Updating while I still have internet.

So, we had internet for a few hours the other day, and then it was turned off again. Finally we have the internet back and we're hoping it stays on for at least a few hours this time.

On Monday, I had my art history lecture and then, later that night, Laura and I walked to Iceland (our cheap grocery store down the hill from our flat) and bought ingredients for omelets. We made the best omelets. Laura made hers with fresh tomatoes, cheese, and spinach. I made mine with onions, spinach, ham, cheese, and mushrooms. Yummmm.

On Tuesday, I woke up early for sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art at 9:30am. I really don't mind getting up for that class because I love it so much. I really wish I could have sculpture more than once a week. It's so relaxing and we get tea and chocolate. We "finished" our first sculptures on Tuesday and next week we make a new one with the same model. After our model, Elaine, leaves us next week we get a new model named Andrew. I brought my photography camera to sculpture with me because after class I wanted to finish my roll of film for developing. I ended up taking some great photos but I didn't finish the whole roll. I had art history again from 3-4pm and then at 5:20, Laura and I walked to the gym and went to a BoxFit class from 5:30-6:15. Our other friends, Laura, Lindsey, and Sarah were there as well, so we all had a great time punching and kicking around. It was a huge class in the gym and a great workout. (I'm sitting in my room now, a day later, unable to move my arms above my head very quickly without it hurting.) After the gym, we had another family dinner with some of the leftovers from our fajitas and some new ingredients. Sarah made chicken quesadillas and they were wonderful. I finished my roll of film at dinner, taking pictures of people and random things in the kitchen. I'm actually really excited to see them blown up.

My final sculpture...I never really finished the face.

Another view of my sculpture.

After dinner we decided to go to Oran Mor for drinks and dancing. They had a great DJ and we were dancing until around 1am. All of us had class in the morning, but each song kept getting better and we could not get ourselves to leave the club. Anyway, we finally got to bed around 2 or 2:30.

Today, we were woken up by the fire alarm going off in our flat. I thought we could sleep through it and not have to get out of bed, but after a few minutes we heard other people leaving the flat to go outside. It was 8am and my alarm was supposed to go off at 8:45, so I was very annoyed that the fire drill was at that time. After the drill, we went back up to the flat, slept until 9am, and then woke up to get ready for photography. I developed my film today and the photos, from what I can tell looking at them up against the light, look awesome. I'm so excited to make some prints. After photography, I walked to bagpiping and had my lesson with Glenn from 1-2pm. It went well, I finally bought my own practice chanter and I will be able to bring it home with me! For my next lesson I have to have the exercises down and be able to play a little tune. I plan on practicing every day until my lesson. The bagpipes are definitely not as easy as I thought they were going to be. The chanter looks like a recorder but it is a lot harder to play than the recorder I played in elementary school.

After bagpiping, I took the underground back to Hillhead, and now I'm back in my flat hanging out here for the night. We're thinking of taking it easy tonight and having a girls night. I bought some face masks and I have some nail polish, so we might do a movie and girly night tonight.

Tomorrow I don't have class until 3pm, but I will go to the gym in the morning and then maybe work on editing my Top Chef video some more.

Love and miss you all!

Love always,

Jess

First full week of classes and Newcastle.

The internet has not been working in our flat for almost a week now. It is getting a little ridiculous, but hopefully they will give it back to us soon. I called our RA (Resident Assistant), Ludmila, yesterday and she said that she would call the accommodations office today and try to figure it out.

My class schedule is:

Monday:

10-11am, Art History Tutorial

3-4pm, Art History Lecture

Tuesday:

9:30-12:30, Figurative Sculpture

3-4pm, Art History Lecture

Wednesday:

10-1pm, Black and White Photography

1-2pm, Bagpipes Private Lesson

Thursday:

3-4pm, Art History Lecture

4-5pm, Bagpipes Lecture

Friday:

NO CLASS (Most of my traveling will start on Thursday nights or Friday mornings.)

