub to listen to a band called Joy Terrified. Appropriate, as I was terrified by their deafening noise. I couldn't really make out much of what they were saying, but I did enjoy watching the lead singer jumping up and down about a foot away from me (we were naturally in the front row since we were such big fans). Yet despite the fact that I may have permanently lost some of my hearing, it was really fun to see a different side of the culture here. They're coming back in March, yay!

 

[caption id="attachment_117" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="My new favorite band."][/caption]

You may be suprised to learn that I actually did some school-related work today. I have to give a presentation Wednesday on law in Scotland, so I went to the library and have been reading/preparing for that for a while. I feel as though I've been here for way more than a week already, but I know I'm just beginning to experience what this country and continent have to offer. One week down, 17 to go!

Exploring the city, one pub at a time

I left off at Tuesday afternoon, so moving on to Tuesday night: Another pub, of course. Luckily there's tons of pubs within walking distance and probably hundreds if not thousands in Edinburgh. So it will be hard to get bored. Gotta "see the city," right?

We went to a pub called Bannermans, which is only a two minute walk from my apartment. The international student office hosts a karaoke night there once a week, and while I didn't get up and sing I have big plans to whip out my signature song next time. FYI it's "You're So Vain" for those who don't know already.  It was a very cozy, dimly lit, authentic-feeling pub and it was packed. It took us forever to get drinks. Fun fact: bartenders in Scotland do not get tipped - a shame since all the bartenders I've encountered seem frazzled and overworked.

[caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="At Bannermans - sorry there are not any photos of the pub itself. I'm still working on my blogging photography skills!"][/caption]

Wednesday morning was our first section of Scottish culture and society class, taught by the fabulous Paddy. He's really the ideal person to teach this kind of class since he screams Scottish culture. We started by going around the room and naming off things, places and people we associate with Scotland. My list comprised of kilts, the Loch Ness monster, whisky, haggis, and cold, rainy, and wet weather. Paddy then spent the rest of the class going through an abbreviated history of Scotland. I wish I had more knowledge of European politics and geography: I was only able to roughly identify where Edinburgh was on a map of Scotland. It makes me think history classes in the U.S. are too self-centric.

Wednesday afternoon included a tour of the National Library, which is basically Scotland's equivalent of the Library of Congress. It's an impressive building but only three floors are open to the public. Our tour guide spent most of his time telling us what we couldn't do there: no checking out books, making photocopies, carrying a bag, drinking or eating...the list goes on. I don't really think I'll be going there to study.

Following the tour I did something I've wanted to do for a long time: go to the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling famously wrote the first Harry Potter book. It's called the Elephant House, and it's just a stone's throw from the National Library. Several places here claim to have that distinction, but this one is the most reputable. I wanted to take pictures, but I didn't bring my camera - shucks! I'll go back for sure.

That night some of us went to our building's welcome party. By party I mean they herded us to a restaurant, made us sit down, came around and told us the rules of the building, and then gave us vouchers for free hamburgers and soft drinks. It wasn't so hopping. The burger was pretty abysmal, but I was just excited to get free food.  I met a guy from Southern California who attends the university as a full-time student and he basically just rambled on about how much he hated USC and California. I guess he did have a point about the smog, but I went to bat for my school.

One thing I've noticed already here is how hands-off the university is in dealing with students. I'm pretty sure the welcome shindig is the only event the building RAs plan all semester - I'm used to the at least once-a-week events my freshman year RA at USC organized. They definitely don't hold your hand here.  It's a little unnerving as a new student, but I know I'm getting more guidance in the parliament program than my friends who are just studying at the university.

We followed dinner with what some of the other interns branded as a "pub crawl," but I think in going to two pubs we didn't really fulfill the requirements. But it was really fun anyway and nice to see some of the other interns outside of class since we're going to be spending a ridiculous amount of time together in the coming weeks. We started at Frankenstein's, a pub themed as its name might suggest, and I tried pear cider for the first time. I think that brings my cider brand count to four now, and I'm still a Strongbow devotee. We next hopped over to Paddys, an authentic Irish pub that had fiddlers. I wasn't expecting to hear the fiddlers play Johnny Cash, but anything goes here. Some of us even got up to dance at one point to another Johnny Cash song.

[caption id="attachment_87" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Drinking pear cider at Frankenstein's with fellow interns."][/caption]

British politics met today for the first time, and it seems as though it may be the most difficult class I'll take here. The lecture was interesting, although it's becoming increasingly harder to concentrate for two hours straight. But I'm officially done with 20% of my classes this semester as of today! Be jealous.

I forced myself to go to the grocery store during my lunch break. I've been putting it off because it's so darn cold  that I'm not really motivated to spend any more time outside than I have to. Lame, I know. But my food situation was getting desperate, so I grabbed my huge backpacking backpack and trudged out of my apartment. I felt a little foolish, but man the backpack saved me. I went to two stores, one called Pharm Fresh known for its cheap frozen food (sort of ironic that it has "fresh" in its name) and Tesco's. Grocery shopping is very different here than it is in the U.S. The stores are much smaller with fewer choices, and it seems as though most people buy less items at one time and go shopping more frequently. Maybe because they have to carry by hand everything they buy. No parking lots here.

