Epic Weather & British Summer Time

We were lucky that we didn't end up going to Glasgow on Saturday after all because it was epic gale force winds (i.e. 30mph!) that were bending all the trees in the back garden and rattling my windows all day! The top two boats did go out to our training facility Auchinstarry and said that it was absolutely killer! Made me kind of glad that I'm only in the 4th boat right now... Sunday was the end of British Summer Time which means it gets dark WAY TOO EARLY now! To be fair it was nice to get an hour back in the day today that I then spent watching telly but oh well!

Union Canal Edinburgh

I had another canal outing this morning on the Union Canal which is only a 15 minute walk from my place. Again really nice and there were no other boats to contend with! It was a good prep for our race tomorrow. I decided to walk home along the canal to see where I could access it near my flat. There is a really nice path that runs all along the canal right into the Tollcross area of Edinburgh, but I've been afraid to go on it in the dark. This will definitely be a running route for me since it's flat and goes 30 miles all the way to Falkirk, not that I'll ever run that far, but bike maybe... Successful morning all around only to find out later this evening that the races tomorrow had been called off on account of high winds and fast currents... oh well I guess my UK racing debut will have to wait

Too Many Trips to the Gym!

I made the critical error of going to the gym 4 times today! It went something like this: team erg test, postgrad tutorial, make-up erg, work, cheerleading dance practice, and weights induction. Slightly masochistic but I needed to do all of them to get better at both my sports. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as I got home!

My Daddy's Birthday

Tuesday which means busy as always with all my classes, cheerleading and rowing. Today was extra busy since I don't normally have an actual rowing session, but we do today! So we had to be extra productive at cheerleading practice since I had to leave early to get to the boathouse. We did learn ground-up liberties with cradles (which are tricky, especially for the main base!) Mad dash across town to the Union Canal for my first boat outing in Edinburgh proper. We went out in a 4 in beautiful conditions, the water was pretty calm and the stars were out! Really reminded me of rowing back at CSB/SJU on Lake Sag in the early mornings of winter... Today is also my dad's birthday so I called him when I got back from rowing. It was really nice to talk to him since I hadn't since I moved over here, he's been away a lot for work.

Being the Beckhams

The Edinburgh University Boat Club (EUBC) had their annual Families Night tonight which is the first major social event of the season. What happens is that all returning members of the club are sorted out into a boy and girl pair and they become the mum and dad of a family. The children are all the newbies in the club, regardless of being novice or senior squad, sectioned into equal sized groups and then assigned to a set of parents. Families Night is a fancy dress (aka costume) party where each family chooses a famous family to be for the event. My family's theme for the evening was The Beckhams and since there is only one female in that family I guess my persona for the night was just going to have to be Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice! We all gathered at mummy's flat for dinner and drinks before meeting up with all the other families at Pear Tree. Then it was off to Potterrow for Societies Night where the boatclub won £500 by having the most people there! Some of the other familes were: The Simpsons, Flintstones, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Smurfs, Greek Gods, Mafia, Brady Bunch, Addams Family, Wombles, Incredables, and the Sound of Music. By the end of the night most people had a bit of some color of body paint on them since there was blue, green, yellow, white, brown, and even some red and black I think... Also tonight was initiation for the EU Vixens Cheerleading Squad, which I joined up with when they arrived at Potterrow too! I had my Vixens blue ring on so I was alright all though I never got my hair ribbons :( Spent the rest of the night going between the straggling rowers and the cheerleaders until the night was over at 3:30am! I haven't stayed out that late in a long, long time!

Getting Ready to be Victoria Beckham

The next few days were consumed with running around trying to find the perfect (cheap that doesn't look cheap) dress, tights, handbag, sunglasses, fake eyelashes, and the whole nine yards. Of course obviously on a budget! This was a wee bit tricky since things open after 9 and close at 6 so arranging shopping inbetween 3 classes and work was trickly. Thankfully, due to some amazing power shopping, and at least 2 trips along Prince's Street, I had gathered everything I needed, and just in time too!

Work Field Trip to the Chinese and Indian Embassies

So the fun part of working at a film school is getting to run errands such as sorting out visas for trips to film festivals around the world. Today I was sent to the Chinese Embassy to collect the visas for the Beijing Film Festival and then directly over to the Indian Embassy to drop off all the passports again for the Kolkata Film Festival. But they were impossible to work with and keep asking for things that weren't applicable! A real pain in the bum since we'd been talking to someone to make sure everything was correct!

