Let me tell you that I love you, and that I think about you all the time

Tonight was our traditional Sunday night pub quiz at the Med. Always been a lot of fun the times that I have gone; but my team got second place tonight!!!! Go IDK & DC (that was our team name). Past team names have included the Pudding Snatchers and Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll. I take no credit for any of the names; I just go for the fun! I realized that tonight was our last one....waaah!!! My time here in Scotland is soon coming to an end, and it makes me a wee bit sad. I wish I had some pictures from here or past nights, but oh well. The memories will stick.

This is a relatively short post tonight, folks. By the way, I'm totally rocking out to MMBOP. I know; I'm such a loser....or like it says on my facebook an enigma. But some of you are probably wondering the title of my blog. It's actually lyrics to a song titled "Caledonia," and it's basically a love song to Scotland. Quite a beautiful song I must say. I'll post some of the words below. That's about it for now. About to endure my last week here in beautiful Scotland. I will cherish this song for quite a while because it's so dear to me and makes me think about my wonderful time here. Cheers!

Let me tell you that I love you and that I think about you all the time
Caledonia, you're calling me and now I'm going home 
If I should become a stranger, you know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had 


...lost a friend that needed losing, but found others on the way


and that's why I seem so far away today...

My last week in beautiful Scotland

Yes, sadly, the time has come. I will be on my way home a week from today. It's surreal already; I still remember vividly the first day I arrived here. No point in dwelling on that now; that'll probably come next week. I actually just realized that I can open my window further to make it cooler in my room. And I've been here HOW LONG?! That's actually the first of several different Scottish observations that I've made. I would like to share some of them with you now. Enjoy.

* The age requirement for obtaining a driver's license is 17, and you have to pay 21 pounds/hour to do driving school. Yikes!
* Food here generally tastes better and IS better for you. Most processed foods here don't use as many preservatives as in the states. And pop, soda, soft drinks, whatever are not made with high fructose corn syrup. Which means my first drink of pop in the US will not be pretty.
* Most cars here have standard transmissions. If I move here, I'm in big trouble.
* Again, with cars, the driver's seat is normally on the right side. However, I have seen a few cars with the seat on the left side.
* I will definitely not miss my shower in the US. Here in my flat, you have to repeatedly push the small button above the shower nozzle otherwise the water will shut off. I don't know if that's a kick to save water or what, but it is a wee bit annoying.
* Having said that, I have been known to slip random Scottish jargon into my every day vocabulary.
* Excessive drinking and smoking are unfortunately very prevalent here. Nasty!
* A lot of girls here wear leggings and shorts, mostly with flats or ankle boots. Now me personally I do not think leggings qualify as pants, but hey, certain people can pull it off. I just happen to be one of those people in which it doesn't, and I am totally ok with that. 
* Coke is actually not the number one selling soft drink here. Irn Bru would be (it's local). 
* There is rarely a full day of sun here. Although last week it was out 2 days in a row. Locals were stunned!
* "Cheers" is used frequently in place of thank you or it's what someone says after you pay them for a service (at a store).
* Despite lots of drinking and smoking, the locals are relatively friendly, with the exception of the rude bus driver. >.< 
* At most restaurants, you pay before you eat. There's only one place in Berea that does that.
* Shopping carts=trolleys. Lines=queues. More Scottish jargon 101.
* Contrary to in the states, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way here. Yes, I know this; I was almost hit in Edinburgh yesterday. If you do not pay attention or you assume you have the right of way, DON'T. They will run your bum over! 

That's all my observations for now, all in 3 weeks. Have fun reading. Cheers! 

Off to the Dungeons...BOO THE CRIMINAL!!!

So that was an interesting start to my morning. Alarm clocks I must say are quite useful...if one only remembers to turn ON the set alarm. I had this big plan to wake up at 9:00, take a nice shower, eat a nice breakfast and write a wee bit of my 2000 word paper due on Monday. NOPE. Woke up at 10:30, no shower, no breakfast and I was out the door in 2 minutes, thus making the group late for our class excursion. The destination; Edinburgh dungeons. I must say, though I almost peed myself about half a dozen times, it was very intriguing and well done. It was dark for the entire tour, so I wasn't allowed to take pictures. In lamens terms, it was a very large haunted house with the history of how criminals were tortured. The first stop was a courtroom like appearance, and this guy dressed like a judge picked random people and accused them of fake crimes. It was mildly entertaining.

Further and further down into the dungeons brought more and more surprises, including 2 rides. I know, right? The first one was a boat ride...in complete darkness. And I mean COMPLETE darkness. Near the end of the ride, some loud mist shot out from the ceiling and scared the blink out of over half of us. Throughout the venturing through the dungeons I said to myself "I'm going to lose my scare reflex after this trip." A little later into the tour and we were then seated into a "morgue" where there was a fake dead body, fake organs and all! Then, the lady turned all the lights off, started screaming and ran out. The lights started flickering and then the seats we were sitting in rocked backwards. Again, I screamed like a 2-year-old. Hey, you sit in a rocking seat in pitch black and not be freaked out! But the scariest came near the very end. We were taken into a room called "The Hangman's Noose." Basically, another ride, only this time we were seated in chairs and had to take all our loose clothing off. In other words, I had to take off my awesome Fedora hat and...my glasses. So not only was it dark but I couldn't see. Before that we had to walk through a mirror maze just to find the bloody room where this "noose" was.

We were raised on a platform and then these screens came on with this creepy-sounding guy started talking to us. Then he said something along the lines of "you all are guilty so now you're going to be hanged." The lights shut off and we DROPPED. Yes, I screamed, and there was photographical evidence of it. No, I did NOT get a picture, good grief it was bloody embarrassing. However I did get a group photo w/ me and my class that I went with from the beginning of the dungeons tour. It's a good photo; wish I had a scanner so I could scan it on here. Lunch was at the Jekyll and Hyde pub, which was about a 15 minute walk away from the dungeons. What was really neat about it was that you had to push this fake book case to go to the toilets. Super cool! We arrived back in Stirling around 6:00 and I've been back in my flat ever since. Just finished watching a really good movie called Driving Lessons. Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it before! I have posted a quote...well a poem from the main character. It spoke to me and reminds me about life and the time that I've spent and enjoyed here. That's all for now; time to tackle this paper some more, but I have over 600 words written! I can do this. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

"Some mysteries I'll never understand: the way the Earth rotates around the sun, three minutes shorter every day. Or the way the dead are gone. Or putting down the phone or turning a corner. The future: that's another whopper. We can never know what we can never know, except, that whoever you are, and whoever I am, you made it allright to be me."  

