We had our mid-term this morning but had the entire afternoon off. We went downtown and tried to get in to the Mary King's Close tour but when they say "early booking recommended" they mean it. We showed up around 12:30 and we couldn't get a tour until 4:30 so we just scheduled to go tomorrow at 4:00.
We went back down the street to Clarinda's for lunch. I had homemade lasagna but I wasn't particularly impressed. I also shared apple pie with ice cream with Lori. The pie was warm and had a crumble crust rather than the traditional american 'weaved' and it was delicious. If there is anything this country got right, it is their desserts!
It started off cloudy and it rained all day. The waiter at Clarinda's told us that this was even strange for them to have this much rain in July. By tonight things have dried up but then the wind starts blowing in. I can't seem to win here!
After lunch it was some more wandering around downtown and then we came back to get ready for a concert tonight. We went back to St. Giles (the church we've been going to, yes there are other churches but we seem to be drawn to this one. It is in the middle of the "Royal Mile" so a lot of things are situated around it) We heard an Organ recital by a internationally renowned German guy who was only 29 and basically didn't stop playing for and hour and a half. It is one of the HUGE pipe organs so the poor guy was moving all 10 fingers and his feet in a million directions at once. It was really interesting to hear and watch.
Now we are back to the dorm. Silly little things happen all day and i can never seem to remember exactly what it was except that we spend a lot of time laughing continuosly. You rarely are in 1 location that everyone around you is speaking the same language and people are everywhere it seems. We do seem to stand out with our Texan politeness but that even happens in big cities in Texas.
As we look towards next week we realize time is flying by and our schedules are booked pretty solid. I'll definately be looking for "Nellie" at Loch Ness this weekend and I'll have my camera ready. If I see her I'll try to catch her, but I have to be careful because it is illigal to kill her if she does exist!
Tomorrow we are off to another art museum and Mary King's Close then I think we will return to study for the 2nd midterm for Fri. and to work on the projects and papers we also have coming up!
I hope you are enjoying the Texsas Heat. I know we'd all be happier if we could find an even medium between the two places.
Kait
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday
I have no idea how people in this country get ready in the morning. We woke up today and the sun was shining and there was no wind and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. We went in for class and came back out 2 hours later and there was complete cloud cover and it was raining again.
After we finished with class, we had plans to go to Mary King's Close, which is this mediaeval period tour through a 'close' in downtown Edinburgh. A close is pretty much a tiny alley way that was once a street but because of buildings going up and stuff the spaces are really small now. This close in particular is basically underground and has a wild history based on things that happened mostly during the plague. The people that lived there were very poor and the tour guides are people dressed in period clothing discussing the life of the people that lived there during the time. We didn't actually make it to the Close because we stopped to make reservations for our trip to Loch Ness on Saturday!! The line in the visitors center was ridiculous so we didn't have time for much else afterward. We also got tickets to the Highland games which is part of this "Homecoming 2009" that Edinburgh is putting on this summer. The games will include a fair like atmosphere with field events somewhat like the traditional olympic events going on. Lots of Scottish heritage stuff going on, including some whiskey tasting which I plan to do a little of. That was Aaron's 1 request was some authentic Scottish whiskey, so i figure I should atleast try some out before i bring it home!
The trip to Loch Ness will head out at 8:00am which means we are leaving the university at 6:30 to make sure we get to the pick-up site on time. We could have done a tour that picked us up at the University but it was on a large Charter style bus and the tour we chose is on a 'luxury minibus' which means we'll be in a smaller group. We'll visit a little villiage on our way to the Loch and have lunch when we get there with an optional boat tour on the water, which costs extra of course. Then a lot of the other time is spent driving through the Highlands and stopping to take pictures and things. We'll see Stirling Castle from a distance and some other really popular stuff I'll explain when we get back from the tour. The price is actually really reasonable. $60ish for a 12 hour tour. It sounds better at 36pounds. We have been getting student discounts just about everywhere, including the movie theatre. I was kind of surprised by that. I don't notice student discounts, if we get them, in the US. Even just in San Angelo. Maybe it is just here in Edinburgh because of the large tourist destination.
Oh I almost forgot. We had Haggis tonight!!! It wasn't nearly as creepy and disgusting as I thought it was goign to be. It had the texture of ground deer meat, kind of dry, but it had a brown gravy kind of sauce on it that carried most of the flavor. it was definately edible, but I don't think I'd ever order it for myself as a meal.
