The Love Story Continues

I always really like Fridays. Not just because I don't have class and Thursday nights generally involve free onion rings and chips (potato wedges) at the Primary, but because so far it's the only day of the week I can guarantee I'll have the chance to go for a run.

First, being able to run outside in January and not be completely bundled in under armor, sweats, gloves, and an ear warmer is AMAZING. And (most of) you know that working out and I are practically engaged (though it's a love-hate situation). But the best part has honestly been that this city is just really runner friendly. There's this botanic garden down the hill a ways from my flat, and I like to run through there because there are fewer people and it's just a lot prettier. Every time I go I find a new path to take and come out in some new part of the city. This afternoon I discovered what looked like the foundation of an old building right next to the river (the Kelvin), which was really cool. My Friday runs will hopefully expand into a few other days of the week, once I really get my life figured out. It's probably how I'm going to get to know my neighborhood the best. At least the part of it that the security guards haven't told me is unsafe to visit.

The only problem with Fridays is that my flat is super quiet and it gets awfully lonely. I see a few people around breakfast time, but other than that everyone does their own thing (or sleeps in really late). I've been thinking a lot about how happy I was in my set up at Middlebury, with the two room double. That way, you still have your own room, but there's someone just a few feet away and you don't have to be alone all the time. I guess I've spent so much time out of my flat that I haven't really made friends with the people I live with (except for one girl, because we have a class together). I've realized how much I'm looking forward to living in a suite with friends next semester back at home. This is nice for what it is, but I wouldn't want it to be a permanent set-up. I'm not the live alone type.

Oh! And before I forget, my friend Shauna and I got tickets to see Joshua Radin in concert in March!! I am so excited. As Emily can attest, his new CD is pretty much all I listened to for the first half of junior year.

I know that I'm in what the study abroad office called the "honeymoon phase" with Glasgow. I'm trying to keep it to a minimum in these posts and stick to being informative, I promise. (Next thing you know, I'll be posting poetry and songs I've written. Shudder.)

You don't look a day over 249!

Hi friends. You may have noticed that I've given the page a little makeover!

Well, it's been a little while since last I posted. I'm getting concerned that if I tell you everything that's happened to me while I'm in Glasgow/traveling on this blog that no one is going to want to talk to me when I get home. So maybe I'll be more discerning about what I post, hmm? We'll see. I'm not one to hold things back generally.

Some of you may know, but others will be surprised to hear that I have a 3 week long spring break coming up in March/April! But the best part is that it starts on the 31st of March and goes until the 17th of April. Those of you who have a calendar handy will realize that that's a Monday to a Friday, meaning I actually have from the 28th to the 19th. But THEN you have to consider that I don't have classes on Friday, so it's really the 27th of March until the 19th of April. This break is followed by a "reading week" in which nothing happens, because I only have 2 finals in the entire month of May. TWO FINALS. Sure, I have papers and things due before this whole hullabaloo of a break, but after a month of vacation, I will have another month in which to study for 2 finals. This is like a dream come true! Remember fall semester at Midd, in which I had 3 papers due in ONE DAY, a final the next day and another final the day after that? Glasgow is AWESOME.

Looking back on that paragraph, I should rethink the number of words written in caps. In info tech (6th grade, anyone?) they told us that over The Internets, people can't hear your tone and you should therefore avoid using all capital letters. It looks like shouting.

So I apologize for shouting.

Anyway. Spring break is going to be awesome. We're planning a very cool trip that I will tell you about once we finish planning. It would be extremely awkward for me to share information that I later have to take back because of scheduling problems, you understand.

But I can tell you about a few trips I have planned for the next few months before spring break:

• 7-8 February: Trip to Carbisdale Castle in the Scottish Highlands. (This castle is supposed to be haunted). On the way up, we're stopping in Inverness to have lunch with Nessie.

• 26 February - 1 March (which looks a lot longer than it is because people keep forgetting that Feb has only 28 days!): Trip to Dublin

• 12-15 March: Trip to Amsterdam

• 28 March: Trip to London, the starting point of the Spring Break trip
  

I am really looking forward to all of these trips, mostly because I have a sweet new camera and I LOVE taking photos (there I go yelling again). I'm so eager to get out in the world and see new things, meet new people, etc. etc. Hopefully this list will continue to grow.

