Linlithgow Palace and Stirling Castle

On the one hand I can't believe I have been in Edinburgh only 3 weeks and on the other hand I cannot believe we are about to begin the third week of classes. The fact that essay and assignment due dates are approaching is a very daunting thought! Today I am in the library with Shannon getting caught up on some readings. I am impressed that I made it here but I am writing this blog post instead of doing work so perhaps I need to try harder!

This weekend I went to Linlithgow Palace and Stirling Castle with the International Student Centre. We met early in the morning (never my favourite thing) which was made even more difficult by the fact that I'd stayed up late the night before. Coffee was the first thing on my mind when we arrived at Linlithgow Palace. The girls from Queen's (Annie, Debra, Emily, Taylor and I) went to Boom Coffee and Sandwich Bar on the high street before perusing the small town's shops and bakeries. There was a farmer's market going on and a local man at a bakery stall bantered with us about why we had not brought him a coffee. That, the man playing piano accordion and the free samples of homemade chutney were the highlights for me.

The palace itself was quite impressive. There were lots of long corridors and spooky rooms and a beautiful fountain with carved figures in the centre of the courtyard. We were able to go all the way to the top of one of the towers. The palace grounds were really beautiful. It looked exactly as one would expect - sweeping lawns, swans and sailboats floating on the water and misty hills in the distance. I could definitely imagine royals walking about the place in their finery. Speaking of which... we saw a man and a woman dressed up very fancily, him in tartan trousers and her in a bright red skirt and blazer. I took a sneaky photo of them while pretending to photograph the church beside the palace and later we ran into them again and we chatted for a bit. He asked where we were from and began to tell us that he had been to Winnipeg when he was younger and in the army and had been refused alcohol because he was underage. He said that old enough to fight and die for his country should have been considered old enough to drink! The couple had apparently arrived early for a wedding (hence the garb) and were walking around the palace grounds while they waited.

Stirling was our next stop where we had lunch first and wandered around the town. I got tablet flavoured ice cream and it was absolutely delicious. There was also Irn Bru flavoured ice cream! Irn Bru is a type of pop here and the Scots are 100% obsessed with it. Debra and I went round some charity shops looking for treasures but were too indecisive to buy anything. We discovered that there was free admission to Argyll's Lodging with our tickets to Stirling Castle. Argyll's Lodging is a 17th century house made in the renaissance style that is now a museum. It's claim to fame is its staircase which is possibly the first ever non-spiral staircase. After, we went on to Stirling Castle which was very good and probably my favourite part of the trip. I was really tired by this point and considered sitting out on the tour but I'm glad that I didn't. The tour guide pointed out to us the most haunted men's bathroom in Scotland. Apparently the modern day castle's plumber came running out of there and never returned, not even for his tools worth 2000 pounds because he was so scared of something he had seen.

Linlithgow Palace

Linlithgow Palace

Linlithgow Palace

View of the grounds from inside the palace

View from the top

Annie at Linlithgow Palace

Linlithgow Palace

Linlithgow Palace

Linlithgow Palace

Stirling

Argyll's Lodging

Argyll's Lodging

Argyll's Lodging

Argyll's Lodging

Emily and Annie at Argyll's Lodging

Graveyard at Stirling

Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle

Literature and Coffee Shops

There hasn't been any major event to write about this past week. I've just been going about the activities of day-to-day life. I suppose that this is, in it's own way, kind of exciting since it means I am settling into my life here in Edinburgh.

The weekend seemed to go by quite quickly and all of a sudden it was back to school and back to readings. I have decided to drop my British History course (I know, I know) and have filled the spot in my timetable with Scottish Literature. I thought that if I was going to be spending so much time and effort on an outside subject, I may as well be reading novels in a comfy armchair in a coffee shop! On my reading list are novellas by Muriel Spark, Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Beckett's Waiting for Godot, poetry by Burns and lots more. And what better city to study Scottish Literature in! Edinburgh is a UNESCO City of Literature and is home to the residences and writing places of many famous authors. J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books in The Elephant House cafe which is a 20 minute walk from my house.

