Kayaking, Glasgow and Edinburgh...oh my!

So I realize I have not written in a while, but would you want to be typing on your computer, indoors, in an 8 x 5 foot cell while beautiful Scotland is right outside your window?  Obvious answer: bloody "heck" no!  I am very sorry to keep you all waiting but I've got some good stuff now to entertain you.  

So I have joined kayaking club.  Yes, kayaking.  You might think to yourself "Christine, you do not go into an ocean or any other body of water that you cannot see the bottom of because you are afraid to get eaten."  While this is true, I have yet to actually kayak in anything besides the pool. Thus, I have not yet dealt with that fear.   I do imagine it will arise when say we kayak on the loch next Wednesday, but I have faith that my incredible balance and practice of gymnastics gracefulness will keep my kayak steady. (Note: first practice I tipped my kayak 6 times, and my kayak ended up with too much water in it for me to tip it back over.  My Kayak proceeded to sink to the bottom of the pool.)  But all that aside, I am very excited to say I kayaked in Scotland...if only in a pool. 

Also, I went to Glasgow this past weekend and thought it was pretty cool.  I'm not going to lie, I like Stirling better.  Stirling is a little more quaint and historical.  Glasgow is more of a business area...but it had a ton of shopping!  Being the tourists we are though, we decided the first time we were there we had to see all the sites and monuments.  We went to the National Piping Center (very cool to hear bagpipes!) and the Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis.  The Cathedral was amazing with all the stained glass and old architecture.  Again, I was in awe of how old the Cathedral was.  The tomb of St. Mungo was constructed in 607 AD.  That still seems unreal to me.  The fact that I had walked in the same place as people did hundreds of years ago is very very cool.   But what I loved more than the Cathedral was the Glasgow Necropolis (yes another cemetery, and no I do not have a weird obsession with them.)  At home, I thought graveyards were sort of creepy and haunted, but here they are just peaceful and reiterate the idea that there such little time to leave an impact on this earth (so keep it clean and go green please).  I can't explain the feeling too well, but I do know that there is just so much to do and so little time to do it. After the cemetery, we walked (I navigated!) to the museum of modern art.  blah.  I seriously do not get modern art.  I wish I could have taken a picture of some of the exhibits, but no that would take away from the artistic beauty of it...so let me paint you a picture (haha so funny) of what one of the exhibits was.  You walked into a room with white walls and white floors.  In the room there were fluorescent  light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, in two clumps of three in sort of a shape of a tree?  In the middle of the room was a black wire cot.  That is it.  If anybody has a good idea as to what this is, please enLIGHTen me (oh I am just so clever today.) After viewing what they call "art," we went to a cute fish/seafood restaurant called the Grand Fish and Chip Co.  Right outside the door they had a sample of the fish they serve on ice on display.  Oh Dear Lord. Seeing that fish was totally not a good for my kayaking career.  One word: monkfish.  Those teeth, eyes,  and entire being is the freakiest thing and pretty much what I imagine being at the bottom of our Loch.  But the best part of this story is that I tried: Calamari (not bad...actually quite good besides the fact that it's a poor baby squid) Sweet corn and potato soup (really really good) and I had a hamburger for dinner (for those of you who don't know this, I don't eat hamburgers.  Hot dogs only thank you.)  

Tomorrow I leave for Edinburgh where I'm going to meet my friend Kelley who is studying in Spain but has a week off.  I'm really excited to see Edinburgh as I have heard great things, and I'm excited to see a little piece of home.  

So as you can see, I've been trying new things, pushing myself and really really trying to keep an open mind (Haggis is still not something I'm looking forward to trying any time soon).  But Scotland is amazing and I know this was a great choice for me.  

...now I have to get back to Glasgow and shop... CHEERS!

Dear Stirling, I love you.