I am off to bed. We have a midterm in the morning... yes we are actually doing school work! Have a great Wednesday!
kait
After we finished with class, we had plans to go to Mary King's Close, which is this mediaeval period tour through a 'close' in downtown Edinburgh. A close is pretty much a tiny alley way that was once a street but because of buildings going up and stuff the spaces are really small now. This close in particular is basically underground and has a wild history based on things that happened mostly during the plague. The people that lived there were very poor and the tour guides are people dressed in period clothing discussing the life of the people that lived there during the time. We didn't actually make it to the Close because we stopped to make reservations for our trip to Loch Ness on Saturday!! The line in the visitors center was ridiculous so we didn't have time for much else afterward. We also got tickets to the Highland games which is part of this "Homecoming 2009" that Edinburgh is putting on this summer. The games will include a fair like atmosphere with field events somewhat like the traditional olympic events going on. Lots of Scottish heritage stuff going on, including some whiskey tasting which I plan to do a little of. That was Aaron's 1 request was some authentic Scottish whiskey, so i figure I should atleast try some out before i bring it home!
The trip to Loch Ness will head out at 8:00am which means we are leaving the university at 6:30 to make sure we get to the pick-up site on time. We could have done a tour that picked us up at the University but it was on a large Charter style bus and the tour we chose is on a 'luxury minibus' which means we'll be in a smaller group. We'll visit a little villiage on our way to the Loch and have lunch when we get there with an optional boat tour on the water, which costs extra of course. Then a lot of the other time is spent driving through the Highlands and stopping to take pictures and things. We'll see Stirling Castle from a distance and some other really popular stuff I'll explain when we get back from the tour. The price is actually really reasonable. $60ish for a 12 hour tour. It sounds better at 36pounds. We have been getting student discounts just about everywhere, including the movie theatre. I was kind of surprised by that. I don't notice student discounts, if we get them, in the US. Even just in San Angelo. Maybe it is just here in Edinburgh because of the large tourist destination.
Oh I almost forgot. We had Haggis tonight!!! It wasn't nearly as creepy and disgusting as I thought it was goign to be. It had the texture of ground deer meat, kind of dry, but it had a brown gravy kind of sauce on it that carried most of the flavor. it was definately edible, but I don't think I'd ever order it for myself as a meal.
I am off to bed. We have a midterm in the morning... yes we are actually doing school work! Have a great Wednesday!
kait
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday!
We started back to class again today, which is why I didn't blog yesterday. I knew I had a busy week ahead, and I had just finished a non-stop week and I just took a little time to myself. You didn't miss much on Sunday.
We went back to St. Giles for a later service, which allowed us to sleep in a little. We stayed downtown for the rest of the afternoon and went to some shops we had seen things in and found some new places to look. I wouldn't ever imagine that cobblestones and 3 story 200+year old houses would get to be a 'normal' thing to see, but I've gotten there I think. The city is definately beautiful and unique to anything we have in the US. I could live here easily if the dang wind would quit blowing.
We went to a 'high tea' at 3:00 at the Balmoaral Hotel. It is a very fancy hotel and we had a very fancy tea with a variety of finger sandwiches, scones (a glorified biscuit) and cakes. It was enough food for an army. With the tea itself they brough out 'tea cakes' like Granny Dot used to make. That was great for me to have. They had a blackberry jam I tried with them that was fantastic. I tried everything, and most of it was amazing. For most of you, you know that I'm satisfied with Ramen noodles and a ham and cheese sandwich so getting me to try anything new is a stretch.
In the variety was a salmon and cucumber sandwich, which I was determined to try, even though I HATE seafood. I was pretty impressed with myself for even trying, so I took a tiny bite and made a realization. It had fresh Dill on it. I couldn't even taste the salmon because the horrid memories of a month full of fresh dill ran thorugh my senses. I did what I could to swallow it quickly, but the taste just overtook me. I have never had a reaction to a food taste quite like that one. I seriuosly didn't even have a chance to notice how the salmon tasted. Everyone looked at me like I had lost my mind, and I kind of felt like I had, but for those of you who read my blogs from last year, you know that Dill was the last thing I ever wanted to see again... minus the Russian men in speedos.
We finally have sunshine for the first time in a week and the wind won't quit blowing. And it is an icy cold wind coming off of the North Sea (I think) Its just like a tease to wake up in the morning and see blue skies and walk out side and still be miserably cold. The ground has finally dried out enough that the soccer teams are back on the fields. I haven't seen anyone out there for several days.
The Italians are still here, and as annoying as can be. I swear to you that every child between 12-15 from Italy is in Edinburgh right now. You think I am exaggerating, but they are EVERYWHERE, and it isn't just the ones staying on our campus. There are groups of them at different universities all over the city. We are just thankful that they are not in our dorm.
After class, 3:00, we went in to town just for a little while and had an early supper. We've been eating pretty small lunches, and going to bed reasonably early, which makes it easy, and convinient during tourist season, to eat early. I just had a plain old burger, but I made the mistake of putting mustard on it, which was REALLY stong on the vinegar side, but the burger was good over all. It was at a little pub and it came with fries, which were really good, and a little salad.
I have several projects due in the next few days, so I guess I should get some research done.
