Storming The Castle!

Sara & I basking in the glorious view!

I survived my first week of classes. Go me! I was planning on traveling & lazying around--but apparently the Scottish love their education, and I will have to put the thinking cap on high. I am already stressing myself out. I've made a "EPIC to do list" which has numerous bullet points! Join a club, get a job, do my work, book flights...it goes on!

Yesterday, Sara and I met up with Briana at a quaint cafe called Kilimanjaro. Which was affordable and had scrumptious hot chocolate. She was very helpful and extremely nice. She informed us that the castle was free for that day only. Sara and I got uber excited and rushed up to the Royal Mile towards the castle. Free was a word we hadn't heard for awhile! On the way to the Royal Mile we paused by a display window. It was utterly heavenly. Doctor Who memorabilia was all over! It was an Doctor Who explosion! And in the side, sitting on a golden throne of goodness, was Dr. Who, David Tennant: A Biography! It was screaming my name. But I resisted (it was 15 pounds, er, I am not paying 30 dollars to read about his life--i'll just Imdb the shit out of him!) And the next window was ALL batman. I nearly died. And I observed to Sara obliviously, "Sara! THIS IS JUST LIKE FREAKING FORBIDDEN PLANET...IN SCOTLAND!" and she shook her head, and told me to look up. IT WAS FORBIDDEN PLANET IN SCOTLAND! Sweet!

After momentary pauses for photo opportunities, we made it to the castle. At first glance, the castle was impressive. Although the stone walls were meant to avert the enemy, the castle had a enticing come-hither stare. At the entrance stood two knights in little alcoves protecting the walls. If only there weren't as many people blocking my picture perfect postcard photos!

We got in and there were people waiting in a queue at the ticket booth. I was very puzzled. Why would there be people waiting to BUY tickets on a FREE day!?! I stopped a man with a camera hung around his neck, two tour guide books under his arms and socks rolled up to his thick calves (he was wearing shorts, go figure! It wasn't cold, but it most definitely was NOT short weather!) and asked him politely, "excuse me, is today free admission day?" He stared at me and scoffed, "I don't know where you heard that from! Most definitely not!" Curses. It was 12 pounds, but worth it (Sara and I made sure of that as we took probably 300 photos between us!) There wasn't even a student discount (but there were audio guides in Japanese) The free admission day is November 30th (mentally marked down in my internal calendar!)

The views were stunning. The weather was holding up for us--but it looked threatening. We scaled every inch of that castle from the various cannons, nooks, and levels. Each cobblestone was a photo opportunity! You could see Arthur's Seat, Princes Street, and a wide variety of Gothic churches.

CANNONS!
Arthur's Seat & Churches!

We even saw the crown jewels of Scotland. There was a pretty hefty pearl/diamond necklace that must have weighed a TON. As we walked through the exhibit we were following these annoying Spanish tourists. They stopped at every possible display to take a group photo, preventing people from passing them. And as they finished their photo they lingered and loomed over the displays. They posed with the baby Mary Queen of Scots, grinning as the plastic baby was held over their heads. Argh!

As soon as we coming to a close of our explorations...it started to rain. And rain it did, steadily until we got home...and I was unprepared for the rain (it had been SO nice all week!) But it was a wonderful adventure!

I just thought this was HILARIOUS! David Hume--A real cone head!

Curse You Chaucer & Your DEAD Language!

Chaucer and I were never friends in a past life, and we certainly will not be bffls in this lifetime either. I mention this only because Chaucer and I will be spending a lot of time together--trying to familiarize ourselves with one another. I want to skip the awkward initial meeting--where we run out of things to talk about, phrases are thrown around that I don't recognize. I'm in a Medieval Dream Literature course this semester which literally translates into DEATH. We have to read Middle English (what on earth am I to do with Middle English!?) I will cringe and die every class (in addition we have to meet up with three other students outside of class to discuss the big C-man, Chaucer, or should I call him Geoffrey?) But fortunately I have Sara! Like me, she will be subjugated to the horrors of dream literature.