Canadian Thanksgiving

Two of the girls in the MSc Archaeology are Canadian and had us over for Canadian Thanksgiving even if it was a day late. It was really tasty! We had chicken (turkeys are hard to come by,) stuffing, salad, and real pumpkin pie! It's amazing what a little home cooked comfort food will do.

New Libraries... How I Loath Thee

I don't like having to learn new libraries and their policies! Especially reserved sections... If it's on reserve it shouldn't be able to leave the reserve section so EVERYONE needing to use the book can find it!!! After my VERY stressful to multiple libraries on campus I rushed back out to meet Laura for dinner. We were going to order from our favorite delivery place only to discover that they ceased being open on Mondays and Tuesdays! So off we went to Pizza Hut! I forgot how nice that place is over here! I felt a bit better after good ol' greasy food and unlimited Coke refills. I also found out which family and theme I'm in for the fancy dress party Thursdays night for the EUBC: The Beckhams!

The LONG Trek to Auchinstarry, NOT Amused!

It took me over 3 hours to get to training this morning, not cool! It really shouldn't take 3 hours to get most of the way to Glasgow, just 45 min. should do it. But because it was Sunday the bus to the train station wasn't running, so I had to walk 45 min. to Waverly Station, to get on a bus to Falkirk becasue there were engineering works on the rail line, to catch the train one station, and finally walk 30 min. to Auchinstarry from Croy. Needless to say I left my flat around 6am and got to Auchinstarry around 9:15 already tired and bothered. I did end up going out in a 4 today which was a first in 4ish years. I thought it was a rather good practice in the pretty countryside with some good coaching advice. Thankfully I got a lift in a car back to Edinburgh :) Then I got to watch the final conclusion to my new favorite show: Charlie Boorman's By Any Means!

Head of the Forth Regatta

Edinburgh University Boat Club and St. Andrew's Boat Club are hosting the first Head of the Forth Regatta at the Stirling Rowing Club in Stirling, Scotland, today. It turned into a lovely sunny day even though it was horribly windy. The location was absolutely beautiful down along the river between Stirling Castle (left) and the Wallace Monument (right)! I went along to check out a British regatta and see if it's anything like American ones and to just be an extra set of hands. It was a lot of fun despite the mud and wind.

3rd Week of School

This week was about recovering from the marathon and getting into a proper routine between schoolwork and sports.

Cheerleading is going really well. I can't believe how much I've missed it! My stunt group is shaping up to be one of, if not thee, best groups, which makes me really happy. It's really fun to be able to have a really rough day of classes all day and then get to cheerleading practice and forget all about it.

Tuesday night the Edinburgh University Boat Club had a Senior Women's Squad dinner at this really nice restaurant called Le Monde. This was really nice since none of us really knew each other. Something that is still dumbfounding me is that 1st and 2nd year university students can legally, opening drink here. I've always known that drinking age is 18 in the United Kingdom, but I guess I've never been so close to it before. Especially since my only reference point was university in the United States where freshmen and sophomores run around with fake ids and drink at house parties. Seeing 18 year olds drink glasses of wine at a nice dinner in a posh restaurant still baffles me.

Wednesday I went running for the first time after the marathon. Slightly awkward but not really that bad. I've never run this soon after a race before, but can see the benefits in it. I went around Aurthur's Seat, which actually is a great run too bad I did most of it in the dark...

Thursday saw my first tutorial (small group converstation with the professor.) In my case this happened to be the head of the archaeology department, yikes! It also means that you can't just faff your way through a 4 person discussion! Sort of intimidating considering who the professor was, but I survived and actually kinda enjoyed it!

Friday was a bit of a quite day since my Tuesdays-Thursdays are so full and busy that Friday is a recovery day! Granted we had a triathlon-esque (erg, bicycling, & treadmill) rowing workout this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm going along to the Head of the Forth Regatta in Stirling.