Thanks again for reading! Kait
We went back to St. Giles for a later service, which allowed us to sleep in a little. We stayed downtown for the rest of the afternoon and went to some shops we had seen things in and found some new places to look. I wouldn't ever imagine that cobblestones and 3 story 200+year old houses would get to be a 'normal' thing to see, but I've gotten there I think. The city is definately beautiful and unique to anything we have in the US. I could live here easily if the dang wind would quit blowing.
We went to a 'high tea' at 3:00 at the Balmoaral Hotel. It is a very fancy hotel and we had a very fancy tea with a variety of finger sandwiches, scones (a glorified biscuit) and cakes. It was enough food for an army. With the tea itself they brough out 'tea cakes' like Granny Dot used to make. That was great for me to have. They had a blackberry jam I tried with them that was fantastic. I tried everything, and most of it was amazing. For most of you, you know that I'm satisfied with Ramen noodles and a ham and cheese sandwich so getting me to try anything new is a stretch.
In the variety was a salmon and cucumber sandwich, which I was determined to try, even though I HATE seafood. I was pretty impressed with myself for even trying, so I took a tiny bite and made a realization. It had fresh Dill on it. I couldn't even taste the salmon because the horrid memories of a month full of fresh dill ran thorugh my senses. I did what I could to swallow it quickly, but the taste just overtook me. I have never had a reaction to a food taste quite like that one. I seriuosly didn't even have a chance to notice how the salmon tasted. Everyone looked at me like I had lost my mind, and I kind of felt like I had, but for those of you who read my blogs from last year, you know that Dill was the last thing I ever wanted to see again... minus the Russian men in speedos.
We finally have sunshine for the first time in a week and the wind won't quit blowing. And it is an icy cold wind coming off of the North Sea (I think) Its just like a tease to wake up in the morning and see blue skies and walk out side and still be miserably cold. The ground has finally dried out enough that the soccer teams are back on the fields. I haven't seen anyone out there for several days.
The Italians are still here, and as annoying as can be. I swear to you that every child between 12-15 from Italy is in Edinburgh right now. You think I am exaggerating, but they are EVERYWHERE, and it isn't just the ones staying on our campus. There are groups of them at different universities all over the city. We are just thankful that they are not in our dorm.
After class, 3:00, we went in to town just for a little while and had an early supper. We've been eating pretty small lunches, and going to bed reasonably early, which makes it easy, and convinient during tourist season, to eat early. I just had a plain old burger, but I made the mistake of putting mustard on it, which was REALLY stong on the vinegar side, but the burger was good over all. It was at a little pub and it came with fries, which were really good, and a little salad.
I have several projects due in the next few days, so I guess I should get some research done.
Thanks again for reading! Kait
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Saturday, a little sunshine
Today had a little later start, but not by much. We made it to the Royal Botanical Gardens without getting rained on, but it was still a little chilly to really enjoy them too much. The rest of the day's plans was to include a new modern scutpture garden. As soon as we made it to the bus exchange the heavens opened up and just POURED. It was the worst rainfall we've been caught in so far, so Dr. Scott called off the second garden trip and we went back to the University.
I took a little nap and met up with Heather and the Scotts (Dr. Scott, the group leader, his wife Debborah, and their 15 year old daughter Lori) and we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I was by far the most lost. I haven't watched any of the other movies and haven't read a book since the 3rd one in like 8th grade. Heather updated me throughout so it made sense. Lori wants to watch it in the states when she gets back to see if anything is different. I told her that the only difference is going to be that in the states you will watch the movie full of British accents and walk out hearing Texans, here we watched it with British accents and it never changed when we left. We were still hearing Brittish/Scottish accents.
We met a lady at a bus stop a couple days ago, and I told momma I'd tell you about her. She was an older lady who grew up here during the war. She was just soo excited to talk to us and asking lots of questions. She was definately from a time when your last name mean EVERYTHING. A time of set social classes and monetary value to a name. I had no idea who she was talking about, but I humored her.
She told us, after hearing where we are from, that during the war time everyone was rationed a comb and they used it until it just wasn't usable at all. She said the teeth would fall out and you were left with just pieces of comb left, which they called their 'Texas' comb..... it was full of wide open spaces. I thought that was absolutely hilarious and we told her that TEXAS is indeed full of wide open spaces.
The other thing about this woman, which is something I encountered in Russia too, is that their personal space 'bubble' is MUCH smaller than the American. She just kept getting closer and closer and closer, until she was just barely hovering over me. It gets to be quite uncomfortable but it happens everywhere. In stores and waiting in line, they just seem to be standing right on top of you.
What else. I am NOT sure about the conversion, but thats what Dr. Scott said. No, I haven't noticed any larger crowds bc of the Open. They may get larger after it is over, perhaps? I haven't kept up with that at all. We've stayed busy busy busy.
