35

To finish my update:

Last Thursday windsurfing had a ceilidh (KAY-lee) with the wakeboarding/waterskiing club (or something like that -- a watersports type club that started with a "w" anyway). It was surprisingly fun. Ceilidhs are formal traditional Scottish dances. With the traditional Scottish folk dances, naturally. Basically everyone dressed up more nicely than usual. There was a band (fiddle, pipe, things like that) playing the music. And they attempted to teach us the dances a couple minutes before each.

Some of the Scots had learned these dances pratically in the womb. Most others, had not. And most people in general had imbibed a certain amount of alcohol. It all adds up to a hilarious and entertaining time. especially given the spinning and picking up nature of the dances. I don't remember which ones we did specifically except Strip the Willow (only because someone saw my serious confusion --- WHICH WAY DO I SPIN?? --- and mentioned it to me), but there was lots of group spinning, pseudo-running, do-si-do-ing (um, not really a word), and twirling. So. Much. Fun.

I ended up going by myself but a lot people I knew were there, which was really nice. Including a guy who went to the Muse concert I wanted to see last Monday --- and had a spare ticket (so pissed off). Some of us went to a club for a bit afterwards. One thing that's really nice about Edinburgh bars and clubs is the amount of live music around - it's everywhere! I'll take that any day to some terrible rap music and people dry humping each other. Cheers!

Friday evening I left for Glasgow on the bus to see Iain and Lisa. Not a bad ride either. We took the train back to Stewarton, where they live, enjoyed some spaghetti, and watched Casino Royale (great movie, really).

Saturday we drove into Glasgow and had lunch at a really cute restaurant -- The Butterfly and the Pig, I think. But not before a bus splashed water over all of us --- totally on purpose. The menu was worded interestingly (8 timorous beasties as a price for one of the options) and the food was delicious. After that we spent some time at Kelvingrove, one of the big museums in a beautiful area near the University. It's a really bizarre museum housing everything you can think of: art (traditional, modern, random - including a creepy Jesus Dali), Scottish history (with Viking swords and old canoe), dinosaur fossils, stuffed animals (and not the cute ones - the weird taxidermy ones of all species), Glasgow history, things about cars and women's dresses, --- you get the picture.

It was really busy (and free! hooray UK!) with some Brownie/Rainbow/others in tartan event. The highlight being when the singing and dancing started. Some was okay, most was not. The country dancing was impressive mostly because of my Thursday experience. Seeing 9 year olds dance much better than you is a bit of a blow to the self-esteem. Weirdly I recognized one of the songs sung from my Girl Scout days WAY back when (together we change the world - or something like that). Damn. Now it's stuck in my head again. There was also a couple taking wedding pictures for a while. Adorable flower girls, not so adorable bridesmaid dresses (like bad prom dresses). Actually, the wedding dress wasn't so hot either. But hey, who am I to judge on someone's day of happiness?

On second thought, someone really should have judged. They are so many ways for purple to be more flattering than that.

Moving on.

We did a bit of shopping in the shopping area (not that I really know where that is). Glasgow has good shopping. Much more than Edinburgh. That's definitely a bonus. It's also much more nicely designed (grid system). I'll chalk that up to it now having a giant castle on a volcanic seat in the middle of it. All the Christmas stuff had just come out though (decorations), which was so nice. I love Christmas. It's the only thing that makes winter even remotely acceptable.

We had a really nice curry that night. I tried vegetable pakora for the first time (delicious). So much food though. Curry over here is just infinitely better than anything I can get at home. I am totally going to miss it, even if it does make me smell. Went back to the house afterwards (REALLY cold outisde). I saw X Factor for the first time (butchering Queen --- seriously, using "Ice Ice Baby" in an "Under Pressure" mix is unacceptable --- someone just rolled over in his grave), as well as How I Met Your Mother (funny -- don't know why I had never heard of it).

