A week in November



the snow in Scotland!



So, this last week I got to finish all of my assigned class work that has been given whilst here. My two final papers were due, and they are in, and being graded, which means that my weekend has been highly stress free, I am feeling good about it.  So most of my past week was spent in class, we are almost done, I only have a week left, and even then, some of the classes aren’t going the full week (I like that). But then of course, finals come in, and they are highly frightening. Though it was a week of work, there was plenty of play to fit in, including some overseas thanksgiving celebrations, and also a quick trip over to Edinburgh for shopping and food (some other things happened as well though).

 

the apple crumble

Tuesday is when the real fun began I was sitting in the library working on a paper between classes, when... The power goes out. I thought it would pop right back on, and I would be able to finish my work, but no, then the fire alarms go off and we had to evacuate the building. Erin and I decided this would be a great time to go get some coffee or something, we walked away from campus and start realising that the whole of the west end is out. It was hilarious, so we walked to the botanic gardens, which as anyone in Scotland knows, means you need to cross a major intersection, and we did (sans lights) We ran across the street in front of twenty cars, just to have something to do. By the time the power did come back on we were very upset, we were hoping that there would be no more class that day, but no such luck, we had to go back to school and learn some more (what a disappointment). There was a high point of the Tuesday though, we went to a potlatch which they weirdly enough call a buffet (I don’t know) and we had great success with our homemade apple crumble. Though Tuesday was not ideal, we were able to have some fun as well as some learning.

Wednesday brought about mostly just class, but also a trip to Cup, my favourite tea shop, where for the first time I enjoyed their lunch menu (a tomato, mozzarella, and basil sandwich), I also tried a tea I had never heard of before, and therefore never had. It was a gunpowder tea, which was very good. It smelled like there was someone sitting in the mug smoking a cigarette, but other than that the flavour was very robust for a green tea, which made it highly delightful. Then of course the weirdest thing happened, I celebrated thanksgiving in another country, without my family.

our delicious thanksgiving dinner

Thursday came, and unfortunately I had to go to class (this has never happened to me before). One teacher did wish all her American students a happy thanksgiving though, which was very nice of her (she is married to an American so she kind of understood I guess). I had my own thanksgiving celebration with Erin. We went to our fabulous Waitrose to purchase a thanksgiving meal (which was slightly more difficult than expected). We got some turkey from their deli section, two large slices as our main part of the dinner (which worked very well, especially since I don’t know how to cook turkey, so it makes a great substitute) We also had some green beans (cooked in a microwave!) cranberry sauce (a little different) mashed potatoes (premade) apple cider (juice heated with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) and finally we made another delicious apple crumble for ourselves. I would consider this dinner highly successful, and I now know what to do should I ever be celebrating a major holiday in another country again, it will be something along the lines of this past thanksgiving dinner. I did get to celebrate Thanksgiving with some family though, Erin’s parents and grandparents were in town for the week, and they took us to Cafe Rouge in Merchant Square for a thanksgiving meal (though I had mussels, which wasn’t very thanksgiving-y). It was very nice though, and good to celebrate a holiday with some sort of a family since mine was in Colorado.



Christmas time in Edinburgh



Another good thing that comes with Thanksgiving is it officially becomes time to Christmas shop/celebrate! On Saturday Erin, Katie, Brittney, and I took the train over to Edinburgh for a day of Christmas shopping and general fun! It was a very eventful train ride, because it was crazy full, the train before us got cancelled due to weather (it snowed 1 ½ inches). But we made it alright, it was so pretty from the train, it looks like a winter wonderland here in Scotland! We had lunch first then wandered the Royal Mile to buy gifts for everybody’s family. Plenty of scarves and gloves were being purchased yesterday which was good. We also made a stop at a fudge store way down the Royal Mile, and enjoyed some delicious fudge. We stopped for about an hour at Starbucks because it was so cold, we had to warm up with some holiday drinks. We ended the night wandering around the Christmas market where there were a bunch of shopping and eating stalls, and also some rides, I might have to go back just to ride a ride (although Glasgow’s Christmas market has the same ride....) Overall the second to last week of school was very fun, and now I only have about three more weeks left to enjoy this country.

