Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

It's blog time once again! I think the last time I blogged was just before the St. Andrews excursion - So that's where we'll start :

Two weekends ago I went to visit my good friend from college, Dylan Freude. He is currently studying abroad at the University of St. Andrews. Apparently it is Scotland's first university! It was founded somewhere around 1413, which makes it 600 years old!! Very impressive, St. Andrews. It actually celebrated it's 600th birthday a few days ago and the prince of Wales himself went to celebrate with it!! Apparently Dylan actually got to TOUCH Prince Williams! Boy did I go to the wrong university! Just kidding. Upon my arrival, Dylan and I walked around through the many ruins that St. Andrews has to offer - the largest being the Cathedral and the graveyard surrounding it. It was very cool imagining the building of such an immense structure and how it came to be the way it is today due to the Reformation. It's more grass and fallen walls than an actual building!

At the Ruins

Like usual, it was a cloudy day in Scotland. Also quite windy! Dylan and I had gone down to the beach for a bit, but it was so windy, we were afraid we were going to blow away!! I tried to get a bit of it on video. Here is a link to it. Hopefully you can see it!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?profile=1&id=812329501#!/video/video.php?v=1398973451466

Anyway, we got very cold after that and continued back up to the ruins. Here is a picture of Dylan and I in the cathedral.

Right by the cathedral is.... wait for it........ THE WORLDS FIRST GOLF COURSE!!!! Because, you know, St. Andrews INVENTED the sport. Apparently it is like, £600 just to play on it!! Also, you have to book in advance, and the course is already booked up until October!! Thought of the Holmstroms while walking through it. Skip would have loved it, I'm sure.

Golf Course

The remainder of the time spent in St. Andrews was mostly just hanging around at the student union and some pubs with some of Dylan's other friends from the IFSA-Butler program. Though, I must say, one of the nicest things about St. Andrews was a shower that stayed on the entire time you were showering (same with the homestay, but I will get to that later). After a relaxing weekend, it was time to head home on Sunday and get ready for school the next day.

That's right. School has begun. Actual work needs to be done. Study abroad, sadly enough, begins with "Study." Classes are as follows:

• Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland - I want to say we just learn Harry Potter spells, but sadly, that is not the case....
• Social History of the Victorian City (Computer Approaches) - Learning history with computers?? Very strange. Census time!
• Language and Gender - pretty self explanatory. Learning how the world is still very sexist.
  

I have classes and lectures Monday through Thursday, and am lucky enough to have Friday free - which is perfect for those long weekend excursions! Classes should be fine. The only thing I am not looking forward to is writing those essays. They cut into my travel time!

While class has been fun, the other IFSA girls and I have also had fun exploring the campus of Stirling, itself. We ventured to go and find the castle that is on campus. It was built in the 1700's. There are still classes that are held there, but they are mostly all law classes. I definitely wish I could say that I were taking classes in the castle. Behind the castle, we found a path that led to the hills behind the campus. The path was lined with a beautiful stone wall - very scottish.

The path wove around the hills and led us out to a road that we followed into the adjacent town called Bridge of Allan where I got my first Scottish pastry (which was delicious!).

On our way back to Stirling, we were astounded by a gorgeous view of the sun over the Loch on campus. It is really one of those times where one thinks, 'Yeah, I go to a gorgeous school.'
This past weekend I went on what was called our Homestay - where we went and stayed with a family for the weekend to work more into getting to know the culture. Our homestay family, Judith and Paul Telford, had two daughters and a dog. They were all very welcoming and made Liz and I feel right at home in their gorgeous house.

That Saturday, Judith and Ella (daughter) took us around the Lake District to do some hiking. We began by hiking to Aira Force, which is a water fall. It was a lovely sunny day and the water was flowing quite forcefully, as there had been quite a bit of rain. After the waterfall, we drove over to Little Mell Fell and did some Fell walking. A Fell is "a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of England." The weather up at Little Mell Fell was very confused. It really did not know what it wanted to do. On our walk up, we started with sunshine and warmth. On our way, the clouds quickly came in, and about halfway up hail actually started to fall!! It was like we were getting all of the seasons in one day! After the hail, it mostly stayed cloudy. At the top of the Fell, the 360 degree view was absolutely stunning. On one side, there were dark, ominous clouds (probably where the hail was falling), next to that, the sun was desperately trying to break through, giving the landscape an almost ethereal look to it.

Past that, there were blue skies! Around the other side, there was a clear distinction between where the clouds started and the blue skies stopped.

View from Little Mell Fell

All together, a very amazing experience. After that, we were quite exhausted and went to have lunch back at home. One thing I was surprised about was how much tea people actually drink! Our family had it for every meal and then some! It really is apart of everyday life here. That evening, we went to the village pub (every village needs one, I guess!). The next day, Liz and I learned to make Scones!!

Mine were cheese scones, but we also made Cherry and Apple. I have the recipe and definitely plan on making them at home more often! Here is a picture of my homestay family and I :
Well, it has certainly been busy here. I hope all is well for everyone back at home! Until next time!

