First off, I posted some photos on the right side of the page. Scroll down and check them out! My flickr account will be updated periodically, so keep an eye out.
In other, more exciting news: today, Tara and I tried Haggis and Blood Pudding!
Really, they’re not as bad as some make them sound. For a breakfast food, I thought haggis was a bit strong, but mostly it tasted like salty beef stroganoff. The blood pudding tasted like burnt food…which is basically what it is. Neither had me leaping down the streets in exaltation, but neither made me want to swear off Scottish food for the rest of my stay.
A few other things I noticed about Scottish eating habits:
- Drinks come in smaller sizes. At the dining area, the cups are very small and I fill two to save me from getting up every few minutes to re-fill. Drinks in plastic bottles are about half of what you would get stateside. Thankfully, still water is sold in a reasonable quantity.
- Food portions are generous. Or perhaps it’s just the dining area, but you have to tell the person serving you that you don’t want an entire plate full of cauliflower.
- Dessert is simple, but reeeeeeally good.
- My Aunt Elizabeth was correct: never visit a Starbucks in the UK. You will leave poor.
- Coca-cola tastes better when lukewarm.
Today I bought my school clothes: two white lab coats, leather boots, a waterproof jacket and a blue boiler suit. They were out of my size for the waterproof pants, but I should be okay for a few weeks while they’re on order. I left Hewats with two bags in hand, turned the corner and saw a man walking to his company truck wearing…a blue boiler suit. We’ve both got style.
Now I’m trying to sort out my bank account (or lack thereof). I ran into two other GEPers today – one at the front desk, and another while at Hewats – which means we have each other to figure out what the hell we’re doing in this foreign country. I still have lots of questions. I will post answers when (if?) I get them.
The airport is known for giving bad exchange rates, but I needed pounds for the airport shuttle and the taxi cab to the residence halls. The exchange rate actually dropped two cents today to $1.95/1 GBP, but I paid $2.14. Oh well, I imagine I can only get a better rate when I enter Edinburgh.
I was surprised to discover that the 20 GBP notes don’t quite fit into my wallet the way I would like them to. They end up getting clipped by the zipper, so I will most likely have to buy a new wallet. Add it to the expenses, eh? 1 GBP comes in a heavy gold coin, but the 1p, 10p, and 20p coins I got after buying a Chedder & Tomato Chutney sandwich just confuse me. Why are some coins round and some octagonal? I’ll get the hang of it in no time, but right now I’m a total foreigner who has to sort through each coin before making proper change.
(On a side note, I had never tried chutney before and had no idea what it was, but it tastes very good. At least my taste buds are daring.)
I’m siting in the Manchester airport, and four boy scouts and one Scottish equivalent just walked by! My first kilt sighting! No, I don’t know if he was wearing any underpants and there’s no way I could ask anyway – he’s gone now.
I am so grateful for my laptop right now.
I am leaving for Edinburgh on Tuesday, meaning I have three full days after today to enjoy family, friends, California, sunshine, American dollars, cheaper prices….
I thought I would be balking from fear, and a part of me is certainly very nervous about navigating three airports, going through customs, adjusting to a new climate and time-zone, starting a bank account, buying school clothes, making it through orientation, and everything else on the list of “don’t forget!” that has been accumulating since May or so. But I’m so darn busy packing, buying supplies over here, and saying my goodbyes that here I am, three days from leaving the country for several years, and I don’t think the gravity of this situation has yet to hit me. I think only after I graduate from Dick Vet will I realise what I’ve done!
In the mean-time, I’m trying to figure what is absolutely necessary and thus deserving of a place in my suitcases, and what’s worth storing for four years. I’m so glad I have my parents’ storage unit to use, because it would break my heart to have to get rid of all of my kitchen supplies. It should all be waiting for me when I return.
But before I can think about returning, I need to think about getting over there! Thank goodness I have my laptop: now I can keep my family updated between planes and upon arrival. I’m leaving my phone in the States because it won’t work in the UK, and I’m going to get a phone plan over there, so in the meantime it’s just Skype+Internet that will keep me connected with the U.S.
I’ll be updating like crazy when I touch Scottish soil. Until then, safe journey to my fellow GEPers, and I’ll see you there.
Comment [1]
Yesterday I sent off my information for my visa. I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed that I submitted all of the information they needed, and processing is speedy on their end. I leave in 25 days and I don’t have time to resubmit! The thought of not getting my visa in time leaves me feeling sick to my stomach, and I don’t know what I would do. If you pray, add my name in, and if you don’t, send me some positive vibes that everything works out.
The university sent me my joining packet in the mail, and although I already had access to all of the information online using the vet school’s internet portal, EEVeC, getting that official package in the mail for my soon-to-be-school is very exciting. My mother commented on how the packet sounds like I’m getting ready to go to Hogwarts, and she’s quite right. The list of clothing and books sounds very similar to the beginning of The Philosopher’s Stone, and of course the pictures of the old university looks like something out of the films.
Plus, now I’m acquainted with the Dick Vet’s “Mummies and Daddies” programme, which sounds suspiciously like a S&M bondage group…really it’s a orientation plot, where older students “adopt” a fresher (freshman) to help them adjust to school. As a foreign student, this sounds like a great idea, because the nerves are already starting to embed in my stomach, reminding me that I’ll be very, very far from home and starting a very challenging course. Assuming, of course, that I can get my visa on time.
Must think happy thoughts, must think happy thoughts….