Loch Ness Marathon Weekend

Saturday morning I boarded a train for northern Scotland and the city of Inverness, the capital of the Highlands. I really forgot how much I love traveling by train! Nothing like sitting there reading a great book, eating snacks, and watching the beautiful scenery go by! Granted it was horribly rainy out, but still there were brief moments of beauty. Especially coming into the Highlands where there was a bit of snow on the tops of some of them. The entire hostel was full of people doing the marathon, 10K, and 5K! It wasn't young people either, loads of people my parents age as well, sort of weird for a youth hostel but I suppose they just wanted to save money too. 3 of the 4 people in my room where running so we headed down to the expo which was held at the finish line at Queen's Stadium. It was the smallest "expo" I'd ever been at for a major race. I'm really glad I brought everything I needed from the US because I wouldn't have been able to get it there. Very different than both Grandma's and Rock 'n' Roll. Although there was an amazing dinner for us which included: soup, roll, salad, pasta, baked potato, and a pudding with custard! Then it was time to get my kit together for the next day and watch X Factor (British American Idol-esque show) before early to bed. But not before speaking with both of my running mentors: Chris & Chad. Words of Wisdom Version #3 "Don't let your feet run faster than your shoes" - old Scottish saying and "Some things have to be believed to be seen." If I was going to succeed tomorrow I was going to need both of these to get me through.

This time around I had to get up at 6am not 2:30am like San Diego! It still didn't feel real, didn't feel like I was about to run another marathon. But it was time to get some food in me and get all the kit on again. The long trek to the starting line began and finally ended over 2 hours later. Entirely too long between getting up and starting the race in my opinion. Fortunately the weather held out and stopped raining! The starting line (shown on the left) was literally out in the middle of the Highlands of Scotland, like some one just plunked us down in the middle of a postcard! I knew I hadn't trained very well for this so my plan was to run a mile then walk the next one and just go from there. My only goals were to follow this plan and just to finish. They had us do a wee little warm-up before we started since it was rather cold out and we'd been sitting on a bus for over an hour. Then at 10 o'clock sharp the bagpipes started. You know you're running a marathon in Scotland when bagpipes send you off! They began at the back of the runners and then came up the middle of the 2,000 or so runners before flanking either side of the starting line. As we started there they were playing us off, of course being the sucker that I am I was balling like a baby! I really must learn to not cry every time I hear massed bagpipes if I'm going to live in Scotland for the foreseeable future... Of we went into the Scottish countryside. Within the first mile we were greeted by curious horses and little sheepies with black faces. I kept to my game plan and started walking after the first mile. This course is absolutely beautiful through the autumn countryside and up and down hills, which I was completely unprepared for! After a few miles we came up along side the shore of Loch Ness, the home of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, hence the name of the marathon. By this point the sun was out full stop and the scenery was blissfully distracting! I've been to Loch Ness once before about 4 1/2 years ago and so remembered that there is a castle along it's shores that I would get to see again, Urquhart Castle. I did, I got to watch it grower larger and larger for a few miles before seeing it clearly from just across the loch. By this point I was about 8-10 miles in and felt pretty darn good! I was also keeping a 6 hr. marathon pace which is unheard of for me since my personal best is only 6:42. My running miles were averaging about 12 mile miles again really, really good for me! Right near the castle I thought I saw something in the water, but I'm hoping it was just a convergence of currents. I now know why people think they've seen things in this lake, now that I've seen something myself. Then things headed downhill after mile 11 when one of my knees started hurting, in mile 12 the other one started as well. I had a decision to make: get through a half marathon with a great time for me or push all the way through and spend months recovering and forgo all other sports (including cheerleading and rowing) probably until Christmas and/or end up in hospital with serious injuries? I made the sensible decision of finishing a strong half marathon and then proceeding to the next medical pick-up station around mile 15. My half marathon time was 3:08 which is faster than my other two first halves of marathons, so I was happy considering I'd done all of 6 training runs since San Diego including the triathlon. The medics had a hard time understanding why I was electing to take myself out of the race since I still looked really good. As I was brought back into Inverness I noticed that I definitely ran the prettier half of the course, so really it was worth it in my book. Once I had made it back to the finish line I had my chip cut off my shoe so I didn't get fined. They noticed I didn't have my medal or goodie bag and ran off to get those things before I could protest that I hadn't actually finished. I've of course altered both the shirt and medal to reflect the new race that I created and completed, the Loch Ness "Half" Marathon. Out on the course I met a lot of really nice people both running and cheering which was really cool since there aren't many people around, very much like Grandma's Marathon. I also saw all the important key animals to Scotland: black faced sheep and highland coos (the horned, woolly cute cows.) Once I had bundled back up and gotten all the free stuff I could get, headed back to the hostel, but not before stopping by McDonald's for a post race celebratory meal for a Big Mac, Chicken Selects and fries. Ah the gloriousness of the 3-day grace period of eating whatever you want after a major endurance event!

