Home again

7/8 (cont)

Friday night to end our adventures we all went to the William Wallace pub, for a relaxing night jsut sitting and talking (and maybe doing a little ceilidh dancing from what we remember the night before.

7/9

Woke up finished packing and getting our of my room while that cleaning ladies prepared for block two. On my way out I ran into a girl who was going to be staying at the same hostel I was and so her (Laura), Rebecca and I decided to bomb around for the day together. They went to the Wallace Monument while I got breakfast, and then we just wandered around Stirling. We went to this cute kinda hidden away cafe for lunch. We tried to go to the church of the Holy Rude but it was closed. Then we decided to go see a movie, so we saw Green Lantern which was really good. Then Laura and I went back to the hostel, had dinner and got settled in. Later I went downstairs to sit in the common area and read or do a crossword, but everyone was watching Braveheart so I have now seen half of that movie.

7/10

Laura and i met up with a bunch of people from school and went to the Stirling Highland games. It was a bit of an adventure getting there but it was a lot of fun. We saw some of the same things I saw at the Aberdeen higland Games, but they also had two border collies that herded ducks, and Scottish Terrier Racing. (not scottish terrier like my dog, but Terriers (Jack Russell?) from Scotland. Then I headed back to meet up with Karlita at the Med for one last meal, but unfortunately it was packed and we got cut so they couldn't make my nachos in time, so I left and ran to McDonalds to get food fast and get on the train to Glasgow. In Glasgow I eventually made it to my hostel and stayed there for six hours. This hostel was nice and I was in a room with about 10 other girls who were all very friendly and we all talked a bit about different things before falling asleep.

7/11

Woke up at 4:30 left the hostel, got lost, eventually made it to the bus stop to take a shuttle to the air port. I had my last Irn Bru before I got on the plane. =( The Flight to Newark was uneventful, watched Enchanted and tried to sleep- didn't work. My plane out of Newark got delayed by two hours, so i sat in the airport playing solitaire and doing crosswords. But our captain on the way home sped a little bit so we got home only and hour and a half late. Finally got home around seven to find out we didn't have power, and that it was really hot and humid (as i had been used to 50-60 degree weather) and I went to sleep when the sun went down then as I was utterly exhausted.

Anyways it was a really great trip and a great experience. I loved Studying at the School and being able to explore the country at the same time.

Last days of School

7/5 (cont)

Tuesday evening we went on a walk behind Bridge of Allan called the Darn walk. It was a really pretty and relaxing hike minus it being slightly wet. We finished up at the Alanwater Cafe (a cute little fish and chips shop) and the ISS bought us all two scoops of ice cream. Then we went back in side to get fish and chips for dinner. It was a wonderful evening! We came back to my flat and watched a movie called the Water Horse before staying up till one talking.

7/6

Woke up early to finish my final reflection and then had my last day of class. =( I really enjoyed both my classes. I got to learn a lot about Scottish History and got a sampling of information on religion and conflict. After class I made one last run to Tesco for food and snacks to bring home. Then Julia came over and we made pizza and watched Battlefield (an episode of the 7th doctor) afterwards she went back to her room and I hung around my flat till all the girls came over to get ready to go to our last karaoke night. Two of the girls dressed up in slightly odd LMFAO-ish outfits. We all headed over to the Med for Karaoke Night and then to Red Room for dancing. It was a really fun evening just hanging out with everyone.

7/7

In the morning Julia and I went into edinburgh to do some last minute shopping and to eat haggis. We went to a restaurant called the toll booth that a friend had recommended. It was a really nice place, felt very old style inside. Haggis was good it tasted like hash. We go back in time to relax for a bit and get ready for our farewell dinner and ceilidh. But first we all had to go and talk about our time at ISS with some of the heads for a bit.

The farewell dinner and ceilidh were held at the Golden Lion hotel and it was so much fun! We had a pretty good dinner together and then got to learn and to Scottish Ceilidh dances with the help from the fiddle group that was playing. The dancing was crazy fun and a little violent and just a great experience. I really hope I can remember some of the dances for when I come back. Afterwards it was one of our friends last night with us so a couple of us went to listen to live music at no 2 baker street before coming back and hanging out in our flat one last time.