Tomorrow is church again, at St. Giles. We are having issues finding Catholic churches. They still haven't made a real comback after the Protestant reformation and most of the churches have stayed Anglican or Church of England, which are REALLY close to Catholic in my opinion.
I feel like i'm loosing my mind and can never remember what questions I've answered and which ones I haven't and what I've told who. I'm really glad I was able to do the blog again, even if ya'll are having difficulty answering back, it does make it easier to share with everyone at once. It has ended in a late night again and I'm going to get some sleep to start my day tomorrow.
Have a great Sunday, I'll talk to you soon.
kait
I took a little nap and met up with Heather and the Scotts (Dr. Scott, the group leader, his wife Debborah, and their 15 year old daughter Lori) and we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I was by far the most lost. I haven't watched any of the other movies and haven't read a book since the 3rd one in like 8th grade. Heather updated me throughout so it made sense. Lori wants to watch it in the states when she gets back to see if anything is different. I told her that the only difference is going to be that in the states you will watch the movie full of British accents and walk out hearing Texans, here we watched it with British accents and it never changed when we left. We were still hearing Brittish/Scottish accents.
We met a lady at a bus stop a couple days ago, and I told momma I'd tell you about her. She was an older lady who grew up here during the war. She was just soo excited to talk to us and asking lots of questions. She was definately from a time when your last name mean EVERYTHING. A time of set social classes and monetary value to a name. I had no idea who she was talking about, but I humored her.
She told us, after hearing where we are from, that during the war time everyone was rationed a comb and they used it until it just wasn't usable at all. She said the teeth would fall out and you were left with just pieces of comb left, which they called their 'Texas' comb..... it was full of wide open spaces. I thought that was absolutely hilarious and we told her that TEXAS is indeed full of wide open spaces.
The other thing about this woman, which is something I encountered in Russia too, is that their personal space 'bubble' is MUCH smaller than the American. She just kept getting closer and closer and closer, until she was just barely hovering over me. It gets to be quite uncomfortable but it happens everywhere. In stores and waiting in line, they just seem to be standing right on top of you.
What else. I am NOT sure about the conversion, but thats what Dr. Scott said. No, I haven't noticed any larger crowds bc of the Open. They may get larger after it is over, perhaps? I haven't kept up with that at all. We've stayed busy busy busy.
Tomorrow is church again, at St. Giles. We are having issues finding Catholic churches. They still haven't made a real comback after the Protestant reformation and most of the churches have stayed Anglican or Church of England, which are REALLY close to Catholic in my opinion.
I feel like i'm loosing my mind and can never remember what questions I've answered and which ones I haven't and what I've told who. I'm really glad I was able to do the blog again, even if ya'll are having difficulty answering back, it does make it easier to share with everyone at once. It has ended in a late night again and I'm going to get some sleep to start my day tomorrow.
Have a great Sunday, I'll talk to you soon.
kait
Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday!
Friday doesn't mean much for us. We continue with studies through the weekend, with the afternoons off, but class in the morning.
We were all very exhausted and a little grumpy after our miles and miles of walking and train rides yesterday. The original plan was to visit the national botanical gardens and Rosslyn Chapel. But since it has beenaining for 3 days, he decided we would start with Rosslyn first. The bus that runs to that part of town only runs like every 45 min. so after getting in to the center of town we had to wait for that bus and take it out to Rosslyn, which is the name of the town it is in. We got there and had to hike down a hill to find the church that was honestly, disapointing. I really wish I could come here and tell you all how amazing and fantastic it was, but whether it be the sour mood I was in, the rain, or the truth, I really wasn't impressed.
Don't get me wrong, the detail work in the 500 year old church was really impressive. The problem is that in the last 15 years they have started a renovation project. 10 years ago they built a metal canopy over it to protect it from the rain and allow it to dry out. It had been there so long and endured so much of this Scottish rain that it was begining to grow lots of Algae and it was deteriorating the stone work. Now it is finally dry enough for them to begin restoring the roof.
It almost seems though that one day someone realize "oh wow, this thing is going to fall down, we need to restore it. We need a lot of money, how can we do that.... Oh yeah lets invite alot of people, charge admission and we'll make money" It has become such a tourist area that people forget it is a church. There were so many people walking around this small chapel, which is used for services on Sunday, that you can't even focus much energy on what you are looking at. It was interesting though to see the mix of symbolism used in the church, including pagan beliefs, early Catholic ideals, and things supposed to be connected to the Knights of Templar.
after Rosslyn we were all very grumpy and we returned back to campus. I had given myself a headache from tensing up and shivering, so I took a nap and here I am now.
Several people have e-mail and asked about the simple things here in Scotland and I'll try to answer as much of that as possible. I am really sorry the commenting isn't working! I don't know what the deal is.