Back at the hostel I had my supper and then spent the rest of the evening watching X Factor, Top Gear, and Charlie Borman's By Any Means (my new favorite show!) Mostly because I couldn't be bothered to haul myself up the 2 flights of stairs to my room more times than absolutely necessary and I was completely knackered! Another fairly early night for obvious exhaustion reasons and caught the first train back to Edinburgh in the morning, sleeping most of the way...


Here is the course map, I was picked up just before the Lucozade and water station just before Dores, about where the line for the picture is.

A Wee Bit of an Update

10/1 ~ My first full day of work and it went relativity quickly. I was actually productive, a huge change from Meyer & Njus where I felt like I was getting dumber by the day!!! I finished all the induction packs complete with revisions, and completely on time! I also formally joined the Edinburgh University Boat Club today which means I'm one step closer to rowing at the Royal Henley Regatta!

10/2 ~ Only thing worth noting is a cheerleading dance practice where we actually did a bit of dancing and a lot of chatting girly style, because we realized that none of us really know one another that much!

10/3 ~ Today was all about getting ready for the weekend up in Inverness! This unfortunately included a lot of erging since I'm going to be away all weekend.

Tueday Bloody Tuesday

Tuesdays are absolutely brutal for me: 3 classes, cheerleading, and ArchSoc.

My classes are pretty much lectures except for one so it's not so bad. Plus all we're graded on is our essay at the end of term, so the coursework doesn't really count for anything (that's going to take some getting use to.) Getting use to the British school system is tough because all that counts is the one essay at the end of term and it's graded anonymously by external examiners, so class descusions and reading mean nothing. And an A is anything over 70, but it's more or less unheard of to get more than 80! That will also take some getting use to.

Cheerleading today was really, really good! We got our prep liberty, hitch, and a solid extension! That's absoluely amazing because I haven't done an extension in 7+ years!

On the way home I finally went into the kebab, chip, and pizza shop that's just down the street. I had the most amazing chicken and donar kebab for dinner!

My new Tuesday routine is classes, cheerleading, (if I'm up to it) ArchSoc (Archaeology Society) pub night or whatever is on, a stop at the kebab shop for dinner, and then a bath & Gossip Girl.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Go!!!

Today was my first day of work at the Screen Academy Scotland which is joint venture of Napier University and Edinburgh College of Art. I work in the admin office as a gopher more or less, but it's good fun and quite interesting work. Next week is freshers week for them so I'm working on getting things together for that. After work it was all about doing my homework since I have all my classes tomorrow!!!

Auchinstarry

Auchinstarry is a random spot on the Forth & Clyde Canal out in the Scottish countryside most of the way to Glasgow. It's the home of the water training facility of the Edinburgh University Boat Club. It's absolutely beautiful out there in the country! Seriously a gorgeous canal with swans and the rolling countryside, you'd think that Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy would come over the bank any second! Anyway, I spent Sautday and Sunday morning learning how to row again, since it'd been at least 3 years since I was in a crew boat last!

I Got A Job!!!

Research Skills lecture this morning and then it was off to get my extra loan money check and the forms saying I don't have to pay my undergrad loans right now, yeah! I met up with Laura for a run through Holyrood Park. This was more of a cross country billy goat trail run, but it was really, really pretty! I think I'll be running through this park a lot. We ran up the side of The Crags and then between them and Aurthur's Seat, down the other side and by Holyrood Palace and the New Scottish Parliament. Okay 4 days in a row might be a bit much for my body to handle, but it did feel good to stretch out the muscles, I'm not sure that mountain climbing was exactly whay they needed though... Then it was off to Office Angels, one of my old agencies from London, to re-register and hopefully get a lead on a job. Well it worked! I'm going to be working for Napier University's Screen Academy Scotland which happens to be just 'round the corner from me! I'm going to be the office assisant and general helper with scheduling, invitations, and events. It's only until the end of October (for now) but I do start Monday and get paid more than minimum wage!

Ouch!

