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.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
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!!!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
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!
Friday, September 26, 2008
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!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
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...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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/
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/
Sunday, September 14, 2008
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!
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