Gas prices here are 100.9 pence per liter. 100 Pence is 1 pound and then you have to convert liters to gallons and Pounds to dollars... so by what Dr. Scott says, that equals somewhere around $5 a gallon. Most of the cars and vehicles we don't really have in the states, even the ones made by Ford and VW. They are very tiny 2 door cars that have very good gas mileage. You don't really see many old cars at all. A Ford focus looks like a big car and a Mustang would be enormous. Of course there are exceptions to the rules but generally they are very tiny cars. They pay much more for them too. I also heard that they are charged another tax for owning a car. Its one of the govt. ways of promoting the "green" movement and trying to cut back on traffic congestion. I can't even imagine tryign to drive anywhere here anyway. I would never know which traffic light to look at or which way to go around the "round-a-bouts".
From what I can tell about the normal cuisine it is a lot of Fish products, because Edinburgh is so close to the sea. Fish and Chips is very common, which is just fried fish with french fries which are 'chips' here. Haggis is actually very common, and I still haven't eaten it. It is a sausage like material, I think. It is basically everything left after the sheep has been properly butchered, and cooked with spices. They eat a lot of potato items, which has been nice. Potatos are pretty common and edible however you cook them. They have the 'pies' which is usually a roasted meat with vegetables topped with a bread of some sort. I was expecting like a pot pie, but it wasn't quite like that.
there are several American resteraunts that have made there way to the country. Dominos and Pizza Hut, Subway and Quiznos, TGIFridays and the Hard Rock Cafe, McDonalds and Burger King. And actually Burger King seems to be more prevalent here... I'm sure McDonalds isn't happy about that, but it is true. The places that you don't see many American brands are in the grocery stores, becuse they have their own brand of most things we have, and food products are probably not the best to be trying to figure out shipment or new factories here, although Kellogs is here in the form of breakfast cereals. Of course they have Coke products and we've even found Dr. Pepper in several stores, although I've tried to stay away from it. I've found American shampoo and conditioner, soaps, ect.
The prices aren't much different in the fact that something that costs 1 dollar in TX costs about 1 pound here, except because of the exchange rate 1 pound is equal to 1.60ish. So things are a little more expensive compared to what we are paying for them in the states.
We are going to try to make it to see the new Harry Potter movie tomorrow. I personally am not a harry potter fan, but I am interested in the cinema experience in the UK.
This message has gotten a little lengthy and not the most entertaining of them all. I'll update you soon on the movie experience and the other basic things as I think of them. Email me questions if you'd like. kmsoso11@yahoo.com
Have a good HOTT day. It was about 54 today and I was freeeeeeeezing. I could use a little west texas dry heat.
Talk to you soon,
Kaitlyn
We were all very exhausted and a little grumpy after our miles and miles of walking and train rides yesterday. The original plan was to visit the national botanical gardens and Rosslyn Chapel. But since it has beenaining for 3 days, he decided we would start with Rosslyn first. The bus that runs to that part of town only runs like every 45 min. so after getting in to the center of town we had to wait for that bus and take it out to Rosslyn, which is the name of the town it is in. We got there and had to hike down a hill to find the church that was honestly, disapointing. I really wish I could come here and tell you all how amazing and fantastic it was, but whether it be the sour mood I was in, the rain, or the truth, I really wasn't impressed.
Don't get me wrong, the detail work in the 500 year old church was really impressive. The problem is that in the last 15 years they have started a renovation project. 10 years ago they built a metal canopy over it to protect it from the rain and allow it to dry out. It had been there so long and endured so much of this Scottish rain that it was begining to grow lots of Algae and it was deteriorating the stone work. Now it is finally dry enough for them to begin restoring the roof.
It almost seems though that one day someone realize "oh wow, this thing is going to fall down, we need to restore it. We need a lot of money, how can we do that.... Oh yeah lets invite alot of people, charge admission and we'll make money" It has become such a tourist area that people forget it is a church. There were so many people walking around this small chapel, which is used for services on Sunday, that you can't even focus much energy on what you are looking at. It was interesting though to see the mix of symbolism used in the church, including pagan beliefs, early Catholic ideals, and things supposed to be connected to the Knights of Templar.
after Rosslyn we were all very grumpy and we returned back to campus. I had given myself a headache from tensing up and shivering, so I took a nap and here I am now.
Several people have e-mail and asked about the simple things here in Scotland and I'll try to answer as much of that as possible. I am really sorry the commenting isn't working! I don't know what the deal is.
Gas prices here are 100.9 pence per liter. 100 Pence is 1 pound and then you have to convert liters to gallons and Pounds to dollars... so by what Dr. Scott says, that equals somewhere around $5 a gallon. Most of the cars and vehicles we don't really have in the states, even the ones made by Ford and VW. They are very tiny 2 door cars that have very good gas mileage. You don't really see many old cars at all. A Ford focus looks like a big car and a Mustang would be enormous. Of course there are exceptions to the rules but generally they are very tiny cars. They pay much more for them too. I also heard that they are charged another tax for owning a car. Its one of the govt. ways of promoting the "green" movement and trying to cut back on traffic congestion. I can't even imagine tryign to drive anywhere here anyway. I would never know which traffic light to look at or which way to go around the "round-a-bouts".