7/8

Today Julia and I took a Trip to Oban, which is a seafaring village(?) on the west coast. It was a really nice little place that we explored for three hours. We wandered through a chocolate shop and up to a tower on a hill. We also took and hour boat ride to see a small seal colony and to just see the sites along the coast. It was a really pretty and relaxing day. Then we got on the bus to got back to school where I packed and got ready to leave tomorrow. And now we are planning to go out for one final hurrah before we all go our separate ways.

there's no place like london

7/2

I woke up at 4:30 to leave my flat by 5:30 to walk to the bus station for a bus to edinburgh at 6:50 and then a train from there to London around nine. The walk into town was beautiful at 5 in the morning going over the old bridges and such.

The train ride was pretty uneventful because i slept for most of it. Around 2 we finally pulled into Kings Cross, where I waited for a bit for my friends to show up so we could find platform 9 and 3/4. unfortunately they are doing construction for the games right now and the actual place was covered so we had to take pictures with the replica. Then we headed out into London to go to our hostel so I could put my stuff down and Julia could get ready for the theatre.

Our Hostel was in a really nice part of London. It was a residential area that had a little pond running through it. The hostel itself was also nice, we had booked a private six person room and the beds were really comfy.

We headed back out into london- Julia to th

e Theatre and Kim and I went to the National Gallerey and on the way there we happened to stumble through the pride parade at Trafalgar square. Then we went to find Kensington garden and the Peter Pan statue. We ended up wandering around there for awhile before heading to the West End to find food (we ended up splitting fish and chips.) Then we decided to wait for Julia and Jen to get out of Much Ado about Nothing with Catherine Tate and David Tennant. We waited outside a cute little pub around the back end of the theatre near the stage door. Sadly David and Catherine were only allowed to sign things pertaining to the show, so we stayed a bit back, but towards the end of their very short stage dooring, I got within about 6 feet of David.

We finally met up with our friends and were standing around talking and being hyper when we noticed Catherine Tate was standing really close to us, so we sort of nudged over, but then she had to leave.=( After that we headed back to the hostel for bed.

7/3

Woke up got all our stuff out of our room and into a locker to head to the Doctor Who Experience. This was absolutely amazing!!! The experience part was a little more aimed for 12 year old boys (as Julia termed it) but it was fun because in some ways i am a 12 year old boy at heart. And it was fun to have friends to geek with. After that was the exhibition which was amazing. I was literally a little kid in a candy shop. Especially at this one point: I had been taking picture with the inside of the tardis and was geeking about a sign that showed all the insides of the Tardises, when Julia tells me to turn around. And there across the room was the old inside of the Tardis!! It was so awesome just looking at all the costumes and monsters and the gift shop....

Then we had an adventure trying to get to the Globe from there, we made it to the show just on time. Dr. Faustus was amazing, the costumes were so well done. Lucifer's looked like the angel's costume only dingier (sp?). And Arthur Darvill? he was so good and at one point after intermission we were in the second row of people from the stage and so he was literally right above us.

After the show we wandered around the Thames a bit before heading to Westminister and saw Big Ben. Then we sat along the Thames while Julia got ahold of her friend so that we could meet up for dinner. We went to a pizza express which was really good (if slightly pricey) We all split two desserts between the four of us. We had a delicious ice cream sundae like thing and also a plate of dough balls with nutella. best decision ever!

Then julia and I headed off to the hostel to get all our stuff and get to the train station. We took a sleeper train back, but we bought cheap seats so we actually got large seats instead of cabins. But it was still okay I slept fairly well.

7/4

We got into edinburgh at 7:30 and back home to Stirling around 10, where I had to finish 500 words of my paper before two...oops. But I finished it and went to class where my professor had a fourth of july party for us!!! He gave us a whole bunch of sweets to munch on during class and had sparkling grape juice for us to drink! It was really wonderful!

After class there was a fourth of july party going on in the grass next to our building so we went to that for a bit before deciding to go out to eat. We ended up going to a sports bar called sportsers and for the sake of it being the fourth of July got something semi american. Julia and I split an appetizer platter with mozzarella sticks, potatoes and cheese, onion rings, garlic bread, curly fries and pieces of chicken. Then we all went and got gelato at this really good place in town before heading back to school. I stayed for a bit after that but was absolutely exhausted and so went to bed a bit after eleven.