In the afternoon we had a tutorial with a punchy university librarian who was pretty hilarious. She repeatedly told us she didn't want to be there and criticized the library numerous times. Apparently the library isn't open early on Sunday mornings because students like to get "hammered" on Saturday nights.  I love the Scottish.

Thursday night is movie-viewing night for the interns, and tonight we had the pleasure of watching the BBC's recording of the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament. People gave speeches, sang, read poems, blah blah blah. It was really interesting to see the parliament building for the first time, though. It's really stunning in my opinion, but it's widely criticized here because it's modern architecture as opposed to the "old" that prevails in the rest of the city. We're going to visit next week, I'm excited.

Tomorrow is my day off, and I plan to sleep until noon if I can. This weekend I'm going to stay in Edinburgh and do some exploring. Later mates!

Baby, it's cold outside.

I’m sorry to report that my blog will no longer concern itself with food. It’s just not great here like it is in Taiwan. But drinks, now that’s a different story!

It’s day four for me in Scotland, and I’ve really been enamored with the city of Edinburgh so far. It’s stunningly beautiful and quaint; I feel as though I’ve stepped onto the set of Harry Potter. (Apparently J.K. Rowling lives here. Let’s hope I spot her sometime in the next four months!)

Here’s the recap of what I’ve been up to:

I arrived Saturday night at the Edinburgh airport, relieved my before-mentioned travel nightmare had finally reached its conclusion. Luckily the university had a welcome station for international students, and a nice guy helped me figure out the shuttle to get to my apartment. As I stepped outside I was immediately hit with a wall of cold air, made worse by powerful wind and a slight drizzle. Note: I had left eighty-degree Louisiana temperatures just a day earlier.

The shuttle took me right to my apartment, and after a somewhat confusing check-in process I arrived at my flat in the College Wynd building. It’s an old-looking complex (pretty much everything in the city looks old) and is arranged around a nice courtyard. I’m pleased.

I met one of my roommates, a nice girl named Katie from Massachusetts, and settled into my room:

 

[caption id="attachment_63" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="My room at College Wynd - it's actually bigger than it looks here."][/caption]

 

Decent, right? This is the first single room I’ve had in college, and it suits me just fine. The only problem is that my building is located close to some pub – although that’s not saying much since there are as many pubs in Edinburgh as there are 7-Elevens in Taipei – and people sing and make noise at all hours of the night outside. But I feel as though I’m getting an authentic Scottish experience.

PEOPLE PARTY SO MUCH HERE! There are no “off” nights, not even Sundays. The University of Edinburgh student union has nine pubs of its own. But Scottish people’s attitudes toward drinking are very different from Americans' ones. It’s not really “let’s drink to get wasted” all the time here – not to say that doesn’t happen – but more “let’s have a couple drinks and enjoy eachother’s company.”

The first night I was much too exhausted to go out, but I did take a brief walking tour with two other American students. The city at night was stunning. It’s hard to describe just how ancient the city feels, but literally every building has some history behind it even if it’s now a KFC. There are cobblestone streets everywhere, tight alleys they call “closes” separating buildings, and tons of beautiful cathedrals, government buildings, and homes. The university itself is also really amazing. All the buildings have the old (I’m sure there’s a more technical name for it) architecture and surround charming squares and parks.

Sunday morning was orientation. Not much to report that would be of much interest to non-Edinburgh students, but I did learn some fun facts about Edinburgh. The entire city is a World Heritage site, and Thomas Jefferson once said that Edinburgh is the city Paris ought to be. We got a walking tour of the campus from a student, and it became clear to me that I would have big problems getting lost. Not much of a surprise to those who know me.

On Sunday afternoon my new friend Alison and I went shopping at a bargain store to buy some essential apartment items and then to Tesco, the main grocery chain in the UK. I’ve heard things are much more expensive here, and I guess they typically are, but not when you just buy Tesco-brand items! It’s basically like Ralph’s. I got as much food as I could carry and pledged to go later with my backpacking backpack to get more. So far I’ve been living on peanut butter, store-brand nutella and lean cuisine-esque dinners.

On Sunday night I had my first authentically Scottish experience: I went to a pub. Alison’s roommates are a hilarious group consisting of girls from Scotland, Ireland, England, and Australia. We tagged along with them and some of their friends to a place called the Brass Monkey. It’s just the sort of place you think of when you envision Scotland – dim lighting, charming seating areas, a long bar with tons of taps. We settled into a little nook and enjoyed our drinks – cider for me, of course.

 

[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="With new friends having cider!"][/caption]

 

The guys we were with were really funny. One of them gave us his “top five in life” list, which I’ll recount here:

1. Sex

2. Food

3. Sleep

4. Dancing (yes, Scottish guys actually like to dance.)

5. "Bedlife"

When he got to “bedlife” I started hysterically laughing. It means literally “life in bed” – staying in bed all day. There are lots of words like that in the Scottish dialect that are a constant source of amusement for me. Here are some more:

1. NED - non-educated delinquent. Gangster-type guys "proper" girls don't associate with.

2. Pulling - kissing

3. Round - fat

4. Pissing - raining

On Monday morning the parliament program had its orientation, led by my director of studies Paddy. Imagine a stereotypical Scottish man. Does he look like this?

