Hello! So I'm very sorry that I haven't updated my blog sooner but I've been very busy with school and functions lately, not to mention I became very ill this entire past week and had to visit the doctors twice, because I was misdiagnosed the first time. UK healthcare is VERY different from US healthcare - I must admit, I much prefer US healthcare. I am now on antibiotics, and finally starting to feel a little better. The worst sickness I've ever gotten is like a cold or 24-hour flu so this was pretty scary for me to deal with alone. Luckily, my sweet friend who lives in my building, Dani (she's in vet school at Uni of Edinburgh from OU!), got me some biscuits and powerade to help me feel better. So Week 4 of classes was definitely not fun but hopefully Week 5 will be better!
So much to talk about. I left off with our classmates going on a boat trip Friday of Fresher's Week to Loch Lomond. It was beautiful weather and a very fun way to get to know one another more. Our class is very close with each other, which I love - since we are all international student (I believe there's just 1 student from the UK) none of us knew too many people beforehand so we've all bonded quite a bit.
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Ha I tried to touch him but he just nipped at my fingers for food. Brave fella!
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| Me and Evelyn. She's from Germany and is really into Asian culture. |
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| Stefan is also from Germany! We had a pizza night when we got back from Loch Lomond. |
We stopped off at the other end of the lake for a small hike and look around then returned to the boat for lunch.
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We had our choice of chili, rice, and fritos or haggis and veggies. I had the chili but of course tried the haggis - it was my first time to have haggis! It's different but not bad. I would try it again - maybe not order it as a meal though :)
The next day, I took a train to Linlithgow to meet all the other Rotary Ambassadorial scholars in our district. There are 10 of us I believe - Germany, US, Japan, and Canada. Most of us attend the University of Edinburgh, but not all. It was great meeting everyone as well as the District Governor for District 1020.
After the morning meeting, I decided to do a bit of sight-seeing, after all, Mary Queen of Scots' palace was right behind our meeting place! The palace was incredible...none of it was furnished it was just what was left..there were so many nooks and crannies. It's amazing to think that people actually used to live in these massive stone edifices. The queen had a great view too!
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| This was the center of the castle, just inside. |
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| this was a hole to throw prisoners down! |
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| long way down...ouch |
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| cute little dove just hanging out |
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| this is what old wine bottles looked like! |
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| view through the top of one of the 4 towers |
That day, I returned, and was invited by some of my German classmates to go to City Nightclub and see Paul van Dyk, the dj play. It was a really fun night, but next time I definitely will not be wearing heels!
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| Me, Jan, & Anja |
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Me, Moritz, & Anja dancing!
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I joined the wine society. It's really fun - you meet new people who enjoy wine and you learn more too! Our meetings are Mondays at 7:30 p.m. I haven't made all the meetings but the ones I have been to were quite enjoyable.
The following weekend, I went to Oxford for a Rotary Ambassadorial Weekend Retreat. I met tons of other scholars from the Scottish and English area. (Ireland was invited but their big conference was that weekend.) Me and one scholar stayed with a lovely English family who lived outside of Oxford. Their house was absolutely beautiful, and so were their children! They treated us so kindly, we had a lovely dinner that evening then went to a pub to meet up with other Rotary members and their guest scholars. The next day we had a workshop early in the morning - it was pretty long, but helpful and interesting. We had table discussions as well as presenters. That night, we all attended a Barndance! It was essentially a mix between a Scottish ceidlich and an American squaredance. On Sunday, the same group that visited the pub with us went to White Horse Hill which is basically an abstract stone structure of a white horse. Following, we had lunch at the White Horse Pub and we had a proper Sunday Roast! It was a bit messy, but yummy! (highly in calories too I might add...but everything yummy is!)
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| This curvy white design is the white horse - it's a bad angle so you can't see it but that's it! |
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| The story is that a king killed a dragn on that hill and the dragon's blood prevented any grass from growing on that white patch. Hence, Dragon Hill. |
On Tuesday night, I gave my first presentation at Esk Valley Rotary Club, my host club. The other 2 scholars, Iain and Max, and I all had dinner at Elaine's house (my host counselor). Then we walked to the meeting. My presentation went well, and they were all very welcoming and encouraging!
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| Me, Iain (Colorado), Max (Germany) |
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| Us presenting our home club banners to the President of Esk Valley Rotary Club |
The next evening was Portobello Rotary Club's International Night. Each scholar sat at a different table with Portobello members. We were all supposed to dress in our native country dress - so of course I broke out the jeans and cowboy boots! The night ended with entertainment from an accordian player who interacted with the crowd quite a bit and basically made the scholars do a bunch of dancing!
That Friday evening, Moritz threw a flat-warming party. There were so many people!! It was a very fun, crazy evening. Everyone had a great time!
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| Heiner, Moritz, me, & Peiter |
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| Peiter, Karu, & me |
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| Stephanie, me, and Magalie |
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Caecille, Oden, me smushed in there, Magalie, & Mortiz
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The next day (Saturday) I went to Esk Valley's Pink Disco event which raised money for breast cancer awareness! I was a really relaxed, fun atmosphere, and members' family and children attended so there was a broad range of age groups. Some members from Esk Valley's sister Dutch Rotary club even came in town for the weekend!
Things I Love about Scotland
The obvious, my friends and family
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