Tuesday:

I had my first sculpture class from 9:30-12:30. I took the underground (aka The Clockwork Orange) to the Cowcaddens stop and walked to the sculpture studio. We had a nude model on our first day and it went great. The class is only 4 people, so we get a lot of help and one-on-one time with our teacher, Katherine. The model was very nice and on our break she gave us all chocolate. It’s so nice to have a model that can interact with you and make you feel comfortable in the studio.

My sculpture studio.

My first figure sculpture.

After sculpture, I took The Clockwork Orange back to my flat and hung out until around 3pm when I walked to art history. In between art history and dinner, Briana, Laura and I watched Friends on my laptop for a little while and then decided we wanted to go out for dinner and drinks at Oran Mor. Oran Mor is a gorgeous restaurant/bar/club. It was converted from an old church, with some Mackintosh influences inside. We ordered Caesar salads and hung out with our friends Laura (another Laura), Ted, and AJ joined up with us a little later. After dinner, we walked to Ashton Lane and went to a bar called Nude for Mojitos. AJ joined the lacrosse team here at the university, so we happened to bump into two of his teammates at the bar and talked to them for a while. It was an early night because Laura and I had class at 10 the next morning, so we went back to the flat and got some sleep.

Wednesday:

We walked to photography at around 9:30 and got to the studio around 10. The entire class was just talking about the camera, settings, how to focus it, and what the class would be about throughout the semester. We also received our own cameras and film that we will be able to use all semester. After photography, I had a private lesson with my bagpiping teacher, Glenn. They still don’t have enough practice chanters for everyone, so I have been using Glenn’s for this week. I learned the scale and fingering for the chanter, and it does NOT sound pretty when you don’t blow hard enough into the instrument. I was laughing throughout the entire lesson because I couldn’t get the sound right. Glenn is a character and I’m excited to have such a great tutor for my lessons. When he plays, he does circular breathing, which not many musicians can do. The reason Kenny G. is so famous and good at what he does is because he can do circular breathing. It is when you puff up your cheeks and store air in your mouth while you inhale through your nose and blow out that fresh air into the instrument. It allows musicians to play an entire tune without taking their mouth off of the instrument. It’s fascinating to watch Glenn play the bagpipe while circular breathing.

The National Piping Centre in Glasgow

After bagpiping, I had a meeting with Anna West, our study abroad coordinator, and talked to her about my classes and how I have been settling in here in Glasgow. Summary of the meeting: love the city, love the people, I’ve made great friends, and I’m excited for the rest of the semester! I really couldn’t be happier here. I know I don’t have a heavy course load, but that is WHY I am having such a good time here. If I had more work, I would not be able to enjoy the city I’m living in and meet all of these great people. I, of course, am going to try to do my own side projects to keep me busy, like sketching, traveling, reading, etc., but right now I’m enjoying not being stressed out like I was last semester in New York.

At around 4:30, Laura and I went to the Glasgow University Union to buy tickets for the Newcastle Trip for international students. It was 40 pounds for a bus ride to Newcastle, staying in a hostel, dinner, entrance to a bar/club, and then a ride back to Glasgow. After buying tickets, I went to get my wireless internet connection fixed in the library so I could use the wireless in my flat. We ended up staying in on Wednesday night even though I didn’t have class until 4pm the next day.

Thursday:

At 1:15pm, after sleeping in a wee bit (yes, I just said “wee”), I went to the gym with Briana and at 3:30pm all of us headed to the National Piping Centre for our first Bagpipes lecture.

Later that night, we decided to go to The Hive, which is a club at the Glasgow University Union on campus, down the street from my flat. Everyone came over to our room before going out and then we went to get in line (or the queue) at the Union. It took us a while to get in and it was raining outside, but once we got in it was definitely worth it. Earlier that night we though we were going to a UN party, so we were all dressed in red, white, and blue, but we ended up deciding not to go to that club because it was too far away. Therefore, we went to the stoplight party at the Hive in our red, white and blue. They paint lines on your face (red, yellow, or green) depending on your relationship status. We all had a great time at the Hive and danced the entire night until we left the club at around 2:30.