Sunday we drove...south and a bit east? Stopped at the most amazing farm shop - so many good foods and condiments and so forth. We went to Ayr, where Robert (Rabbie?) Burns lived for not-that-long-really. Passed his house. Had nice lunch in a beautiful little hotel next to a river. Very popular for weddings. Impeccably manicured gardens.


Hotel, River, Gardens

Also, right next to the Burns Monument. A bit strange and derelict. Especially in the ominous looking photo (There is a hint of blue in there, I swear!)

Below: sundials would be more useful if there was any SUN. Note - you cannot tell the time in the photo.



Looking out into the surround countryside was really pretty though. Very green. Often full of sheep, cows, and horses.

We drove to the see afterwards, but I forgot where. You could see Arran from the beach anyway. Tacky little tourist summer spot. Full of dog-walkers at this time of year, which was nice.

After that we went back to Glasgow so I could catch my bus back to Edinburgh.

Not much has happened here. I bought some new boots (and wore them today without proper socks --- ow blisters). I got to evaluate my TA (and state that I find him scary and unproductive to the learning experience). I also found out he's a particularly harsh grader, which is just cruel and does not bode well for my future. Seriously, why could I not have gotten the other TA? He's nice and friendly and makes me feel like I'm not a stupid little worm or something like that.

I also won a prize today in a different one of my tutorials! We did group presentations on important bits of the EU. I did the Common Foreign and Security Policy with another girl. Our presentation was voted best at the end, so we won chocolate oranges! I didn't even realize there was a prize, but somehow my work seems validated now, haha.

34

I really am terrible about updating this.

Anyway, Mom and Dad came to visit me for my birthday. They arrived on Halloween and we had lunch, before they went to sleep off the jet lag. That evening I went out with some of my roommates and friends. There was a parade down a bit of the Royal Mile, so we went to that. It was a pagan parade celebrating Samhain, which was interesting.

There was a stage set up at the end of the route (see photo) where the organization put on a show about the battle between light and dark. There was a lot of drumming and a lot of fire, as well as some really interesting costumes. Definitely unusual.

After that we went to a pub in Grassmarket for a drink or two. I was dressed as Wednesday Addams - this is the only photo I have:

That is a doll's head. Creepy I know, but creepy is more fun that slutty. It wasn't the most exciting of evenings, but it wasn't bad. I did the more traditional Halloween on the Thursday before instead. I took one of my roommates to a big club that night. That was really fun. It was mobbed with people, but we found the dancefloor with good music.

Anyway, moving on. The Sunday after Halloween I got to spend at the spa! Mom and Dad bought me a treatment as a birthday present. It was fantastic - salt scrub, massage, and wrap. So nice. We also had a nice dinner that night down in Leith at this pub/restaurant. Delicious food (mussels, fish, venison, treacle tart!) in a really cozy room, with live music. I like that kind of place.

Monday we went to the Botanical Gardens. They were still beautiful, despite it being quite a bit colder than it had been for my first visit. The new building was also open. It's incredible inside! Totally worth another visit later. We had dinner that night together as well, at one of Dad's favorite restaurants in the city, which was also delicious. They left the next morning.

I was left with a huge amount of schoolwork: three papers! On Thursday one about the Doha Round of trade negotiations at the WTO was due. Friday was about the importance of the UN and collective security to liberal theorists. Monday was about the role of the Security Council in authorizing military humanitarian interventions. So. Much. Writing.

Luckily I finished them the first two Thursday morning/afternoon so I could enjoy my birthday properly! I came back to my flat to find this delivered:


Mom's beautiful cake this year! I had some with my roommates before a few of us headed out to Arthur's Seat.

Edinburgh is a bit weird as a city. It's got giant crags fairly in the city, formed by a volcanic hotspot or something. If you're interested, I'm sure Wikipedia has something to say. It's a bit of a tradition for students to climb them on Bonfire Night, to watch the fireworks and generally mess about.

Just to give you the right idea: Those mountain things are the crags. The really tall one is Arthur's Seat. We climbed that (Not the really tall one) -- in the dark, after some rain. It felt like a deathwish, stumbling up and down various muddy paths (some very steep) with no light except that of a cellphone.

