Mind the Gap: Reading Week

Halfway through the Scottish semester, (most) students have a week off from school called Reading Week. Ideally one should use this time to catch up on reading for your classes and do general studying. But instead of doing that all week, I went to London.

However, before going to London I celebrated Guy Fawkes/Bon Fire Night. I have not yet figured out whether we were celebrating his attempt to blow up parliament or the fact that it failed... but we went to a bonfire on the beach and it was spectacular.

My flatmate Jaz and I then spent a night in Edinburgh with her sister and brother-in-law (Amber and Andy). Andy works for the Edinburgh Dungeons so we got to go through them for free. (Thanks Andy!) That evening we went to a local pub for “pot tails” which are cocktails that come in a teapot. How charming.

The next day we caught a train down to London. Although it was only 4.5 hours it felt like ages. We showed up in London for 5:00 and then met a girl named Jenny at Tralfagar Square. Jenny is lovely, but she lives an hour commute from downtown London. Guess you kinda have to though, because it’s Lanndannn! By the time we made dinner and settled in, we were too tired to do anything else.

Monday morning we vowed to get up early, but let’s be honest when does Mindy Crow ever get up early? We made it to Madame Tussauds around noon. It wasn’t how I remembered it but we still had a good time. I danced with MJ, participated in mo-vember with Hitler and Houssain, and even drug Jaz through the hall of screams with live actors. Then we got lunch and went shopping. The only Abercrombie and Fitch in the UK is in London. We went, and got a Polaroid picture with a model at the door (whistles). When it got dark (as early as 430) we rode the London Eye where Jaz pointed out all the landmarks. After that we met her momma, who is truly wonderful!

Tuesday we did actually get up early (…ish), went into town and bought tickets for Wicked (!!!), and then met Jaz’s friend for some lunch. Then we wandered around town sightseeing/shopping. Decided to go for an early dinner because of the cold.. little did we know it was time to start getting used to it. Luckily the restaurant (for which we had vouchers) was just across the street from Wicked. The show was absolutely terrific. I can’t believe I’ve been missing out all this time!

The next day, sadly was catch a train back to Edinburgh day. But Andy and Amber picked us up from the station, made us dinner, and then we all watched Shaun of the Dead together. There was talk of going to a pub, but Jaz and Amber fell asleep… so I ended up watching Pan’s Labyrinth instead and calling it a night.

Thursday I went into town to try and get my iPhone unlocked. Alas, no such luck. So we got hot chocolate at a shop called Chocolate Soup and went to the Hardrock Café before catching a bus home. And it was really great to be home. I was surprised at how much I missed “the bubble” as they call St Andrews since I’ve only been here for a short while.

The rest of reading week I did (sadly) spend doing reading and reviewing for a marketing exam. School: bah humbug.

Stirling Homestay

It's been busy here in Scotland.

Last week I actually made biscuits and gravy for my flatmates and academic dad. Even Maddie, who is from Connecticut had never had them before! Mostly they said, that looks mingin' no way am I eating it. And why is your gravy WHITE?! But then they did and loved it! Thanks for sending the mix, Mum!

Last weekend I went to stay with a Scottish couple in the town of Stirling named Pat and Mauree Dea. They were adorable, of course. I (in true southern fashion) was calling them Mr. and Ms. But Pat found this to be mean. It made him feel old (because he is in fact only 73) He'd say to me, "oh quit your mistering me lassie!" Robyn, Lauren, Bailey, and I were in one house. Three boys from our program stayed with another couple but we did all of our sightseeing together.

Can you guess the best part? The food!! We arrived to tomato soup, homemade roast mashed potatoes and peas, and ice cream/apple pie. The next morning we had toast and eggs and sausage. They packed us lunches and dropped us at a scottish history museum. I personally found the little kids section where you could dress up in renaissance clothing to be the best.. shocking. From there we walked to Stirling Castle. We didn't go in, because it costs gobs of money. Instead we just sat in front of it and ate our lunches. Everyone thought it was a bit strange that our sandwiches were ham and butter, but that's right up my alley! We also had some roast chicken flavored crisps and Irn Bru. Yes please. At this point Pat picked us up and drove us to the Wallace Monument. We climbed all 246 steps to the top and listened to someone dressed up as a foot soldier recount the life of William Wallace. Then we went shopping at the mall because St. Andrews is unfortunately small in that area. Best part of this day? Soup, steak pie chips and mushy peas, and cake! Then watching Strictly Come Dancing (the British form of Dancing with the Stars) I didn't know the celebrities, but I still loved it! We also got to listen to Ricky Green sing us some disco tunes in a local pub. We requested Build Me Up Buttercup! He had to explain his Scottish jokes though.. sigh. Some more shopping Sunday morning, home made pizza, and then time to come home.