The girls in all of our red, white, and blue.

Dancing at The Hive

Friday:

Laura and I spent most of the day hanging out around the flat and then at 6:30pm we went to our friends apartment for “family dinner.” Family Dinner is when a few people go out and buy a bunch of ingredients and a couple people cook for everyone, and we all have dinner together. We all end up paying around 2 or 3 pounds for dinner with all of our friends. On Friday dinner was with Laura, Heather, another Laura, Lindsey, Liam, AJ, Sarah, Briana, and me. We had fajitas and they were SO good! This is definitely a tradition we will stick with for this semester.

Saturday:

At 9am, we went to the Main Gate of the university and got on the bus to Newcastle with all of the other international students. We were dropped off at the hostel, checked into our rooms, and then got on the bus to go to the city centre. Our first stop was lunch, and then shopping in the city centre. There isn’t much to see in Newcastle, so we decided to just walk around the mall and along the main street.

I think this is the Millennium Bridge in Newcastle. (I took this while we were on the bus.)

Laura, Briana, and I shared a room.

What we didn't know was that the bottom bunk was a double :-P

Around 4:30pm we took the Metro back to the hostel, got dressed for dinner and hopped on the metro around 5:30 to meet the rest of the international students at the Monument in the city centre. Hojjat (the president of the International Society) took us to an Iranian buffet, which was actually very good. After dinner we went to a bar and sat around until 10:30. Although we were all getting very bored in the bar, it was the best people watching I have ever done. I have never seen so many stilettos, mini dresses, big hair, fake eyelashes, layers of makeup, and fake tans in my life. I really wish I could have gotten some pictures of the people in the bar for all of you to see. The bar we were in was also beautiful to look at, because it was an old bank with the huge columns.

The interior of the Revolution Bar.

At 10:30pm, we went next door to a Hidden club called Madame Koo. You have to walk down a couple flights of stairs to get to the dance floor. By that time, we were getting sort of tired but when we saw all the people on the dance floor, we knew we had to get on there with everyone else. They played some great music and I even had a dance-off with a guy on the dance floor. He started doing all of this crazy footwork and break-dancing moves, so I decided to challenge him and we had a little dance-off. We danced from about 11pm to 1am and then decided it was time to go back to the hostel to get some sleep before waking up at 8:15 the next morning.

Sunday:

Our alarm went off at 8:15am to go get some breakfast downstairs. The hostel manager had croissants, yogurt, fruit, orange juice, and cheese waiting for us. After breakfast, we went back up to our room to sleep until 9:40 because we had to get on the bus at 10. We drove about 20 minutes from Newcastle to the sea. The girls and I decided to sit in the aquarium café for hot chocolate/coffee/tea while looking out at Whitley Bay and the beach. We then got back on the bus to go to Durham Castle. After seeing Durham Castle and walking around there for a while, the bus driver took us to Newcastle’s MetroCentre, which is the largest mall in Europe. We didn’t want to walk around the mall because we didn’t want to be tempted to spend any more money, so we found a nice restaurant and ate a great lunch before getting on the bus around 3. From there, we took the bus back to Glasgow, went grocery shopping, and then came back to the flat to relax before another week of classes.

The beach and Whitley Bay

A turtle at the Blue Reef Aquarium

The girls walking back to our bus to go to Durham

Durham

Me in front of the Durham Cathedral

The girls (Sarah, Briana, Laura, Lindsey, Heather, and Laura) at Durham Castle

Monday:

I just had my 10am Art History discussion class, and now I am sitting in the kitchen, updating this blog, and thinking about eating some lunch. I have to go to my art history lecture in 2 hours, so I’m trying to organize my schedule and figure out my side projects for the semester.

Now that I am finally done with my blog update, I just found out the internet is working again in our rooms…I’m going to move over there to upload all of the pictures for this entry.