While I'm really looking forward to traveling, I'm loving Glasgow at the same time and I want to spend as much time here learning the city as I can. So far, there are several things that I've grown accustomed to in Glagsow:

1. Chips = french fries but Crisps = chips. This leads to a HUGE amount of confusion.
2. Tights + shorts is normal; sometimes, it appears, mandatory? I'm not sure if I like this.
   
3. All dogs are well behaved. They don't need leashes, they can sit quietly outside a store and not attack/bark/what have you.
4. You get so used to the fine mist of rain that sometimes you don't notice it's raining until you go inside.
5. Hills. And stairs. And then more hills.
6. Indian takeaway restaurants that serve: Indian food, pizza, fish and chips, all sorts of kebabs, and burgers. Sometimes Chinese, too.
7. Keyboards are different. The @ and the " are switched, which makes for some pretty confusing typing when I get going quickly.
   

That seems like enough for now. Mostly because it's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Inauguration day was a hard day to be away from the States. My American friends dragged our Canadian and Australian friends to a pub for dinner to watch the whole shebang on BBC (time difference meant it landed nicely after class, just in time for dinner). It was VERY strange to watch a new President sworn in while bagpipes played in the background, and old Scottish men laughed at our choice of programming (though they had been watching it before we even got there!).

This weekend was a really interesting Glaswegian experience, however. Sunday was Robbie Burns day, celebrated on 25 January every year (because it was his birthday). This wasn't your typical Burns day though, because it was his 250th birthday! We ended up seeing a youth symphony perform a bunch of Scottish waltzes, polkas, jigs (ok, I can't ascertain that they were all Scottish, but the kids were all wearing kilts so it all felt pretty Scottish). For a "halftime show" an older gentleman played a few pieces on a fiddle. Robbie Burns' own fiddle! That's an old instrument. It was really fun, especially since it happened in this really beautiful museum and it was free. All the little kids were dancing in the front.

We also visited the Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis (a gigantic cemetery on a hill overlooking the city--supposed to be the highest point in Glasgow) this past weekend. I didn't think ahead to bring my big camera, so I have no photos to show you just yet. I'll be heading back there sometime pretty soon to take some photos of the place. Also, we saw the oldest house in Glagsow. Old Glaswegians were SHORT. I could barely stand straight up in some of the doorways. Guess it was the kilts that made Scottish warriors so frightening. Or maybe the broadswords. Either way.

Alright, I'm out of witticisms. Plus my laundry is done.

See you soon; same bat time, same bat place.

Photos for the Facebook-Deficient

Hi friends,

For those of you who aren't on facebook, or who just don't get enough of my photos and want to see the ones I didn't put up on facebook, you're in luck. I've discovered that I can post albums on Picasa as well (I'm sure you all know that this was an option, I had to do a little research before understanding I could use it for free with my Google account...).

The website is: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/gracie4512

So, enjoy!

Also, I've picked up an alarming amount of Australian slang. Yes, Australian. And yes, I AM in the United Kingdom, not Australia. Don't judge. Anyway, these are my 2 favorites:

Skull (v.): similar to the American "Chug! Chug! Chug!" Example sentence: "Skull! Skull! Skull!" (har har)
Stack (v.): similar to the American "ate" when referring to falling down awkwardly. Example sentence: "I nearly stacked it coming out of my flat because there was ice on the ground!"

Stack is particularly useful to me because I have, in fact, stacked it in front of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery (but hey, the gallery was free, so it wasn't a total loss).

Edinburgh Saturday

Yesterday, the International Student Society "organized" a trip to Edinburgh. By organized, I mean they sent us an email about meeting at the train station, and then we all stood in a group until someone told us what to do with ourselves. At first, we really misunderstood the guy and thought a return ticket (that's UK for round trip) was going to be £20. We debated whether or not that was truly worth it, and decided we might as well just go for it. Good thing we did, because it turned out it WAS £20...for a group of four! So, long story short, we got a really cheap train ticket to Edinburgh. Here are some photos of this part of the trip for your viewing pleasure:

Ok, so I'm not great at doing layouts on this thing. But the top picture is the group I went with: Alyssa, Crystal, Shauna, and Brady. The picture to the left is the Glasgow train station. Very clean.