This might make you jealous, but that's ok

HAHA! Great week here in Scotland, I must say though the weather outside is rather frightful (we have started getting frost, and rain, and there are predictions of snow soon...) and the fire would be very delightful (but unfortunately I have no fireplace) It is so very pretty outside. That and there are things to do. The sun has been setting at about 4 in the afternoon these days, which makes walking home after class and the library a wee bit dark and chilly, it is fantastic during the day, and the sunset is to die for, literally one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Classes have been getting serious though as the term is nearing its close. Papers, tests, and preparations for finals are under way here in Glasgow, and it is not doing me any favours, because there is still so much to do. I mean the Christmas season is coming here so there are all sorts of festivities and excitement is occurring. The city centre has been decorated for the most part with all sorts of Christmassy lights and I think everyone is getting in the spirit, even though we still have class and finals.

Only one really fun thing happened this week (if you don’t include test taking in your fun counts, which I don’t) I got to see Harry Potter. Now I know pretty much everyone got to see Harry Potter back in Colorado, and most probably went to the midnight showing, which there was no option of here in Scotland, but... I got to see Harry Potter, in the land of Harry Potter. You see, you got to see Harry Potter before me, but they don’t film in the states, they film in places like London (went there), and Scotland (that’s where I am). Though no filming for the movies has occurred in Glasgow, it has happened here. Take the Hogwarts express for example, it runs through Scotland, and Hagrid’s Hut, also in Scotland. I learned as well that the really cool place where Harry and Dumbledore go to get the locket was filmed wayyyyyyy up in the Highlands. So yes, we have all seen Harry Potter, but I got to see it here, which is much cooler.

What’s to come next you may ask... Well with the Holiday season starting there is going to be a Christmas market in the city centre, and of course next weekend is St. Andrew’s weekend, so I will be celebrating down in the city centre where they have a celebration going on.  That then school will finish, I will go to Paris, then I will take some very fun and fantastic tests (also known as horrifying finals) then I will have a week to enjoy my favourite place in the world. Finally I will be back home in one month, so may my family start the countdown, and I will keep hoping for some magic that keeps the time moving slowly.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=102596003659150525433.000494b35d8266dc22ab6&z=6

(for kicks and giggles) And also, on another Harry Potter note, I go to school with a castle, not everyone can say that, especially not my American friends...

my castle!

Adventures in London!!!

London Town! After class this past week Erin and I left for London!!! It was so exciting, we got to plan our vacation three weeks ago (so not a lot of time, but still good), and it was definitely worth it. We started by visiting Sam (one of Erin’s friends) at the University of Westminster down in the Paddington area of London, and then we went with lots of her friends to Piccadilly Circus to enjoy a night of fun and dancing at Tiger Tiger. It was an excellent club with three rooms for different music tastes. We had taken the tube down to the club, but it surprisingly closes at midnight, so Erin and I got to discover the wonders of the very slow London Bus system while going back to our hotel. One thing I can definitely say about London is I am rather glad I chose to study in Glasgow, in London you practically live in a jail, everything must be closed off, and you have to pass through security to get into the buildings. That and the rooms there are much smaller than my room in Glasgow. Sure I have to walk a ways, but at least it’s spacious, and not everything is enclosed.

Erin, Me, and Sam at Tiger Tiger

As our weekend really started on Saturday (and we were only there for Saturday pretty much) we again hopped on the Tube to do some exciting English things. However our adventures started in the Tube with many closures for refurbishment going on, practically every line (or it seemed that way) had closures at some point. But we finally made it down to Kensington Gardens to take some pictures. We walked through the Gardens and into Hyde Park where there were really big geese (and lots of other birds). We passed all the way through the Park and on to Buckingham Palace. There we got to stand on our tiptoes with our cameras above our heads to take pictures of the bands, the guards, and people on horses. We also nearly got trampled by one of the guards horses, nothing like a near death experience to get your heart pumping eh?