7/5

Not much has happened yet today, just class and laundry and some small chores. We are going on the Darn Walk tonight and get icecream afterwards courtesy of the ISS.

In which Emily falls in a river

6/27 (cont.)

We went to the Med for the Pub Quiz and got third this time, so we got a feather boa and a box of oreos. =) Then it was bed time for all of us.

6/28

Tuesday was not very eventful, Julia had several papers due so we didn't go on what has been becoming our normal Tuesday morning adventure. I was going to attempt to work on my paper, but that didn't end up happening because for dinner my flatmates decided to go to a Chinese buffet (in case you haven't noticed we do Chinese a lot, because it is really good here) and we didn't end up getting back until quite late.

6/29

Had both my classes today, turned in my history paper and got my religion reflection back. Then Julia and I headed out to Doune Castle

. This castle was used for several different castles in Monty Python. So I got the audio tour only because there were some Monty Python bits at the end of different segments. We had fun exploring the castle and then explored the grounds out back, ending up down by the River Tieth ( where the phrase armed to the teeth comes from).

Unfortunately, I was a little silly and ended up falling into the river. (did you know that rocks are slippery when wet?)=] We finally made it back to school and finally started to work on my paper...sort of I got a fourth of it done. Its a rather long paper on an ambiguous topic and it is not going well for me.

6/30

Thursday was our final all ISS trip for the block and we went to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is gorgeous, it is a very bright and charming city and in some ways doesn't feel like a city. We went to the Edinburgh Zoo for the morning and to the Castle for a good chunk of the afternoon. The Castle kinda felt like a small town it was that big, but also because of that there were a lot of tourists so we went through it kinda hurriedly. But we did get to see the Crown Jewels (alas no pictures allowed) and they had a rather large cannon that has some significance but I can't remember what. When we were done we went and explored the Royal mile where they have a bunch of tourist shops but also a bunch of restaurants and side streets. Then Julia and I sat under the Scott Monument to rest up abit before we headed home. I then went to Tesco to stock up on stuff for my trip to London this weekend. Btw, I fully intended to go back to Edinburgh again on this trip, there is so much more that I didn't get to explore

7/1

Rabbit Rabbit!

Today I had my excursion for my Scottish history Class. We went to St. Giles Cathedral where the Prayer Book Riots were held and on our way there we witnesses a parade of sorts as the the crown was driven down the royal mile, because the Queen is currently in Edinburgh (i believe).

We also visited Greyfriars Krikyard where the National Covenant was signed and the Museum of Scotland to see some pieces from the Covenanters history. Afterwards a couple of girls and I stumbled upon the Elephant house, which is where JK Rowling wrote a lot of the early Harry Potter novels. They had a really delicious Chocolate cake there! Then we headed back to school, where I am currently packing, writing this blog, oh and I have to finish my paper.

London tomorrow!!!!

Tired

6/25 (cont.)

So Saturday night...Our little group of friends came over until it was time to head over to the Med (where the club was at). It was a fun evening but interesting. It was a neat experience but I not really for me. I had fun dancing and hanging out with my friends, but being the sober one I also had to make sure we got everyone back okay. I did have some help from two of the girls who were not completely gone. Unfortunately we had to take one guy (who wasn't a close friend of ours home) and he starting smoking on the way back, so I was having a hard time helping cause I was coughing. And I had to help my flatmate alot when we got back and stayed up till around 330 so yeah...interesting evening .

6/26

Sunday I did nothing... okay that's a lie. but I didn't get up until 1230 and then I just laid in bed reading/dozing until i finally heard my flatmates get up. Then I ended up doing some work while we hung around and ate food. We ordered Chinese at around nine last night for our dinner and then just hung around till bed.

6/27

Finished my paper this morning. Went to class. did some more work. Chelsea brought up another friend that was visiting here sat around eating dinner and playing cards while I read for class. Now we are going out to the med for another pub quiz night. oh also I got tickets for the Doctor Who Experience when I am in london.

Thats it for now, nothing real excting save for Saturday night!

TARDIS!!!!

6/22 (cont.)

