Well, here I am in Kitchener House, Matt's dorm, waiting for his hall meeting to be over so we can cook dinner, and I've decided to take the time to make my first official update. Sorry to say, while I do have photos, the internet on campus is finicky and won't let me use webshots. However, when I next get to a spot with WiFi, I will be sure to put photos up. For now, bear with me.
Anyway, we got in around 9:25am on Jan. 4th. It was cold out, and wet, but not really raining. We collected our luggage and started our trek through the airport to try to find where the cabs are. We took two taxis, which are actually quite neat. They are specially made without trunks, so the people sit in the far back (facing forward, though) with their bags on the floor in front of them. As we drove through the city, I watched us pass campus and then head to the Registration Center at Pollock Halls. This confused me, but I would later learn that campus is huuuge. My dorm is 30 minutes from the main campus, George Square.
Anyway, we checked in, took another cab to our dorms, and tried to get settled in. My room is small, a single (as most here are), and on the "first floor" (which is the American second floor, but they have the ground floor here, of course). I've got photos, which, as I said, I will try to upload asap.
Basically we spent the first couple days wandering the city, learning where to eat and where to find WiFi, as our internet had no yet been connected, and getting back on a regular sleeping schedule. Brittany's birthday was on Saturday the 7th, so we woke at 7:30 and went hiking up Arthur's Seat for sunrise, which is at about 9. It was incredibly windy and a bit chilly, but it was just so exhilirating! At the top of the seat are two stones; one is the actual "throne" and one is set with a round metal plate which is engraved with the dates of ruling kings. From the top, you can see the entire city, the North Sea, and basically get your bearings about where you are in relation to everything else.
Sunday was orientation, but the only important thing there was finding out how to sign up to register, meet our director of studies, and the campus tour of the main campus. Afterward I really felt I knew the campus pretty well.
We had classes on Monday. My English Lit class Lecture is in a hall with about 80 students. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are Lectures, all divided by subject for three professors. Scottish Lit and another course also meet for these. On Tuesdays I then have my English Lit Tutorial, which is specific to my subject (American Lit) and is a MUCH smaller class (10 people or so).
I had my History of Art class Monday night, which was also a class of dozens, but I went into it knowing three people. The class is SO interesting. We are focusing on the church, court, and religion in paintings and architecture, basically looking at how even religious paintings are steeped in government affairs. I have a tutorial in this class as well, but have not yet met with it.
My science, Natural Hazards, also seems like it will be interesting. We will be learning about volcanos, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc, and I'll have one paper to write in there on a subject of my choice. Being a Floridian, I will of course choose to research hurricanes.
Gluten-Free food is very easy to find here in the grocery stores, and hopefully also in restaurants, although we haven't really eaten out much yet. There are tons of baked potato shops around though, which amuses me for some reason. Every time I see one I point it out. (I'm sure it's rather annoying by now.)
After a brief bout of homesickness, I'm beginning to apprecite the weather (now that I know how the free bus between the two campuses works, especially), being forced to walk everywhere, and cooking my own food. The fact that I need pound-coins to operate the laundry is frustrating, since I never have straight pounds on me, and supposedly the dryers hardly work at all anyway. It's the equivalent of $6 (American) to do a load of laundry.
Cleaning staff give us fresh sheets weekly. We change our own beds, but they take the old laundry and also empty our trash daily for us. If we've kept our rooms tidy enough, they wipe down the mirror and sink (which is in our rooms) and vaccuum (hoover, haha).
We basically walk everywhere, since it costs $2 (American) to take a bus into town. Unless it's freezing or raining, we walk. My legs are going to be so buff at the end of this haha. My feet hated me at first, as did my legs, and yesterday they nearly buckled under me, so I took the bus to and from class in the evening to make up for it. Between classes, I got coffee at a little shop down the road on campus, to warm up and read a bit before my next class. They make the best coffee here! Anyway, I walk about 30 mins to George Square, or 20 mins to King's Buildings (the science campus) every Mon-Fri. It's great exercise except for the exhaust fumes! They're so bad here! And sometimes the wind is so strong it nearly blows me off the sidewalk (literally, this happened to me twice), and if you're walking into the wind it's hard to inhale. However, while at first walking made me pant, I can now make the brisk walk to campus without feeling winded...and it's only been a week!
I sometimes catch myself, when I'm thinking to myself, thinking in a Scottish accent. But I don't think I've fallen into speaking with one.
I'm currently reading "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, which I HIGHLY recommend, and the newest thing I'm trying to get used to is that people here say "cheers" instead of thank you.
I'm off for the night. Keep checking to see if photos are posted.
-A-
PS: photos added to link on sidebar!
