The end of February is upon us, don't forget to say "Rabbit Rabbit" tomorrow morning. After a bit of a slow start, the work is starting to pile up, I'm currently in the midst of procrastinating a paper on the Jacobites and Highlanders in Scotland for my history course. Other than that, my classes are quite engaging and enjoyable. After my years of having an amateur interest in folk music, my music class has been very useful in teaching me the theory, the instrumentation, and the performing of that genre, in addition to giving me a taste of Scottish classical music, something I had little experience in before. In my first of two biology labs, I was given the task of drawing hemolymph from the joints of crabs, which was an interesting new challenge. I suppose it's a little like drawing blood from one of those tiny cat veins, which is another point in favor of equine medicine; I have drawn blood from a horse, it is remarkably easier.
I've also figured out what I'm doing for my spring break, and I'm excited about it. After a weekend visit to a few friends in Edinburgh, the two weeks will be divided into a 5 day tour of the Higlands (it is a package tour, but looks like a fun worthwhile one), and the rest of the time spent with a vet in Yorkshire. Yes, I do want to be James Herriot, so what? I'll be sure to photograph my adventures in both areas.

Oops! Forgot to post yesterday. Although as anyone who knows me can tell you, it was bound to happen sooner or later. The weeks here are starting to fly by at an alarming rate, which is I suppose a good thing, as it's a clear indicator of the great time I'm having here. Another ceilidh was held this weekend, with some fantastic musical performances by the the chapel choir and instrumentals. Visiting the moonlit, frozen Scottish beach afterward was a unique and memorable experience.
The BBC iPlayer and the ability to stream it live have given me an ability not only to follow the Olympic games closely (good job, Bode Miller) but to also see some of what's on UK TV nowadays. Doctor Who, Top Gear, and QI have all quickly become favorites. I'll have to find some way to watch them when I get back to the states (shouldn't be too hard with the internet...)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day.

I've experienced my first week of classes here at St. Andrews, and it looks like it's going to be a very enlightening and interesting semester. In my Scottish Music class, I was subject to a Scotsman reading me poetry by Robert Burns, which was a novel experience. My Scottish History class has also been intriguing, giving me a taste of a side of UK history that is often glossed over. While leaving that class the other day, I was reminded of the area I was in, as it was both sunny and rainy at the same time. My Biology of Marine Organisms class, while not heavy on the workload, looks to be my most challenging class, but also has potential to be my most entertaining. While it was hard to get excited in the first lecture about microbes I had already heard about countless times, it was thoroughly enjoyable to get an overview of the megafauna we'll be studying; the sharks, fish, whales, birds, and turtles that inhabit the oceans.
Friday evening I stayed up and watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, which was well worth it. While not as grand and massive as the Chinese opening ceremonies, I felt Canada did a good job conveying their culture and identity. The respect for for the late Georgian luge competitor was well done, I felt.
Carrie came up to visit from Edinburgh on Saturday, and it was a nice opportunity to finally do all the touristy things I've been meaning to do, including romping around the castle wearing a bright red robe, borrowed from a friend so I could get in for free. Today looks like it's going to be spent largely reading for classes, but I'll be sure to make some time to watch the Olympic events I can. Go team USA!

Well, my orientation is over and done with. Better than some I've had, but still with its fair share of redundant information (plagarism is bad over here too, who knew?). All in all I've had a good time over here in Scotland thus far. The academic wine reception they gave us on Thursday to meet the teachers was most enjoyable, even though none of the biology professors were there. On Friday, we had our advising and matriculation, which went rather smoothly, I'm guessing especially so as we were the only ones signing up for anything. I got all of the classes I was shooting for, which are Biology of Marine Organisms, Scotland, Britain, and the Empire 1603-2000, and Scottish Music. Hopefully I won't live to regret signing up for any of those. Friday night we had a Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee), which was enormously fun. I tried haggis, which was suprisingly good, and danced a few Scottish dances, from which my calves are still burning. This morning I attended the service at St. Salvator's Chapel, which was an interesting non-demoninational service. There was a notice saying St. Salvator's choir needs tenors and basses, so I'm looking into signing up for that, fingers crossed. Later today I watched a rugby game, Scotland vs. France. Sadly, France came out the victor, but it'll be an interesting juxtaposition to tonight's Super Bowl.

I have arrived

So, after many long hours, I have finally made it to the University of St. Andrews. How were my travels, you ask? Well, be quiet, and stop asking questions, I'm about to tell you. I got a decent seat on my overseas flight, and due to the fact that the flight wasn't booked, no one was sitting next to me, allowing me some room to spread out. The other girl in my row, by coincidence was a 4th year med student who had gone to W&M (Class of '06). The bad news was that the person behind me was constantly kneeing my back, and the person in front of me had his seat back the entire flight. While vaguely irritating at times, neither was an enormous problem. The larger problem was when I arrived in Heathrow, I discovered that my connecting flight to Edinburgh was not in working order, per se, and I was delayed an extra hour and a half. When we did make our final decent, I was greeted with this view:
It had snowed unexpectedly all morning, and stopped just before we arrived. Then, I finally arrived at St. Andrews, the sun getting surprisingly brighter and brighter as we drove until it turned into a nice day. With some difficulty but with help from friendly St. Andrews students, I managed to finally get into my room:
It looks comfortable, and so far, isn't too cold. (We'll see about tomorrow morning...)

February 1, 2010, 4:31 (-5 GMT)

Although I most likely won’t be able to post this until my traveling is over, I wanted to write down my thoughts while waiting in Dulles for my flight to leave. I’ve said my goodbyes to my family, gone through security (it went surprisingly easy) and am currently waiting at gate B44 for my flight to Heathrow. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a few butterflies floating around my stomach, but the feeling is largely counteracted by an enormous amount of excitement. The entire duration of the flights should be 10 hours, putting me in Edinburgh at about 9:20, GMT. Then, I move into my room, and my semester finally begins!