We were all astonished, because it was sunny almost all day! The train ride through the country was beautifully green and very Scottish (read: there were a lot of sheep). When we arrived, we stood around like tourists, taking photos and wondering if the train had somehow gotten us out of the UK without our knowledge because it was so sunny. I was upset for awhile that I hadn't packed my sunglasses for the trip--they've been sitting unused in my drawer since I arrived!

After a coffee shop fuel-up, we ventured off towards the Edinburgh castle, which we had decided was our first priority in the city. While Glasgow has many old, beautiful buildings (particularly those on campus!), it's a much more modern city than Edinburgh in a lot of ways. The whole industrial feel of Glasgow was completely absent from Edinburgh. It was super touristy in places, but others had a sort of ancient glamor that we appreciated. Accepting that the day was going to be a touristy one, we all got our cameras out and started taking photos of anything and everything that caught our eyes. We also accosted a number of innocent passers-by and ended up with a lot of group photos.

We passed through parts of "The Scottish Whiskey Experience" and considered taking the full tour, but headed on up to the castle instead. There, we spent the majority of the day. (And almost all of the sunlight!) Edinburgh castle is a truly beautiful place, and well worth the £10 it cost to get in. Not only were the castle grounds beautiful, but the castle's position on a hill allowed us some great panoramic views of Edinburgh. While we didn't explore a great deal of the city, we got to see a whole lot of it.

Above: a view from the entrance to the castle of part of the Royal Mile and Arthur's Seat in the background. Below: a view of the city from one of the lookout points.

I'm always shocked by how friendly everyone is. I'd been warned that Edinburgh was more of a tourist trap, and so people aren't as friendly as the Glaswegians I've come to know and love. But while we were traveling around the castle, we ran into a really great security guard named Jim. He was stationed in a really beautiful cathedral in the center of the castle. He pulled us aside and asked us a few questions about where we were from, then regaled us with all these interesting facts about famous people and things that have come out of Scotland. I was amazed at how knowledgeable he was. We thanked him for his stories and walked out of the cathedral. A few minutes later, though, he found us again and guided us into the Royal Apartments, where he took this photo for us:
It's a little blurry, but you get the idea. He also threatened to steal my camera!

From the Royal Apartments, we made our way up to see the crown jewels and the coronation stone. While these are used to crown kings and queens in London, they actually belong to Scotland and have been here since the Scottish browbeat the English into giving them back. The coronation stone was my favorite, even though all the jewels were so beautiful. Jim said that the majority of tourists don't understand what such an ugly rock is doing in the display case with all of the finery. I liked it just for that reason. It's really just a hunk of gray stone, but every Scottish king/queen to be crowned since Robert the Bruce has been crowned on that stone. Pretty cool eh?

Anyway, there were many different places in Edinburgh castle, and I'll save everyone the tedium of reading a description of them all. In short, we also saw the dungeon, the military prison (which looked a little too much like my single here for my tastes...), a bunch of dioramas of things like Mary, Queen of Scots and the coronation process, etc. If you're interested, I've got photos of almost everything we saw (except the coronation stone and crown jewels--no photography in there).

After visiting the castle, we walked down the Royal Mile a bit. We went into a tartan weaving factory, where I picked up a Rose clan hunting tartan scarf. I also discovered that there's a Taylor plaid--but we aren't really sure yet whether that's our family or not (as we know that we Taylors came from Wales!). Leaving the factory, we found St Giles' Cathedral:
After this point, rain started coming in. The skies darkened ominously and we decided it was time to find a pub for some dinner. Surprisingly, most of the shops and things closed at 6, so we decided to catch a train back to Glasgow at around 6:30.

All in all, a very good day in the city. I talked to my flatmate about it a little this morning, and she agrees with me that Edinburgh is the city you want to visit, and Glasgow the city you want to live in. I wholeheartedly agree! I was a little worried that I would like Edinburgh too much and wish I'd gone there for the semester, but that wasn't the case. There's something more livable about Glasgow, even though it's certainly a rougher city.

