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