Wednesday I went to the highland dance display. It was really neat, unfortunately I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera...=(. But we got to actually learn some of the highland dances. One of which I don't know at all, my the other one I

can still remember the first step of (because that is all we learned). Then My flatmates and I went swimming and hung around for a bit before they went out and I went to bed.

6/23

Thursday was another day trip this time to Glasgow. We took the morning tour again and it was a very interesting tour to say the least. Glasgow isn't that old so we were basically seeing semi newer buildings that had been converted into other things and we went to some odd parts of the city, our tour guide was a little off...Anyways so then as we were heading home Julia and I spotted this

WE FOUND THE TARDIS!!!! (actually we found two tardi =]) So we spent a good amount of time taking pictures of it. We then went back to the square to have lunch and wander around for a bit before my experiential excursion for my Religion and Conflict class.

We went to Glasgow Cathedral and the Museum of Religious Life and Art, both of which were very interesting. Especially the museum which had all of the major religions side by side and even intermingled to show comparisons and differences. It was a very unique experience. When we were done Jordan and I met back up with Julia, and I wanted to go see the Tall Ship but we didn't think we had enough time so we wandered around the shops and showed Jordan the Tardis before getting on the bus to head home. I didn't like glasgow as much as St. andrews, mostly cause it was bigger and not as old. Also there wasn't that much stuff to do and be able to be back to the bus in time. So maybe if I had more time I would have liked it better.

When we got back Jordan Julia and I made a delicious dinner while watching Doctor who and I was writing my reflection on the Museum. Julia made a rack of ribs, Jordan the corn and I made the garlic bread. It was a really good evening. I came back to my room and just kinda relaxed for the evening, my flatmates were out on a pub crawl for someone's birthday.

6/24

Friday was really boring....I tried to write my history Paper on Charles the first, but ended up procrastinating and sitting around on my computer. Finally I just gave up and went out side and read by the Loch and stalked some ducks, you know the usual =). Then I came back and we went to the Med for dinner, but I wasn't really hungry and their prices changed for the summer so I just got their nachos which were actually really good. We came home and they went to plan their london trip (which is coinciding with mine a bit) and then Vinny and I (mostly vinny) made the rest of our noodles. They ended up leaving eventually and I continued to procrastinate, talked to Chris for a bit. Read the autobiography of John Barrowman that Julia passed off to me and then went to bed.

6/25

Today I woke up to Julia texting me about going into town so she could find nice shoes and I needed groceries so I tagged along. I got myself some more digestives ( I might have a slight addiction =]). Then I came back and actually worked on my paper (700/1000 words done!) while my flatmates explored the sites in the city I had actually seen.

Then julia and I went on a small adventure for my flatmates. Remember how we won the pub quiz night monday well we won a case of beer, so I told them i would go get it for them (since they were gone). So Julia and I went and got the whole case (24 bottles) of Corona and had to carry it back. And we just laughed about what would happen if someone we knew saw us, because neither of us drink.

And now I'm back to procrastinating... my flatmates should be back soon and then they plan on going out to the club at the med and I will be going with them....so this should be interesting.

Rain and More Rain

well its been a couple of days, lets see if I can remember everything.

6/19

Sunday, My friend Julia and I decided to take a day trip to aberdeen, this involved a lot of bus rides. We didn't originally know what we were going to do when we got there, but then I found out that they were having their highland games that day! So we finally get to Aberdeen and get the bus out to the games only to realize julia left her wallet on the bus, so we had to wait 45min for it to finish its loop so she could get it back. Then we finally got to the games. They were so cool. There was a huge center ring where all the events were happening and then booths along the outside and Fair rides and the like. We got to see Pipe Bands perform, highland Dancing, the triple jump and of course Caber tossing among other things. I don't have that many good pictures because we were kind of far away. About half an hour before we were going to leave it started raining, so we huddled under the accordion band tent, till it was just misting. Then we went and got ice cream and headed back to the bus. At the bus station I got a delicious cheese scone for dinner. On the bus ride back we got to see some great views, because we were coming out of a dark cloud and into the sun just as the sun was hitting that magic hour. I got back to find my flat mates were home from their Isle of Skye Trip, so we stayed up and played cards for a bit before I went to bed.