Eventually though we made it to a suitable place to sit, as witnessed by the above photo (my eyes look really creepy and I'm not sure why). As you can see, we are literally on the edge of one of the crags. Maybe four feet from a HUGE drop. The city is all lit up behind us.

We had some snacks and shared some birthday champagne while watching the fireworks. There was a big display at Murryfield, but apart from that there were random explosions all over the city. You could even see across the water into Fife and also South of the city. The two sounds of the night were booms from the explosions and sirens of firetrucks, going to put out whatever fires. People just set off the fireworks everywhere, regardless of buildings and/or people in the way. They were all over the crags too. For a while there was a guy maybe a hundred feet in front of us setting them off -- yelling "Alright Lads!" before running from the firework that exploded above our heads.

Dangerous? Yes. Reckless? Yes. A really fun night? Also yes. It was also freezing up on the crags though. We managed to stay for several hours, but the cold became too much after a time. I wish I had better photos to capture how interesting the night was, but darkness doesn't really work like that.

This is looking towards the city. The black band in the middle of the lights is the Firth of Forth.

The picture below is people playing with sparklers on the end of one of the crags. There was a huge amount of people around - really surprising giving the hike (not exactly easy in the darkness) and the cold. But everyone seemed to be having a good time (some more inebriated than others). Some guys near us started singing "Stand By Your Man" at some point, which is really hilarious in a posh accent.
That weekend I ended up having the flat to myself -- all the roommates were away at various places. It was relaxing to splay out in the kitchen watching silly movies, but at the same time exhausting writing my last paper, which I turned in Monday morning.

Tuesday I took a well-earned shopping day for my various efforts with schoolwork. I bought some beautiful earrings with birthday money from Granny, as well as some clothes from Topshop (too hard to get to at home!). I just got back from Glasgow tonight, but I'll do a separate post about that a bit later.

33

It's been ages since I updated this. Oops. I'll try to put everything I remember.

A couple weekends ago I was supposed to go berry-picking with my roommates. At the last minute, they all bailed and I was left at the train station with a ticket for a train leaving in five minutes. So I went to Cupar by myself. It's just a little village in Fife. The train ride was beautiful up there (gorgeous day). We crossed the Forth Rail Bridge which was the world's first steel bridge, or something like that.

I couldn't find a taxi in town to take me to the berry farm, so I wandered around instead. Found some books at a bookshop. I spent some time reading in the little park there. There's a little stream you could walk along too.

While walking, all the children around were picking up these brown things. Turns out they're chestnuts, but everyone calls them conkers here. They seem to exist for the sole purpose of hitting each other. Or some sort of game like that. My English roommate tried to explain when I brought one back, but didn't do a very good job.

The village also had a bunch of antique stores. One of them had a huge collection of beautiful jewelry. There were some amazing rings, all beyond my price range of course. On the flip side of the spectrum, there was a huge pound shop in town, which I had too much fun in. I caught the train back to Edinburgh a couple hours later.

I did a bit of antiques shopping in Edinburgh that weekend too. I'm on the hunt for ceramic doorknobs. I'm hoping I'll find some before leaving. One of the shops I was in had a bunch of beautiful brass and copper ones.

Last Monday I visited my grandmother in Perth. It's never been just me to visit her before. She was showing me pictures of Jamie and I when we were little and telling stories about silly things we did (namely Jamie jumping in the bathtub fully clothed - shoes and all). She also told me all about my grandfather, who died before I was born. Stories about the first time she ever saw him ("I'm going to marry that man"), their travels together, and so forth. It was interesting to hear, but somewhat sad because you could tell she still misses him. We had a nice lunch downtown before I had to get back for my afternoon class.

I've had tons of work for all my classes lately. I've got three papers due in the beginning of November and have been doing an excessive amount of reading for them. I know more than I ever thought I would about trade rounds at the WTO and the way the UN (specifically the Security Council) work.