At this point we had to continue on our quick trip through London, so we walked down to the London Eye for our flight (yay). It was a very long walk but we passed by Westminster Abbey where many people celebrating Veterans Day, with all of the poppy’s everywhere. We also passed by parliament and Big Ben on our trip down to the Thames. I had a bit of a Celtic Civilisation moment at about this point because we passed by the Boudicea Statue, which of course, as everyone knows is very important to Celtic culture, and Britain as a whole. We made it down to the Eye and didn’t have to stand in line for very long before our flight. The views were great and we had a blast seeing everywhere (especially Erin since it was her first time in the city). When our flight was done we went to the London Eye 4D experience. It came free with our ticket, but it isn’t highly suggested. You stand in a room with “4D” glasses, and they throw things at you, and there is smoke, and a video about being on the Eye. Afterwards we went to Wagamama down by the river and had some contemporary Asian food. If you haven’t gone, I would highly suggest you do, as the food is good, and the prices are also fairly good.

Erin, Me, and Sam on the London Eye

We ended our river experience at the London Fright where we got to walk/run/struggle through this dark set of rooms with people jumping out at you, making weird noises, and grabbing your feet. It was fun, and if you haven’t done it before its right next to the London Eye and the Aquarium, but I wouldn’t go again, mostly because now I know what is going to happen. Before we went in we enjoyed some street vender waffles, which were pretty good (it was a waffle covered in chocolate). We ate our waffles while watching the London Fright people scaring passer-by. One woman got so scared she went stiff and fell on the ground, I laughed very hard, and it was absolutely hilarious.

The London Eye tickets we purchased also had a London Dungeon attachment so we went to that as well on Saturday night. It was pretty fun, however the whole time I felt that someone was going to jump out at me from the dark corners, since that is what they did at London Fright. Some of the stuff there was scary, like the Sweeney Todd room, however other things were just absolutely hilarious, such as when we were put on trial, and went on the drop ride. We ended our night by walking across Tower Bridge, which was beautiful in the dark, and also going back to Piccadilly Circus to B@1, a bar that serves the Irish Disco Biscuit. This drink comes highly suggested, it tastes like there is absolutely no alcohol in it (good or bad, I can’t decide), it is made of vanilla ice cream, Oreo cookies (biscuits), Baileys, Peppermint Schnapps, and some Ice, it was all blended together into deliciousness and was worth the 7 pounds I paid for it.

Sam, Me, and Erin enjoying our Irish Disco Biscuits

Our final day in London found us travelling to Kings Cross Station, which was a complete catastrophe, because turns out you can’t get to Platform 9 and ¾ without a ticket (how do those wizards do it?) and it was all under construction. I was feeling slightly Harry Potter-y but it was definitely sad. We walked around Piccadilly Circus and Old Bond Street for the rest of the morning before catching the Piccadilly line back to London Heathrow airport to be back in Glasgow.  It was all quite fun, and I spent most of my money on food, not stupid things (although there were some stupid purchases). I would love to go again soon, especially to enjoy another Irish Disco Biscuit!

An excellent view of London

Festivals and Adventures

Wow! So after a week of boredom I got to have some fun again in Scotland. First things first, of course there was class again for me all week, instead of the fantastic reading week I had before. I learned about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and about real Hallowe’en traditions that originated from Celtic Society related to the end of summer and the beginning of winter, a festive time known as Samhain (pronounced sao-wayne) Anyway we learned about turnip lanterns, so my new goal is to create a turnip lantern at the next Hallowe’en so that I can be cool. Turns out that Samhain is when we become closer to the spirit world so we dress up to confuse the spirits... Don’t know how well it works but we still do it. So that is how my learning goes here! The excitement I have. The more exciting things happened at the weekend this week.

The Guy Fawkes Fireworks at Glasgow Green, you can even see some of the carnival rides

Friday as most of you may know was 5 November, which means that it was Guy Fawkes Day (before that though, I got to make an exciting Taco dinner!!! It was lots of fun, and tacos taste excellent here in Scotland, although they could use some salsa help). Turns out this guy (Guy Fawkes) and a bunch of people wanted to blow up parliament a really long time ago, and they failed miserably, they planned to do this on 5 November but were caught about a week and a half before (So it was really an epic fail) so in honour of their epic fail, we set off fireworks, and I guess a lot of towns have bonfires. Glasgow has a great celebration down at Glasgow Green, the park was full of people, and there were carnival rides, and food (didn’t eat any) and of course fireworks. Erin and I went on two of the carnival rides (each costing 3 pounds, but who cares) and then we enjoyed the fireworks, because we didn’t know when we would get to do this again. The fireworks were great, and they played Abba the whole time which was funny. Afterwards my friends and I went to a bar in Merchant City, one in the City Centre and ended the night at Bamboo (which is a very interesting club).