Today I worked on getting through all the papers I have received over the past 2 weeks. I can't really believe I've been here for 2 weeks already! It hardly feels like I've done anything because school's just started. But at the same time it feels like I've been here even longer. I had my second cheerleading practice today which was dance training since we do both competitive cheerleading routines and danceline routines. Immediately afterwards I had my first erg session in over 3 years with the boat club. Didn't go to badly but my hands are a bit chewed up but not too bad. I actually found the rowing itself not too bad and the speed wasn't great but wasn't too bad from what I remember my good results were from St. Ben's/St. John's. There is actually a girl from St. Thomas on the rowing team this autumn as well, seriously it's a worldwide rivalry! Needless to say I've very sore at this point from working out really hard for 3 days in a row now! I did walk all the way home but I think that helped with the soreness factor...

First 2 Weeks in Edinburgh

Ok so I've been here for a little over a week now but school still doesn't start until next week! **Warning: this post my get long as there is loads to catch you up on!**

9/11 ~ Arrived in Amsterdam, got lunch, flew an hour to Edinburgh, Scotland!!! Surprising simple immigration procedure, I had nothing to worry about after all! Three of my flatmates had come out to get me: Carolin (Berlin, Germany,) Gemma (Newcastle, England,) and Hannah (Preston, England.) After hauling all my uber-overweight luggage on to and off of the bus, they volunteered (with much protesting from me!) to carry all my stuff up the 3 flights of stairs to our apartment (or flat as the British call them.) My friend Laura had left a goody bag for me since she's away in Liverpool until late Sunday. All I remember doing after that was going to the grocery store, yeah Tesco. Other than that I think I stayed up until nearly midnight...

9/12 ~ Shopping Day! I slept in a little, but not too bad and no jet lag! I set out on a major shopping day as there were things I couldn't bring with me or definitely need to just buy here. First of all I stopped by and signed my lease, a first for me, and kinda scary. Once that was taken care of, I was on a mission to get a mobile phone (don't dare call it a cell!,) all my bedding (pillows, sheets, duvet, and duvet covers,) hangers, and other random things I was missing. Needless to say I ended up taking a black cab back to the flat from the Royal Mile because my stuff was a little too heavy to carry all the way back. I live about 2 miles out of the true center of the city. A few more small trips around town to different stores and I was about set as far as the big stuff was concerned.

9/13 ~ Gemma and I just stayed in the flat for entirely too long watching telly before we finally dragged our butts off the lay-z-boys and had a bit of a walkabout. We went into town and she showed me around campus because I honestly didn't really know how to get there or which buildings were which. She also showed me where this delicious little candy/chocolate shop is right near uni! I really can't get over some of the buildings they are just so old and pretty! Also there is no campus bookstore per say, you just go to the regular book store across the street who happens to stock all the uni course textbooks and stuff, very Harry Potter if you ask me! We picked up a few more odds and ends for the flat and headed back just in time for X Factor, a British version of American Idol but with less restraints on the types of contestants.

9/14 ~ International Day at the University of Edinburgh. This was a bit of a joke and mostly meant for undergrad students and people who had never been to the UK before, not exactly my qualifications... Anyway I sat around and listened to lectures all day and picked-up a few things, but not really 6 hours worth of stuff. That night Carolin, Gemma, and I cooked dinner together which was nice change instead of just microwaving something. Then we went out for a proper night on the town, but ended up at the Irish pub called Dropkick Murphy's, fun was still had by all.

9/15 ~ I saw Laura today for the first time in nearly 3 years! She came over to mine and she showed me around the area, which I hadn't really explored at all. I actually live in a very cute and pretty quite residential area of Edinburgh with loads of little shops, cafes, and things. Can't remember doing anything else of interest this day.

9/16 ~ Today was Step 1 of a multiple step process they like to call registration. Seriously I have to register at the university, college, and school levels! I'm at the School of Classics, History and Archaeology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, talk about a mouth full! Today was sitting in the queue for US Loans for 45 min. which meant I got to bypass the 2 1/2 hour queue for regular registration! I finally met someone else in the archaeology program today! Her name is Emily and she's from California. After registration we went to lunch at this pub called Frankenstein's which is in an old converted church and has free food for students on Tuesdays! This is a great find!!!