Outside of the dungeons

This was the bookcase to access the toilets. WICKED COOL 

Probably the BEST chocolate ice cream I've ever had!!!

Go Have at it with helpless citizens

Relient K puts this well "The party scene is kind of mean." No, nobody was mean to me last night, but I still stand firmly and say that I am not much of a "party girl." Last night was the traditional karaoke night at the Meadowpark pub (the Med for short). Along with some ISS students and locals was Fudge; one of the worker's chocolate labs! She was adorable and was just wondering around the pub as people stopped to pet her. I really don't think she minded all the extra attention. As for singing, my friend Lauren and I serenaded some international students and locals with Complicated by Avril Lavigne. I don't mean to toot my own horn but I think we did pretty smashing! And I had fun too; I was so nervous but I had so much fun! After we sang, we got free admission to the Red Room, which is an addition to the Med and it's like a nightclub...I think. Loud music, obnoxious lights, and whistling locals; yep, that was the one. Now my rule of thumb is that I try something once; if I like it, great. If not, then sorry. So I tried it, knowing already it wasn't something I was never really into to begin with. I didn't even stay an hour, it was NUTS. People were yelling in my face, grabbing me to dance, and me and my friends even got cat-called by some locals. Then to make matters worse I ended up getting a really bad headache so I just left. Moral for me; never again. That scene works for some people, but not me. My ears were still ringing this morning. Not good, boo boo. Not good.

To make matters worse, I was only running on 6 hours of sleep for the entire day. Now normally for me I like to sleep at least 7 or 8 hours a night. Someone said there is something everyone in the world is OCD about. Well I am OCD about my sleeping, and 6 hours is...ok. I can function, but it takes me a while to get the engine running. Anyway, so today was our last ISS excursion to...Edinburgh!!!! Wow. What a gorgeous city! Again, the architecture was stunning; like none other. I spent the day with my friend, and we didn't know what we wanted to do or see really; we just had a few ideas and that was it. Our first stop was the Elephant House, AKA the birth place of Harry Potter!! Author J.K Rowling was noted for having made several appearances in that very cafe. I was expecting the food to be expensive, but it really wasn't. My lunch was 5 pounds 55 pence. Not. Bad. And man it was delicious! Ciabatta with pesto, mozzerella cheese and olives. YUMMO. Had a ginger beer to drink. Again, YUMMO. After lunch, we wanted to go to Mary King's Close, which was a part of the town that was underground and closed off when the bubonic plague struck Europe. Sadly, the only tours were in the evening, so we couldn't go.

So we made a detour to Prince Street's Gardens, which were absolutely beautiful! We found a carousel on the way, and yes, rode it and had a glorious time! Along the way to several of these venues, my friend wanted to find different stops where her favorite movie was filmed (Driving Lessons). She acted like a kid at Christmas time!!! Anyway, eventually we found the Camera Obscura and world Illusions Museum. AWESOME. It was just...really cool. I'll post a few pics on here, but see my facebook for the rest of them. At the end of the museum, there was a camera obscura, which is basically a large camera positioned at the top of the museum and you could see points of the city. Again, really cool; hadn't seen anything like that before. At the end though, the guy threw these cards onto the camera and if you folded them you could almost "pick off" parts of the picture; it was just an illusion thing. Had such a fun day, but man we were all exhausted. The evening ended with me, Lauren and my other friend Andrea piling into her flat and making grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. There was awesome Cadbury ice cream in the end too! CHA-CHING.

And I get to go to Edinburgh tomorrow too for a class field trip!!! Ska-doosh! Time to get a wee bit of a paper written that's due on Monday. 2000 words, and I only have like 100 something. Better get busy, but enjoy the pics. Cheers!

Good food. Great books! 

Edinburgh Castle

Fountain in the Center of Prince Street Gardens

Caledonian Hotel, one of the Driving Lessons venues

Inside a mirror maze at the Camera Obscura and world illusions museum

Rooftop view of Edinburgh on roof of museum. Gorgeous

If I become a stranger

Normally I wait until I'm close to my bedtime to start blogging, but after a pleasant encounter with a local and some interesting conversations with the sis, I deemed it appropriate to start now. I went grocery shopping in Tesco (the wal-mart of the UK...seriously they're freakin everywhere!!!), and I was in the check-out line, just minding my own business and waiting for 2 of my flat mates to finish checking out. Then, I hear this chipper-sounding "HELLO!" I turned around behind me and this guy whom I have never met before extends his hand as if for a handshake. So I smile and say hello back, but then he proceeds to move a little closer, smile at me more then put his head on my shoulder. I just stood there, not really knowing what to do until someone he was with told him to leave me alone. She then proceeded to apologize and I said it was no problem. To be honest I thought it was rather sweet; I'm almost certain this guy was...."not all there" if you can see what I'm saying. Ok enough about that.

In the midst of my paper writing procrastination, my sister popped me on Skype and we just started talking, mostly about going out and stuff that our flat mates have done. And I proceeded to tell her about my flat mates and the things they do. It's nothing bad; they just like to party a lot. Now if you've known me for longer than 2 seconds, you know that that's really....not my scene. Sure I go out to pubs and stuff with friends, but I don't drink alcohol. And the friends I'm with, praise the Lord, have been very respectful and understanding about the fact that I don't like alcohol. Now not at all have I felt pressured to do anything I don't want to, because I know who I am and I have held true to the standards I have set for myself. Anyway, onto our conversation. I was telling my sister that when the time comes that I return to the states and one of my friends or my mom asks me what I remember the most, I want to have a humble and honest answer, so here goes.