Clearly, this post had a lot more photos than my previous ones did. That's because I finally got the little thingy I needed to upload my photos from my new fancy pants camera. At a pound store. FOR A POUND. (Ok, obviously.) But anyway, that's cool because I thought it was going to be more like £10 and I'd rather be spending that kind of money on castles and whatnot! But anyway, if you are interested in my life, want some more photos, and are unable to view everything I've posted on facebook, shoot me an email or comment on a post and I'll gladly send you some more! Because I'm pretty much an expert photographer (translation: I take 100s of 1000s of photos and 20 of them come out well).

Stay tuned!

Nutmeg

I honestly didn't want to post about this, but I don't know how else to say it. As I'm so far away, it's really hard to get in touch with everyone and I don't want to have to tell people this one by one. Yesterday, Nutmeg passed away. It breaks my heart that I wasn't at home to see her one last time. While I knew this was a possibility, I honestly thought she'd be around when I came home in May. She wasn't doing great over winter break, but she would still perk up when the situation called for it. I wish I had spent more time with her while I was home. She mainly stayed by herself, lying on her little blue pillow in the kitchen. We've had her for so long that I honestly don't know what my house feels like without her. I think the worst part is that I can't be at home with my parents, who honestly loved that dog like she was another of their daughters. I know that when I get home in 5 months, all these feelings are going to be as fresh as ever. I can't believe she's not going to be there, wagging her little cinnamon and sugar tail when I return.

I'm hoping that we gave Nutmeg the best life she could've had, and I'm taking comfort in the fact that she didn't seem to suffer much. Rest in peace, little pup.

The @ Key is in the Wrong Place...

REWIND...I arrived in Scotland last Wednesday morning. It was foggy and raining a little bit, and looked just like I'd expected. Made it safely to my flat and moved all my things in. It was incredibly quiet, because no one was back for classes until Sunday, and I felt so incredibly alone. I unpacked, and realized I wasn't completely alone in the flat--a 3rd year student from Quebec wandered out of his room at around 12:30, and I think I scared him as much as he scared me. He told me a little bit about my other flatmates: two girls and another boy. We didn't chat for long, though. I guessed I'd have to wait a little longer for quality human interaction.

I decided to walk around the area for awhile. The folks at residential services warned me not to go behind the Murano Street Student Village complex, because the neighborhoods back there were not very safe. Other than that area, though, the West End of Glasgow is an adorable little place. It's got a more college town feel than the rest of the city. I intended to walk down to check out the university, so that I wouldn't get terribly lost when orientation started the next day. But a 20 minute walk to the uni campus turned into a 3 hour trek around the West End (aka, I got horribly lost). It didn't really matter that I wasn't where I wanted to be, as I had no obligations except to be home before it got too dark.

The West End is a truly picturesque place. The houses are all made of dark stone, stained by the years of air pollution from Glasgow's shipbuilding days. Glasgow isn't a polished city like Edinburgh, but its dirty buildings have a certain charm that suits the rainy weather better than anything "nicer" would.
Can you believe this building is where I have classes? Okay, well I don't have classes there, but I know people who do!!

There are also many tiny shops that have all sorts of goodies. (For prices that seem familiar, because they're all the same as in the US. Except they're in pounds.)

I felt a little better after walking around for a bit, though I couldn't shake the gloomy feelings quite yet. Exhausted after being awake for over 24 hours, I went to sleep.

On the way down to orientation, I met a bunch of people. Almost all had arrived the previous day, and were feeling as starved for companionship as I was! It was a bit like being a freshman again, with all the "getting to know you" activities. But now I had some friends. Knowing that the walk between the university/actual city and Murano Street was not the safest at night (Glasgow is the stabbing capital of the world!), I found three other girls and we've been walking around together ever since. Everyone was equally excited to be meeting new people, and that made it all seem a lot better. A photo:

So Thursday and Friday were spent in Orientation. Friday night, however, we had a bit of a rest from the technical bits, the International Student Society hosted a ceilidh. This is a bit Scottish dance (pronounced kay-lee) that involves lots of spinning in circles and general fumbling around until you understand all the steps. We did all sorts of different dances, including the Virginia Reel (which I didn't actually know, but at least I recognized the name). After the ceilidh was a big dance party called Cheesy Pop. It happens every Friday and is a lot like a middle school dance but more fun because everyone is flailing around and not standing along the walls.