My flatmates and I chipped in together to buy Cluedo (Clue) from a local charity shop. We played that and also the game where you have a name of a famous person on your forehead and you have to guess who it is by asking yes/no questions. There was a slight cultural divide in knowing who certain people were. I remember this happening when my family first moved to Canada and we didn't know who Wayne Gretzky was. Four of us went to a flat party yesterday at one of the other residences. I am glad that our flat is still able to spend time together and bond despite school starting and us all having different schedules.

I have really been enjoying finding new spots to eat and drink in Edinburgh. My new favourite place to get coffee is Victor Hugo Delicatessen on Melville Terrace. They have lots of different cheeses, pastries, quiches and salads. I have to admit I've got an almond croissant and a latte from there twice already! My friend and I were really impressed when our barista drew a dragon into the foam on his coffee. I took a photo with my phone but haven't figured out how to upload them yet! Today I tried a new Indian place called Mosque Kitchen. I had the Chana Masala (chickpea curry) with a samosa. Will definitely be going here again.

Victor Hugo Delicatessen 

Yesterday my personal tutor set up a meet and greet for exchange students in Psychology. He led us on a short tour in and around the George Square campus area and then we went to Teviot for drinks. It was so nice to meet upper years in my program. I went along with my friend Debra who goes to Queen's. She and I met people from Australia, the Dominican Republic, America and Pakistan/England. We sat out on the patio of The Library Bar and chatted about our courses, our future plans in psychology and our travel plans for the year. I am really glad that Dr. Lee set it up.

Tomorrow I am going on the International Student Centre's trip to Stirling Castle and Linlithgow Palace. No doubt a blog post will follow soon.

Adjustments

When I first moved to Canada from England at age 10 I had to exchange all my English words, phrases and mannerisms for the Canadian way of doing things. Now, ten years later, I am having to re-lean it all again – with Scottish differences just to make it all the more confusing!

One of the first differences I noticed when I arrived was how SMALL everything is here. I actually laughed out loud when I saw the cooker (oven) in our flat’s kitchen because it is just SO tiny. The fridge is also very small and is therefore the bane of my existence. I honestly don’t know how the residence staff expect six people to fit all their food in there. I am especially in shock because I had an entire Canadian sized fridge to myself this summer while my roommate was in BC. In the supermarkets (grocery stores) here you can’t easily buy anything in bulk like you can in Canada or the US. A salad dressing I bought was about half the size of the equivalent one I would buy in Canada. I have a theory that this is why there are far less (as far as I can tell anyway) obese people in the UK than in North America!

Everything here is also very expensive. Fortunately, there are a lot of discounts for students or if you’re involved in certain societies you can often get discounts at pubs. £1 drinks are the best thing ever! The prices for the weekend trips are also very reasonable!

Another thing I am adjusting to is my accent. In Canada, with my friends I speak with a Canadian accent but with my parents I switch to an English accent. Neither are fake, it’s just that I speak what I hear – it’s hard to explain. So back in Canada I normally spend most of my time speaking in a Canadian accent. But here it seems to be that whatever the majority of the company I am in is, that’s what accent comes out of my mouth. For instance, at home with my flat mates (who are all English/Scottish) I speak with an English accent but if I’m out with the Canadian girls or if I’m with Americans then my Canadian accent comes out. The other day I was with English people and I tried to switch to my Canadian accent but I couldn’t do it – it just came out sounding like a poor attempt at a Scottish accent! Very confusing! My American friend called me yesterday and because I was with my flatmates I was speaking in my English accent to him on the phone and he didn’t recognize me at all. People don’t really know what to make of me here – a lot of them apparently think I’m Australian!

Loch Katrine

Yesterday I went on a trip with the International Student Centre to Loch Katrine. This is what inspired Sir Walter Scott to write “The Lady of the Lake”.