This weekend I took a big trip with the windsurfing club to the University's property at Loch Tay, near-ish Perth. The place has a bit of a summer camp feel - it's a log cabin with rooms with bunkbeds, communal meals where you clear the table, and big open showers. There were two sessions of activity a day. You could sail, windsurf, mountain bike, kayak, and canoe (all with instructors), or hike, road bike, row, and go orienteering (without instructors).

We were driven up in a minibus on Friday night (it's about two hours from Edinburgh). We had dinner that night and then spent time downstairs at the bar (it's volunteer-run). Saturday morning the weather was horrific, but we went windsurfing anyway. It was pouring with rain, incredibly windy, and the loch had huge waves. Not exactly great conditions for beginners. We bundled up in our wetsuits, wind jacket things, buoyancy aids, hats, socks, and shoes anyway. And it was a disaster.

The water was shockingly cold at first. It was only maybe 45 outside, so you get the idea. I think the majority of us spent our time just trying to stand up on the board and pull the sail up, before crashing into the water thanks to the waves. It was exhausing to pull ourselves and the sails up over and over again. The rescue boats kept having to tow us upwind (we couldn't even see the center anymore!). Needless to say, I did not go windsurfing that afternoon. Three of us went sailing instead. It was still cold and wet, but at least we didn't have to work at it.

Of course, the waves did die down quite a bit and the wind also, so the windsurfers got on better than they had earlier. The only problem was with the wind constantly changing direction. It's a bit hard to move when that happens.

That evening we starting drinking fairly early. According to one of the guys from the club who's actually a windsurfing instructor, "drinking is what windsurfers do when they're not on the water." I can now say that I know drinking games from the US, UK, Czech Republic, and Russia. I feel so worldly. We were up really late (even with Daylight Savings Time) an managed to get several of the other people there drunk as well, despite them all claiming to be too old for that kind of behavior (most of them were getting their doctorates). Thanks to all of this, our start at 8.30am on Sunday was not so great. The good news is that I've yet to meet a better hangover cure than Scottish loch water.

The morning session was windy again, but less wavy, which was helpful. I was doing fairly badly still until I was towed upwind where there were virtually no waves. There I actually started moving properly (for maybe the third time that weekend). I forgot how to turn around for a while, which was an issue, but the instructor re-taught me. He was getting on my board to show me from the rescue boat and the sail somehow smacked him. He fell in the loch. I felt so horrible since he wasn't wearing a wetsuit. I did learn how to turn around properly though.

I went back out that afternoon. Putting on a wet wetsuit is one of the most horrible feelings in the world. The wind had really died down (and the waves). I actually did pretty well. I spent a considerably less amount of time in the water and a considerably greater amount of time moving. Even in a proper sort of position. It's a start.

Hopefully I'll get to go windsurfing a couple more times this year. It was a really great weekend, despite the fact that I hurt all over right now. My muscles are killing me and I'm covered in bruises. At least my body temperature is back to a normal level. I really need to go grocery shopping, but I'm not sure that I can carry food back to my flat. I get the feeling that it's going to be take-away tonight.

I'll try to keep this more updated! I also apologize for the lack of pictures, but cameras and watersports don't mix very well.

32

I'm becoming rather bad at updating this. My bad. I guess it's just because I haven't been doing all that much. I'd say my two main activities at the moment are reading for my classes and trying to improve my cooking skills.

I seem to have made two of my roommates sick as well. Oops. There's a lot of coughing going on the flat right now.

Classes are fine for the most part. I actually felt somewhat on-target in tutorials last week. For a while anyway. It probably helped that my scary TA was absent. The replacement one was much easier to feel comfortable around. We've been learning about the UN in two of my classes. I find it fairly interesting. The other one class is focusing on every economic theory you could think of, which is terrifyingly overwhelming. Maybe I'll make it through.

