Let's get ready to rumble.

Family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and others (perhaps):

Welcome! I've been in Scotland since last Friday, and I've been told that it's time to get this thing rolling. This blog will cover my journeys as a student at the University of Stirling in Scotland for the fall 2006 semester... oh yeah, and what appears to be a three-week vacation break after finals (in addition to the week-long fall break in October -- delicious). But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Since a lot of this initial entry is coming from the journal I've been carrying around for the past week, and I've had a lot of "I need to write about this!" moments over that time period, it might be a bit on the lengthy side, and it will probably be more text-heavy than future entries. Feel free to skim over it as you please -- or, if you actually care about me, you'll celebrate every freaking word. Eh... do what you will.

BUT BE SURE TO LEAVE COMMENTS! It will be more fun that way. An interactive blog where I can leave responses to your comments is way better than me just posting every now and then. You don't have to own a Blogger account -- just do a non-user comment and there is still a place where you can enter your name. I'd love to hear from you.

NOW, here's the Scottish scoop:


Chapter 1: Transatlanticism and a Brief Stay in Edinburgh

After a ton of help from my amazing mother who helped me pack and drove me to the airport in St. Louis, I was finally ready for my flight to Chicago. We left the house in Belleville a little bit later than expected, since I was kind of freaking out about the possibility of forgetting something and decided to roam through parts of the house one last time after getting all of my music in order. I think my mom almost cut my life short -- once we were in the car, she announced that I have a problem with time management and that "it's wrong to do this to people" -- in this case, and in pretty much any case I can ever think of, "people" meant her. While I agree that I can be slow-moving at times, I thought I deserved a break this time since I was leaving the continent for the first time ever, and I was also kind of terrified about the idea of not having everything with me. We eventually laughed at this dramatic outburst -- thank God we can do that, and usually within minutes of the incident -- and she spent the second half of the ride providing me with kind words and advice about being so far away from home. After a brief but emotional goodbye, I eventually boarded the plane, and BAM... I met up with Regena and Dian, my travel buddies, at O'Hare for our flight to Dublin. They're both from the University of Illinois -- Regena is also studying at the University of Stirling, but she'll be there for the whole academic year, and Dian is studying in Aberdeen (NE Scotland) but decided to hang out with us in Edinburgh before heading there.

The three of us didn't get to sit together on the flight across the ocean, but I think it worked out for the best because I got to sit with a wonderful middle-aged woman who travels to Ireland (and Britain in general) regularly and who also looks like she should work at Jan's Hallmark. Stacey, if you're reading this, she kind of looks like Edna and basically acts the same way, so I fell in love. She's a nurse, and she told me she's sick of all this crazy talk about the ever-climbing retirement age -- who cares if we're still "feeling good" at 70? She said that her brother died around the age of 64 and that she's not going to spend the twilight of her life being employed, because there is a lot more that she wants to do. Unless your job allows you an unusual sense of freedom or you just absolutely love working, then I'd have to agree with her approach to life -- provided that you have the means (and I know that many people don't, which is depressing). Because you never fucking know what's gonna happen. It was a reaffirming conversation, given the way I've chosen to spend the next four months.

I called Brian before I boarded the plane at O'Hare. I think staying together was the right decision, but it's obviously going to make me miss him more. The upside is that I'm going to be missed a lot in return, and that can be a wonderful feeling. Also, the odds of him flying out to Europe to travel with me over winter break appear to be increasing. But I'm trying to stay focused on what I'm experiencing now. A grand finale, if it does happen, is still months away. Until then, Gmail chats and random phone calls will have to suffice.

Back to the flight! I couldn't get enough of the flight attendants, seriously. I'm pretty sure they were all Irish (maybe one or two Scots in there), and their accents made me giddy about the fact that I would be in Europe in a matter of hours. We arrived at the airport in Dublin, and I was still grinning after every Irish voice I heard until we boarded the plane for Edinburgh. Doesn't that sound a little obnoxious? Very tourist-y, at least. During that time, I also beat Regena and Dian in a game of Egyptian Ratscrew and 2 out of 3 games of crazy eights, and we got excited about foreign currency and brand names of candy that we didn't recognize. Oh, and this:

If you look carefully, you can see that the men's restroom signs say "Gents," not "Gentlemen." For some reason, this slightly different approach to bathroom signs was fascinating to us. However, I'm not convinced that you'll see it in this photo, as the camera flash decided to form a coalition with my greasy hair and hook nose to keep you distracted.

After getting to Edinburgh, we walked with our ridiculously heavy luggage to the hostel, which was pretty nice (although I have no standard of comparison). Here's a picture that Regena took from the hostel window (I was being lazy with my camera):

We showered and did our own thing for a while, and there was a friendly guy staying in my room who showed me the kilt he had purchased -- I think he was from Eastern Europe. Then I left the hostel with Regena and Dian to explore Edinburgh, which became one of my very favorite cities in a matter of hours. It's amazing! There are so many medieval-style buildings, especially in the Old Town section (a surprising correlation, I know). We walked by the National Gallery of Scotland and Edinburgh Castle. This castle sits atop the basalt core of an extinct volcano, and it is awe-inspiring to gaze up at the fortress from the streets of the city. I can't wait to go back for a tour, in addition to seeing more of the Royal Mile (a stretch of four ancient streets which, according to my Scotland book, formed "the main thoroughfare of medieval Edinburgh," with the castle on one end). Here are some pictures of the castle from Regena's camera:

And here are a few good shots that I found online (compliments of Electric Scotland at www.electricscotland.com):

And one final shot of Edinburgh from Regena's camera:

Then I called my dad from a payphone to tell him that I was alive and well in the land of the Scots, and we ate dinner at a bar on a really cool winding back street. I had my first drink abroad -- Guinness, which kind of just reminds me of a liquid version of smoked sausage. Six bucks -- awesome. Then we walked back to the hostel, where I talked to a really friendly traveler in my room named James, who hails from the Detroit area and just left a five-year stint in the health care industry. We talked about the politics within the health care industry and his experiences traveling through Scotland. Then I called Brian, who offered me a wonderful break, albeit brief, from the feeling of being so far away from my loved ones. I should note that sharing one room with nine strangers wasn't actually that bad, but I did find myself a little paranoid about my belongings. You basically just have to have faith in the goodness of others, which is a warm, fuzzy experience -- when no shit ends up going down. ;)

Well, kiddies, there's definitely more to tell, but it's really late here, and this post already took an insane amount of time.

NEXT UP: My arrival at the University of Stirling and my general impressions of campus life thus far (I'm still adjusting). Stay tuned!