First Two Days of Class

On Monday I had my first day of class. I had Scottish Lit and Scottish Studies. It is pretty weird being in a lecture since all of my Muhlenberg classes have been so small. It will definitely take some getting used to!
Today I had Scottish Studies and my Scottish Lit Tutorial. The tutorial is a small group, just 6 of us, that meets once a week to look at some of the readings from the course more in depth. Everyone seemed friendly, but it was all a bit overwhelming, especially since it is so different from what I'm used to.
The past couple days have been pretty rough, probably because I haven't been sleeping much. Maybe now that I've had a couple of classes and know more of what to expect I'll feel a little better.
My dad leaves tomorrow and I miss him already, and of course I miss everyone at home a ton.
I've been looking into joining the Yoga Society and I think there is a visiting student pub night on Friday, so maybe I'll go to that!

Move in and Orientation

Today was my Visiting Students Orientation! They talked a lot about academics and safety, and it was pretty much like any other college orientation. One of the guys who works in the visiting students office even wore a kilt.
We went to Teviot Row House in Bristo Square afterwards for a Societies (clubs) Fair and lunch. I met some other students, one who is in my Scottish Lit class, and one who goes to Cornell and knows one of my friends from home! Teviot is one of the student unions and it is over 120 years old. And it looks like a castle (better pictures to come).

Afterwards I went on a tour of George Square, which is the main campus. I saw where all of my classes will be, as well as the library and the Old College:

I also moved into my flat today! I'm living in Fountainbridge, which isn't too far from campus. I have my own room and bathroom and it's attached to four other rooms and with a kitchen and living area at the end of the hall. I was a bit nervous when I got here because I didn't see anyone and the kitchen was (or is… I'm afraid to check) a disaster area. Hopefully someone will clean it…

I met two of my flatmates, just briefly, so hopefully I'll get to talk to them more tomorrow. 

This is my little room:

It's still a work in progress, and I'll probably need to get another blanket; it's chilly here! The orange is a little weird, but I have pink walls!

Problems Solved

Today was a super long day, but I have my visa!
We flew into Paris and drove into the city for breakfast. We walked around a little bit, but we were so tired that we went back to the airport and slept for most of the day.
I have orientation tomorrow and I'll continue moving into my flat, and then classes start on Monday!
I'm super nervous, but hopefully after orientation tomorrow everything will be clearer.

An Interesting Day

Well today was quite an adventure… We found out that we weren't supposed to fly into Dublin to get to Scotland because they don't let you apply for a visa. Don't know how I missed that one. Ugh.

So we talked to the University and they said we have to leave the country and come back. Then, over the next few hours, various phone calls were made, and for a while we thought I was in the country illegally because my passport wasn't stamped at Dublin or Edinburgh…. so that happened. But we went back to the school and they said it was fine and that if I tried to leave I wouldn't get arrested :)

Tomorrow we'll be in France for the day; We get there around 8 am and then we get back here around 10 pm, so I'll have a croissant or something in Paris while we wait. And I will be sure to have my passport stamped every single place I go from now until the end of time.

I checked into my flat early since I won't be here tomorrow and my individual room looked pretty good. Still nervous about meeting my flatmates, but we'll see how it goes!

Landed

Well, this trip has been quite an adventure already, but I am now ending my first day in Scotland.

After landing in Dublin, we were put onto a bus in the freezing cold, and then driven to a tiny propellor plane. It was actually pretty cool. We flew really low so you could see the lights of the cities during the whole flight.

When we landed in Scotland, all of our baggage had arrived with us (thank goodness).

Here is where it gets interesting:

We got a rental car, but they are super different here. Obviously they drive on the left side of the road, but the driver is also on the right side of the car. It is completely backwards! The gear shift is also on the steering wheel like a windshield wiper….

The guy at the rental place put the postal code in wrong, and we ended up in the wrong part of Edinburgh (They use postal codes as a section of a street instead of like a zip code in America). Add that to sleep deprivation and the weird driving situation and you get a pretty messy scenario. My dad did a great job handling it though, because I actually would have been screaming.

Eventually we flagged down a cab (Doug was very nice) and followed him to the hotel. He said it wasn't the strangest thing he had ever done -- apparently once he had to deliver fifteen prosthetic testicles… so that was weird.

I slept pretty much all day once we got to the Radisson, then we had dinner at a pub along the Royal Mile. We also did a little bit of shopping for my flat, and I got a sim card so I can use my phone. I have a UK number, so I'm super snazzy.

Good night America!

First Flight Done!

Made it safely to Dublin AND ahead of schedule. One more flight until Edinburgh!

Today's the Day!

It is finally time for me to head off to Scotland! I will be leaving at 5:30 tonight and by tomorrow morning I will be in Edinburgh.
I will miss all my friends and family, but I'm excited for a new adventure.

Toodle-loo America!