(If you feel like reading the poem, it's here:  http://www.incallander.co.uk/ladyoflake.htm) 

We went on a boat cruise around the loch which allowed us to see the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains. The captain of the boat was very funny and made jokes while also pointing out interesting spots along the shore. The loch is owned by Scottish Water and provides most of the water for the city of Glasgow. There is no pumping involved - only gravity. Queen Victoria opened the aqueduct system in 1859 and planned to stay overnight on the loch but when the soldiers there shot off their guns in her honour, they broke all the windows in the house. 

After the boat cruise we went for lunch in the only restaurant there. I ordered a brie and onion chutney open sandwich with a salad, chips and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was the best I have ever tasted and obviously the rest of my meal was delicious too. All the food here is delicious!

Following lunch we wandered the path around the loch and took more photos. It really was beautiful, especially the mist on the mountains. We were slightly delayed getting back due to a possible missing person – I still don’t really know whether or not they sorted that out!

I came back to a full house since several of my flatmates had friends over. I find it really nice to come home to lots of people after living alone all summer. I missed my flatmates while I was gone for the day. We all played cards and in the evening played some drinking games and went to a flat party next door.

Today I went for brunch with a friend and had a proper Scottish breakfast with a tattie scone, black pudding, baked beans, fried egg, sausages, bacon and a bread roll. Unfortunately the rest of my afternoon was spent tackling a stats problem but tonight I'm going to Shannon's for dinner and dessert.

First Week of Class

Classes have officially started and I’m finding it quite hard to get back into the pace of going to lectures. I haven’t had classes since March and so my attention span has taken a serious beating. Not to mention I came down with the notorious Fresher’s Flu this week – a sickness that no doubt comes from too much partying, not enough sleep and living in close quarters with lots of other people.

So far I’m a bit intimidated by my British History course because I left England before we covered any British History and the readings are a bit confusing already. Having been to a few of the lectures I am feeling more at ease but am still daunted by the idea of having to write four essays for the class. I haven’t written one since my first year at Queen’s and am far more familiar with writing lab reports for psychology.

My Psychology Methodology class is my main focus this year as it’s the course that basically decides whether or not I get into grad school if I choose to go that route. There’s another girl from Queen’s here studying psychology so at least we’re in it together. The first lecture was a bit of a wake-up call to say the least!

Unfortunately all but one of my classes are all in the same room of the same building so there won’t be much variety. But I can’t complain too much as the room is actually really interesting – the walls are all old and wooden and there are paintings of old (unknown to me) dead people. My class sizes here are so small compared to at Queen’s. The entire 3^rd year of Psychology here at Edinburgh fit in a lecture room smaller than I have ever had a class in.

That’s enough about school…

On Monday night I invited my friends Shannon and Alden over for dinner. I made tacos and Alden graciously did all the dishes for us. Later, I went to pre-drinks at Shannon’s where I met a few more Queen’s girls and we all went to a welcome party that Exchange 360 was throwing at Malone’s Bar. Malone’s was packed and it took quite a while to order a drink (note to self: Tennent’s lager is disgusting) but I met lots of new people from all different countries. There was also a guy playing all my favourite songs on acoustic guitar so all in all it was a good night.

Last night I went to dinner at a friend’s flat and then to Teviot where we played a couple of games of pool and tried to get the jukebox to work. We also checked out the Library Bar which is just one of many bars in Teviot. All around the walls are glass cases full of old textbooks on botany and chemistry and physics. It reminded me of Queen’s Pub, my favourite bar on Queen’s campus.

This Saturday I am going on a day trip to Loch Katrine which is being run by the International Student Centre. There is a boat cruise and the scenery is supposed to be beautiful. A bunch of the girls from Queen’s are going as well so it should be fun and an opportunity to take some more photos and meet more exchange students.

Arthur's Seat

Exchange 360 is the University of Edinburgh’s club for current and returning exchange students that runs events throughout the year. Yesterday I joined them on a walk up Arthur’s Seat, an extinct volcano that you can see from almost anywhere in the city. I went with my friend Shannon who I met through a Facebook group for Queen’s students studying in Edinburgh this year. So far I have been spending all my time with my flat mates which has been great but it is also nice to have friends who are also here on exchange.