I want to remember the beautiful country that is Scotland. I want to remember the beautiful days of cool weather, a nice breeze and the sunshine not beating down on my poor sensitive flesh. I want to remember the awesome friends that I have made and I want them to remember me for who I was...not the random girl at a nightclub with a drink in her hand. I want to remember the plethora of places that I saw and the thousands of pictures I took. I want to remember the random and goofy conversations we shared so I have stories to tell my parents, grandparents, and friends back home. I want to remember singing karaoke and having total fun without being under the influence of anything but joy and the freedom to sing badly. I want to remember going to Sunday night pub quizzes and making up stupid team names (Pudding Snatchers and Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll) and writing down stupid responses for questions we didn't know. But most of all, I want to remember the primary reason why I even came to Scotland in the first place; to widen and expand my college education beyond the states and to explore topics that are not available in Berea. I want to be remembered for that one international student who tried her hardest and comes back home to the states to family and friends that say "I'm proud of you." And of course, I want to give God the credit that is due, because without him I wouldn't be here in the first place. I would probably be drinking a pint instead of a Coke or an Irn Bru (the Mountain Dew here is rubbish!). I want to remember that I didn't follow the crowd and instead enjoyed every moment possible while all the while maintaining my conscious.

To close, I am going to post a simple quote: "I am because I choose to be." Cheers!

:] 

Cheers to Brian!

This actually has nothing to do with Scotland or anything. But I would like to dedicate this post to Brian, my dear friend whose life was tragically taken six years ago today. I still remember what was happening; I had come home from band practice with confirmed rumors of his death. A sort of numbness came over me; it was like I was frozen. And then, the disarray of emotions started. First came sadness and emptiness, followed by a wee bit of joy during the funeral when we were laughing and talking with friends about the good times we shared. Then the anger. I was angry and guilty; guilty at myself because I wished that I had gotten to know him better. After the guilt came the anger. I was angry at God because he had taken away a good friend of mine and someone's loved one and family member. It seemed vile and cruel; how could a God who loves all rip someone out of our lives?

Yes, it was horrible. Those were dark days in my youth as I began my junior year of high school. I did what any other high schooler did; stayed after school for marching band, hung out with my friends, did my homework and obeyed my parents. But still...the anger. It was there, but I learned to suppress it. Eventually though I realized I had to let it go. So I did. Took me an additional almost three years to do so, but I will never forget that night. October 2008. 2-o-clock in the morning, there I was...wide awake. Crying, because the guilt and shame finally got to me. And I let it go. All of it. Ever since that night I haven't been the same, and my faith and relationship with God grew. Even today it's still growing. Now here I am today, almost three years later since that October night, sitting in my Scottish flat with a spider crawling on my wall. Looking back on that time in my life, I think it was meant to be. A blog that I avidly follow had a post titled "Everything Happens for a Reason." I must say that I am a firm believer in that statement, and I thank God for the life that I have led. I believe I never would have gotten into Berea College if it wasn't for Him. I wouldn't be here in Scotland right now if it wasn't for Him. I would have never met Brian if it wasn't for Him...didn't realize it then but I do now.

So I will close now by saying this; I am who I am because of a, the choices I have made, and b, God. That's it. I am so privileged to have known Brian for when I did, and he was such a good person. I think about him every now and then and wonder what he would have been like. He brought so much joy to all those who knew him, and he never failed to make me smile...trying not to cry now. So here's to you Brian. Thanks for being a great friend. Cheers!

One of few remaining pics of us together. I was just a wee 8th grader. O how the time flies

Last 2 days in the Highlands

It's over. No more beautiful Scottish Highlands. I'm back in my flat at Stirling, realizing I forgot to blog last night. It was a pretty long day, which is why I forgot, so I apologize to my avid readers who are awaiting photos and comments about the beautiful lush mountains and lochs. Yesterday was spent primarily on the Isle of Skye, which I thought was just one island on its own. It's actually several small towns and thriving communities, with everything to Enchanted Rivers, beautiful mountains, and sheep on the roads. Once again, the pictures speak for themselves. What I write about on here is rubbish unless you can see what I'm talking about. Lots of stories about fairies, giants and spells are prevalent around here...if that's what you believe. Me personally, I keep an open mind. I'm in a foreign country; it's nice to see what the locals believe in.

The Enchanted River

Such a stunning view!!!!

Why? Because I can

This just reminds me of something out of a nature magazine or something

In the Fairy Glen.

After we perused around the Isle, took lots of pictures and ate yummy food, we returned to our hostel and went on a boat ride with one of the local fishermen. We rode out on the loch, loaded up the net, and caught TONS of small fish and scallops, which apparently you can eat raw. I ate 3 of them! They were rather tasty. It was just really fascinating to see all the creatures on a boat within just a few feet away from me, and I picked them up and was looking at all of them. Best part of the night. Today was pretty boring, not going to lie. Our group was on the bus most of the time, but seeing Loch Ness was pretty stinking cool though! However, Nessie was not spotted today. :[ After we visited Loch Ness, we traveled through Inverness to Culloden, a very historical battlefield. I don't have room to explain, but feel free to do your own research on it; it's definitely worth a gander. Our last stop was the Hermitage, which was like a wooded area, which was rather beautiful. And now I'm back in Stirling, getting ready to meet up with some friends for some pub quizzing and for me to eat. I am incredibly bus lagged, and I need FOOD. I will also be posting along with pictures a song I really really like and was introduced to on this trip. Cheers! P.S Ginger Beer is GOOD! :D

Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ueYxrA-Zs

On the fishing boat

Loch Ness! 

