Adventures in Edinburgh (WIS 2012): The First Week Here

Hi all--I hope that this blog will show you guys a bit of what I've been up to since I've been here in Scotland. My friend Kaylee from UWO flew out with me from the MSP airport last Wednesday evening. We met 2 other girls from our program, which was a surprise, Nikki from UW-River Falls and Kiaya from UW-Eau Claire, at our terminal. We got to sit together on the plane so that was nice, except that we had to sleep sitting up which was a bummer.

Our flight flew to Amsterdam and we had a 2 hour layover there. The airport was very modern and there were people from all over the world. When we passed through the security point, I had an iced tea in my backpack from the MSP airport so I didn't really think about it and they threw it out because I wasn't allowed to bring liquids on the plane with me :( so that was a waste of like $2. Our plane from Amsterdam to Edinburgh was a small puddle-jumper and I sat next to an old woman who fell asleep during our hourlong flight (which I don't even know how that's possible).

When we got to the Edinburgh Airport, we had to go through customs--there were 2 lines that we could choose from: one that said "All UK and Euro Passports" and the other that said "All Other Passports". There was absolutely no one in line for the "All Other Passports" so we were unsure if it was where we were supposed to go. A customs worker walked over to us and said, "You must be Americans because you've been standing here gawking for about 5 minutes". We laughed but were relieved to get through and to leave for our house! We met Lael and our cab driver and departed for the Dalkeith House.

We got to our house, unloaded our things and met my roommates (Lael, Jordan, Gabrielle and Alyssa). We've all been getting along well which is lovely. The first night we went out in Dalkeith to the local pubs (Mayson's & the Horseshoe) and we met a few locals. Over the weekend we did a bunch of boring orientation activities like getting to know you activities and lectures. One day we went to the Edinburgh Castle and walked around the Royal Mile and North/South Bridge to check out the shops. The next day we had to do an Amazing Race around Edinburgh. It was really cool to adventure around the city, but my clan (Gabbi, Katelyn, Demi, Jimmy, Nikki & Shanna) lost motivation because we had walked to much and it was cold & rainy :(

Since then, classes have started. On Monday, I have poetry class at 9:50, lunch is at 12:15 every day and then I have my Scotland Globalization class from 1:30-4:45. That night I also had to help out with dinner duty and my clan will have to help with dinner duty all week next week. On Tuesdays/Thursdays I have my creative writing class at 8:00 and then I have to do my house job which is to clean the entrance hall and the grand entrance hall. On Wednesdays I have my poetry class again and then I have a technical writing class at 1:00.

Last night, I went to the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh with my good friend Jackie, Chelsea from my poetry class and Professor Moran who teaches all 3 of my English classes to see Liz Lochhead read her poetry. She is the makar poet of Scotland which basically means that she is their national poet. She even wrote a poem about one of the queen's 60 years of rule. I bought her newest book, "A Choosing", and she autographed it for me :) Today it is very rainy and gloomy so we have been hanging out in our room--now we're watching "Overboard" on Netflix, a movie that I've never seen before. I'm going to say ta-ta for now as they say here! (I'll add some pictures though for your viewing pleasure :))