The walk up was harder and steeper than I thought but it was definitely worth it for the view. We really lucked out and it was a beautifully clear day. After we made the way back down we decided that we’d definitely earned ourselves a pint or two in the nearest pub. We ended up going to a pub in one of the university buildings and had lunch and a pint of cider with some American girls and  a Canadian we’d met from the walk.

We planned a potluck dinner at Shannon’s flat and invited some Queen’s students. We made meatballs, pasta and a cauliflower dish with lemon pie for dessert. It was lovely to meet up with them and to talk about home. We had pre-drinks with another flat in the block and then went out.

Today we’re all just having a lazy Sunday to recover from Fresher’s Week. I already have lecture notes posted online for my statistics class which is a bit depressing but I’ll be glad to have routine again.

At the bottom

Exchange 360 at the top

Shannon and I out at Potterow

Fresher's Week

Fresher’s Week is drawing to a close – the last official day is tomorrow. I’ve been spending the daylight hours getting various things like banking, doctors and phone service set up and the evenings going out with my flatmates. Sometimes we go to different events but every night we all end up meeting back at our flat with our new friends to drink and talk.

I had an academic meeting for visiting students on Tuesday. They explained the grading system here and how it is different from my university in Canada. They said that the reason why the grading is so much harder in the UK is because in the past US students could only avoid being conscripted into the war if they were doing really well in school and so they inflated their grades. They also went over things I might never have considered such as spelling differences. The work here is much more independent than I am used to – we usually have a textbook for each class and specific pages to read before each lecture whereas here they give you a list of readings and you are supposed to decide for yourself how much you need to cover to feel prepared. I’m sure that will take some getting used to. I met with my personal tutor and was told that I needed to change my courses around so I got that sorted this afternoon. This semester I am taking Memory and Perception, Biological Psychology, Social Psychology, British History and Psychology Methodology. Classes start on Monday. There was also some good news on Tuesday – the University of Edinburgh is now placed at #17 in the world!

Emma, Amelia and I went to a pub quiz in Teviot on Tuesday night. We ended up joining a group of guys to make a team. They were from England, Scotland and the US. We didn’t do very well on the quiz despite having practiced beforehand. Though on one round all the questions were clearly taken from the same website we had looked at earlier!

I’ve been looking at what societies to join. There are so many compared to what we have at Queen’s. Some random ones they have are the Harry Potter Society (they had an actual sorting ceremony yesterday that was sold out), Chocolate Society and Cheese Society. I am thinking of joining the North American Society, the Wine Society, the Baking Society, SocieTea, Exchange 360 and the Psychology Society. 

As much as I don’t really know the area very well, I do feel at home here and am settling in quite easily. I was walking along a busy street yesterday when it opened up into a cute marketplace and when I looked up I could see Edinburgh Castle. It’s visible from almost anywhere in the city, as well as Arthur’s Seat which I am walking up tomorrow with other international students. Unfortunately I haven’t taken many photos but I’ll include the few I have taken – apologies for the poor quality. I have fear-of-looking-like-a-tourist syndrome!

My street

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

Exploring Edinburgh

Before I got to Edinburgh I spent a lot of time on Google Maps trying to familiarize myself with the area and so far it has proved fairly useful. I managed to find my way to George Square yesterday morning for a visiting students talk. George Square is the main campus and is where all my classes will be held. Just opposite I found a little Sainsbury’s (grocery store) and had a great time picking out all my favourite British food: Branston pickle, salad cream and Heinz tomato soup. I’m pretty sure my flatmates think I’m crazy because I think a cheap can of tomato soup is God’s gift to mankind!

I’m living in a little house with five other girls. Three are Scottish, one is English and one is Dutch and has lived in London, Zurich and Geneva. They’re all really friendly and I’ve been spending most of my time with them.