9/17 ~ Postgraduate Induction Day for the School of Classics, History and Archaeology. Ran into Emily again and met some new people. We had a bit of a break in the morning so we ventured out to find a coffee and ended up at The Elephant House. The Elephant House is the birthplace of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling wrote quite a bit of the early books in this cafe! The rest of the day was listening to different lectures about the school and how the programs are. The first speaker was the head of the school and sounded dead up like Sean Connery! We had panel with current PhD students and then a reception with the faculty as well. Afterwards a bunch of us headed to the Library Bar in Teviot which is the student union. The bar actually looks like an old library in an estate house and the price is right, but then again it is a student bar. Teviot is this great old building that looks like a castle! Later that night Gemma and I met up with our other flatmate Hannah from Preston, England, and their friend Catherine. We went to Opal which evidentally is the posh club in Edinburgh, full of yars. A Yar is someone from Southern England, usually, who went to private schools and summered on mummy and daddy's yatch somewhere. I didn't know this but if you don't get into Oxford or Cambridge you usually go to the University of Edinburgh. i.e. HRH Princess Beatrice is a freshman here is year! She's the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, 5th in line for the British throne.

9/18 ~ More running around signing and submitting forms for different uni things. I met with my director of studies to verify my courses for the year and to just go over things. Then it was off to the sports and societies fair! I talked with the triathlon society and boat club at the sports fair and at the societies fair it was the archaeology society, the one campaign, and the cheerleading society. Who would have thought that at 25 I would be cheering and rowing again?!?!? Laura came over after that and we went for a quick run around The Meadows which is the park near my flat. It felt good to be running again, but I'm not sure how I'm going to like running on sidewalks instead of paths in parks all the time...

9/19 ~ Didn't do much today except a quick trip into uni and around town to take pictures since I've been here over a week now.

9/20 ~ Some people that I met at the Induction Day on Wednesday and I went out to North Queensferry by train to go to Deep Sea World the aquarium near here. North Queensferry is just across the Forth of Firth from Edinburgh. We had fun at the aquarium as one always does! There were fishys, a moving sidewalk through the tube under the water, and seals who were mugging for the camera. Back in Edinburgh where it was no longer sunny I had more business to take care of like getting my railcard and buying my bus pass. Seriously the weather changes here ever 30 minutes or so... Quite night in with a bubble bath, the X Factor, and calls to unsuspecting friends at home.

9/21 ~ Lazy Sunday doing nothing of importance that I can remember, except finally organizing my room for good, until I went on the Stars and Stripes Pub Crawl with the Edinburgh Vixens Cheerleading Socity and the Maverics, the American Footballers Society. We started at The Crags which is a really cool bar/pub right by the halls of residence aka a LONG way away from me. Then to Frankenstein's, which happens to be Maverics sponser, where we did karaoke which is really funny in a drunk Scottish accent. The last stop for me was Shanghai which looks like a really cool club, except that there was NO ONE there tonight! The footballers and other cheerleaders all seemed really cool, I'm super looking forward to being a cheerleader again!

9/22 ~ Today is officially the first day of classes but I don't have any until tomorrow. Laura had some people over to her house for a nice dinner. We ordered from this great place that does really good Chinese, Thai, Indian, and Italian food and delivers for free! When I got to Laura's house it was kinda funny because she totally lives in the Scottish 'burbs! After eating entirely too much food it was time to head home and get ready for school tomorrow!

9/23 ~ Tuesdays are crazy busy for me! I have all 3 of my classes, 2 hours of cheerleading, and ArchSoc!!! I have Theoretical Perspectives in Archaeology, Frontiers in Archaeology: Research Seminars, and The Late Roman City in Asia Minor for classes. Also found out today that the building where the Archaeology Department is housed, the Old High School, is where the blackboard and coloured chalk were invented when Sir Walter Scott was a student there. I also had my first cheerleading practice in over 7 years! Amazingly I was still able to base a prep and a cradle without breaking my "old for cheerleading" body. The girls are all super nice and really welcome any knowledge that I might have that they don't. Can't wait to be a Vixen! After all that I had the first pub night with the Archaeology Society aka ArchSoc where we just chatted with one another. Granted I almost fell asleep in the Library Bar at Teviot before I put myself on a bus for home around 9 at night after leaving just after 8 in the morning.

9/24 ~ Wednesdays are going to be recovery days from Tuesdays. The Archaeology Department has a Postgraduate Reception afternoon for all the new PGs in the department. We had a tour of the building and a wine reception with the faculty and some of the PhD students, a bit more interesting than the other reception last week. That night Laura and I went to the 1st training session for the Edinburgh University Boat Club (aka crew/rowing team.) Wednesdays are circuit training, from what I can tell having survived it once already it's really like condensed boot camp, drill sergant type workout. Since I've rowed before I've qualified for the Senior Women's Squad which means that the Royal Henley Regatta, the ultimate rowing competion besides the Olympics, is in my future! Oh did I mention the Queen watches this one? Laura will be on the Novice team but they're really good too, they swept all the races last year.