My other two courses seem fairely boring & interesting at the same time. Sociology is a GIGANTIC lecture (at least 200 students) I've made a friend, Chika, from Japan. We talked asian drama & j-pop, it was glorious. The World Politics in Far East Asia since 1894 may need some gum chewing midway through class in order to tolerate it. I was trying very hard to be friendly, so when someone mentioned New York, I perked up & announced I was from the great NY! Another guy said he was too. I enthustically raised up my hand for a high five! Luckily, he didn't leave me hanging--but he thought I was strange. His raised eye-brows were a dead give away. I got very excited & asked where he lived (Upper East Side) and where he went to high school (thinking YAY! public school system! 6 degrees of separation...) and he said in a monotone voice, "I went to a elite boarding school near Boston." My face fell as I scrambled to say, "oh, nice!" When he heard of my (little) high school, he added with flippancy, he had never heard of it. Bastard!

I finally got my state i.d. in the mail today (now I can go drink without having to carry my passport!) I was expecting a heartfelt letter from home--but what I got was an envelope. Written on that envelope were two distinct words, "Drink Responsibly." I laughed so hard. Oh pops, how you care!

Miss & Love you.

<3

Who Said Anything About Golf?

Playing Shadows!

Yesterday, I went to St. Andrews. It was quaint, remote, and beautiful, but boy, I would have DIED if I chose to go there! It was extremely small! It was a one & a half-two hour bus ride, and the Scottish country side was breath-taking (though I have automobile narcolepsy-and I was asleep for 80% of the ride there and back) It was stunning.

A scenic picture from the bus!
Hay!

Once we arrived in St. Andrews we were brought to the castle and the magnificent Cathedral. The castle ruins were pretty amazing because it looked right over the ocean. While the Cathedral was very impressive with it's vast space and wonderful architecture.

The castle
The Cathedral--well part of it anywayAnother part of the Cathedral. I LOVED those arches.

Sara & I chilling in some stone!I loved the reflections of sunlight.

There was a tower that you climbed to get the whole view of the city. A man told us it was worth it, and so we did it. Sara, May (one of my flat mates) & I climbed the overly narrow spiral staircase of death up 20 stories (or more). The vertigo was a little unnerving, but once on top, I shouted down to May (who was behind me) "Holy Shit! It's SO worth it!" quite loudly & as soon as the words escaped my lips, I looked to see who was on the tower--four families stared at me in horror as Sara laughed her head off! It was pretty funny.

A view from the top of the tower.
On top, my hair flailing!

We walked around the Cathedral and then meandered through the town. We eventually found somewhere affordable for lunch and perused through smaller streets. We ended up at the beach!

The Beach!

And for good measure, we walked past the golf course because after all, St. Andrews is the home of golf.

Golf!

Once back in Edinburgh, we relaxed a bit until the Freshers Ball. Which was a dance party/casino/chocolate fountain extravaganza! Sara, her flatmate Claire (from France!) and I went early. When we got there the queue was outrageous. Luckily, Travis was already in the front of the queue-so we got to jump the queue. We were fortunate to have waited only 15 minutes compared to the awaited hour and half...We danced, drank (cider is yummy) and had a roll lickin' good time. Then obviously, what else could we do on the way home...but sing Disney songs! I had quite a good Saturday. =)

Finally! The Interwebs!

Picture 1: A view from Princes Street
Picture 2: The Church near my dorm across the Meadows
Picture 3: a TARDIS cake!
Picture 4: My dorm

I finally have internet in my room! SWEET! Now I don't have to walk twenty minutes to campus to receive free internet!

Let me update you on my life in Scotland. The weather has actually been quite charming (with several exceptions of light drizzling) Overall, it has not been too shabby. I live at Warrender Park Crescent--which is absolutely stunning, but it is a walks away from main campus, but it'll be good for me. Thus far, I have walked everywhere (well not everywhere, but far enough!) around Edinburgh. It is stunning and breath taking.