6/20

Monday I slept in cause I didn't have class till two. I had my Religion and Conflict class. This class is interesting for me because it is very ambiguous and I have discovered that I don't do well with ambiguous when I am also taking a class based on facts at the same time. But the class is still interesting, especially during our seminar time where we just sit and discuss different things about what we have read and know personally about the different aspects of religion and conflict. I got back from class and did my reading, before everyone came over to eat dinner before going out. It was our friend Kevin's Last day because he was just visiting a friend at the school, not actually apart of it. So we all went to the Med agian, and it was pub quiz night! And WE WON! we won a case of beer, and because i was the only sober one they gave the sheet to me. So I know have a sheet in my room for a free case of beer, that they are going to redeem later this week. After the quiz was over most of the people left the pub so we basically had our own private dance party. It was a lot of fun! Then they all came back to our flat to continue the dance party and hang out, it was definitely interesting, I finally went to bed at one and almost everyone else was still up in the common room.

6/21

Tuesday I got up early to go with Julia and Jennifer to the National Wallace Monument, unfortunately none of us looked up how to get there. Fortunately, you can see it from almost any where and we don't mind adventures. So we ended up walking through a forest trying to find a gap in a wall while it is raining a lot. Eventually we get there and climbed the 246 steps to the top where we didn't have such a great view but it was still good. Also we learned a lot about William Wallace and the monument as we went up. Then I had to head back to school (following the road this time) because I had class at one. Tuesdays I have my scottish history class, which I really enjoy. We have been learning about the Reign of James the VI (and First) and his son Charles and the Covenantors. Actually I liked my textbook so much I started reading other parts of it. For both class I have an essay due in the last two weeks and a reflection on our excursions. The worst one is a 2000 word essay for Religion and Conflict.

Anyways so afterwards I had a bunch of errands to do and I had to go to Tesco for more food. Then I came back to find out everyone was going to get chinese for dinner and then to tesco, so I decided to go with them. We went to a really nice Chinese place and I got some delicious sweet and sour chicken and had a great dinner. We finally got back around 1030-11 and decided to watch a goofy movie cause we had been quoting it all day, but being us that didn't get started until midnight...

6/22

Wednesdays are long.... I have three hours of class in the same room, and I really have to start thinking about my essay now. I went to the library and have six history books now that will hopefully help me. Also I did laundry, and now we are debating food and a swim, oh and there is a highland dance display tonight.

Tomorrow we go to Glasgow!

Rain and Monsters

6/17/2011

Friday it was raining a lot and we didn't have anything going on so I didn't leave my building at all... I did however do all my reading that I didn't do during the week and then about mid afternoon Julia messaged me to see if I wanted to watch old doctor who. So we watched Robot and then the five doctors when Kim showed up. Then we all separated to eat before i went back down to meet up with Julia to plan our day trip Sunday and we ended up talking until later in the evening. This time also involved throwing food at the ducks outside her window, and by throwing we mean trying to hit them. =) When I finally wandered back to my room I ran in to my flatmate Ayana and we talked for a good hour before I finally decided it was bedtime.

6/18

now onto more interesting stuff, although it was still raining. We took a day trip to Loch Ness and Glencoe and made several other stops along the way. It was a very interesting if long trip. We also got to see these guys:

And we got to explore Castle Urquhart alongside Loch Ness. Also Loch Ness is huge! did you know that once you are down about 15 feet i think that you can no longer see anything? crazy! Anyways so after a long day on a bus I am now relaxing at home and looking forward to tomorrow.

My Birthday (cont)

To finish up my birthday, we went to Stirling and explored for a bit and then to Tesco where we bought a rocky road cheescake. We all came back and made a lasagna for dinner and then ate the cheesecake for my birthday. After we were done we sat around till almost ten before heading over to the meadowpark for Karaoke night. So we get there and the guy in charge comes around finding out who wants to sing and he makes a comment somewhere along the lines of if its your birthday you get to go first, so of course everyone starts staring at me. So after much twisting of my arm (and Chelsea agreeing to do it with me) I was forced to do Karaoke.... We sang Bohemian Rhapsody and it wasn't too bad, and everyone was really proud of me for doing it. Then we just hung around, listened to music, other karaokers, and danced before finally heading home about 11:40.