Speaking of Scottish jokes, here's one for you:

Why is a soldier better than a fireman?

-Because you can't dip a fireman in your egg.

Sunday was also Meg's birthday, so we all went to a restaurant called The Grill House to celebrate. Monday was my flatmate Jaz's birthday and we had a celebration for her here in the flat. (You may have seen my rap on facebook...)

Missin' you at home and I send my love. xx

Hello Highlands!

Sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up!

Two weekends ago, on 8 October I got on a bus at 7:45 am to experience the Scottish Highlands.

9:15 - Pick up Ross, our singing, storytelling, all around awesome tourguide and breakfast at a supermarket

9:45 - Waterfalls, Scottish style!

11:15 - Lunch in Pitlochry (Home made steak pies from the butcher!)

2:45 - Glenfinnan Viaduct where we watched a steam train cross the viaduct used in the Harry Potter films!!

5:30 - Check into Hostel in Inverness

After dinner (pizza) at the hostel we went exploring. Ended up watching Scotland play Czech Republic in a qualifying match. Unfortunately they lost but the Scots were in surprisingly good spirits. I was told they didn't actually expect them to win.. Then we wandered into a pub called the Hootenanny (REEBS!!!) for some folk music. (acordian, electric flute, and acoustic guitar) We danced and had a great time.

Day 2
9:00 - Culloden Battlefield where the Jacobites fought the last pitched battle on British soil. It was a very foggy morning, perfectly eerie for the sight at hand.

11:00 - Sheep dog display in Kingussie. This shepherd is one of only two left in the area. He has something like 10,000 sheep and 28 working sheep dogs. Each sheep dog learns the same verbal commands but also has their own set of whistle commands. This allows the shepherd to control each dog individually. It was fascinating. Then he brought out a bucket full of 7 day old puppies which we got to hold and play with! Unfortunately we got caught sneaking one on to the bus so no live souvenirs this time...

12:30 - Lunch in Aviemore. We got fish and chips and then explored the town a bit. Found a stone circle. Anyone read Outlander? Apparently someone touches a stone and is taken back in time to the Highlands. I touched them but I'm convinced I'm still in current times. Not to worry, perhaps it just takes time to catch up!
3:00 - GlenGrant Distillery Tour. We got two samples. I personally thought they were alright. Most of the group wasn't a huge fan of scotch.. who'da thunk? I befriended some Swedish Airforce pilots during our tour.
5:00 - Back in Inverness for dinner
Went out to explore the city a little more after relaxing in our rooms for a while. It was bigger than I expected, but really not much to report!

Day 3

9:00 - Cruise on Loch Ness. Dierdra tried hard to convince us that Nessie is in fact, a boy and in love with the monster in Loch Linny. Take your right hand, bend your hand down as if trying to touch your forearm. Do the same with the left. Sea monsters!! Now touch your elbows together. It's love!!

10:30 - Our cruise drops us off at Urquhart Castle (or what's left of it)

12:00 - Lunch in Fort Augustus

2:00 - Photo stop in Glencoe, a beautiful valley! Some claim it's the prettiest part of Scotland.

6:30 - Arrive home

It was a long trip! Saw a lot of things, especially the country side out the bus window. I'm in love.

While on the tour Ross sang us two songs. Here are links so you can listen to them yourselves!

Flower of Scotland (the unofficial national anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPaJhlIIYjM

Massacre of Glencoe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cPitxtk4m0

you don't have to go to class when it's raining... right?

Wednesday evening, I got to dance!! Joining the dance club here means you get to take as many dance classes as you want. So I went to advanced jazz and advanced ballet. The classes were a little crowded for my taste, but it was still wonderful to move. They were both taught by 4th year students at the university. It's wonderful to see how someone else's dance club functions. (Speaking of, someone owes me an update about Terpsichore!!!!!) I also took a "contemporary" class on Friday night which was smaller because.. well it's Friday night. Contemporary here is actually what we call modern in the states. I had a great time. And I'm STILL sore. Probably more an indication of the fact that I'm outta shape instead of how great the class was buuuut that's another matter entirely.