In front of one of the falls at the Hermitage

"Describe the most beautiful thing you've ever seen"

I've heard responses such as snow falling on a cold winter day, a newborn baby coming into the world for the first time, or smelling a fresh flower. But if I am ever asked this question in an interview or something, my answer would be rather simple: the Highlands of Scotland. Never in my life have I ever seen anything so incredible and beautiful. The journey there is breath-taking in itself; long, winding roads with beautiful green mountains on either side of the roads, and lochs that stretch for miles and miles with some of the clearest water I have ever seen. I was sitting in the bus, jaw slightly agape just taking in all the beautiful scenery.

The morning started off with a stop to meet Hamish, one of the highland coos (cows). We also got to meet his spouse Heather and their offspring Honey, but I think Honey is a boy. Ok...wouldn't be my first choice for a name for a boy, but I'm not from Scotland. Then we sat on the bus for a while; we left around 10:00 this morning from behind our flat and arrived in our hostel at about 7:00 tonight, but that's including the several stops we stopped at along the way. Ok, I'm not going to blog anymore. The pictures will speak for themselves. Now here I am, nestled into our country hostel that we are to call home for the next 2 nights. It  is cozy, but the weather is a bit nippy (probably resembles early spring time weather), probably low 50's high 40's and super WINDY. But just gaze at the beauty and prepare to be amazed! Cheers! P.S. to see more pictures, check out my facebook :]

Hamish

Glencoe

We did a wee wander down the glen

Doesn't this resemble Scotland?

Eilean Donan Castle

Our hostel :] 

All about Glasgow!

Today was the second ISS excursion. The venue today: Glasgow, AKA the largest city in Scotland. I pictured a very crowded, sky-scraper full, walking shoulder-to-shoulder on the streets kind of a city. But it wasn't like that at all! What a beautiful city though. The morning started out with a walking tour of the city, but it in my opinion it really didn't cover a lot of the city. The tour guide just liked to talk about her great-grandparents and showed us all these really old parts of Glasgow. I was a bit disappointed; I was hoping for more of the actual city. Oh well though; it was still rather nice to see some of the older parts of the city. After the tour of the "city," we went to lunch. I went with a friend of mine and we met some new friends :] We decided to go to an Italian place. Man, it was sooooo good. A bit pricey, but very high-quality and delicious!

Next came my favorite part of the day; the tour of the Glasgow City Chambers (would resemble a city hall in the states). The architecture and design was absolutely stellar! I really didn't pay attention to most of the tour; I was too busy gazing at the beautiful structure. Also, it had a revolving door!!! It was really cool though to see where the council held their meetings and all the different rooms that were a part of the building. Once we finished the tour of the city chambers, which took about an hour, my friend and I and our new friends from lunch went and walked around. My friend Andrea found a blue police box (as made famous by the TV show Doctor Who), so naturally we had to stop and snap a few pictures. Along our Glasgow city saunter, the group I was with stumbled upon the Glasgow fair that was going on! So we walked in...and rode on the bumper cars! I think my car was possessed or something...kept wanting to veer towards the direction of the wall.

So after we terrorized the fair and laughed our guts off while ramming into one another, we found the People's Palace, which was a museum. It was a museum of everything; political movements, poor and run down living arrangements, the culture, everything. I managed to sneak in a few cool shots of some of the things I thought were cool. When it comes to museums, I don't read a lot; I just like to look at everything! Now the day is over, and I am pretty dag-gone worn out. But I have such a fantastic week to look forward to; ISLE OF SKYE! I'll be heading out tomorrow morning, and I will have internet access available at the hostel we're staying at, so stay tuned for more updates! Thank you avid readers! Cheers!

Standing in front of the City Chambers on George Square

The place we went for lunch

The main floor inside the City Chambers. "Let Glasgow Flourish"

One of the hallways.

Proof I was actually inside the City Chambers. Marble staircase!

Meeting with old friends and new :]

Burnt pizza and the desire to do absolutely nothing!!

My apologies, but I forgot to blog yesterday. I don't know why but I was super tired. Perhaps it was due to the fact that yesterday morning at 3:00 AM, all of the residents of Fraser flats were awakened by the blaring fire alarm. I, still in my half-asleep delirium, was still trying to register what was going on for about 30 seconds before I finally realized it. All of us had to wait outside for almost an hour while the campus security cleared out all the smoke from the flat 2 levels down from me and reset all the stinking alarms. Next time I'll remember a jacket and a pair of shoes; i DO NOT recommend standing outside barefooted, especially since it's here in Scotland, where it doesn't get very warm even during the day! The culprit; someone had a late night craving for pizza. I don't want to sound cliche and say that something like that happens, but it really does. I ran into the guy today, and he apologized. He really did feel sorry for what happened, so it does make the situation not as crappy.

Last night also included a mini performance of some Scottish dancers and a bagpipe player (because you can't have Scotland without bagpipes). It was really neat, and we even learned a part of one of the dances. It was a bit tricky (see my Facebook video), but we all had such a good time. Today was a typical Wednesday at the ISS; I had class only in the morning, but for 2 hours. And we don't get a break; I guess I miss that about Berea. What's funny was that I actually had pizza for lunch, but I didn't want to take my chances with the oven, so I used the microwave. Apparently I've heard floating around that the fire alarms went off AGAIN today, but I was not there. Must to have been when I was in class. Did someone put something in the water, or does someone want to purposely set them off to set US off? Beats the heck out of me, like I said, it may not even be true but even if it was I was not present. Thank GOD!

Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to mention my mini excursion from yesterday. I needed my traveler's cheques cashed, but I couldn't find anybody in town to go with me, so I just went...by myself. Now if I had a nickel for every time I received the stern lecture from dear old mom and dad "DON'T GO ANYWHERE BY YOURSELF," I could quit school and do whatever the heck I wanted. But I went by myself because, well, it needed to be done. And I'm a big girl; last time I checked 21 years of age falls under that category. I got myself on the right bus to and from town, took care of what I needed to get done, and that was that. Never while I was briefly in town did I ever feel like I was in any type of danger. Thank you sir iPod! Anyway, back to today. All my flat mates are getting ready to go out....and I'm not. No, it's not that I wasn't not invited...I just don't feel like going out. Really, I don't. The way I see it, I'm going to be out and about all day tomorrow in Glasgow, and then I leave for my 3-day weekend trip. I think I'll just relax tonight.  :) I can do that while I'm abroad; I don't have to go out every single night, contrary to what most people around here do. Nope, I think tonight I'm going to enjoy my Aero Bar ice cream (KA-CHING!!!), watch some Whose Line is it Anyway?, perhaps start packing for my Isle of Skye trip, write in my journal, and thank God that I am in such a beautiful country!