Love and miss you all!

Love Always,

Jess

Internet is STILL down!

I will be updating my blog soon with all that has happened in the past week. However, the internet keeps kicking us off and then we have to use the wireless connection which is never very strong in our room. Tomorrow I am heading to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (aka Newcastle) for the night with other international students. The Glasgow University Union is putting it all together. We leave tomorrow morning at 9am, take a bus to Newcastle (about a 3 hour ride), and then we are given dinner, a hostel to stay in, and entrance to a bar/club, all included in our ticket price (40 pounds). We will return to Glasgow on Sunday around 5 (I think), so expect an update and pictures that night.

Love and miss you all!

Love Always,

Jess

Internet is down...

So, the internet has been down in our flat for the past two days. Hopefully it will come back soon because there is so much to tell you all about my week so far. My first sculpture class, photography class, and bagpiping lesson! I am in the library right now and the IT people helped me set up the wireless internet connection for the University. I won't be here for much longer, which is why I'm not going to update all of you now. I just wanted to let you all know that there will be a post soon...maybe I can even get wireless if I sit in our kitchen because it's closer to the library.

This coming weekend I will also be going on an overnight trip to Newcastle with Briana and Laura and a bunch of other international student. Talk to you soon.

Love Always,

Jess

BOBBY MCFERRIN

Sunday wasn't all that eventful until later in the day. Briana and I went to the library to fill out forms for Arcadia University. Arcadia is the program I'm with in Scotland, so we have to fill out orientation and host family surveys. After that we went grocery shopping and found a great grocery store near us. It's called Waitrose and is similar to Whole Foods, only I think it is cheaper. After buying some groceries, we came back to my flat and cooked dinner. We made a wonderful dinner of penne pasta, garlic bread, and broccoli. yummm. We were so stuffed by the end of dinner and all we wanted to do was lay down and watch a movie. Braveheart had finally downloaded on my computer, but it is 3 hours long so me, Briana and Laura watched Mulan, which was playing live on channelsurfing.net.

Our delicious dinner.

Today was my first real day of class. At 10am I had an art history seminar. There are only about 10 people in the seminar and the grad student leading the discussion seems very nice. She made us get right into art history and talk in front of the class about paintings we didn't know. We had to try and guess what time period they were from and what the artist was trying to focus on. I think it will be a good seminar, though. After class, I went back to my flat to relax for a few hours before going to my first art history lecture at 3pm. The lecture was fine, the same as any art history lecture I have sat through. I have these 1 hour lectures three times a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Once class was over, Briana and I walked to the subway because we wanted to go downtown and walk around St. Enoch Centre, which is a big shopping mall downtown. On our way to the subway we bumped into Laura who was coming back from her bagpiping lesson, and she ended up joining us on our adventure downtown. We didn't spend too much time in the mall because everything downtown seems to only be open until 6pm. On our way back home, we bumped into a friend who told us about a performance going on at 8pm with Bobby McFerrin for Celtic Connections. Celtic Connections is a month long festival in Glasgow, that brings so many different performers to Glasgow. (CLICK HERE to check out the website.) Laura and I knew we really wanted to go to the concert. We had been invited to go to a pub, but I couldn't imagine turning down Bobby McFerrin for a pub. Briana is coming down with a cold, so she decided to stay in for the night.

At around 7:30, we headed over to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in the city centre. We ended up having to take a taxi half of the way because we were running a little late. Once we arrived at the concert hall, we bought our tickets and went to our FRONT ROW BALCONY seats! The concert was unbelievable. Bobby McFerrin is incredible and I feel so lucky to have been able to see him perform live. He is really into audience participation, so I found myself singing and humming throughout most of the concert. He invited people onstage to dance and sing with him, and it was all entertaining. I even snuck a few pictures of him, one of which you can see below. It seemed like the concert went on for a while and I was expecting my watch to say 11pm at the end of the concert, but it was only 10pm. Laura and I were hungry so we went to a little grab and go food place and ate there before heading home. Now we are back at the flat, I'm so full from dinner, and I have class tomorrow at 9:30 at the Glasgow School of Art. I'll need to leave for the subway around 9am to get there on time...I don't think that will be too hard for me, I just need to go to sleep soon.