From what I can tell about the normal cuisine it is a lot of Fish products, because Edinburgh is so close to the sea. Fish and Chips is very common, which is just fried fish with french fries which are 'chips' here. Haggis is actually very common, and I still haven't eaten it. It is a sausage like material, I think. It is basically everything left after the sheep has been properly butchered, and cooked with spices. They eat a lot of potato items, which has been nice. Potatos are pretty common and edible however you cook them. They have the 'pies' which is usually a roasted meat with vegetables topped with a bread of some sort. I was expecting like a pot pie, but it wasn't quite like that.
there are several American resteraunts that have made there way to the country. Dominos and Pizza Hut, Subway and Quiznos, TGIFridays and the Hard Rock Cafe, McDonalds and Burger King. And actually Burger King seems to be more prevalent here... I'm sure McDonalds isn't happy about that, but it is true. The places that you don't see many American brands are in the grocery stores, becuse they have their own brand of most things we have, and food products are probably not the best to be trying to figure out shipment or new factories here, although Kellogs is here in the form of breakfast cereals. Of course they have Coke products and we've even found Dr. Pepper in several stores, although I've tried to stay away from it. I've found American shampoo and conditioner, soaps, ect.
The prices aren't much different in the fact that something that costs 1 dollar in TX costs about 1 pound here, except because of the exchange rate 1 pound is equal to 1.60ish. So things are a little more expensive compared to what we are paying for them in the states.
We are going to try to make it to see the new Harry Potter movie tomorrow. I personally am not a harry potter fan, but I am interested in the cinema experience in the UK.
This message has gotten a little lengthy and not the most entertaining of them all. I'll update you soon on the movie experience and the other basic things as I think of them. Email me questions if you'd like. kmsoso11@yahoo.com
Have a good HOTT day. It was about 54 today and I was freeeeeeeezing. I could use a little west texas dry heat.
Talk to you soon,
Kaitlyn
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday, Glascow, Walking, Exhaustion
Today we got up early and headed for Glascow, which is the only other major city in Scotland. It has been said to be one of the greatest cultural areas in Eupope next to London, I'm not sure if I agree but, hey whatever.
I think I have to comment, because I don't think i've really told you before, that we have to take a city bus to get in to the center of town. What is supposed to take 30 min. is actually closer to 45 because of HUGE construction going on which means the traffic is horrible and the bus has to make detours.
So we took the bus in, then caught the train for another 45 min. I had woken up at about 6:40, and for most of you, you know that is about 5 hours earlier than I would prefer, and then riding for 2 hours didn't help my mood!
We made it to Glascow and saw a couple modern exhibits... I'm really not fond of this new post-modernist extremist stuff. We are getting to a point that 'Art' is being stretched to a whole new level and its not even enjoyable for the 'common' person. I have no idea how bananas in a window is art. No clue, and some stuff gets to a whole new level with their topic. Anyway, we did get to go to St. Mungols (I think) cathedral and they have a really extensive exhibit on religion in general, that was interesting. It was kind of quick and easy explanation of most religions and their beliefs and history.
We also went to another really interesting museum, which neither Heather or I can remember the name right now. I still haven't really figured out if I liked it. It was almost too much and too busy for me, but the object of the building was nice.
They tried to do a very educational layout for everyone, young and old. They had interactive displays in each room for children to play with that went along with the topics in each room. Paintings we hung in order of relevance to the genre they were in, not necessarily by artist or anything. I just found it kind of confusing. It would be great for families, but it wasn't really what I was looking for. It was the first museum we've been to that wasn't strictly focused on art and I was hoping to have some more interesting artifacts there. They did have an Egyptian room that was really great and we got to see one painting by Salvador Dali.
Heather is pushing me to share my distraught feelings about the stuffed elephant that was in the natural history portion of the museum. I felt so horrible after reading this elephant's story! They called him Sir Roger the Elephant, and he started life out as a circus elephant, which is bad enough, but then they moved him to a zoo to finish out his years.
We he had a great keeper that would even take him out for walks in the countryside. He was a great elephant and everyone loved him. Well as Sir Roger reached 'manhood' he became violent and uncontrollable because he wanted a female friend! The decided he was too much of a danger and fed him breakfast one morning while several soldiers and a man with an elephant gun came and shot him while he was eating!! They stuffed him and put him on display at the zoo and then moved him to this museum where he was put in a box for three years while they renovated the building aroud him!