Really. I am so happy and blessed to be here. Last night I was really homesick because I was feeling lonely and a tad bit left out because my flat mates made this awesome-smelling dinner, and it made me think of home. Mommy and daddy aren't here to cook for me anymore; gosh I miss mom and dad's home-cooked food. But I'm just thankful that I have still held on to my roots and have stood firm on what I stand for and the morals that I have set for myself. I am very lucky to be here, and I am very happy to be here. Only God knows what's in store for me during the rest of my time here.

Scrambled Eggs and strange movies

Interesting day in class today. Learned a lot about different health care and nursing programs (for further info, please refer to my other blog posted here: http://bcnursingstudent.blogspot.com/2011/07/im-not-in-us-anymore.html). Watched a movie for my other class called Splice. WEIRD. It's based off of Frankenstein, and it was just....so bizarre. I was thinking to myself as it was playing, do NOT mess with DNA and genetics! Freaky and creepy stuff can happen! buhhh....going to haunt me in my sleep...probably not, but still. Very freaky movie.

It's getting dark, but I'm still not that sleepy, though I got slammed today with a 2000 word essay due in two weeks. Gross! I think that's the most I've ever had to write, if not that then pretty durn close. Send lots of good vibes my way; I despise writing papers. Not to mention I've also got a group presentation and 1500 words to write about for my other class. And for a minute I forgot that I was STUDYING abroad. Shoot!!!!!! But yeah, I've got to sit down and figure out when this week I can start writing, because I'll be gone all weekend due to Isle of Skye, but there is NO WAY I am passing that up!!!! I've already paid a small fortune and have to pay another small fortune for my down payment (55 pounds to be exact). But from what I've been told it is totally worth it. So now I'm super duper excited!!!

Me thinks I may go to bed early....scrambled eggs at almost 10:00 at night are not a good idea I guess. Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning. Lots to do tomorrow. Cheers!

Oh the Adventures keep on continuing...

Took a bite out of some local culture today. Visited a local church (a baptist church), and heard some great words like Psalm 139. Also heard some great music like Hosanna, Beautiful One, Open the Eyes of my Heart, and closing with God of this City. After church was over, I was hungry, but before lunch my friend I was with found this quaint music store on this random street. It was really neat; kind of reminded me of a store at home. Then I got something to eat; Steak and Kidney pie, check. It wasn't bad, until I realized it was cold in the middle. What a bummer! :( Inu Bru, check. It's a local pop, soda, soft drink, whatever you want to call it. It has a unique flavor; one that is hard to describe, but if I had to, sort of a cross between orange soda and vanilla. It's pretty good actually! My friend actually wanted to get a hair cut, so we popped into The Thistles and she got a  haircut. FYI, I got a 5 pound rain coat this morning before church! SHA-ZAM! After she got her hair cut, we ran across the street to find the right bus stop. When we were running across the street, my glasses flew off my face and landed on the road!!! Thank goodness for polycarbonate frames and lenses; they didn't break!!!

This is where it got interesting. We got on the number 54 bus (which was the same one we got on from the Uni). So we got on the bus, but I didn't recognize the route we went on. Turned out we actually went on the wrong bus! We actually reached the end of the route, and the driver told us to get off. I asked where the bus to the Uni was and he said to go to the post office and get on. Right then we were starting to get a bit ticked, so we walked to the post office. It was the same bus driver!!! So my friend and I were like "uh...why couldn't we have just stayed on the same bus." We got on the bus, and I pulled out my bus pass, but he said it wouldn't work and that I would have to pay extra to go to the Uni. I told him I had used it before to go to the Uni, but he kept insisting that I had to pay. My friend eventually paid for the both of us to get back on the bus, but he took us back to the Stirling Town Centre...after he said the bus ran to the Uni. So by then we were severely pissed and a bit cheated. After much deliberation I eventually ran across the street to an ATM (it wasn't a free-standing one!), flagged down a cab, and we took one home. Our fare was only 6.30, but I gave him 10 pounds and told him to just keep it.

Needless to say, I am swearing off buses for a while, but on the bright side I found a place to cash my remaining traveler's cheques!!! For the rest of the evening; Pub pop quiz at 8:00 tonight, but we're leaving early because I want to try some pub food! Class in the morning and evening tomorrow, yay. May try to sneak off after my morning class to get my cheques cashed, because I am severely low on pound cash. Coming up later this week; ISLE OF SKYE!!! People have told me it is beyond describable, and I simply cannot wait. Especially after a day like today...grrr on you rude bus driver! Ahh well, I suppose life goes on; at least I met some very nice locals at the church this morning. Both of them said that I had an accent....O_o right, I'm not in the US anymore. We probably sound strange to them as well. Ok, off to try my hand at pop culture and eat some yummy food. Cheers!

