Edinburgh Didn't Know What Hit It

Last Friday, in a whirlwind of crazied hurriedness, my friends and I ventured on to the train for Edinburgh, Scotland. After about four hours and three train cars later, we arrived in Scotland hungry and tired, but ready for an adventure. So where did our adventure start...? A hostel!

I never thought I would ever stay in a hostel, but with a student budget and a growing list of destination spots, I had to make due. I was with five of my friends in the room full of twelve bunk beds, so I felt relatively safe. The smell of illegal substances filled the air upon entering the hostel, but the other people staying there seemed nice enough. There was even a little team of elderly ladies in Scotland for a weekend getaway. Harmless enough. So, we dropped our bags off in the room, locked-up, and headed out to an Italian restaurant--something rather comforting and familiar to all of us. The tiramisu at the end made the night even better.

On Saturday, my friends and I left the hostel at half eight and marched through wind and rain to Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano in Edinburgh. Toward the top of the mountainous hill, the conditions were so windy that we practically flew off the side. Our muscles were so sore after climbing anyway that we considered just letting the wind take us away and roll us back down. We didn't, but that would have made for a better story. Maybe next time.

For all of our hard work, we decided we deserved a nice lunch at a local pub. We stopped at Jenny Ha's to rest and eat some local treats. On a sign outside the pub, I saw that they had malts, among other beverages. Thinking malt milkshakes, I was super excited. When my turn came to order my drink, I asked the waitress what kind of malts they had. She said, "Oh a lot. We have £3 malts." I heard "three pound" as in weight. I thought that was a pretty heavy milkshake, so I realized we weren't talking about the same thing. I said, "Do they come with alcohol?" And she said, "Yes, it's malt whiskey." Well, my friends and I had a good laugh about that and I just ordered a Coca-Cola.

Later on in the day, we visited the Edinburgh Castle and went through all the buildings on the premises. The castle was more a collection of small buildings making up a castle village rather than just one big castle to meander through. Both Arthur's Seat and the Castle were great lookout points into Edinburgh and we had fun learning about the history of it all through our good friend, Jared, the history major.

On Saturday night, we went into town seeing what the nightlife was like in the pubs. Well, we saw some fairly party-hardy people and I even got to dance with a Scotsman. People were laid-back and a lot of fun to talk to. Sometimes, their accents are hard to decipher even though the language is the same, but with a few repetition requests, it gets sorted.

The last day there, which was bright, sunny, and without rain, we slept in and left the hostel with all of our belongings. After visiting the Scotland Art Gallery, we watched a comedy show at The Stand. The show was a perfect way to end the weekend before heading back to Ormskirk. We all had been running at full speed and then we finally had the chance to sit and be entertained. The humour thankfully translated over cultures--something we were afraid of before going.

Friends, food, fun. The motto of all of my crew's adventures. We've got it all.

Peace.

Laundry, Lectures, and Lateness

For the first time in my life last week, I did my laundry. Shocking, I know. But, it was rather fun and I didn't mind that it took three hours of my life to finish it all. One load, seven washing machines, eight dryers, and four hundred people living on campus always provides for bad timing in the laundry room. It doesn't help that the dryers don't exactly dry the clothes, but rather flop them around simulating the effectiveness of the wonderment of the dryer at home--which before last week, I had only used for the wrinkle-out function. I made some new friends in the laundry room so not all was lost. I also bonded even more with my friend, Patrick, who taught me how to wash my clothes and caught me just before I threw one of my dryer sheets into the washing machine. What are friends for, right?

Besides traveling and socializing, I have been going to class for a week and a half now--believe it or not. Instead of meeting two or three times a week for an hour or two for one class (module), here in England, students meet once a week for a class for an extended period of time (about four or more hours) to listen to a lecture. On top of that, most modules have seminar times set aside for students to meet and discuss what they've read or heard in lecture. I really like the set-up here because it's much more centered on individual learning rather than homework assignments and short lessons that are to be done nightly. The discussions and readings seem to be more beneficial for thought development because there is more time to think about lectures from week to week rather than every other day.

Another difference I've discovered while here in England is that people are generally way more relaxed about meeting times. So far, none of my lectures or seminars have begun on time--one even starting a half hour late. I don't really mind because this lateness is an inconsistent constant that I can count on and possibly run an extra errand or two in the morning before lectures start. Although, I still end up being ten minutes early out of habit. This pattern shows again in the start times for dances and nightly socials. The evenings at the Venue--a club on campus--get going around half ten; whereas, at AU for instance, dances usually start at eight sharp! The night doesn't end until four or five in the morning, which is hard to get used to as well, but I'll adjust.

Peace.

Liverpool and Windermere

While in Liverpool, our group toured the city in a whirlwind manner. We saw all the hot spots of Beatles memorabilia and most all of the buildings of importance within a three hour time span. Finally being in places such as Liverpool and Manchester feels absolutely unreal. After two years of waiting to come to England to study, each day feels like a gift and I'm soaking up every minute in my memory bank. My friends and I saw the Philharmonic Theatre where the Beatles played together for the last time, the school where George Harrison and Paul McCartney studied music together, and The Caravan Club--same name where The Beatles first played, but a different location. We also saw the largest Anglican church in all of the UK. It stands 100 meters above ground and it's really a magnificent sight. The architecture inside is much like the Notre Dame and the churches of France aside from the non-Catholic relics. Liverpool is great. So much energy and fashion forward teens adorn the streets of the city and brush by really quickly. To think people may actually reside in Liverpool and may possibly get bored with life there is mind-boggling. But, I suppose that can happen anywhere. I would highly recommend visiting Liverpool someday to experience the motion and energy it presents.

More so, I recommend visiting Windermere. My friends and I took a day trip yesterday to see what the Lake District was like here in England and the views were breathtaking. I was glad to get out of the city scene and breathe in the fresh air of the outdoors. No smog and hardly any cars, Windermere presents a quaint getaway from the day-to-day and is the most picturesque, practically film-worthy English countryside imaginable. Beatrix Potter lived in a cottage there and many Peter Rabbit shops were in town for tourist attractions to commemorate her historical contributions. On the train back to Ormskirk from Windermere, my friends and I met a boy named Tom who said he knew about Cedar Point when I mentioned I was from Ohio. Small world!

The weather has still been practically perfect (in every way) here in England which makes each day just that much more enjoyable. I miss you all and appreciate all of your comments! There will be much more to come this week and next weekend, updates from a Scotland trip!

Peace.