Fresher's Week

I have to admit - Edinburgh's Fresher's Week is 10x better than OU's Howdy Week. There are seriously so many things going on nonstop everyday. And they are really fun and interesting. For example, there are lots of bands playing, dance lessons, tastings, info sessions, ceidlichs, and free food!

After my last blog entry, Tom and I had dinner then went to Teviot, where tons of things were going on. Teviot is like a student union basically with several cafes and bars. That night we went to the Library Bar, which I really liked. It looked just like a cozy little library with fireplaces and walls full of books lit up with a red background light. I finally had a Pimm's and Lemonade drink again!! I discovered this tasty treat when I studied at Oxford 2 summers ago. It usually has mint leaves and diced fruit in it - very refreshing. I was probably the only one ordering that drink but I didn't mind!

After, Tom and I went upstairs to a Scottish Ceidlich!! It's basically like folk dancing...it reminded me of square dancing where the caller tells you what to do. It was so much fun with twirling, stomping, and clapping. It was pretty chaotic and hot with all the people in there but it was a great way to break the ice and let loose!

Monday was not too eventful...more running errands. I did get a business bag though! I feel so professional now haha. Tom and I ended up going to Pizza Hut that evening but it was really nice - like a restaurant! I wish there were more Pizza Huts like it!

Tuesday was a busy day. I had an Academic Orientation the whole morning at Old College in Playfair Library. Although Old College is under construction in the main courtyard, it is really beautiful. The Director of Studies, Dr. Rick Woodward, led the morning's presentation. We basically got an overview of the course objectives and syllabi for all our courses. We have 4 courses per semester.

Semester 1:
- International Trade & Business Strategy: why we do business
- Developing Knowledge-based Businesses in Emerging Economies: how to grow a business
- Current Debates in International Business & Emerging Markets: discussion course, non-lecture
- Elective: Marketing Management: about activities used to learn about markets and customers

Semester 2:
- Doing Business Based Projects in Emerging Markets: assigned a company and act as consultants in a group
- Methods of Research: skills to write dissertation
- Elective: International Marketing Strategy
- Elective: Management Across Borders & Cultures

Overall I'm excited but nervous. After the session, we were served delicious finger foods and tea sandwiches. I met many more of my fellow colleagues, and everyone seems really eager to make friends and get to know each other. It reminds me of Freshman year all over again - but in a good way, because that's what I liked most about Freshman year.

Grading is very different. Apparently it's EXTREMELY hard to get an A of any level - they are rarely given. Typically students get in the B and C range.
A: 80-100%
A: 75-79%
A: 70-74%
B: 60-69%
C: 50-59%
D: 40-49%
E: 0-39%

All my courses have 2 or 3 grades total - usually an individual report/essay, a group report/essay/project, and a final exam. I can't tell yet if that will be easier or harder for me - typically, I'm better with keeping up with homework assignments per week but perhaps I'll end up liking this better.

Edinburgh seems to be a very supportive university like OU was. The professors all seem to want their students to succeed and learn and help, which is encouraging.

After the orientation, Mary Claire (an Irish friend in my program), Tom and I visited Gladstone's Land, the home of a prosperous merchant in the 17th century. I was decorated and furnished to demonstrate Edinburgh's Old Town nearly 400 years ago. It was a short tour but interesting.

Following, Tom and I visited The Scotch Whiskey Experience. I found it really interesting, especially because of my interest in wine. I found that the aging process for whiskey is very much like wine. We went on an interactive ride that showed every step of the creation and aging.


Part of ride that indicated bubbling yeast



Then, we went to a tasting/smelling room where we learned about the 4 main regions of Scottish sinlge malt whiskey producers: Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, and Islay. Every region has a distinct set of smells that can be detected in their whiskey. Such smells include bonfire, banana and fruits, perfumey flowers, and vanilla. I tried the single malt whiskey from the Highlands. I am not a huge fan of how whiskey tastes, but I'm glad I tried it.

We then went to a room FULL of 3,400 bottles of different whiskeys - it was amazing. It was all one man's collection, Brazilian Claive Vidiz. It took him over 35 years to collect. The final room had various whiskey bottles on display, and each bottle was very unique. My favorite was the chess set and every chess piece contained a small amount of whiskey.