 

[caption id="attachment_68" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Yep, I took this picture without him knowing - didn't want him to think I was a creeper."][/caption]

 

Long graysish-red beard, huge pot belly (probably a result of regular alcohol consumption), thick Scottish accent, terrible body odor. He’s awesome.

Paddy told us all about what we’ll be doing for the duration of the semester: five weeks of class followed by a ten-week internship with a member of the Scottish parliament. I’m pumped. There are just 16 of us in the program, and it’s been really great so far getting to know everyone.

On Monday afternoon I went to the university library to check out books for my classes. It was intimidating at first because I had no idea where to go or what to do. But I asked for help at the desk and a very nice guy helped me understand the system. I’ve found that people here are very friendly and seem to like foreigners. They’re excited about Obama – I’ve been asked numerous times about the election. It’s a good time to be in Europe.

Monday night wasn’t as fun as the night before, since my attempts to go out were thwarted. One of my flatmates – a girl named Lauren who’s in the parliament program with me – Alison, and I attempted to go to a club with Alison’s roommates. The line was RIDICULOUS. Yep, on a Monday night. We were just basically pushed around for an hour in a mob of people (with my foot getting stilettoed a number of times, of course) before the security guard cut the line off RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. But it was probably a good thing since I had class this morning. I’m sure we’ll go back.

 

[caption id="attachment_70" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="All dressed up for da club, with no idea we weren't going out."][/caption]

 

This morning I had my first class – Scottish politics. Taking a class last semester which went through British politics has helped my understanding a lot, and I actually found the lecture very interesting. The interns have class together three days a week in a small seminar classroom in the Chisolm House, home to the Institute of Governance here. I had lunch with some of the interns, and I can tell already that we’re gonna mesh pretty well together.

In the afternoon Paddy took us on a tour of “historic Edinburgh.” We walked to Princes street, one of the main thoroughfares in the city. It’s a gorgeous street with tons of shops, museums, and otherwise historic places. We stopped at the cemetery where David Hume is buried and went up to Calton Hill, which has amazing views of Edinburgh in all directions. The trip was finished up with visits to the People’s Museum and the Museum of Edinburgh. Nothing special; I’m really not a huge fan of museums. Paddy made us watch a video in the first museum, and the guy next to me and I were cracking up the whole time because we couldn’t understand anything the people were saying because they had really thick Scottish accents.

 

[caption id="attachment_72" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Example of "old" architecture."][/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_76" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The cemetery where famous Scots are buried."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_77" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="View of Edinburgh from Calton Hill."][/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_78" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The Scottish Parliament building, where I'll be working in five weeks."][/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_79" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Bird's eye view of Princes Street as the sun was setting. It gets dark around 4 pm here."][/caption]

So yea, things are going really well so far. I feel lucky to be here having this experience and am excited to get to know the city and the people better in the coming months. I’m especially glad to be in a country full of friendly people. But the cold will definitely take some getting used to for this Louisiana/California lassie!

Live from Edinburgh, finally

I'm here and loving it so far! Due to a difficult internet situation, I'm going to wait to post my first real update but get excited.  It'll be good.

Ta ta for now!

Not quite...

Hello from London, where I will be spending the next seven hours. Lady luck has not been on my side for my travels to Edinburgh; I was supposed to arrive at 10:35 this morning, but that's not happening. Recap: My flight from Boston to London last night was delayed 3.5 hours, meaning I missed my connection at Heathrow to Edinburgh this morning. They booked me on an afternoon flight, and imagine my excitement when I saw that flight was delayed 4 hours. 

So hopefully I'll be getting into Edinburgh at around 8 tonight, but given my experience so far that may be thinking positive. The London flight was delayed because of mechanical problems, but I'm pretty sure weather's the cause of the Edinburgh delays. Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine to break through the freezing fog!

I'm writing from the British Airways lounge, which is admittedly a pretty swank place to spend the next 7 hours.  I don't know how exactly I gained admittance, but there's  enough free food, wine, and wireless to occupy me as I count down to takeoff. Hopefully time to sleep too - I think I've clocked a total of 4 hours since I left yesterday. 

In other news, British accents have kept me amused despite the frustrations this part of my adventure has brought. Later from Edinburgh!

After a wee break, this lassie's back!

Hello blogosphere, it's been about five months since my last post. But now a new adventure is calling my name. This time I'm off to Scotland to study abroad for a semester. I'll be taking classes at the University of Edinburgh and interning at the Scottish Parliament. 

I'm not sure if anything can live up to my amazing summer, but I intend to have a great semester and hopefully get to know the people and culture of Scotland the way I did in Taiwan.  I'll keep everyone updated on my shenanigans here. 

After three more days in Louisiana and a not-so-quick trip across the pond, I'll be coming at you from the U.K.! Now time to pack all that rain and cold weather gear...