Everybody's Got to Learn Sometimes

Hey all,

So I know it's been a while since the last update. Told you I was bad with these. Things have been kind of hectic since then, what with school starting up. So, here goes.

Saturday -We finally arrived at University of Stirling at about 10 am. From there, we set up our rooms, and wandered around campus for a bit. Realizing we really would need food and pots and pans, we adventured into the downtown area of Stirling (City Center). Did you know that Stirling only just became a city in 2002? The queen granted it city status as apart of her Golden Jubilee! We wandered around, finding the cheapest stores we could (hey, we're students and the exchange rate is a killer), including the Pound Store, Pound Stretcher, and a second Pound Store, as well as Argylls. Fun stuff.

As for the dorm room itself, it is very, um, interesting. The dorms are separated into suite rooms, so there are five people living in a suite, all with their own room, then a common room and a kitchen. Fun fact: the person who designed the dorms took inspiration from a Swedish Prison....

Swedish Prison Cell

My Dorm Room - Look familiar? I mean, the bed and the desk
are switched, but otherwise... This is right at the doorway.
There's a closet to the left. That's it.

So other than a few shelves and a few inches added to the width, I'd say they did a pretty good job. The showers are another story. I guess this campus is WAY into saving energy, which I'm all for and everything, but really? I would just like to shower in peace. The showers, though they do have warm water (Lets not even talk about how the bathrooms are FREEZING.... apparently they school decided to skip out on heat in there, too), have this button. And you press the button for water. And then 20 seconds later, the water turns off. It's like those faucets you have to press to get water. Except as a shower. I mean, it's really NOT that bad, but I just needed a rant session.

Anyway, finally met all my suite mates, and they're all very nice. There's Laura, Esme, Moira, and Enga. Laura, Esme and Moira are all from Scotland, while Enga is from Germany/Taiwan (goes back and forth between the two).

On Tuesday, some girls from IFSA and I decided to visit Stirling Castle finally (Sunday and Monday were full of boring and unnecessary orientation information.... seriously felt like a freshmen in college again.). It was absolutely amazing. I liked it much better than Edinburgh (and lets be honest, Edinburgh Castle was pretty amazing....). It had a much more castle-feel to it. And our tour guide was adorable. He had this long white hair that was receding (had to be about 60) and wore green plaid pants. And had an accent. Of course. The castle itself overlooked all of Stirling. It was said that whoever held Stirling Castle held Scotland. This was because A.) Stirling Castle had a great view of the surrounding areas to see advancing armies and the hill it sits upon is naturally easily defensible, and B.) it was/is the gateway into the Highlands. The reason for this is because it sits on the River Forth at the most militarily advantageous spot. It was the easiest place to move a mass amount of soldiers across the river into the Highlands. Stirling actually used to be the capitol of Scotland. Unfortunately, as it was quite the cloudy and foggy day when we went, I don't have a good picture of the castle as a whole, but only parts of the castle itself.

Opening to Stirling Castle

Naturally, we had some fun while wandering around the castle and found the Great Hall where the kings and queens sat....

Hanging out with Royalty

So that was pretty much our day on Tuesday. Oh, and I do believe that was valentines day? No, Monday was Valentines day. Gosh, I just don't know anymore. Well, then, on MONDAY we went to dinner with a large group of girls. It was nice, but definitely need to think more about eating in, so I can save for Europe trips. I've talked to Quincy about visiting him at the beginning of my Spring Break in Germany, and then maybe meet up in Italy with the IFSA girls. It's so weird being able to say that. Like, 'oh, no big, just jumping over to Italy.' It's crazy. I still can't get over it. And talking with people in England and being like, yeah, you're close enough! I'll totally come down for a weekend. It's just LONDON. SO WEIRD. It's also crazy because the University is recognizing Prince Williams marriage to Kate Middleton as a NATIONAL HOLIDAY. So, naturally, we're just going to pop over to London with the millions of other people.... It's crazy. I think I will live here. Everything is so close!!

Well, that's all for now. I'm off for a weekend visiting Dylan in St. Andrews. Should be fun! I'll update if anything interesting happens. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Have Fun Storming the Castle!

Hey there,

Sorry it's been a few days since I posted. Things have been busy, and connecting to the internet at Stirling was a little rough. I am finding it easier to write a blog.... It probably helps that everyone else in my group is writing blogs as well. Anyway, 3rd post is a go!
Today is Friday. I think I left off on Wednesday?? Anyway, yesterday was, once again, a very eventful and busy day. We started off with an 8am breakfast up at the restaurant on the 5th floor of the hotel we are staying at (Apex International Hotel). It has the most gorgeous view of the castle EVER. This picture gives you something of an idea. It was made all the better because yesterday was one of the only days we will probably ever see the sun. It was a perfect day!

View of Edinburgh Castle from the restaurant area.