I was just totally upset about it, and I am still mortified about the poor elephant's horrible life! Now he is standing around on display for all the world to see and read his story about his uncontrollable hormones!
Ok now that it is off my chest, and you are all throughouly disturbed, I will say goodnight so I can get to bed and get some sleep.
I've enjoyed reading my comments, I know that most of you are having a hard time getting the system to work. I'm not sure what has changed between last year and this year, but I know ya'll are out there, and I hope your enjoying my trip. I haven't ventured in to any dark alleys, and I'm soaking in as much information (and rain) as I can. I am not prepared for the heat stroke I am going to have getting off the plane. Someone should probably suggest that a couple ambulances just meet us at the runway. I'm enjoying myself, and I miss ya'll but I won't lie and say I miss the Texas heat. The Texas flatlands, maybe, but not the heat. Have a good day
Kait
I think I have to comment, because I don't think i've really told you before, that we have to take a city bus to get in to the center of town. What is supposed to take 30 min. is actually closer to 45 because of HUGE construction going on which means the traffic is horrible and the bus has to make detours.
So we took the bus in, then caught the train for another 45 min. I had woken up at about 6:40, and for most of you, you know that is about 5 hours earlier than I would prefer, and then riding for 2 hours didn't help my mood!
We made it to Glascow and saw a couple modern exhibits... I'm really not fond of this new post-modernist extremist stuff. We are getting to a point that 'Art' is being stretched to a whole new level and its not even enjoyable for the 'common' person. I have no idea how bananas in a window is art. No clue, and some stuff gets to a whole new level with their topic. Anyway, we did get to go to St. Mungols (I think) cathedral and they have a really extensive exhibit on religion in general, that was interesting. It was kind of quick and easy explanation of most religions and their beliefs and history.
We also went to another really interesting museum, which neither Heather or I can remember the name right now. I still haven't really figured out if I liked it. It was almost too much and too busy for me, but the object of the building was nice.
They tried to do a very educational layout for everyone, young and old. They had interactive displays in each room for children to play with that went along with the topics in each room. Paintings we hung in order of relevance to the genre they were in, not necessarily by artist or anything. I just found it kind of confusing. It would be great for families, but it wasn't really what I was looking for. It was the first museum we've been to that wasn't strictly focused on art and I was hoping to have some more interesting artifacts there. They did have an Egyptian room that was really great and we got to see one painting by Salvador Dali.
Heather is pushing me to share my distraught feelings about the stuffed elephant that was in the natural history portion of the museum. I felt so horrible after reading this elephant's story! They called him Sir Roger the Elephant, and he started life out as a circus elephant, which is bad enough, but then they moved him to a zoo to finish out his years.
We he had a great keeper that would even take him out for walks in the countryside. He was a great elephant and everyone loved him. Well as Sir Roger reached 'manhood' he became violent and uncontrollable because he wanted a female friend! The decided he was too much of a danger and fed him breakfast one morning while several soldiers and a man with an elephant gun came and shot him while he was eating!! They stuffed him and put him on display at the zoo and then moved him to this museum where he was put in a box for three years while they renovated the building aroud him!
I was just totally upset about it, and I am still mortified about the poor elephant's horrible life! Now he is standing around on display for all the world to see and read his story about his uncontrollable hormones!
Ok now that it is off my chest, and you are all throughouly disturbed, I will say goodnight so I can get to bed and get some sleep.
I've enjoyed reading my comments, I know that most of you are having a hard time getting the system to work. I'm not sure what has changed between last year and this year, but I know ya'll are out there, and I hope your enjoying my trip. I haven't ventured in to any dark alleys, and I'm soaking in as much information (and rain) as I can. I am not prepared for the heat stroke I am going to have getting off the plane. Someone should probably suggest that a couple ambulances just meet us at the runway. I'm enjoying myself, and I miss ya'll but I won't lie and say I miss the Texas heat. The Texas flatlands, maybe, but not the heat. Have a good day
Kait
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wed. Thats What??
Today started out in the National Modern Art Museum and the Dean Gallery, which is also a modern art exhibition.
It is pretty easy to say that I am not a modernist. I really enjoy the bright colors and fun things that were done in the 60s and during the Pop art era, but the dark and depressing things, I just don't get. Especially the 'surrealists' that basically believed art should funnel straight from the unconsiousness to the art medium, which means they get totally wierd stuff out of it. Most of the time they had to be chemically altered to see what they see... HAD to.
But we saw a lot of the modern artists, a piece or two by each, none of which I could name for you off the top of my head right now. They just don't make that much of an impact on me. Actually, now that I think of it, most of the works that I did connect with and make note about where done my Russian artists... hmm.
We ate a light lunch downtown and did a little more exploring, but made it home early enough to do laundry, Which on a college campus is ALWAYS an interesting experience.