On Thursday, I went swimming in the North Sea and this time I got documentation! I think it should show at the bottom of the blog, but if not here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXr-hmGDOWg

(Also, youtube just emailed me to congratulate me for uploading my first video. THANKS YOUTUBE!! I'm SO glad you work outside of the US!)

After swimming, I tried to join the Harry Potter Society. Yes this actually exists here! It's three pounds to join, you get sorted into a house, and then you all hang out. But I showed up too late and so I have to go sometime this week to be sorted. (I know you're jealous.) 

Friday morning I was woken up at 6 in the morning to a fire drill. I was so disoriented it took Sophie telling me to put shoes on before I even realized that I needed to go outside. (I'm also thankful for Soph because she bakes things...glorious chocolate things.) Then began raining while I was sitting in German class, so I got drenched on my way home. Rough morning. Perhaps you think I should invest in an umbrella? NOPE UMBRELLAS ARE FOR SISSYS. And practical people. We met our neighbors finally during the fire drill... although 6 am is not the best time to meet people. So they came over later in the evening with cookies. Hooray for new friends and stuff.

Yesterday (Saturday) I walked all the way to Morrison's. It's a much bigger grocery store in the Southern part of town. I bought groceries so now my only excuse for living on Frosted Flakes is laziness. I ran out yesterday though so I suppose tomorrow I'll try my hand at cooking. I don't have any mac and cheese (yet) so it may prove disastrous. At Morrison's we bought things to make stir-fry and all cooked together in Robyn's apartment. After that I went star gazing on the beach. There's a snail and a hedgehog that live in the sky here as well.

Today was a productive today... as long as you count exploration as productivity. I do, so let's run with it!

Elliott and I took a bus to a nearby town named Anstruther. One of the women running orientation in Edinburgh told us that you can get the best fish and chips in Scotland here. (Food? Yes, count me in!) We weren't hungry enough when we first got there so we looked at a map, picked a place called St. Fillan's cave, and took off in the general direction. We got distracted by the pier and a few cemeteries on the way but made it eventually. We had to pick up the key at the Cocoa Tree (a chocolate shop) and then walk on down to the cave. It was big enough to walk around in and they had the story of St. Fillan lit up inside. Then of course when we returned the key, we had to get chocolate. I got some that had rose flavoring in it. It was super. Elliott got one that had Scotch in it. The lady who made them warned him not to bite into it. He didn't but I had the camera ready for when the whiskey finally came through. Priceless. It was sunny on the walk back to the fish bar. Hills and sheep farms on the left + harbour then sea on the right = a beautiful and picturesque Scotland. The fish and chips were in fact the best I've ever had.  

I'll put pictures up on facebook. Missin you!

Classes

I'm taking three classes here in St. Andrews which is the equivalent of 12 hours at home.

German- My advisor put me into intermediate German because I asked her to choose the class where I would get the most practice speaking and review of grammar. The class itself will not be too difficult. I feel like the students in my class have as much knowledge after one year as I do after two. They did take more classes their first year I guess so I shouldn't be too concerned.

Scottish History- I absolutely love this class. My professor (or teacher as they call them here) is so very Scottish. He also says things that I find very funny such as: if you try to get online to find the handouts should you miss class, you will find them, but lasers will shoot you down because you should have come to my lecture. No one else laughs but that doesn't matter. I think he's hilarious.

Management- Is actually split into two classes marketing and operations business (maybe?). One professor teaches the first half on mon/tues and another the other half on thurs/fri. This is a really big class. I would guess there are at least 200 students in it, which is incredibly overwhelming coming from a school where they cap classes around 40. Today I got a lesson in US history during the 1960s. I found myself thinking this is fairly common knowledge before I realized that I'm in Scotland and probably not so much.

Overall I spend less time in class but I also have something called tutorials for each. In these we meet in smaller groups to discuss assigned readings. (I HAVE TO READ SO MUCH, I'm not used to this work load..) I haven't been to one yet, but it seems like an interesting concept.

My favorite thing about St. Andrew's University is that it is completely integrated into the town. Unlike TU, class buildings are mixed in with residential areas, castle ruins, restaurants, businesses, and dorms. This makes my 10 minute break in between Scottish History and Management a bit of a stretch however as it actually takes 15 minutes. No one will notice if I sneak in the back though so I'm not going to start wearing a track suit to class just yet.

Missing everyone at home more than you know! All my love.