Saturday we made the hour long walk to the City Centre to find a £ store and other bargain shopping venues. I'd been living on cereal and peanut butter, as I had no utensils, pots, or pans--only a plate, bowl, and mug that I purchased at the Salvation Army for £1. Apparently, at the £ store you can only buy utensils in the following quantities: 2 knives, 3 forks, and 4 spoons. So now that's what I have. Excellent.

After 2 hours of walking in the rain and winds that literally would knock you off of your feet if you weren't steady, we were exhausted. Still jetlagged and in desperate need of some actual nourishment, we made macaroni and cheese for dinner. Adding some frozen vegetables and a bottle of wine (of which the best taste/smell descriptors were: perfume, paint thinner, and nail polish remover) brought the total cost of the meal (for 5 people, mind you) to just under £4. Man, am I learning to live frugally!

Sunday was the day all the regular students returned. I met 2 more of my flatmates, a girl from Britain and one from Norway. The only one I haven't met yet is a Scottish boy, who apparently isn't around very often. They told me that the flat was a relatively quiet one, and that the girl who'd lived in my room last semester had left a whole bunch of kitchen things--a pot, pan, measuring cup, 2 bowls, a plate, cutlery, etc. So thanks, Jessie from Seattle, wherever you currently may be! Too bad I'd already spent some money on these things, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

Only in a city like Glasgow are most of the stores closed on Sunday, but all the pubs are open. After locating the buildings for each of my classes, the perfect end to the day (and celebration of the last day of "vacation") was chips and cheese in a cozy pub, complete with good friends, a football game, and Tenents beer (the cheapest one on tap, of course!). I felt extremely Scottish, of course.

Today (Monday) has been a bit more harrowing. Registration happened today for all new study abroad and exchange students (which I found ridiculous, because couldn't they have done this last week??), meaning that I had to miss my first class. I NEVER miss class. I thought I was going to have a stroke when they told me I'd have to miss the first one! But that wasn't the toughest part: my bank wouldn't authorize my tuition payment. And since it was only 5 in the morning in the US, I couldn't very well call and work it out (plus I don't have enough money on my pay as you go cell phone to afford an international call like that!). So they gave me a provisional registration paper, and I have until 31 January to figure my life out. I honestly believed they were going to send me home or something. Standing in the registration line, I melted down a little bit, and it was extremely embarrassing. Crystal and Briana sheparded me to the Queen Margaret Union for some tea and a chocolate fix, and everything seemed like it was going to be okay again. Hopefully I'm right!

So, dear readers, I believe that brings you up to date on my life. As soon as I can, I'll put up some more photos of the uni, and also the city and my flat. Missing you all from across the Atlantic!

Why I'm Not Where You Are

I don't know what to do with a blog, really. I don't know if this will be particularly interesting, or if I'll even remember to update often enough for it to be worth it. But since I'm terrible at keeping in touch with people when I'm not with them, I suppose it's worth a shot. Also, blogging is the new journaling, and it's the emo/hipster thing to do (Jessie).

Anyway, I'm heading off on Tuesday to spend the spring semester at the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. Why Scotland? I honestly don't have a clue. "It sounded nice" sounds like a lame response, and I have no real ties to the place, other than that my mom's family is vaguely Scottish, and maybe my dad's as well (?). Maybe I've always romanticized Scotland, because it's where all the redheads come from. Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland and the University is the fourth oldest in the whole UK, so that's pretty cool. But that's not really why I'm going there, either. I guess I'm just looking for something different from my small town life and my smaller town college. I've always been a bit terrified of cities, but I think 20 years in small towns makes you more ready for big ones (and hopefully a few semesters of rugby makes you more ready to resist mugging).

But I'll miss you all, natch.

Less than a week left at home, and I've spent the whole day figuring out what I've forgotten to do in the past few months and dealing with insurance bureaucracy. I only have contacts enough for 2 more weeks. Whoops. The insurance company must think I'm some sort of birth control junkie. Why else would it be so difficult to get my prescription filled? Lame.

So friends, family, secret admirers, fellow travelers, and anonymous stalkers (creepers), the fabulousness will begin in about 5 days, and hopefully the wonderfully amusing and action filled posts will do so as well. If you're abroad as well, send me your address so I may sleep on your floor.