Stormy day in Scotland

Yes, it is storming. Well, not really; but it has been thundering on and off for most of the day and there are now dark gray clouds looming over my flat window. I suppose it was a good idea to not go anywhere today, though I would have if someone asked me to. That has definitely been a struggle here; finding people to do stuff with. My flat mates have been gone all day and ventured off to Alnwick Castle (yes, home of Hogwarts). What kind of irritates me is that I wasn't even invited to go along. It's just frustrating, because it seems like this has been a recurring theme of mine; i meet people, but for some reason I am the one who gets singled out. It hurts, and I'm tired of it. I've tried to reach out, be friendly, make myself available, but nothing is working. I don't know if it's because of the way I am, my lack of alcohol drinking, or what. But this is my time and my trip, and I'm not going to dwell on this anymore. I'm just putting this out there because when I came here I thought it was going to be skipping, happiness and rainbows all the time....not that I'm lowering my expectations ;]

On another note, it has been kind of peaceful having the flat to myself all day. My door's open right now, my music is playing loudly, and I made myself a tasty dinner of spaghetti with chicken and bacon, salad, and a tattie scone (potato scone). Boy, it was absolutely delicious. Earlier today, I ventured to the on-campus store and found a new niche of mine; Jammie Dodgers. They're a type of shortbread biscuit (cookie) with raspberry jelly in the middle of them. They are tasty! I'm still not sure what they call biscuits here though. Hahaha! I also bought myself a 2-liter of coke. I am also going to put this out here now: EVERYTHING that I like at home tastes 10 times better here!!! Coke is not as sweet, bacon isn't as salty, although I must confess the Activia here is a bit disappointing. Also, I will certainly not miss these showers; you have to continuously push a button, otherwise the shower will shut off. I thought it was broken at first, until I asked a friend of mine. I also won't miss the long dangling red cords.

It finally stopped raining!!!! It still looks gray and cloudy though and I feel it's going to start up again soon. Plans for the rest of the night? Not sure yet. A couple of Whose Line, reading more of Frankenstein maybe, a date with some Ben and Jerry's (I splurged and spent 2 pounds on a small container), and coordinating with a friend our plans for visiting a local church and perusing Stirling. What will happen next? No one knows. Cheers!

These bring me great happiness! 

Holy crap! Run!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I look outside my window, the rain is falling. Maybe it'll wash the bird crap that's taken over a quarter of the right window. If not, then I'll be stuck with it for another 3 weeks. Man. I am tired. So very tired. But let me tell you this is a good tired. I feel accomplished, if anything. Today was an other excursion for the ISS, except much briefer. A small group of us ventured up to Dumyat Hills, which is home to some pretty breath-taking views. The hike up took about an hour and a half, but the way down took like 45 minutes. Pretty typical I suppose.

Now Berea has hiking trails, mind you, but they don't even hold a candle to the ones we ventured on today. There were a few times on the way up in which i thought I was going to pass out; I really had to exert more than I ever had before. It was pretty darn intense. There were actually 3 smaller hills we stopped to look at before we reached the very top one, which was absolutely gorgeous! One thing I should mention though as we climbed up farther it got really really cold!!!!! Once we reached the top, I would say it was probably in the low 50's high 40's. It didn't help that the wind was blowing too, which made it colder! The group of us sat at the top for a while to catch our breath and chill, but then we began the climb back down. Rough on the knees, let me tell you. But that wasn't even the best part.

I was hiking down by myself and then to my left I saw a white figure. I first thought it was a trash bag or something that someone left behind. Then, it moved. It was a sheep! I stood and stared at it for about 30 seconds, but it continued eating and minding its own business. But once it heard me mention to other hikers that there was a sheep, it looked up and stared at me. Didn't move or anything, just stared. It was a bit creepy, so I walked away. A few seconds later, two girls behind me start running. The sheep was chasing them! I ran for a minute or so down the hill, but when we looked back the sheep was gone. We all just felt sorry for the people behind us, because then they would have had to deal with the pissed off sheep. It was funny. I don't care if you think it's funny or not, but I thought it was. I thought to myself, just when you thought you've seen it all, two group members get chased by a freaking sheep.

Today is Friday, which also means it's the weekend!!! I don't have any plans until Sunday, so I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. Reel from today, sleep in, finish my book for class on Monday, and hope that it stops raining. Thanks to all who read this! Cheers!

The best view of the day I captured

Karaoke, St. Andrews, and the end of Harry Potter

That has been the revolving door of my schedule since Wednesday. It started with a late night walk to the Meadowpark (or the Med as what it's called here) for some karaoke and...drinks. I did not drink, since I am not a fan of alcohol. I must confess that my lack of alcohol in my system leaves me out of a lot of things. But I am who I am and I'm not going to change...for ANYONE. Enough about that. Anyway, so me and a friend sang "Bohemian Rhapsody," yes, as made famous by Queen. A couple of people cheered for us, but I don't think we did that great...or at least I didn't do that great. We left at about midnight because there were some really obnoxious drunk people being, well, obnoxious.

Then the St. Andrews trip came. We were literally gone all day!!!!!!! I mean, we left at 7:45 am and got back at 6:30 pm. But boy, it was so much fun. And the city is so beautiful! It's a lot smaller than I imagined, but it was still fun. The day started with a guided tour, followed by me and 2 friends perusing and eating fish and chips for lunch. After our delicious fish and chips lunch we walked on the beach, for like 45 minutes. And the water was really really really really COLD!!!!!! I was not expecting it to be that cold; my feet got numb after a few minutes, But once we got used to it it was really nice. The three of us wanted to go up into the tower of the now ruined St. Andrews Cathedral, but it was a bit expensive and we didn't really feel like paying. So we just walked around the town, shopped, talked, and just had a good time. Not to mention I got to see the golf course. Yes, the golf course in which the British Open has been at, several times if I'm not mistaken. I took lots of pictures though, please feel free to peruse my Facebook.

Once we got back from St. Andrews, I only had a bit of down time, because TONIGHT was the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. As in the end. No more HP after this. I actually just got back from seeing the movie. WOW. WOW WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!! It was...I don't even have the words for it. It was such a stellar ending for a more stellar series. I own all the books and have seen all the movies, and this one tonight was very very impressive. Granted it didn't follow the book exactly, but I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting good closure. And good closure it was and then some. Now I don't want to give anything away to my wonderful friends who are still in the states and haven't had the privilege to see it yet, but I will say this: you will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

*insert long tired sigh* Yeah, I think it's time for me to go to bed now. It's 2:35 in the morning, and tomorrow is promising to be another fun day. Due up is the Dumyat Hill hike, that is supposed to take about 3 hours. And I'm already sore from today...and sunburned. Boo. All in all, I have had such a wonderful day today, and   I haven't even been here for a whole week yet. Many more to come. Cheers!