"Always do what you are afraid to do"

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago, I was getting on a plane. Is it already two weeks? Was that ONLY two weeks? I'm missing home tonight.
Two nights ago I made breakfast for dinner for all of my flatmates and a few other friends. We made pancakes, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. When Matt and I bought the pancake mix, we read that we needed one egg and 150ml milk. It wasn't until we went to cook it that we realized that was per 100g (only 1/5 of the mix!) Conversions... While we were eating, I mentioned that I wanted to make biscuits and gravy but couldn't find any at the grocery store. This received the funniest reaction from my British flatmates who were of course thinking biscuits to be cookies. I don't think anyone ever came up with a good explanation of what American biscuits actually are.
Yesterday I walked to the end of West Sands Beach here in St. Andrews. Our orientation leaders in Edinburgh told us that there is a scene in Chariots of Fire that was filmed on that very beach. I hope to start running there soon.
Today I took the bus into Dundee. I now have sheets for my bed! It's important to appreciate the little things.
One day until classes start! I guess I should figure out where they will be...

St. Andrews 101 - Fresher's Week

Every year freshmen flood St. Andrews a week before class to get to know the campus, meet each other, and participate in a series of orientation events.
This is nothing like TU's orientation.. It's not nearly as organized and we're expected to pay for anything we want to go to. I found many of the events to be irrelevant anyways since I already know what degree I'm going into etc.
All that aside, I'm having a great time!

My flat mates and I all finally got together two nights ago. (Madison-3rd year from New York, Sandrine-3rd year from Paris, Sophie-1st year from Scotland, and Jaz-1st year from England.) They're all wonderfully funny. Madison and some of her friends made pasta and we all enjoyed sitting around and eating it. Confession: I haven't cooked anything other than sandwiches for myself so far. It's difficult to convince myself to do it. Also I have a 30 minute walk home from the grocery store (and anything in town...)
I've mostly got my room settled in. We're headed to Dundee on Saturday because everything here is sold out! I still need sheets for my bed! Whoops.. and another adapter. It's part of the adventure?

I went to a ceilidh. It's a lot like the Scottish version of a square dance. It was put on by the celtic society on campus (who also teach dance classes once a week that I am of course going to attend.) They would call out the name of the dance, teach it to us briefly, and then we would dance! Most of the people there were foreign. (I forget Scotland's population is only 5 million..) I did dance with a man who was teaching. He was in a full KILT.

I also went to an event called "Taste of Scotland" We dined on haggis, neeps (turnips), and tatties (mashed potatoes). It was all pretty good actually. They also gave us smoked salmon, caramel shortbread (favorite), and a drink called irn bru (iron brew) which tastes like liquid bubble gum with extra sugar. I thought it was all really good.

I have an academic dad! (We are supposed to find 3rd or 4th students to pair up with who are supposed to show us the ropes at the university and then take us to raisin weekend in November. I don't have a mum yet... but I'm sure I'll find one.) I made some friends earlier in the day. When I saw them later they call a guy named Alex over and start yelling at him to adopt me. So now I have 4 brothers (Donald-Scotland, Rohan-Barbados, Matt-New Zealand, and Hugh-England) and a sister who is also Scottish. I convinced them all to go swimming in the North Sea with me. What other academic family can say they did that?

Exploring Edinburgh

I want to remember every moment and perhaps you would like to share in my adventure.

5 days in Edinburgh:

• sleep-walking London Heathrow
• a 20 minute uphill trek to Castle Rock Hostel with luggage (where my bed was named Gluteus Maximus)
• playground
• tartan weaving museum, clan Wallace
• fish and chips
• wild Irish roommates
• Edinburgh Castle, they kept american POWs during the revolutionary war here
• a compliment on my aura
• gate's locked... good luck?
• a flower clock
• 3 geocaches on the Water of Leith Walkway
• tree umbrella
• bangers and mash (they did the mash, they did the MONster mash)
• City Observatory, Calton Cemetery, Canongate Cemetery
• Royal Mile
• a brass rubbing
• old town, new town
• 29 IFSA-Butler Students
• APEX International
• don't I look 18?
• orientation
• the Pope comes to visit
• parliament in action
• Arthur's Seat
• new-found appreciation for Delta Pi Kappas
• sushi
• swimming pool
• sheep game bus ride
• unpacking
• misfit sheets
• make friends with a Welshman when we admit we're lost
• skype skype skype

Sorry for all the teasers. I can't imagine expanding all of them here!
Luckily I had a really wonderful map. Thank-you Mr. Wayne!
Pictures and videos to come soon.

Next up: Fresher's Week at The University of St. Andrews