Tom, Alex, Me, Justin, Erin, and Sam at Bamboo

The graveyard behind Glasgow Green, Sufficiently creepy

Saturday I had to wake up nice and early to crash the second Archaeology Field Trip. I technically wasn’t invited on this one, but no one checked to see if I really belonged, so I just had some fun. Our first stop on this rainy day (which wasn’t forecast to be quite so rainy) was the Glasgow Cathedral, which is the oldest church in Glasgow. It was built and rebuilt many times, and is now just old, and old. Saint Kentigern (aka St. Mungo) is buried in the Cathedral, and he is very important to Glasgow, somewhat of a patron saint. The grounds around the Cathedral are beautiful, there is a fantastic graveyard behind the church, and really great trees as well (the day was full of great trees actually). Next we got on the bus to go visit a “wall” it was somewhat north, but not too far. Built by the Romans a really long time ago, as a checkpoint they think, but not a lot really remains. The “wall” was built of turf, so it looks more like a hill really but they told us, it is definitely a wall (we must believe the archaeologists). Near the wall is also a fort, but there isn’t a lot there anymore other than really cool trees. I think the whole group was a little disappointed at the fort because they said it was the location of a bath house, and considering our very wet and cold situation we could have all used a steam. But no such luck, we just got to trek through the mud, and start freezing to death (I think the teachers were enjoying themselves way too much).

Some trees as the Roman Fort right next to where the bath house would have been

Linlithgow Castle Built By King James III

Next we went to Linlithgow, to visit Linlithgow castle. It isn’t a very big castle, and the real low-point of the building is that there are no more roofs, which means that when it rains, you can’t really escape the rain. Other than this point, it was really quite pretty, and we got to climb to the top of a tower and see everything from up there. A really key note about this tower is that it changed my dream of being a princess living in a tall tower. There are too many creepy stairs, and it’s too far to walk to go to bed, so I may be a princess but I am not living in any tower. Finally we stopped at a cairn, which is pretty much a big pile of rocks to put your dead in. I am sure the site was really awesome at some point but it was ruined, I feel, by two different things. A) It was really, really, really cold, and wet (and for a 30% chance of rain, I think I was 100% wet) and B) it was archaeologically ruined I felt by the fact that they rebuilt it in different “stages” of its uses and so it isn’t the actual original cairn, it is just a cairn. So it was a fantastic weekend, I really enjoyed it (even though it was wet) and it was absolutely beautiful with the rain falling everywhere. 

More trees, because it was a fantastic tree weekend!

Trip to Skye, and the Great Beyond

It seems so crazy that I can have done so many things in only seven days. The magical week started ever so horrifying. My first paper was due, and I had to finish reading ‘The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner’ by none other than James Hogg. I also had to be sure and go to my anatomy lab for two hours throughout the week to prepare myself for an image exam on the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic cavities. But by the end of the week I was lucky enough to have survived school (didn’t think it would happen) and I got to go on a trip with the International Society to the Isle of Skye. For anybody who doesn’t know, Skye is in the highlands of Scotland (YAY) and it is about a five hour bus ride if you go straight there, which we didn’t.

Erin and I on our way to Skye

My trip to Skye started early Saturday morning and ended late Sunday evening. Well maybe not too early or late, simply very dark. The drive up to Skye included a stop at Loch Lomond, and on our way there we saw sheep, cows, and a pig. Our bus driver also taught us some everyday Scottish terminology such as: Glen=valley, Ben=mountain, Moore=a mountain over 3,000 feet, and an Inver=is the mouth of a river or loch. Some other exciting things on our bus ride included SNOW, there was snow at the very top of some of the Moores in Scotland which was very exciting. Now about the distance from Glasgow to Loch Lomond is where the signs of Scotland start to change. Not only are the directions and destinations in English, they are also in Scottish Gaelic. Which means that ‘Oban’ turned into ‘An t-Oban’ and many other towns had fun names as well. After Loch Lomond there were many stops in gorgeous areas just to take some pictures, and on our way to some of these places we passed Glencoe, which is the site of a huge massacre back from the times when Scotland was made up of clans.