Behind the ruins of the St. Andrews Cathedral

Lauren, Andrea and Me. :] 

On the beach!!!! 

The club house of the Old Course

Happy hump day!

Yes it is Wednesday. I can't believe I've been here for three days already. It's gone by so fast. Boo :[ I am really enjoying myself here though. Today was especially fun; I spent most of the afternoon just walking around and taking pictures of this gorgeous campus. I was gone for an hour and a half, and there were still parts of campus I haven't seen yet! What I love mostly about here is the scenery; my goodness, it is so...stunning. That is the best word I can come up with. It really does take your breath away. Like seriously, I forgot to breathe sometimes because I was so captivated by the gorgeous scenery.

Tomorrow is the ISS excursion to St. Andrews! It's going to be so much fun; I am so excited!!! My goals are to see the university and the golf course for my parents. After that, who knows what sort of trouble I'm going to get myself into? Hopefully I'll stay away from bathroom alarms and red cords. Hahaha! I suppose I'll sign off for now; I'm meeting up with some people in about an hour for karaoke at the Meadowbrook, AKA the Med. No, I'm not singing. I'm going to make fun of everybody else who sings while I enjoy some company. Cheers!

Airthrey Castle, located at the end of campus.

One of many stunning scenic shots I took today.

Ruffles, bright colors, and a potluck (by the way, DO NOT pull the red cord!!)

Today was shopping day in Stirling! After our morning classes, my flat mates, several other friends of ours and I ventured off via bus to the city and did some serious shopping. The venue was The Thistles, which is the local shopping centre (mall). Boy, I got some great bargains today!!!! That's what I love about shopping; even locals in Scotland know a good bargain when they see it. While we were all shopping around, it gave me the opportunity to see how the clothing differences were here compared to the US. I noticed that there were lots of bright colors, particularly in this one store called Top Shop...or something like that, I can't remember the name exactly at the top of my head. Also, there were lots of floral patterns, mostly on dresses. I guess that's a common theme here.

But there is one teeny tiny blonde moment that I must share, because I'm sure for most of you you will get a laugh out of it. So I was in this bathroom, and I couldn't find the flusher handle. I looked and looked, until I saw a red cord dangling from the ceiling. I had read somewhere that for some toilets you have to pull a string hanging from the ceiling to flush the toilet. So I pulled it, thinking it was the flusher. It wasn't. It was the fire alarm. So there I am, in this strange bathroom, I still can't find the flusher, and on top of that a loud high-pitched siren was blaring in my ear. This lady then came in and shut it off, and I kept apologizing over and over because I was so embarrassed. Ironically, right before the lady got there to turn off the dang alarm, I found the flusher....on the right side of the toilet. *long, extended sigh* Ok, enough about my Scottish bathroom traumas.

After we got back from Stirling, one student sent out an International Summer School (ISS) invite to her flat for a potluck dinner. It was really fun, and I made a new friend tonight. :) Now I'm back here in my room and just finished some reading for class. I still have a bit more to do, but the book I'm reading isn't very long. Blarg, I have class in the morning, so I'll be up early when the Stir Cafe opens and I'll be first in line for COFFEE!!!!!!!!!! But in all seriousness, I could get used to only having class three days a week. It is such a treat, and I don't have very many assignments. Ok, I'll stop bragging now and finish some more of my homework. More to report tomorrow. Cheers! 

First Impressions and Wake-up Calls

I've hit a crucial state: I have arrived in Scotland. I got here yesterday morning and walked in late to some introductory orientation. From what I've heard, I didn't miss much. My flatmates then introduced themselves to me; I'm not sure where they are right now though. Nightclub maybe? Eh....not really my scene, but I'm not their mom.

Anyway, yesterday was primarily used for orientation. The day started out with a campus tour, a coach tour of Stirling, then parousing about Stirling, ending up in Tesco, which is basically the Walmart of Scotland. I only spent 17 pounds on groceries!!!!!! I think what I've enjoyed the most is the newness of things; even the Coke I'm drinking right now tastes different. It's surreal to me how quickly I've learned so much about the culture, and I'm picking up quickly on the language/word differences. Could do without the constant CROWS though. ugh

Also, today was my first day of classes. It's actually the only day of the week in which I have both of my classes, which totally works for me! i LOVE only have class 3 days a week, and it's something I could totally get used to. However, there are some things I'm still trying to get used to around here (sinks, the shower in my flat, and the fact that at 11:00 it is still pretty light out) And all the dorms here look the same, so I'm still trying to find my way around campus and the fact that as opposed to Berea it takes me 15 minutes to walk from class back to my room instead of 2-3 minutes. But I haven't learned any of the short cuts yet, so I'm hoping in a few more days that time amount will be reduced. Downtown Stirling is also BEAUTIFUL; cruised around there for orientation, did a bit of shopping at The Thistles (the mall...or shopping centre as they call it).

There's nothing really much else to report. ST. ANDREWS ON THURSDAY THOUGH!!! Looking forward to that a lot. Now I'm going to eat some leftover pizza i got this afternoon, gaze at the beautiful mountains from my window, write in my journal for my Berea portion of this trip, then maybe cuddle up with Frankenstein later. hahaha. The beauty of all of this is that you'll never know what to expect for each day; I love that. I don't have an itinerary or a planned routine; I can do whatever I want or don't want to do. Cheers!  :] 

The beautiful Dunblane Cathedral in Dunblane in Dunblane, Scotland (short distance from Stirling)

Stirling Castle!!!

A shot of Downtown Stirling

DRAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are certain people who should not be put under pressure. One of them is my dad. Enough about that. The date today; July 8. Where am I now? Here, at home, on my home computer. No, I am not in Scotland. Yes, I am still going, good grief. Well, after 2 cancelled flights today I am back.