Well, I didn't think it was possible to fall in love so fast, but I have.  Stirling is absolutely amazing.  The people, food (yes I do like the food), places, sights, culture, and night life are just perfect.  The only thing I have to complain about is the music (which is all american pop songs) and the weather (yet another cloudy 40 degree day in Stirling.)  But I can get around those minor setbacks when I get to do things like oh I don't know...tour a castle?  We visited the Stirling castle this week and it was beyond what I expected.  The architecture is beautiful, the green moss and stone everywhere is right from a post card.  My favorite part of the castle was this hidden garden. It had really cool looking trees and green plants growing everywhere.  I think I'm going to purchase that castle one day, no big.  You are all welcome to come.   

On the way tothe castle we passed this really cool looking graveyard (huge and old) and got a little sidetracked.  Not until we entered the graveyard did any of us realize it was Friday the 13th (cue scary music and wait for dramatic pause.)  But it was actually really peaceful and I was in awe that I could be around something so old.  Some of the tombstones were put there in the 1500s.  It made me feel pretty small (I see your eye roll those of you thinking "you can't get sma

ller") and humbled.  The best part of the cemetery was this cliff thing that you could walk up and get a great picture of Stirling.  I 

swear that view never gets old.  

After the castle, we were all very numb and decided hot chocolate was the best way to warm up (it was only 4 o'clock so we felt that alcohol was probably best avoided.)  We wandered into a cute cafe and I had the best hot chocolate I can remember, or maybe I just wanted it to be better because I'm in Scotland...there's my psychology degree paying off!  Lastly, to get to the bus stop we had to cross through a mall (tragic I know.)  Annelise and I saw a shoe store that said "buy one pair get the second for a $" well a pound but I don't have that key on my laptop. So we just had to go in and make sure they weren't lying to us.  Well, they weren't and 15 minutes later I had a cute pair of brown boots for 13 pounds  (Annelise got a pair too so we split the 26 pounds it cost for both pairs.)  I love them just like everything else in Scotland. Now I can give those Scottish and English girls a run for their money.  Seriously, they get more dressed up for class than I get dressed up to go out!  We're talking Stilettos people! Well, I better go do some reading, or maybe just go socialize...I haven't decided yet.  Until next time, Cheers!

Oh yeah...I do have to go to school...

After having 8 weeks of school off (winter break and then starting late here) I sort of got comfortable with the idea that I didn't have homework or studying to do.  Now, I'm finding that Scotland is not all fun and games (about 65% fun, 30% games) but it also requires work (about 3%, the other 2% is sleeping.)  I had my first class this morning and it was a little tough to get up for since I'm still sort of on Chicago time and since I'm your average college student who loves to sleep.  So I got up at 9, which is 3 am back home, and made some breakfast (toast...again...)  Luckily I had my class with my roommate Louise so I didn't have to leave quite so early to find my class.  Seriously the building is meant to make you feel like a foreigner.   My first class was fine, should be fairly easy with the brains I've got (or the fact that I'm taking all my classes pass fail.)  My next class is Friday, it's an introduction week so it's fairly light.  

Yesterday was probably the most fun I've had here so far.  We (Kacey, Annelise (from Ohio) and Lauren (from Wyoming)) went into Stirling to buy some things that were essiential to comfortable living here.  I finally got a cell phone!  It's a really high tech Nokia with sweet monotone rings, color background and a keypad lock.   I also bought a clothes rack for over the door, some kitchen utensils, a shirt and most importantly a pillow to replace the sheet of paper that they called a pillow.  We ate lunch at this really cute restaurant/bar in town and people watched.  Then we found a pub that we stumbled upon towards the outskirts of town.  It seemed really cute and off the beaten track.  When we came home we told some locals where we went and told them about the cute pub only to discover that the pub we went to was a old folks pub.  Ohhh so that's why we were the youngest people in there by a good 40 years...and I thought the young people just didn't drink before 5.  Clearly we have a little bit to learn.  So all and all, the adventures in Stirling were a success.  I really love it here and cannot wait to explore more.

Cheers!

I HAVE INTERNET!!  this is from yesterday but I didn't have my internet set up so yet...now that I finally do I'll keep you all informed on my adventures!! yay!