A few observations, Edinburgh buildings are all made of stone which is funny because the stone is the same color as the sky, kinda depressing in the winter, or so I've been told. Hadn't really thought about it, but all the buildings are made of stone because wood rots and it's so wet in Scotland. All the buildings are beautiful though! I definitely feel like I'm in a different country because of the accents, street directions, and things in the grocery stores, but at the same rate it doesn't feel like London which is good and bad. None of the people directly on archaeology programs are British which is kinda disappointing. I come all the way here and go to one of the best British universities and no one is British except for the professors!!! On the positive I am the only American on the cheerleading squad so that's cool! That's all for now and the first 2 weeks. I'm sure I've forgotten exciting bits so feel free to ask questions! Be sure to check out my photos at http://gradschoollassie.shutterfly.com/

I've Made It To Scotland!!!

Hiya everyone! Didn't mean to worry all of you but I have made it to Scotland just fine! I don't have internet in my apartment yet until Wednesday hence why there hasn't been an update! Gotta run I'll post soon!

Huge Day!

Tuesday was a huge day for me! In a matter of 2 hours I gave my 2 week notice at the law firm and coughed up a HUGE amount of money for my apartment in Edinburgh! Did I mention that all started around 6 in the morning? Cake topper: I met my sister's boyfriend in a sit down dinner situation that night as well.

One Month to Go!!!

It's really weird to think that in 1 month I will be on my Scotland! I've been planning and awaiting this for so long now, it doesn't seem like it's real! My nerves are telling me another story though... As the LONG parade of good-byes, dinners, last suppers, get togethers, and parties sees me off; it's finally starting to sink in and hit me!!! I'm getting nervous, if you can believe that. I know I've moved overseas twice by myself before, but something seems very different this time. And I know that this is an amazing opportunity and a huge stepping stone for my career, but I'm still nervous. Last Wednesday I took my final lap around my home ice rink right after I nailed my scratch spin at center ice to pass my last level since I won't be on the ice again until I'm in Scotland. I think taking that lap was when it became a reality for me. If it wasn't then, then it was when I announced my leaving my company, Canterbury Park, after nearly 7 years in front of my entire department shaking the entire time. Also because I'm giving notice at my day job in a week!!! Again something I've known that I had to do since January. That's enough for now, back to the Olympics!!!

I Have a Flat!!!

Well I've crossed two things of my list! Work authorization was built into my visa after, false alarm! Evidentially the wording is still from the Cold War era when you had to jump through more flaming hoops once you arrived to be able to work. Now on to the important thing, I HAVE FOUND AN APARTMENT IN EDINBURGH!!! I'll be living in a 2-floor apartment with 7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, huge kitchen, huge living room, and my room has a garden view! I'll be living with 6 other girls: 2 Scottish, 2 English, 1 German, and 1 Indian. My new address is 43 Polwarth Gardens Flat 3F1 Edinburgh EH11 1LB Scotland. Now it's just a matter of saying good-bye to everyone...

The Countdown is On: T-2 Months and Counting!

It's finally starting to hit me that it's happening! I've been working towards this pretty much since I returned from the UK last time, over 2 years ago now! 2 months from right now I'll be on a jetplane not knowing when I'll be back again. Starting a new life in Edinburgh, Scotland. Yes, I'm scared, but the best things in life, the ones most worth while, are those that you're scared of. Life would be boring without such adventures. HUGE NEWS, my student visa arrived last week so I'm perfectly legal now and shouldn't get harassed at immigration yet again, see study abroad and BUNAC. As my time in the Land of 10,000 Lakes for the foreseeable future draws to a close I've realized a few things. I have an amazing family with whom I've very close and going to miss dearly. Making dreams come true takes sacrifices and my family is probably the biggest one. I really have to make my last 2 months here worth every minute! The other thing is that I really do love it here, especially Minneapolis which I've only begun to realized how amazing it is!

To Do List:
- Find a flat in Edinburgh
- Get work authorization
- Update resume/CV
- Find a job in Edinburgh (only part-time!)
- Sign over Power of Attorney to my mom
- Put Charlotte (my car) into storage at my grandparents farm
- Resign from 2 jobs here...