After breakfast, we finally began our IFSA-Butler orientation (With a tea and coffee break included). We even got to meet one of the Edinburgh police officers! Super exciting. He was super embarrassed when he had to talk about dating in Scotland and how it differs from the US. Also, apparently we are to beware of guys wearing sports clothing (like, jogging pants and matching coat) and burberry baseball caps. That was the kicker. Watch out for the burberry baseball caps. He was pretty funny. Anyway, this lasted until around lunch. After we ate, our group of explorers decided to wander out towards a place called Arthur's Seat, in Holyrood Park. Yeah. It threw me off too. Holyrood? I think they mean HOLLYWOOD. Obviously.

Arthur's Seat

When we arrived at the park and started the climb, a few of our members opted out, and soon it was down to Dana and I, traversing the hills of the area. We climbed about 3 "peaks" if you will. There was an absolutely gorgeous sight of the city all around, as you can see :

Edinburgh

While climbing, however, the trails were very poorly marked, and often times we found ourselves literally climbing a few places. It was quite the adventure, but definitely worth it, as the view was spectacular.

Pretty amazing, yes? Oh, I would say "Awesome," but apparently it is weird to say that here. We will get to that later. Moving on. After exploring the hills, Dana and I went back to the old town area (There is the old town and the new town - We've mostly been hanging around old town) where we met up with the other 5 girls at the Elephant House, which is the location where J.K. Rowling began writing the Harry Potter books. It is owned by a new manager and has changed quite a bit since she began writing (it was 15 years ago, after all.). However, they are still quite proud of their history with Harry Potter. There is a photo of JK Rowling writing part of the book hanging in their main dining room, as well as a toilet devoted to HP, as you can see :

HP Toilet

After that, we went back to the hotel to hang out a bit, and then it was off to the night scene, where we wandered the streets with many other bar hunters. It was quite the day, but very fun. I will continue to try and keep everyone updated. That's all for now!

Video from Arthur's Seat :
http://www.facebook.com/video/?encoding#!/video/video.php?v=1394185291765

A Foggy Day in Edinburgh Town

Post the Second!

Hey All!

I have arrived in Scotland, safe a sound! It's been a LONG day (night?), but a very exciting one. It started off with a lovely attendant at O'hare, who informed us that our gate was a "No Frowning Zone," which he emphasized by all but yelling at a man over the speaker that it was, in fact, a no frowning zone and the man needed to smile. What a great start to a long trip. Upon arrival at Newark, I actually found it quite simple to walk the 13 or so gates it was to C86. Good thing. There, I found four other girls, red tagged bags in hand, gathered around the outlets like they were a bonfire. There we sat, until finally it was time to board (7:45PM EST).

6 hours later....

Arrival in Edinburgh : 7:30 AM (Scotland time)

The arrival to Scotland was quite cloudy and foggy, but still gorgeous nonetheless. Getting past Customs was a breeze, as was baggage claim and finding Deirdra, the program coordinator for Stirling. A quick drive to the hotel later (driving on the left side, of course), and we were sent off to Edinburgh on our own. The five of us wandered up and down the cobbled streets, trying to find our way to the Edinburgh Castle, and discovering many other wonderful buildings along the journey. We found The Royal Mile (High Street) and

walked up and down, mindlessly finding our way to the Castle. A quick look around, and we decided to leave the Castle for another day. Exhausted and hungry (it was only about 11:30 at this point), we dragged our weary bodies back to the hotel for a quick lunch across the street and some down time.

Well, thats about all there is for

today! I'll try and keep everyone updated!

Send Me On My Way

Hey all,

In case someone has missed something, I am finally doing what I have always wanted - Studying Abroad. Specifically in Scotland. If we want to get down to more specifics, the University of Stirling in Stirling, Scotland. Whew. I can't believe it is actually happening! I am so excited, yet so nervous at the same time!

So I am all ready and packed for Scotland. I leave tomorrow. I have my suitcase the size of a boar, my roll-away, and my shoulder bag awaiting downstairs, while I try to calm my nerves, hoping I haven't forgotten anything . All have their IFSA-Butler approved red ribbon to identify myself as a desperately lost and confused foreigner, in hopes that another desperately lost and confused foreigner will find me. One can dream.

In case you were wondering about my travel arraignments, here it is -
-At noon, my flight will leave from O'Hare International Airport for a two and a half hour flight that will get me to Newark at 3:30 PM
-I have about four hours to frantically find my way to the terminal where my flight to Scotland will be waiting! Hope I can find it....
-Then, at 7:30 PM, I will fly the 3,268 miles it is from New Jersey to Edinburgh with a plane full of other travelers.
-I will be arriving a day later, at 7:30 AM. From there, I will gather my luggage and hope to God that there is someone from IFSA-Butler to herd the other Stirling students and myself to the hotel where we will be staying for a few days to do Orientation stuff.

Well, don't know about you guys, but typing that out has sure helped me!

On a side note - Though I do now have this blog, I am absolutely horrendous at keeping things like this going. So, though I do hope to keep it updated, it will be more of a, whenever I remember to actually update, deal. Hopefully I can get to it once a week. But it might be more like once every two weeks. We shall see how it goes.

Until next time, folks!