I am a wee bit homesick, but i'm adjusting here slowly but surely. I'm in a flat with four other girls whom I now call the "pack" One night I was excruciatingly exhausted so I did not go out with them and they came back the next day bffles. They were besties. They refused to do something without the other. I am quite insecure about it and a little resentful. Because they are hypocrtical and exclude me. I guess the pack does not have to LOVE me and let me be part of them (which I don't wish to be--they party way too hard) I would like to be invited every now and then--or asked what my opinion was on regarding decoration in our flat. Yargh. It was incredibly awkward last night when Emma (the one from Bristol) brought home a boy at one in the morning...and introduced him to me as "Ollie" or that's what I heard. So I kept referring to him as Ollie, Ollie this, Ollie that, thanks Ollie. He even helped me with an ice cube situation--but it turns out his name was Ali, short for Alastair. Whoops!

I've been trying to woo people with my wit and awesomeness...but the campus is too vast. I have met several nice people. I met a Japanese American from Hawaii who I want to become besties with--he was extremely nice. And Sara's suitemates have been nothing but angels to me. The pack though--I need to infiltrate--get them alone and individually charm them! The first night here I had my story time (chinese camp, always a crowd pleaser) made them laugh their socks off...but who knows what happened?

I drank my first cider. In fact I bought it too! It was quite exciting!

The other night I went on a ghost and ghouls tour. That was wicked. There are the old Edinburgh haunted vaults--and it was spine shiveringly awesome. Our guide was a zany woman named Harriet. She asked for volunteers--the first one she whipped (as they were being tortured), second she accused as a witch (and slowly described the ear numbing pain accused witches were put through) and finally she asked for a third volunteer. No one raised their hand. She coaxed people by reassuring them nothing was going to happen...Feeling brave. I raised my hand. She asked me my name, and as I said, "Alex..." She yelled to the touring crowd, "Everybody say GOODBYE to ALEX!!! This will be the LAST time you'll see her...ALIVE!" My job was to hold the door open as we entered the vault making me the last person in there. And she add fuel to the fire by saying, "Alex, do you watch horror movies?" "No, I tend to stray away from them...i'm more of a romantic comedy kind of girl." "Well, those always last, always die first." And I said under my breath "No, it's because i'm Chinese & a minority that i'll die first!" The suspense was nerve wracking...and as I held the door open for people, people came by and said, "good luck, alex." "nice knowing you, alex." "thanks, alex." I rushed in and was afraid that something would attack me from behind! But it was all well. Harriet proceeded to tell us stories of all the ghosts that haunt the vaults--from the "watcher" to jack, the playful six year old. It was spooky, but a TON of fun.

I think that's all you have time to read...I do tend to post some hefty entries. More later on how i've been getting along. Much love to you all. I hope you're all doing fantastically State side. <3

It's A Wee Bit Damp...

Hello to all my loved ones,

September 14th, 2008

First off, I’d like to say I got safely to Edinburgh! Yay! I’ve just completed my first full day, and boy, what a day it was! But, before I get to that, I must fill you in on the epic journey to Edinburgh. At the airport feo (Daddy), mumsy, Mei-an, Fung & my cousin, Rebecca, sent me off. I was a nervous wreck, and the pouring rain and the excruciating traffic did not ease the situation. But, with some fine maneuvering skills, my dad managed to get us to the airport in good time. Once inside, we got my boarding pass and had the moment of truth—suitcase weighing. Luckily, we did not go over! The beast was only 47 pounds (ack! Just think of me coming home…yikes) After a teary goodbye (on Mei-an & Fung’s part, love you guys) I came to my gate. The hordes of University of Edinburgh students were overwhelming and a bit surprising. There were clusters of American college students itching to get their hands on legal alcohol. I had to infiltrate the cluster and become one of them! I awkwardly sauntered over with my backpack (which weighed just like a baby elephant) and introduced myself. I came off as a complete and utter spaz. First, I proposed this burning question on how to blow up my inflatable pillow—because there was plastic preventing inflation—after that I got my bag stuck into a chair and literally fell over as I tried to retrieve it. Pish posh!