After a nap, Tom and I headed out to a club called Po Na Na. It was pretty different than places back home. For example, I wasn't used to seeing so many young people allowed to drink! Also, there seemed to be many more people willing to get up and dance...In my experience, at least in Oklahoma, people tend to be worried about their dancing or embarrassed or concerned about dancing if not enough people are out on the dancefloor. It was quite liberating to just have some fun and dance! The club had UV paint so in the black lights we glowed in the dark!


I liked their drink menu because it says "Drinky Poos" at the top!



Wednesday, I had to sort out some Rotary paperwork...I'm still working on it but it's underway. I visited the Finance Office, and by chance I ran into Andrew Heaton, another Rotary Scholar. He was the first scholar that I have met so far! I knew Andrew before we left though because he graduate from OU a few years before me and was also being sent by an Oklahoman Rotary district further north. We had lunch and caught up briefly - it was great to visit.

That afternoon, I went to a couple information sessions at the Business School. The first was "Cultural Differences in Learning and Teaching." The Professor leading the session was a wonderful speaker - very energetic, passionate, and easy to talk to. I very much enjoyed the session - it made me excited to learn as much as I can this year. The next session was boring but informative as it was just telling us how to navigate around the Main Library.

That evening, the Business School held a reception for all business students and it was CRAZY!! I loved it. They served hor d'oeuvres and an assortment of drinks. We had magicians, caricature artists, acrobats, and my favorite, an amazing Scottish band, dressed in traditional kilts and accessories. It consisted of 4 energetic drummers and 1 bagpipe player. You could feel the vibrations of the drums in your chest - it made me want to dance but it wasn't that sort of party haha.

Check out the guy on the right - he gets so into it!

Arrival to Scotland

So...getting the visa was much more difficult for me than I expected. It seemed that everytime I sent something else in to the Consulate, they would email me back saying it's not enough or they wanted the original copy. Very frustrating needless to say. It would've been fine if they had made all that explicitly clear at the beginning but no. So, my visa and passport did not get returned to me until after the 3rd therefore I had to move my flight (which was also a hassle) to the 8th. I didn't get my visa until the morning of the 8th!! Stressful, but I'm actually glad that my flight got pushed because I wasn't quite ready to go yet, I got to see the first OU football game of the season, and I got to spend a little more time with friends and family!

Considering my previous difficulties in getting to Scotland, I expected trouble at the airports and between flights, but luckily, I had one of the smoothest trips ever! I flew through Delta but with KLM (British airlines), and I really like KLM! I was impressed. I'm not very good with long flights, but overall I was very pleased.

My Scottish sponsor, Elaine Henderson, was kind enough to pick me up from the airport. Her daughter's friend, Morven, was also there to greet me. It was such a relief to have someone there when I arrived. Elaine got me to my new flat, iQ Edinburgh, and helped me get my bags upstairs to the top floor where I'm at. She was even so kind to give me a gift bag full of delicious food and drink as well as a lovely bouquet of pink roses! I am very excited that Elaine is my sponsor, and I think that we are going to have an awesome time together this year!

My flat is beautiful. I have a corner room so I have have 3 windows instead of 1 or 2, and from my flat, I can see Arthur's Seat (big hill), Edinburgh castle, and a gorgeous church. My friend Thomas from Australia has been travelling around Europe and he arrived on the 9th (when I arrived) to help me settle in. I am so grateful for all of his help because everything is still a bit new and overwhelming for me.

My new favorite store is Asda, which is pretty much like a Wal-Mart. It's actually owned by Wal-Mart. I got many basic flat items there as well as from some stores on Princes Street.

On Friday, Tom and I climbed the Arthur's Seat hill. Honestly, I was not thrilled to hike up as high as Tom wanted to get on the hill but ultimately it was worth it because the sunset was incredible.

Scottish Thistle

I thought we were done after this hill...but no, we continued

 

Thomas and Me on Arthur's Seat

Last night, one of my classmates, Martin, coordinated a get-together for all Intl Biz masters students so that we could meet and greet. We started at the Black Bull Pub then ended up at a club called Opium. Note to self: it gets COLD at night. It's going to take quite a bit of getting used to for me. Overall, the evening was quite fun, and I'm really happy that I got to meet some of my classmates prior to classes starting.

Today, I went to International Day at the Uni. They provided us with a great soup and sandwich lunch then we sat in on a welcome speech and several information sessions. I didn't learn too much from the talks today but they gave us lots of literature about events being held this week for Freshers Week, clubs, etc.

I have very full days for the next week, with Business School orientations as well as fun Freshers events. I'll try to get more pictures of things to come this week!