Bobby McFerrin with a bunch of audience members that ran up onstage to sing. (He only asked for 12, but there were about three dozen people onstage.)

Goodnight...I love and miss you all!

Love Always,

Jess

Not much happening around here.

Wednesday night, I went with a bunch of girls to a club in Merchant City in Glasgow. The club is called the Polo Lounge and the dance floor was packed. We had a great time but all decided we were done dancing at around 1:30am.

On Thursday I slept in for a little while and then at 4pm I had my first bagpiping class. We got to meet the instructors, and set up times for our private lessons. After a little introduction from the professor, Finlay, Briana and I went to a movie at Cineworld. Even though we have both already seen the movie, we wanted to see Avatar again, in 3-D. It was just as good the second time. After the movie, we met up with AJ for some dinner downtown. AJ went back to his flat and Briana and I went back to ours to get ready for the Hive. The Hive is every Thursday night at the Glasgow University Union, so there were huge lines out the door. Briana and I got ready and then went to stand in line, but after 30 minutes, and dealing with a bunch of creepers in line, it wasn't worth it to wait any longer. We ended up calling it a night and went back to relax.

Friday, Briana and I went to the gym and then went out to dinner at a sushi restaurant. It was so nice to have sushi, and we were both craving it. After dinner, we went grocery shopping and then made plans to go with a bunch of people to Cheesy Pop. Cheesy Pop is another big event here at the University. Every Friday night at the Queen Margaret Union there is a big dance party/event and of course huge lines again. (They actually don't call it a line here, it is a queue.) There was a huge group of people on the third floor of my building before Cheesy Pop, so we went up to join them. After leaving the flat, we went to stand in line for Cheesy Pop. It was ridiculous and we were probably standing there for 30 or 40 minutes. Me, Briana, and AJ got so sick of the line that we ended up leaving around midnight.

This morning I woke up a few times and wasn't feeling very good so I stayed in bed most of the morning. I finally got up to take a shower and Briana and I went to get some food with AJ on Byres road. We went to Mario's Place for some fish and chips and then hung out in my room and watched Superbad. Now I'm watching some live TV on channelsurfing.net. This clearly hasn't been the most productive day, but I can't wait until classes start next week so I can actually do some work.

Until next time, love you and miss you all!

Love Always,

Jess

First Day of Class...sort of.

After standing in line at registration, I finally got my official Glasgow University student ID card with my picture on it. I think after registration I just went back to the flat, met up with Briana, and then walked around a little. I actually don't remember everything that we did...the days here are just getting mixed up in my head because there is so much free time. I don't have a working visa, which would have been nice to get a job and be a little more busy, but I was thinking I might be able to find a babysitting job somewhere.

At around 6pm, Briana and I forced ourselves to go to the gym and we got a pretty good workout in. The gym is so small for the size of this school, but we'll just have to deal with it. (They also have a steam room and sauna that I haven't found yet, but I will definitely be taking advantage of that.) After the gym, we went back to our flat to relax, and get ready to go out for our friend Lorna's 21st birthday. She found a pub in downtown Glasgow called The Horseshoe. Supposedly it has the longest bar in the UK. We took the Underground (aka The Clockwork Orange) to Buchanan Street, and a woman was nice enough to show us where the pub was. I find that just going up to people on the street and asking for directions is the best way to go. Forget about getting lost and trying to find a small alley on a map (even though sometimes it's fun to get lost), just ask someone and usually they are nice enough to help out Americans. We stayed for a while at the pub celebrating Lorna's birthday and then at around midnight we caught a taxi back to our flat and called it a night.

(Left to Right) Briana, Jasmine, Lauren, Lorna, and Laura at the Horseshoe Pub

Lorna with all of her drinks! She is 21 now...