6/6/2011

Today we woke up really earlier and got on a bus to St. Andrews. upon arrival we went on a tour of the city with a cute older british lady and learned a lot about the city, cathedral and castle (the later two are mostly in ruins.) Then it was lunchtime so Julia and I ran into two boys from our group and we went to a fish and chip shop. I had packed a lunch so I only got a Fried Mars Bar.

It was so disgustingly good, but I don't think I could ever eat more than one.

Anyways so we all sat outside eating on a small hill overlooking the sea. Then we went and explored a nearby pier and the East Sands, in which I went and played in the water abit. I didn't go to far in because it was really cold. Then we found a park which was really for really little kids but we played on it anyways. We continued our wander about today via and ice cream shop and a bakery (where all four of us split a fudge donut so we could all try it). Then we explored a museum about the history of st andrews university and then headed back near where our buses were but got distracted by some rocks that we could climb out to.

Finally we met back up with the buses to head home. I haven't done much this evening and it was nice to relax for a bit. My two highly social flatmates are gone for the weekend, but i have some stuff to keep me busy....like my reading.... and random trips and possibly some classic doctor who watching.

It's my birthday!

But first yesterday. I woke up at 7:30 ish to meet up with julia and two other girls. We took the bus into stirling and walked to Stirling Castle, where we spent the whole morning just exploring. And I got some delicious ice cream with a flake bar in it from the ice cream man outside the castle. Then i had to head back because i had class at one. It was my scottish history class and I don't know much about scottish history, but i found I could answer some stuff just based off of the knowledge i had learned from being at the castle earlier. That was mostly and James V and we were talking about his son James VI.

Anyways afterwards I went to the library with sarah so I now have three books on Scottish history and then I sat around for a bit waiting for vinny to get back so we could eat and go to Tesco. However he got back and we found out that a group was going hiking, so we were like sure lets go. Stupid us, we all thought it would be an hour hike maybe and not too difficult. well we started going up this 45 degree (we called it) incline an

d so the group ending up splitting in two. I was in the back group. Eventually we go off that hill and onto a road that lead to a series of hills and mountains, that we decided to walk on. In the end we ended up walking up to the top of a mountain, which was pretty crazy seeing as we made it our goal to get there by the end of the trip because we thought we were gonna give up earlier.

Along the way we ran into several furry friends:

We came back absolutely exhausted. They all ordered pizza while I ate some Mac and cheese i had around. Then I headed to bed.

MY BIRTHDAY!

Today I woke up to the cleaning crew coming into strip our beds and make them again and clean the flat. So Annie Vinny and I all sat in the common area bleary eyed and eating our breakfast. Then I got ready to go to class. I had both of the classes today, so I was in the same room for three hours , but it was good. Came back found the the ISS had left us our first "taste of Britain" Just a little british snack they do every week , it was shortbread, yum. Anyways so now I am waiting for Annie to get back so we can go to Tesco to get some supplies and maybe a dessert for my birthday, I'm not sure what else we are doing. We might go out for dinner so we will see. We have to get up super earlier tomorrow, as in we have to be on a bus at 7:45, we are going to St. Andrews for the day.

First Day of Class

I had my first class today , but it wasn't until two. So My alarm went off at nine but I didn't get up till almost ten. Got ready for the day made myself a sandwich as I prepared to go on an adventure to explore the rest of the campus. But first I went and got a notebook, then I began my adventure, but not five minutes in I ran into all of my flatmates and we decided to go back and all eat lunch together. We had a good time just sitting and eating and drinking juice and soda out of wine glasses. And then talking some more after lunch until i went to class.

It was my religion and conflict class and it was taught by a nice older man who was originally from wales. Unfortunately It was kind of an intro day so it was boring, save for the end where we discussed how/if we could define what religion is.

Afterwards I met up with my flatmates to go to the Med (meadowpark) again for dinner, where I had a scottish dish called Stovies (basically sausages).

We had a very long dinner, it reminded me very much of our long dinners at school. Afterwards I went to the gym induction so that I can use the gym and swimming pools and stuff. Then had half an hour to chill before people came over before they all went out to a pub quiz night.

I on the other hand went to meet up with some girls to plan for going to london and other day trips. Doctor Who fans be Jealous: I'm going to go see Arthur Darvill in Doctor Faustus! hopefully =). Then we all went in search of ice cream, but couldn't find any cause it was after ten but we didn't realize it because it stays light our really late here.