We were the only ones there when we got there, armed with books and journals to keep us busy. We started laundry, and eventually 7 people speaking a foreign language walk in. (Heriot-Watt, where we are staying, uses its facilities throughout the summer for various activities for young and old... mostly educational, but there are also like Tennis camp and things going on) They wandered around the laundry room that only has 4 washers and 4 dryers and realized they were all full... 3 with out sutff, 1 with stuff that had been there a while. We tried to help them a little, I'm still not sure if we did, but they thenrealized we were native English speakers. One girl approached me and told me she was German (They all were) and that they were there trying to get a Business Administration credit taken care of during the summer so they wouldn't have to take it back home. In short, they have a 1500-2000 word essay as part of their final and she asked if we would help proof it. Of course we agreed, we were BORED. As I went through the paper the first time, correcting basic errors, Heather took on the task of trying to talk to her. It was interesting, but not very difficult. Her paper was actually more well written than some college students in the states, sadly. Heonly mistakes were basic verb usuage, and even when whole sentances had to be re-done it was because the verbs just weren't working well together.
Anyway, I finish my edit, which turned out to be a little more complicated because at one point I looked down at the keyboard to hit the 'delete' key and I giggled outloud because I had just realized that it was a German keyboard and I didn't understand anything other than the basic letters. Also, I just realized I had been making edits like "Today" and it read "Todaz" because the Y and Z on the german keyboard is reversed!
Then Heather takes over. She is an English major, and my corrections allowed her to whiz through it and find bigger issues. We were almost to the last page of the essay, when the "Battery dead, shutting down" (I assume thats what it said, since it was in German, everything in German looks scary) all Three of us do a big sigh and "OOOOooooo" in the exact same tone, like we'd been practicing it for weeks. We hope that she was able to get her computer upstairs and into a plug to recover the work we had done. I feel so horrible for her if it didn't!
That was the excitement for our day. A lot of on-again-off-again rain and sunshine with the high being in the lower 60s.
We head to Glascow tomorrow for more museums and things.
Have a great day! We're over the hump and its Thursday!!... well for me anyway ;)
Kait
It is pretty easy to say that I am not a modernist. I really enjoy the bright colors and fun things that were done in the 60s and during the Pop art era, but the dark and depressing things, I just don't get. Especially the 'surrealists' that basically believed art should funnel straight from the unconsiousness to the art medium, which means they get totally wierd stuff out of it. Most of the time they had to be chemically altered to see what they see... HAD to.
But we saw a lot of the modern artists, a piece or two by each, none of which I could name for you off the top of my head right now. They just don't make that much of an impact on me. Actually, now that I think of it, most of the works that I did connect with and make note about where done my Russian artists... hmm.
We ate a light lunch downtown and did a little more exploring, but made it home early enough to do laundry, Which on a college campus is ALWAYS an interesting experience.
We were the only ones there when we got there, armed with books and journals to keep us busy. We started laundry, and eventually 7 people speaking a foreign language walk in. (Heriot-Watt, where we are staying, uses its facilities throughout the summer for various activities for young and old... mostly educational, but there are also like Tennis camp and things going on) They wandered around the laundry room that only has 4 washers and 4 dryers and realized they were all full... 3 with out sutff, 1 with stuff that had been there a while. We tried to help them a little, I'm still not sure if we did, but they thenrealized we were native English speakers. One girl approached me and told me she was German (They all were) and that they were there trying to get a Business Administration credit taken care of during the summer so they wouldn't have to take it back home. In short, they have a 1500-2000 word essay as part of their final and she asked if we would help proof it. Of course we agreed, we were BORED. As I went through the paper the first time, correcting basic errors, Heather took on the task of trying to talk to her. It was interesting, but not very difficult. Her paper was actually more well written than some college students in the states, sadly. Heonly mistakes were basic verb usuage, and even when whole sentances had to be re-done it was because the verbs just weren't working well together.
Anyway, I finish my edit, which turned out to be a little more complicated because at one point I looked down at the keyboard to hit the 'delete' key and I giggled outloud because I had just realized that it was a German keyboard and I didn't understand anything other than the basic letters. Also, I just realized I had been making edits like "Today" and it read "Todaz" because the Y and Z on the german keyboard is reversed!
Then Heather takes over. She is an English major, and my corrections allowed her to whiz through it and find bigger issues. We were almost to the last page of the essay, when the "Battery dead, shutting down" (I assume thats what it said, since it was in German, everything in German looks scary) all Three of us do a big sigh and "OOOOooooo" in the exact same tone, like we'd been practicing it for weeks. We hope that she was able to get her computer upstairs and into a plug to recover the work we had done. I feel so horrible for her if it didn't!
That was the excitement for our day. A lot of on-again-off-again rain and sunshine with the high being in the lower 60s.
We head to Glascow tomorrow for more museums and things.
Have a great day! We're over the hump and its Thursday!!... well for me anyway ;)
Kait
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