This morning, my roommate, Laura, and I had photography at the Glasgow School of Art. And, YES, I actually did have class this morning. Can you believe it? (Because I really couldn't believe it.) We walked to GSA with a few other people who are in the class as well, and when we got to the Mackintosh Building we filled out forms and then got our own private tour. No photography today (that starts next week) but the tour of the Mackintosh Building was incredible. They just celebrated the 100th anniversary of the building in December.

The foyer of the (Charles Rennie) Mackintosh Building

The Hen Run corridor at GSA

Throughout the tour I saw many stained glass roses in the Mackintosh Building, and I finally realized why there were roses on the pen I was given for Christmas. My parents got me the most beautiful pen for my Christmas gift and it was from the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Collection. I purposefully brought my pen to class this morning so I could fill out my forms with it. Below are pictures of the stained glass rose and my Mackintosh pen.

After the tour and seeing the sculpture building as well, me, Laura, and our other friends hopped on the Underground and went back to our neck of the woods. Laura and I went to a coffee shop called Smug and got an amazing brunch of bagels and hot chocolate. Now I am back in my room, laying on my bed, and I'm really tempted to take a nap since I don't have class the rest of the day. Or maybe I'll take the time to start editing the Top Chef 5 video today. I have no idea what is going on tonight, but tomorrow I have my first bagpiping class from 4-5pm and then we might go see Avatar in 3-D even though all of us have seen it.

Love and miss you all.

Love Always,

Jess

Ugh...

This week has sort of been a disaster so far...well, for classes that is. Sunday I didn't do anything except figure out my classes and relax...oh yeah, and I didn't go to a pub for once! Monday my plan was to go to my art history class at 3 (the only class I had on Monday). First of all, I got lost getting to the building. The map was so confusing and didn't show any paths/roads to the building so I finally ended up getting there after asking a couple of construction workers and security guards. What a mess!

When I found the building and the classroom, nobody was there. There were a few girls standing outside the classroom, so I asked them if they were there for Art History 1 as well, and they said yes. We waited for a few more minutes and then found out from another student that class doesn't start until next Monday. Now I don't have Art History until Monday morning which means I can't figure out if I want to stay in the class until then. After that adventure, Briana and I walked around, I bought my subway pass, and then we headed back to the flat. Later that night, we went out to dinner at a restaurant called Ketchup, down the hill from our flat. We went with a bunch of other people that we had never met before. They were AJ's flat mates and most of them are Scottish or Irish. We had a good time hanging out, chatting, and getting to know each other, but then we ended the night early because we had to get up this morning for class.

Now disaster #2. This morning, my plan was to have my Figurative Sculpture class at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) from 9:30-12:30. I woke up at 8 so I had plenty of time to eat breakfast, and slowly make my way over to the subway to end up at GSA. I arrived at the subway station at around 9:05, and then realized the Outer Circle subway wasn't in service. Instead, I had to get on the Inner Circle train and ride around the entire city, as opposed to just going 3 stops to GSA. After a couple stops, I was getting annoyed so I left the subway and tried to get a taxi to get me there on time. NO TAXIS. So, I swiped my subway card again, losing another ride on my card and got back on the train to ride around the whole city. By the time I finally made it to GSA, I asked the reception desk where my class was and they had no idea what I was talking about. After calling around to different departments, she figured out who I should be talking to and sent me downstairs to another person's office. Gordon, I guess he's the director of this Study Abroad program, told me that I was at GSA on the wrong day! Aaahhhhhh!!! Supposedly he sent out an email, but it never got to me, and classes start NEXT Tuesday. I really don't understand these schools over here...shouldn't every class start this week when it says they're going to start on the academic calendar?? So, now I have to go back tomorrow morning at 10am to GSA to fill out forms, get a tour of school, and not even have an art class this week. I'm getting very annoyed but hopefully everything will be worked out by next week.