Well i should go my semi semi intoxicated flat mates are back.

Craziness

These first two days have been extremely crazy, so I'm going to try and remember everything. Forgive me if this turns into a long post.

Our airplane landed at 730 in the morning, we go off and got through customs just fine and where meet by the stirling direct company to take us to the school. The driver talked to us nonstop there but it was really interesting, he talked about the history and different scottish things to do. We eventually arrived at the school and got to our flats. I was the first one at mine. I'm sharing it with four other people but we each have our separate rooms and a decent sized common room and kitchen. They had a box of food waiting for us. (When my flatmate Vinny arrived later, he was saddened by the fact that they had bread and jelly for us but no peanut butter, he bought some today). Heres a picture of the room:

Anyways so I unpacked and took a nap till noon, when two of my flatmates (Annie and Vinny) arrived. Vinny is very social and so is annie so we all went around to meet people and then decided to go explore town later after naps and showers. So at 230 a group of us explored a bit of the campus and then head to the Bridge of Allen which is a small town area nearby.

I ended walking back earlier then the rest of the group with a girl named Sarah, we explored the lake (loch) on campus tormenting some geese and ducks who thought we had food.

Then we headed to the welcome at the Airthery Castle, which involved us just getting drinks and mingling. So story time: We walked in and were in a line to get drinks and all i could see was glasses of wine, so i took one not to be rude and later on found out there was orange juice and soda that I cold of had, so basically i ended up having to hold on to a full glass of wine the entire time.

Afterwards a group of us headed to a recommended pub call Meadowpark, which was really quite nice. It had a lovely view. We hung around there for awhile, some people played pool most of us just watched and zoned out. Afterwards we walked back and had a pajama party in our room. Basically just a bunch of us hanging out trying to keep awake so that we would go to bed at a semi normal time.

6/12/2011

Woke up early this morning to go to an orientation of sorts, we had a walking tour of the campus, ate lunch outside and then went on a bus tour of Stirling and the surrounding area, just to give us a taste so we can decide what to explore later. We went to Bannockburn and Stirling Castle as well as a church in Dunblane and learned a small bit about the history of the area. We then did an informal tour of the city center of Stirling which included going to the nearby mall and then to the Tesco which is a really cheap grocery shop. The flatmates and I stocked up on some stuff and I got an areo bar!!! Then we came back for half an hour before we gathered a big group together to go to the william wallace pub, but by the time we got there they weren't serving food. So we went next door to an Italian place. Julia (a girl i met and hit it off with because of her doctor who tshirt) and I decided to split and Irn-Bru (pronounced Iron- brew) to try it. It is a scottish soft drink, which tastes delicous but it was very sweet so I don't think i could of drank a whole can. Afterwards half the group went back to the pub and the rest of us headed back. After we got back I ended up talking to Julia and Kim till almost eleven.

Now I am making this and preparing for my first day of class tomorrow...I still have to get a notebook. I will do that before class starts, since it doesn't start till two.

Sorry for the length of this, the next couple days will be shorter because they wont be as hectic.

Hello From Newark

One leg of the trip is done. I met up with Leah at O'hare and we got on our flight to Newark, NJ without any problems. The plan trip was a little less than two hours, so I did a crossword puzzle and a half.

We are now sitting in the Newark airport waiting for our flight at 7:40 to Glasgow. Unfortunately one of my ears didn't pop, so I can't hear and it hurts. I'm afraid I'm not very good company right now.

The next leg of the trip is the long one and I'm going to try and sleep through part of it to try and get on track.

Not much else to mention right now.

Three Days!

So I have three days till I leave for Scotland, and I'm not packed at all.... Oh well!

Anyways so mom thought I should start a blog to document what I do on my trip (having seen several friends and relatives do the same). So my goal is to remember to update this, we will see how that goes.

I'm going to be in Stirling, Scotland for four weeks at the University of Stirling. I will be taking two classes: One of Scottish History and One called Religion and Conflict. We only have classes Monday through Wednesday and then on Thursdays the whole Summer school goes on a trip and then we have class specific trips that we go on some Fridays.

It is an international summer school so I will be studying with people from all over!

I'm super excited, but should really get on that whole packing thing. =)