In the afternoon two of my flatmates and I were hoping to go on an underground tour but it was fully booked so we just ended up wandering around the city. We went to Greyfriars Kirkyard, a graveyard with lots of spooky crypts where they hold ghost tours that apparently “cause genuine emotional and mental distress”. One of my flatmates is really keen to go on one but I don’t think I’d be able to sleep for the rest of the year. We walked on to Princes Street (the main shopping street) passing by the Royal Mile, quite a few places selling tweed suits and whisky and also several tackier tourist shops selling kilts, postcards and tartan everything. I stayed out to buy some essentials and to look at phone plans while the other two went back to the flat. I thought I knew my way back but I must have made a wrong turn somewhere because I ended up completely lost. I had to ask for directions because I didn’t want to be late for our residence meeting and met two really nice guys from Aberdeen who were heading the same way.

Last night our flat went out to the James Bond theme party at Potterow (the student centre). By the time we got there the queue was never-ending and a Fresher’s (Frosh) Week volunteer told us it was at capacity. It’s a small world because it turned out he had just come back from being on exchange at Queen’s University! We talked to him for quite a long time before heading back home where we met someone from our block and his friend. They came in for a chat and us girls had tea before going to bed. Despite not getting in to the actual event I had a really good night chatting with some of my flat mates and meeting people.

Today I slept in and in the morning (well, afternoon really) one of my Scottish flatmates made me slice, also called square sausage, which was exactly that – a square patty-like sausage with bread and HP sauce. It was delicious and definitely the kind of thing to eat after a night out. We went over to Potterow to try to book tickets for different events going on today but they were all fully booked again. Apparently early birds get the worm at Edinburgh Fresher’s Week! We went to a trade fair which is a bit like the Sidewalk Sale at Queen’s and to the poster sale. My bedroom looks much more home-y now that I've put up my new poster and all my photos.

Tonight my flat is heading out early to make sure we get into the Caribbean theme party. Should be great fun. Tomorrow I've got several academic meetings to go to and I might try to do some tours of the main campus and library if they're on.

C'est La Vie

“C’est la vie” is my go-to phrase when I want to complain about all the things that go wrong in life that I can’t control. Was it John Lennon who said that “life happens when you’re busy making other plans”? Well I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree. My flight from Atlanta to London was uneventful but problems arose when I landed in Heathrow. There was no jetty so we all had to be driven to a different part of the airport leaving only five minutes to make it on to my connecting flight. Needless to say I didn’t get through the long queues (lines) in time. I had to wait for about an hour before I was told that I was on standby for the next two flights to Edinburgh (3:40pm and 5:40pm) and that I had been booked on a flight at 7:50pm. All rather frustrating considering I was supposed to arrive in Edinburgh at 1pm!

Obviously I had plenty of time to kill and the airline had given me some money for lunch so I found a sit down restaurant offering traditional pub food. Here at last was some good news – I ordered a Full English Breakfast complete with sausages, bacon, eggs, toast, fried tomato, chips (fries) and baked beans. It was AMAZING. I couldn’t believe how much I had missed English bacon. I’m not a fan of fried tomato but it’s my mum’s favourite so I ate a bite of it hoping she would somehow be able to enjoy it vicariously. After enjoying my scrumptious meal I tackled Heathrow’s WiFi and managed to send a quick email to my parents and sister to let them know what was going on.

Two hours later I was told that both the standby flights were full and I wasn’t going to be able to make it on to either of them. I accepted that I’d be in the airport til the 7:50pm flight and settled in one place to wait it out. To say I was tired would have been an understatement – I’d been awake over 24 hours but was trying to look on the bright side. Here’s my list of ‘silver linings’:

• Full English Breakfast (need I say more?)
• Getting to Edinburgh later meant I would sleep at the right time and be less jet lagged
• It wouldn’t be an adventure if there were no hiccups
• This would be a very short and boring first blog post if everything had gone to plan

I was met at the airport in Edinburgh by some university representatives who helped me find a taxi to take me to my new home. The guy and girl who gave me the keys to my little house were very friendly. Turns out one is from Somerset and not far from my mum’s hometown. He also gave me a letter my sister had sent which had ended up in the wrong place somehow. I’ve just met three of my six flatmates and they all seem lovely. My unpacking is all done and now I’m off for some much needed sleep.