Once on the plane I met Summer who automatically told me that she was a trust fund baby, and that she had gone here, there, over there, and showed me all her pictures off her camera (where there was no sober portrait of hers to be seen). As we flipped through each tiny image on her 8.0 megapixel camera, she paused, waiting for recognition. I stared at the photo and asked, “Is that Steven Siegal?!” Why, yes, yes it was. She was overly excited to share that the 2^nd rate action star was indeed, Steve, a family friend. I swallowed up my laughter and let her have her glory of knowing a celebrity. We were missing one person in our row and I had assumed everyone was a University student, so when a guy came up to our row, I enthusiastically stuck out my hand and introduced myself in a chipper voice not like my own, “Hi! I’m Alex.” He cocked his head to the side with a perplexed look on his face before finally saying, “Tony.” As we sat down and became comfortable, I asked him cheerfully, “Why did you choose Edinburgh?” And he said after a brief pause, “for business.” It turned out he was going for a production job and was most definitely not a student anymore! What made it more awkward was the fact that his boss came by and he went, “Hugh, I’d like you to meet my two new friends” referring to Summer and I. Oh woe is me. The plane ride was excruciating, we taxied for an hour not before we waited an hour for 12 people from a connecting flight. But delta had some wonderful movie selections as well as JAPANESE POP! That made my entire night. They had music—and there it was---four Japanese artists singing j-pop! Awesome.

Once we landed and went through customs, I found Sara in a sea of other University students waiting. We collected our baggage as I struggled to find out where to go. We remembered reading that we had to pick up our keys at Warender Park Crescent. An official looking lady with a clipboard told us to pick up our keys at 23 Warender Park Road, she sounded confident. Sara, Jan (pronounced Yan—he’s German) hopped into a cab. The ride from the airport was quite beautiful. The houses were simple, small, but very classic looking. Everyone here has a colorful door. The cab rounded the corner onto Warender Park Road. Stupidly, we emptied our luggage and stood in the misty weather in front of an abandoned looking 23 Warender Park Road. We rung the door bell. No answer. Curses! We ended up hauling the Beast, the mutant beast (Sara’s bag) up a slopey hill for eight or so blocks until we found what we were looking for and then there were stairs!

Sara was in a house and I was in a flat with four other girls. Erin, May, Rachel and Emma. Erin and May are also from U.S. but are only staying for a semester (Erin is from Franklin Marshall and May from Holyoke) Rachel is from Edinburgh while Emma is from Bristol. They are all supremely nice girls!

We went to Ikea--which was a trip! I am bleeding money like mad, but trying my hardest not to buy anything unnecessary (i've been quite good!) I have no internet which is depressing as hell, but i'm making my way through the system. I have much to recap about--but right now my internet is limited--so you'll find out how the rest of the week is going. I just wanted to put a taste of my trip online! I'm alive and well (a smidge bit homesick) but doing great. =]

lots of love always,
alex

Off To The Land Of Kilts, Bagpipes & Haggis!

Tonight's the night! I board a plane at 10:00 p.m. and 8 hours later wake up in another country! I'm a jumble of excitement and anxiety! The beast (my ginormous suitcase) has been packed and surprisingly not to capacity! I still have six pounds of space to go! While my other check-in bag is suffering a very tight squeeze. I will write more when I actually land in Edinburgh bombarded with foreign currency, brogues, and cobblestone streets.

Take care & i'll miss you all. Thank you for making this transition into a new phase of my life that much easier, and showing me that you really do love me! I'll be back for Christmas! <3