let's begin.

so, with internet finally working in my room, i must address this blog, and edinburgh. i would post some visual aids, but pictures don’t seem (to me) to capture the city’s charm, for they cannot provide the sensation of walking down streets surrounded by old and hoary stone buildings, castles, spires, et al, some of import and some not, and so i don’t know how to share it with you visually. perhaps imaginatively? it really is quite magnificent, and it turns out to be my home. every day i walk the city to absorb more of it – i haven’t done so in any official capacity as a tourist: no pictures taken, no tours of the new sparkling scottish parliament or walks up the dormant volcano/topographical pimple (so they call it) that is arthur’s seat – hopefully there is time for all of that, even if later it means the companion of bad weather. but it is wonderful to be in this city, in a city at all but in this particular one as well, for all of its friendliness and dynamism.

i have made a fair number of friends – there is a strong community within the flat building- and i am pleased to say it is a diverse group. some have even poked fun at me a little for being a friend-collector, sticking out my hand and name with readiness and taking down names and information when it seems useable. but i have no shame, and no time to waste. here’s a cast of characters for the curious:

-my flatmates: two scottish freshers (what they call first-year students), jenny from glasgow studying p.e. teaching, which is apparently something they actually do here at university, and natalie from 25 minutes outside of town who is studying primary teaching. also, one other american visiting student, laura, who is from texas, goes to vanderbilt for economics, and will only be here for the semester. so, come january i expect a wildcard once more. they are all very sweet girls, and none of them, to my great fortune, seem very girly in a melodramatic sort of way, and don’t like to get crazydrunk and participate in scandals either. my home is happily low-key and amicable.

- maibritt from copenhagen, denmark, whose nickname is mandy because of (just guess) a figure from american pop culture and her 7^th grade social world. she is quite fun, fashionable, no-nonsense and even shares some of my snobbery in a pleasing way. she only buys organic products, and tells me everyone in denmark is grossly overpaid. she misses home very much, but seems to like me in spite of my american-ness, and promises she will take me to see copenhagen, which i would love to do.

- josh, a gay jewish american from new york who studies philosophy and history at upenn, here just for the semester. he, mandy and i frequently make an antics-filled team.

-pit, a 26-year-old medieval history post-graduate from luxembourg; he is goofy and has a head of big, curly hair. i met him through the international student centre, where i plan to do some volunteering – a lovely way to meet people of all sorts and participate in trips and events to explore scotland. the people there indicate that it is a good place to be, and pit is known as the “grandpa” because he has been around for so long.

-sam, who is from outside st. andrews (though is really canadian?) and the only english literature cohort that i’ve had a chance to garner thus far. he is a fresher, and unrelatedly a hair model back in st. andrews. funny how everyone seems to have some worldly quality around these parts. i met him through some silly mixing device the residence staff set up the first night, the cheesiness of which, believe you me, exponentially increases when you do it a second time around. he is a good kid, and promises to tell me hokey scottish cultural info if i tell him about literature when he needs it.

-chris, chris, daniel, david and ollie (which is by the way the cutest male british name i’ve heard yet, short for oliver): sam’s five other flatmates who are all scots and freshers – three of which are studying p.e. teaching! this baffles me. they are hilarious and sort of offensive, joke me endlessly for being american, and seem truly representative, in a fun way. the flat of them took me to my first actual european club called lava + ignite, which was a pretty amazing experience. i should be a club kid, really.

there are others, many others, but i don’t want to bore the reader, and it’d be prudent to let things sift around a little to see what characters really emerge.

in other news, i can’t wait for classes; i’m very ready to start thinking again, and to develop my own lifestyle here. i have free days on tuesdays and fridays, so i plan to get a part-time job and just applied to one at the national museum of scotland as an office assistant that i would love to land, but we’ll see. also, i’ve joined for sure the wine society and the film society, and as said above intend to get involved with the international student centre.

basically, things are pretty happening here, and it’s only been a week. i have so many other thoughts that probably should be documented, about food and weather and britishisms and ways and pubs and walking and america and so so many things, but. i will stick to installments, because i think that’s what blogs are meant for.

meanwhile, i am going to london for the weekend! john lingan, my great friend from baltimore, is staying there for his study abroad program, though leaving later on this week, so i am taking advantage of my downtime and the free floor to crash on and taking the train early in the morning. i expect some cultural overwhelming and a little, shall we say, spiritual cleansing, the kind only an old friend can provide.

more adventures to come, for certain, and maybe i will even take pictures. for now, goodnight, and until monday evening-