On our way towards Skye!

Further on and much closer to Skye, though still a ways off, we passed the site where Hagrid’s Hut was filmed for Harry Potter. I was however fairly disappointed that we didn’t get to stop and see his hut, because I am in the land of Harry Potter, and must fully experience the Potter world (which means also seeing the movie when it comes out). Just before we made it to Skye we got to stop at Scotland’s most photographed castle, so, I dutifully took a photograph, and got on the bus because it was cold. Finally after hours of travelling by coach bus we made it to Skye, but first we had to cross a bridge. And for anybody out there who enjoys news, you may realize that the bridge we crossed was the same bridge that the nuclear submarine was stuck under (yay submarine) I didn’t get to see it though (sad) they must have released it, pretty much right before we got there . I realize that this shouldn’t be disappointing, because we wouldn’t want millions in technology to be stuck, but it would have been cool to see a submarine. We did however luckily drive by something rather hilarious right before the bridge, which was a sheep crossing sign, I had seen deer crossing, and people crossing signs, but now I think my life is almost fulfilled, I just need to see a Highland Cow crossing sign, and all will be well in the world.

Standing in the water in Skye

Now for anybody who doesn’t know, Skye is perhaps the most beautiful place on the planet. There are fantastic mountains, and water is everywhere. In fact while in Skye I stood in some Scottish water. I stayed in a Hostel (my first) in Portree or Port-righ as the Scottish say. I walked down to the waterside, and saw the world’s fattest seagulls. They live right outside a fish n’ chips shop, so all the fat goes straight to their necks, We also walked to the top of a hill (very exciting I know) and saw this turret, which we climbed and then played in a little park thing. We drove around the isle and saw some of the most fantastic views, including the end of a rainbow, which I never thought was possible, until I saw it. Turns out that at the end of a rainbow there is no pot of gold, simply pure beauty.

Frolicking on a hill in Skye

The next day we woke up and drove to Loch Ness, I didn’t see the Loch Ness monster (probably because she either never existed, or is dead).  Unfortunately I never really got to see the Loch because there are trees everywhere, I did however get to see the canal into the Loch, and a sailboat was going through it. After we passed the Loch, I got to see an elderly people crossing sign, not quite as cool as the sheep crossing, but still pretty funny. I also got to see Bambi, only this Bambi was old so it had big antlers. Pretty much it was just overall amazing. I would highly suggest visiting Skye and the Highlands in general when coming to Scotland.

Portree

A Week of Fun and Adventures

It’s always sad when you realize how much money you spend back in the states, but it is even worse here. I cannae (note my cute new Scottish language) imagine living here for how much it costs. Although I guess it would be fine if I were to actually be making money here, but it’s still so expensive. I guess I will just have to keep an eye on what I can and cannot buy. Although it can get difficult at the City Centre and on Ashton Lane (mostly because I love shoes, mixed drinks, and taking taxis home at night). But it will all end well, I am sure I only have 10 more weeks.

Me walking through Kelivgrove Park

I started the week having pancakes (which look funny here in Scotland) and going to the Kelvingrove art gallery and museum down next to Kelvingrove Park. Firstly the pancakes, Erin and I bought the Bisquick mix (its equivalent) and went forth to conquer pancakes (and brownies). So we mix our batter and pour it into the frying pan, where we realize they make their pancakes look like crepes, they don’t look like fluffy batter pancakes that I get back home. However I think I like them here better, they were really good and it turned into a fairly successful breakfast. After said cooking extravaganza we walked down through campus and to the Kelvingrove art museum, and it was a beautiful fall day, there were leaves everywhere, and campus was cute in the fall. At the museum we saw all sorts of great things, and tried on some faces, and also got to see the Scottish Romantic Period in art (I am learning about the romantic period right now in Scottish Literature, I suggest reading Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley, but steer as far away from James Hogg’s Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, as it sucks) It was a very nice museum, with lots of things, it was a mix of nature/ science, art museum, and art gallery, but it comes highly suggested as a stop on any trip to Glasgow, it helps that it is free!

