i cant believe it has already been a week since i left home. Time has flown by, but the flight from SeaTac seems like it was years ago! I am all settled into my flat after a trip to IKEA, Pound Saver, and (of course) the Fresher's Week poster sale. I, obviously, had to get a poster version of the Beatles' Abbey Road cover, a map of the world so i can finally do the thing where you put pins in the places you've been, and a picture of the golden gate bridge to remind me of home (sort of). My flatmates are all first years, meaning that they are 17 or 18, which is a little weird, but they are all really nice and easy to get along with. Two of them are from Dundee, which is about an hour away, and one is from north of Inverness, which is in the highlands. The fifth roommate is a 20-year old, first year from Norway. She's really fun to talk to and she loves talking to Americans because she studied abroad in Texas when she was in high school. Ive hung out with Suz and Barbara's flammates more than my own at this point though- one is from England (first year) and one is from Canada( third year, study abroad). But tonight im having people over to my place so that we can all get to know my flatmates as well.
The other night we went to a dance called a Ceilidh (pronounced: somewhere between Kay-lee and Keh-lay). It is a traditional Scottish dance that is coming back into style. It reminded me a lot of square dancing but very fast and the music was way better haha. There was a band- a guy playing the fiddle and a guy playing the flute. I wasnt going to try it until an orientation mentor dragged me out and tried to teach me- i probably made a fool of myself but i told him i was American and he understood. There was one dance that was a lot easier that i could manage- a lot of spinning around people haha. It was a great experience though.
Today has been the most eventful yet. I woke up at around 730 so that i could get ready in time to walk the 40 minute walk (ugh) down to the King's Buildings (Science and Engineering) for my program induction, basically they talked a little bit about the Bio department and then introduced us to our DoS (director of studies- pretty much like an academic advisor). We then each got to meet with our DoS (mine is actually American!) and matriculate (register for classes). My schedule does not look terrible; i only have to walk down to King's twice a week i think- although ill probably figure out how to take the shuttle once it starts to get cold. Today can not make up its mind about being sunny or rainy; it will rain for ten minutes pretty hard and then stop and be hot and sunny. I was afraid id have to walk back from my meetings in the rain (of course i didnt have a hood), but as soon as i stepped outside it was sunny and so warm i had to take my jacket off.
Here's my schedule:
British Society (1650-1880)- 10:00-10:50 MWTh
Pharmacology 3- 2:00-5:00 MTh
Molecular Genetics 3- Lecture: 9:00-9:50 TF, Lab: 10:00-12:00 TF
I am actually really excited to start classes (not just because we have/get to wear white lab coats in lab) because i really want to meet more Scottish people my age. Because it is Fresher's Week, we havent really met anyone our own age-especially anyone who we're going to see consistently.
Also today, my friend and i walked over to the gym-which is super big and super nice; the redlands gym is a dump compared to it. We got memberships; they were actually quite pricey but i keep forgetting that i probably wont want to run outside once it gets colder or if its raining. I almost went on a run for the first time since i left the states yesterday but they sideways rain deterred me- dang :) but the girl i got the membership with plays lacrosse at CMS and we both are going to try and play here- so we can be teammates before we return to California and become arch rivals again. The sports fair is tomorrow so hopefully we can get more information there.
well, im sure youre bored and ready to be done with this, and if you made it to this point without quitting i am very impressed.
CHEERS!
Here are a few pictures:
From the Ceilidh- Traditional Scottish Dance
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