That's how this all started; we were about to leave this morning and Continental Airlines called me and told me my flight was cancelled. Of course, I was freaking out. This morning though, it was hailing, raining, windy, thundering and lightning. It was a mess, to put it lightly. So while I was on the phone for over an hour trying to get my flight changed, my dad was on the computer doing the same thing. We eventually got a new flight to fly into Philly instead of Newark. Yay! Crisis over.

WRONG!!!!! So we DROVE to the airport (which for us is about 2 hours away), got there, and when I went to check in, the kiosk said my flight was delayed. Went up to the counter, and RAIN. RAIN on the forecast, heading right. towards. PHILADELPHIA. After talking to the people and getting things worked out, I was able to get my flight changed. So as it stands, I am now flying out TOMORROW MORNING at 10:30. And it's not supposed to rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDDDDDD

To say today was stressful would be putting it lightly. Frustrating is getting there. A combination of the two hits it dead on. But I have already decided tomorrow will be better than today. So please, if you will, put me in your thoughts tomorrow. I would greatly appreciate it, and I will update as soon as I can. Cheers!

Butterfly, Fly Away...

Well, the time has come. Less than 24 hours to go! I am sick with anticipation....seriously. At this moment, it has finally hit me: I am going to Scotland. Couldn't print my boarding passes; people at the airport have to confirm my documents, so in other words, they have to be sure I am who my passport says I am. I know. Lame. Ahh well, life goes on. And now as I look to the left of the computer, there's a DEER in the yard!!!! Yep...just standing there. Ok, I'll stop now.

Not really sure what to feel right now; joy, excitment, anxiety, worry, I don't know. But one thing is for sure; this is promising to be a most exciting and rewarding opportunity for me. Never in my time as a college student would I feel I would get an opportunity such as this. My last few days in the states have been really awesome; what a treat to spend much needed time with my dear family!!!!! I actually got carded in the grocery store today b/c my mom bought...alcoholic beverages and b/c I was with her they asked for my ID. Even after the countless repeats from both me and my mom "I'm 21!!!" The guy behind us was like "but that's her daughter. She's 14!!" I laughed. Really, I did.

Alas, the last of my laundry is finished. All that's left to do now is...put it away. Hopefully my suitcase won't bust at the seams. Bahahaha. I'm signing off now, my last report in the states. Hope you all are reading this!!! The next time I'll be reporting, I'll be 'cross the pond. Cheers!!!! :]

I can count on one hand now!!!

OK, before I get any snarky remarks saying, "wow, Kelly. You can count on one hand!" Shut it. =P I am a big girl and I graduated from high school. Anyway, I am now down to THREE DAYS before departure. One hand. Ha. Get it now? Right now, the house is quiet; nobody but me and Nala the brat. But, I'm going to share what's been going on with me for the last few days:

*A prayer of mine was finally answered!!! It's a prayer I've been praying fervently for for the last few years, but the situation itself has occured for around six years! But I am hopeful, optimistic, and so very thankful that God is so good and faithful!!!!!!!!!!!

*Learned how to play croquet last night. It was fun, and for a while my mom, brother and I were outside in the front yard, playing, laughing and having a good time. I'm not very good at it...but I hope to get better in due time.

*Shot off bottle rockets last night in honor of 4th of July. I did. By myself. Well, my mom was there, but hey. I've never handled things like that before, except sparklers. I didn't set anything on fire! Victory!!!

*I've been watching a lot of TV today, since I'm here by myself. I was watching Deal or No Deal, and this lady had the million dollars in her case, but she took a large deal instead. I yelled at her. Then, some other guy took a deal and would have won the million because he would have switched the remaining two cases with the one he had. The switched one had the million in it. Insane.

*Read on the Yahoo! news that Casey Anthony is NOT GUILTY of 1st degree murder. I don't get it. I really don't. I only pray that justice will be served for that precious little girl.

I know; right now not much is going on in my life. Hopefully soon that will change. I'm meeting up with my best friend tomorrow to go out and meet some of her friends, then I'm going to their candle-lighting ceremony. Then on Thursday my Grandpa departs to Youngstown where he's originally from. His 90th birthday party is on Saturday, even though his actual birthday isn't until August. My parents are heading up there on Friday after they drop me off at the airport. The confirmation that somebody will be picking me up in Glasgow is sitting in front of me; cross that worry off my list. That's about all for now. Let the pre-traveling jitters start. Cheers!

The 7-day Status update

Countdown: 7. MORE. DAYS. 1. WEEK. Wow. Like I've said about 56779779484 times, I never thought that in my lifetime I would get this opportunity. Have I started packing yet? Nope. I've got time though, but not as much as I thought.

I'm surprised that I'm still sleeping well, considering I thought the one-week to go itch would start to make my skin crawl with excitement and anticipation. In fact, at this EXACT time next week, I'll be still on a plane almost ready to land in Newark, New Jersey. Or is it New York? Ha! I'm not even really that sure. Although the mysterious sounds of scratching against my walls kept me up at night. My mom suspects a mouse, she'll be setting a trap tonight. I, on the other hand, will be at my best buddy's house spending the night for quite possibly one of our last get-togethers before I take off. She's awesome and I love her as if she were a younger sister, and I'm so thankful we've known each other for so long. (almost SEVEN YEARS!!!!)

On another note, I got my new glasses today! As someone from church back in Berea said, "all the better to see Scotland with!" I was like, yaay!!!! And hopefully I'll get to hear from my lovely sister sometime tonight or tomorrow. She's having a BLAST in England (if you haven't done so already, READ HER BLOG!!) I'm following it, it's titled "Berea Meets Kingston." Also, my 89-year-old Grandpa is here with us at home for a week; he actually leaves the day before I leave. It's been about a year and a half since I last saw him, and some changes have been evident. But my goodness; what in the WORLD do you expect? He's in better shape than I am at 21! But of course my mom is worried, I suppose when my folks get to be that age I will as well. Ok, now that I've wasted more space on the internet with this blog pertaining to absolutely nothing about Scotland,  I suppose I should scoot...Nala the brat dog has made a notion to be infatuated with the hallway, so I'm going to see what she's up to. That's all for now! Cheers!