Thursday night was a big windsurfing social which was a lot of fun. The bar they use is really expensive though, which is a shame. Still, I met a lot of new and friendly people. I'm actually supposed to be going surfing (not wind) tomorrow. I'm not sure if people ended up getting a trip together or not. Hopefully yes, as I'll have something to write about. At the end of the month I'm going to Loch Tay for a long weekend to windsurf though! I'm really excited about that.

31

Fridays are one of my favorite days. I have no classes! Last Friday I had lunch with my cousin in a little French restaurant just around the corner from me. The day was rainy and gray, so it was nice to have some really warm, filling food. It was also really nice to get to know her more. We haven't ever really spent much time together - strictly family gatherings - but we actually have quite a bit in common at the moment. It's nice.

Saturday I got up and took a trip to the Botanical Gardens. I walked from my apartment, which was exhausting. I followed Google Maps directions and ended up lost in a residential area. At some point I ended up crossing a stream and found myself on a wooded path area. There was a sign for Dean Village, which I would like to visit at some point. I followed that and ended up running into the Botanical Gardens. At the wrong gate (it was closed). Fifteen minutes later I finally reached the garden.

It's free to visit, which is really nice. The weather was also beautiful yesterday - blue skies and sunshine! The only issue was some serious wind that made is really cold out. I stayed mostly warm in my new trenchcoat (thanks to a fantastic godmother!).

The first bit of the garden you find is the rock garden.

It's got plants mixed in with rocks and grassy patches. There are rock paths everywhere. The gardens in general did a really fantastic job with little paths. There were several places where you wouldn't see anyone around you, thanks to them. The grass and plants were so green! My favorite was this waterfall that ran through the rock garden and into a pond in another part of the gardens.

There were peat gardens, woodland areas, and arboretum, ponds, and a Chinese garden. I made a bit of a detour for a warm drink though in the cafe. When I came out, there were children running about everywhere. I've never seen quite so many children in one place, having the time of their lives playing on grassy areas.

The only part of the gardens that isn't free is the glasshouses. I think they have tropical sort of plants in them, but didn't go in. There's really enough to do without them. Tucked away in one corner is a memorial garden to the Queen Mother. Each corner of it has plants from a different area of the Empire, apparently. Not that I know enough about plants to tell. There were some beautiful fragrant roses though!

I love British roses. They're always enormous and so fragrant. Our roses always seem lacking in comparison. Also, it's quite hard to make flowers stand still for close-ups.

The pond was one of my favorite areas, probably because I act like a two-year-old around ducks. A minute after I got there, one ran up screaming "DUCKS!" much to the disappointment of the parents, who were trying to leave.

Here's where you can see a distant trail of the waterfall leading into a pond.

I left the gardens after a bit and made the hike back to my flat, which was considerably harder than it was on the way there. Probably because I was exhausted, going the opposite way of the wind, and carrying a bag of flour and bag of sugar as well (for cooking later). I actually had to sit and take a breather before tackling an enormous flight of stairs.

I got back and cooked myself a fantastic dinner. Mom sent me her recipe for chicken pie. It actually turned out quite well, despite taking twice as long as it should have (I really hate my oven). After that I made apple crumble as well, to get rid of a bag of apples I had lying around (which I of course shared with the various people in my flat at the time).

30

A Recap: In Pictures (my upload cord arrived today!)

This is me, on the roof of the New Museum of Scotland. Behind the tree you can see the Castle.

However, here is a better picture of the castle.

Here is my doorknob. Usually these sorts of things come attached to doors (Dear Maintenance - It's been two weeks since I alerted you to this fact)

This is the most disgusting party I've ever been to. Look at them. Seriously, just look at them. If that is what Scotland is coming to, I don't want to be a part of it. Ugh.

And finally, here we have proof that I can actually feed myself and stay up-to-date with current events. It's almost like I'm an adult!