I tried on a nose in the museum

On other notes this week I discovered you really can walk all the way to the City Centre. Erin and I walked down, and then decided to see a movie out of nowhere on Thursday, we watched Grown Ups, and again enjoyed in their delicious candy selections at Cineworld and had some fantastic popcorn. It was a good way to end the week (even though I had classes on Friday). After our adventure to the City Centre we went back to Ashton Lane in the West End to go to an International Society meeting. It’s kind of nice to meet in a bar. They did provide food, however, half nine at night is a little late to be having dinner, thank goodness I had already eaten (however bad for me) at the movies. The meeting was fun, it wasn’t really a meeting in the normal sense, but I met some people from Sweden. It was overall very cool.

The bar where we had our International Society meeting

On Friday I had my first real field trip that I was actually required to go on here for my Ecology and Conservation class. We went to Possil Marsh which is a reserve within city borders, making it very different from most other reserves and wildlife refuges. It is classed by Scotland as an SSSI (don’t ask because I don’t remember) which means that you can’t really build there. The Marsh is managed by Scottish Wildlife Trust in Edinburgh, and we got to tour it and see lots of dead plants (because its winter). Mostly it was a little sad because it was so cold. The forecast was for partly sunny skies (how optimistic we are) and 13 degrees. So I thought great I will wear a jacket with a long sleeve shirt and a scarf! NO. I was wrong; it was very cold, and kind of wet, due to the fact that it is a marsh. But overall very enjoyable and I did learn things as well. Some facts I learned: Pike eat ducklings and baby swans, Water Vole live there, and they are a highly endangered species, Otter are moving into the area which is a sign of a good environment, and finally I learned that I don’t understand Scottish comedy, jokes, or anything like that. I know this because my teacher and tour guide would say something and everyone would laugh, except for me, the only American in the class...

Possil Marsh, the view to the farm

Overall a very good week, I am excited for next week as I will be going to the Isle of Skye, which is way up north and a good 5 hour coach ride, and then a ferry, then we will be there. I have to start writing my first real assignments here at the University of Glasgow, but it should be fun, I changed my word processor to English (U.K.) and have put my margins at about 4 cm (very big margins), I know not to use the letter ‘z’ and I also know how to cite a paper properly here, so it should be fun. Both work and play make for a very tired Jessica here in Scotland.

Our Scottish Pancakes

FALL-ing in love

Just a quick note (on this glorious fall season) from Glasgow. I have lived now for 20 years, so I have experienced my fair share of fall days (not as many as some), however none quite as fantastic as those here in Glasgow (I am sure there will be some that aren’t as fantastic but I don’t want to write about that). All of the days are the fall days we expect when we wake up in the morning. Like those fall days back home in Colorado, where the weather is crisp and there is just a slight mist in the air when you wake up. But those fall days disappear in a matter of hours, there is something here that keeps fall hanging around all day (and it is truly lovely). The leaves stay crunchy, and you can literally see all of the colours in a single leaf on any tree, from the green to the yellow (ahh!!) and finally the red. The wind is light enough to just rustle those leaves, and when you walk through the parks the leaves on the ground start floating around you like you are in a mystical wonderland. The sky stays cloudy, but it’s a light cloud that you know may or may not open to reveal the blue sky beyond you just have to sit and watch it. Finally the mornings really are misty, you walk outside and can feel the water on your skin, in the air, just floating everywhere, but it isn’t quite the rainy day (not yet). I know I may be writing this prematurely but I have never experienced a fall that is so perfect, it’s a fall I have only ever dreamed of, a fall where every day is exactly how I expect fall to be.

I wasn’t expecting to write to everybody today, but I just thought you needed to know that if you are a fall spring person (as I am) then you need to see the fantastic weather here in the fall (I don’t know about the spring). It’s been like breathing in a dream, and then you realize it’s the truth. I have a few pictures of today that don’t do anything to capture the essence of the weather or the day really, hopefully though you will get a chance to see a perfect fall.