Let me preface this with saying that I was awake yesterday for 35 hours.  Absolutely no sleep.  So, if, this seems a little rough, it's because my already poor skills ae being coupled with an extreme lack of sleep.  Anyways, enough whining, I absolutely love Scotland!  It's the most beautiful place I've ever been to (in my opinion.) This is because there are no sandy beaches with shark/stingray/jellyfish/crazy fish with teeth that will attack you without warning (it does happen).  Also, there are tons of trees here, yea for being and going green!  I've seen a lot of sheep, rabbits, squirrels, swans, ducks, lots of crows and even a fox.  Jealous? I thought so.  I'm surrounded by mountains, and lots of friendly people.  My flatmates are really sweet and fun.  Three of them go to school here year round and are locals.  Emily is from England and is the most outgoing.  The other one (Louise) is from Scotland.  I haven't met Louise yet, but Kerry is also really nice and from England as well. So, we (a bunch of americans) went into the city of Stirling which is about a 5 min bus ride away, to buy an ethernet cord as well as a cell phone.  But I had no luck because everything was pretty much closed.  I did manage to buy some food though (pasta, a lot of it, bread, butter, sauces, and ham and cheese) so I'm not wasting away.  In fact, many of you may be happy to know that the first night we got here we went to and Indian restaurant and I ordered the chicken rogan josh meal.  It was pretty good actually...not quite as good as my McDonald's.  Haven't had that yet...I'm surrounded by mountains and trees and hills and green.  It's gorgeous.  My room is sort of small, but I have my own and there's even a sink in it!  There are two bathrooms, a common area, and a kitchen.  All the people (boys and girls) in my building that I've met so far are very kind and helpful. Okay well there is so much more to write about but right now I have to catch up on my sleep (we all know I sleep a ton) so until tomorrow I'll say Cheers! Which is the way they say goodbye or thanks.

Pre-depature

So, I'm officially not packed, have no idea who I'm living with, don't know when my classes are or how many I'm taking...and I leave for Scotland in 1 day.  

My thoughts on packing have so far gone like this: 

       - "I have so much room! Two suitcases? That's going to be way more than I need." 

       - "Yeah mom, I'm totally going to have enough room...who needs more than one pair of jeans?"

       - "Okay so both these shirts are really cute, but they don't go with the same shoes or jeans, looks like I'll be packing a little more than I thought..."

       - "hmm, who would have guessed my toiletries take up a whole suitcase?" 

       - "yeah...two suitcases for four months is definitely not going to be enough... dad how much does shipping cost?"

       -"crap."

So I have had to pack and repack many times and I'm still over that 50 lb per bag limit...sweet.

As far as my rooming situation goes, your guess is as good as mine.  The absolute only thing I know about them is that they are 4 female non-smokers.  Knowing that I checked the box labeled "prefer to live with non-smokers" as well as "same- sex accommodation"  I was kind of assuming as much.   I hope I get to live with some Scottish locals, then I could perhaps pick up the lingo quickly and have a few friends to grab a pint with, but I'm going into this with an open mind...bring on the roomies!

I have no idea about the whole roommate thing, and I also don't have the slightest clue when my classes are.  I know which classes I am registered for, but they don't quite do it the American way.  They basically let you pick your classes and then they send out this really complicated table with a bunch of serial numbers and times and your supposed to be able to figure it out and pick which time slots you want. yeah. right.  I tried to decipher that for 45 minutes until I gave up and decided to ask my advisor about it.  He told me I would figure it out when I get there...super.  

Finally, unlike Americans, Scots take only 2-4 classes a semester...and apparently you can take a half a course (module is what they call them.)  I am currently signed up for 3 classes but my advisor told me that's like taking 15 hours, which I don't need to be.  I would rather travel and "socialize" than really stress over school, so he told me to look into a half course...hmm we'll see about that one.

So all in all, I'm incredibly excited, nervous, anxious, stressed, in denial that I'm actually going to Scotland, and most importantly confused on how I'm supposed to fit my entire life (most of it) into two suitcases.  And yes, I've already used those space saving vacuum bags.