In other news, there's not much going on here right now. I had my first tutorials this week, and they're a bit scary. Actually, only one of them is. My Human Rights one was really good. We have a small class, so the professor teaches all of them. It's nice to have her there. She also was awesome the other day in class. A girl raised her hand and asked how much reading we should be doing from the required reading list because, oh hey, she's sooo busy with her dissertation. Seriously, stupid question. The professor just looked at her and said, "You're a university student, you've been a university student for the past three years, you should know be able to judge that yourself." Stupid.

The scary tutorial was for my International Political Economy class. I walked in and the TA looked a me before saying "Oh, you must be Katie. You didn't come to tutorial last week." Um, oops. I didn't even realize we had tutorial the week before. Turns out I had also done the wrong readings. Basically I could not have messed up any more than I did. Then everybody knew what they were talking about. Economics is not my strong point to begin with. I feel like that class is going to be a disaster. We'll see anyway.

What else? I made soup for the first time ever. Cabbage soup actually. I even managed to make it taste good with curry powder and cumin. One of my roommates who hates cabbage even said she liked it. On top of that culinary success, I made sausage rolls and they were also delicious. I think I'm actually getting the hang of this kind of stuff.

29

With my sporadic updates, I seem to have missed some of the finer points of previous evenings out. Certainly so far, most of the "culture" I've witnessed has been drunken messes.

Point One: the Chav
This adorable image does not do the sheer monstrosity of chav culture justice. One night during Freshers' Week we decided to explore Grassmarket and ended up lost somewhere in the city. We stumbled upon a club having a foam party that we had seen advertised around campus. Against my best wishes, we entered. We might as well have been entire the final circle of hell, otherwise known as chav heaven.

There was not a single guy in the entire club whose hair was not gelled. There were a few almost-restrained hairdos, but for the most part the spikes were out of control. Not to mention the wife beaters, fake tans, pierced ears, and "I know I'm sexy" looks. And that's just the boys.

The female species of chav is a separate story. Often in the littlest amount of clothing still deemed to be on the safe side of public nudity, the women (few in number to the men) frolicked in the foam in the most provocative manner possible. Seriously, it is never acceptable to wear stripper shoes, hotpants, and a bikini top in public without being mistaken for a cheap whore -- especially in Scottish weather! How did your mothers ever let you out the house?

Were that not bad enough, we can't forget that this was a foam party. There is nothing quite as filthy as a foam party, especially for stupid drunks. With foam shooting all over the place, the floor becomes a mess of slippery dirt. People take these sorts of things to mean that it's time to take off more clothing. Please, leave it on in the future. There are things I don't need to see out there.

We tried to make the best of this nightmare (after all, we did pay to get in). Dancing was a no-go after various creepy men (did I mention they were mostly over the age of 30?) tried to squeeze their way in. I will never be that desperate. Never. I secretly hope that a certain few of the people there are genetic dead-ends. The intelligence of the human race would actually increase.

But enough about that disaster.

Point Two: the Alcoholic

If you are beyond trashed and puking at 8pm, you might just be an alcoholic. If you wake up and a have a pint because you "don't like being sober," you might just be an alcoholic. If you consistently introduce yourself to others, only to hear "We've met four times already," you might just be an alcoholic.

This country has a serious, serious drinking problem. I've been here for two weeks and have seen all of the above, in addition to the more standard stupid drunk activities. We watched a man attempt to punch a bouncer after being thrown out of a club. And subsequently watched him be arrested. I have seen people throwing dozens of glass bottles out of windows, for the sheer pleasure of watching the glass break and scatter (never mind what it looks like the next day).

More irritating is the noise. Every night. All night. I'm a heavy sleeper and I'm used to city noises, but this takes the cake. As a write it sounds like several dozen men are singing drinking songs outside my window. There is always shouting, screaming, and glass breaking. I can only how irritating that would be for anyone who either doesn't go out, or is a light sleeper. I know most of my roommates have taken to sleeping with earplugs. It's crazy!

Seriously though. Why would anyone ever stop reading the Mr. Men books? This is the best re-discovery of my time in Edinburgh so far! The camera cord is still a no-go. I'm officially using Mr. Men to illustrate my points in the future. Why did I not think of this before?