Week 5

Hi ya!

OK, so let me start by saying that whoever said it doesn't really snow in Edinburgh is a big fat liar! I feel like it's snowed more than it's rained since I've been here. And it's not just light snowfall, it's always heavy wet snow. Yesterday it snowed in the morning and then the snow turned into rain in the afternoon. It was ridiculous! Haha, sorry, I'm not a fan of the snow.

So, this past week...

Last Thursday, I had a nice surprise. I went to grab lunch at Elfalafel. It was kind of an off time so their was only one other person in their. I ordered and the girl who was waiting for her food asked if I was American. It turns out she was from Michigan (when I asked her where in Michigan she was from she whipped out the hand and pointed and everything, which she assumed I would think was weird but little did she know, I know all about the hand, haha). She said she goes to Bowdoin College in Maine but was here studying costume design for a semester at Edinburgh College of Art. Long story short, we ended up eating lunch together and she was very friendly and it seems like we have a lot in common. She has the theater connection through costume design and she's an English minor. Hopefully we'll be able to get together again soon! That night, Ashley and Kendall had to see a gig for their popular music and technology class. I tagged along and we went to a jazz bar over by campus. It was a lot of fun! We saw a band just finishing up their set and then the band we came to see came on. They were like a mix between jazz/ r&b/ and funk. They were really good, but unfortunately, they didn't start their set until around midnight so I couldn't stick around for the whole thing. I had to get up early the next morning to meet with my history tutor to discuss my essay that was due this week.

Friday Morning, I got up and met with my tutor. She helped me with structuring my essay and gave me some tips on sources. Even though the essay wasn't due until this Thursday, I felt kind of behind in the whole process. I'm so used to only starting a day or two early at home, but she made it seem like I was pretty crunched for time. I guess I'm also not used to having to write history essays and doing a lot of outside research. After that, I did some shopping on the Royal Mile. I wanted to show some Scotland pride at the rugby game on Sunday so I wanted to buy a tartan scarf. All the gift shops have 2 for 10 pound tartan scarves deals so I got 2, the traditional red pattern as a souvenir and then a blue one to wear more everyday, that hopefully does not look as touristy (Scotland's rugby team is also blue). From there, I went to meet up with Kendall and Amber for tea at The Elephant House. This claims to be the birthplace of Harry Potter. It's said that JK Rowling used to frequent there a lot. Anyways, Amber goes to Iowa State. We had chatted some on facebook before coming over here and then we ran into each other a couple times at the beginning of the semester, but it was nice to finally get to sit down and get to know each other a little better. Plus, the tea and sandwich I had was delicious! From there, I went down to Princes Street and did some shopping and then headed back to Pollock to help Ashley figure out how to do her laundry. Haha, I hope with my help, her first experience was not as terrible as mine! That night, we met up with Kendall and we all went to another flat to meet some of her other friends. They were all really nice and we joined in their game of charades. From there, Ashley and I left and tried to get into a club but the queue was really long so we decided to forget it and went back to Pollock to turn in.

Sunday was the rugby match! The match was part of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament and Scotland was playing Wales (the reigning champ). Ashley and I met up with Kirsten, Ryan, Adrienne, and Kendall on Princes Street to catch the bus over to the stadium. The stadium area was pretty hectic! Lots of rowdy fans in kilts and draped in Scottish and Welsh flags. On our way over to the stadium, we got fliers about an event The Great Grouse was hosting. The Great Grouse is a brand of whiskey and the official spirit of Scottish rugby. Anyways, they handed out free samples and they had a live band playing. It was a lot of fun! When it got closer to match time, we headed over and found our seats in the stadium. We were in the second level of seats but they were pretty good. You could see everything that was going on. The match was really exciting. Very fast paced and fun to watch even though we weren't totally sure what was happening. We met a group of people sitting in front of us that tried to explain the rules but they said even if you follow it, it's difficult to keep up on all the rules because they're constantly changing. There were a couple girls sitting behind us that we talked to a bit too. They were med students from New York who were studying here for the month. It seems like just a semester is such a short time to try and figure everything out, I can't imagine only being here for a month! Anyways, Scotland lost but the game was still a lot of fun to watch! Hopefully we'll get to see some more while we're here!

Monday, I met with my ALG group to discuss Pamela. None of us had finished it and we all agreed it was probably one of the worst things we've ever had to read. It's just 500 pages of nothing happening! And then, once something does finally happen, it doesn't make any sense! I only got a little more than half way through it, but the part I read definitely was not a pleasurable experience. Luckily our questions were based on parts towards the beginning of the book so we were able to get what we needed done.

Tuesday, it was my turn to be the presenter for my ALG group in class. It was pretty intimidating. The teacher always wants you to elaborate so I was worried I wouldn't really know what to say, but I think I did OK. Conversation in class was pretty low so I have a feeling no one really finished the book. That class is starting to be pretty frustrating. Things are too fast paced and I feel like I don't have enough time to really get everything out of it that I want to. Here we have a week to read 500 pages (which in addition to other homework can be a lot) and then we discuss it in class for two hours and move on to a new novel. I'm used to spending at least two weeks on a novel at Iowa and I feel like I'm able to get more out of that because I have more time to analyze and digest things.

Wednesday, I didn't have class so I spent the day working on my history essay that was due on Thursday. I chose to discuss Scotland's poor history of health since 1914. I felt like I knew what I wanted to talk about, but it was difficult to get out on paper. Like I said before, I haven't written a history essay since freshman year at Iowa and it's definitely a different way of writing than for English since everything is based on fact and not just supporting your own claim.

Thursday, I continued to work on my paper all the way up until the deadline. It had to be 2500 words including footnotes which I had some difficulty with. You have to turn in multiple copies and the grading is totally anonymous so you can't put your name on anything. Instead, you have to fill out these forms to turn in with your essay for them to identify it as yours. It's pretty complicated and I had to scurry to finish it all in the Scottish history office with a bunch of other students. But, it's done and it's turned in so I'm happy about that. I don't really know what to expect because this is my first essay I've done here and the grading seems to be much different, hopefully it all turns out well. I learned that it's definitely difficult to procrastinate and stay on top of things here though. I need to work on that.

I haven't been feeling too well today so I just slummed around Pollock and caught up on some sleep. Kendall, Ryan, and Kirsten are all out of town this weekend so I don't have any big plans, but I'm hoping to check out some of the touristy things I haven't seen yet in Edinburgh along with all of my homework.

I've added some more pictures to my album. Here's the link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/NedPix/NEDINBURGH02?authkey=Xk_DqPcaT3c#

Also, here's a link to a song the band played before the rugby match. It's been stuck in my head ever since! It's called Loch Lomond and there's multiple versions of it, the more traditional, slower paced, folk version and the more upbeat version which I like better. Here are links to both. You can decide yourself which is the better version.

Slow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXGVFJqSqqg

Fast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRcurOYc0r0