(Click on this map for a larger view.) I got on the Underground at Hillhead and was supposed to get off at Cowcaddens. Instead, I went all the way around the city, got off at Govan to find a taxi, hopped back on the train, and then continued to ride the Inner Circle to Cowcaddens.

After this misunderstanding, I walked back to my flat, stopping on the way to get a Starbucks Chai because I thought I deserved it after all of the confusion. :-)

Now I'm sitting in my flat, waiting to go to registration for my Student ID card, and then I have no idea what I'm going to be doing tonight. Hopefully everything is less stressful for you all at home...I'll update you when I have relaxed and actually have something interesting/important to tell you.

Love you and miss you all!

Love Always,

Jess

Getting Settled

I finally feel like I am settled in here. I'm starting to know my way around and I'm getting to know the main streets here in Glasgow. Orientation was interesting this past week, but I'm glad we are starting classes tomorrow.

Thursday we had orientation all day and then a social event at 6pm. We learned more about Scotland, sat at tables with international students we didn't know, met a bunch of new people, and then, of course, went to a pub after the event. I feel like I don't even need to update you all on every night here, because it always consists of the same thing, hanging out with friends and going to a pub for a pint of beer. That seems to be the norm here in Scotland. I have never had so much fried food and beer in my life. I definitely need to go to the gym tomorrow.

On Friday we had orientation in the morning again, and then at 2pm we had a bus tour of Glasgow. Briana and I probably shouldn't have gone because it was the exact same tour we had gotten from John, the minister. However, it was completely worth it because of our awesome bus driver. He was hilarious. When the tour guide was off the bus, he would start giving us his own tour of Glasgow and blast music as he sang along to it in the microphone. You can see a video of him below.

Driving by the People's Palace

Statue of Duke of Wellington with a traffic cone on his head. This is now a tradition in Glasgow. If someone takes the cone off of his head, it will always end up back there in the following day or two.

"Squinty" Bridge

The Armadillo (aka The Clyde Auditorium)

After our bus tour, we went grocery shopping and then walked back to the flat to get ready for another night out. We were supposed to go to the Haggis Party, but decided we were too tired for that and wanted to wait a while to go out. Instead, we went out a little later to a bar called Nude. I invited my Scottish flat-mate, Finnlay, to come out to the bar with me and my friends Briana and AJ. We had a great time people watching and figuring out the bar scene in the West End. Since the drinking age is 18, we feel like most of the people at these bars are 18, if not younger.

Yesterday (Saturday), we slept in a little and then went to the city center to find a bank. I've been without cash for the past few days, so I needed to pay people back. After a day of shopping and exploring downtown, we came back to the flat, got ready, and went out to another international student event. This event was a Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish dance. It was so much fun and reminded me of all of the Kolo dancing I've done at Serbian events with my family. I really need to find some more Ceilidhs to go to because last night we didn't stay for long. After a few dances, my friends and I went out to the bar, Nude, again and enjoyed some more people-watching. After Nude, we walked down Byres Road to a church that was converted into a bar/club. We went to the club downstairs, but when we got to the front door the cover charge was 8 pounds! Briana, AJ and I decided that was WAY too much money and we walked back to our flat.

Now it is Sunday, I slept in late, and I'm going to figure out my class schedule for this week. (Maybe I'll even check out the gym today and see what kinds of classes they have.) As of right now, I don't have a Monday or Friday class, but I definitely need to find a fourth class to go to. I'm thinking tonight might be my first cooking night here in the apartment. Maybe I'll make some dinner for my friends as well.

Until next time...LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!

Love Always,

Jess

WARNING: LARGE ENTRY

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I had a great break at home with my family. I got home Tuesday, December 22^nd. When I arrived at SFO, Bec, Noah, and Jimmy were there to pick me up and we went out to dinner at Chevy’s. (They told them it was my birthday, so I got the big sombrero and singing.) The next day I spent with Bec and Bill. We started off going to brunch at Samovar in Yerba Buena Gardens, and then walked downtown to Union Square. After that we went shopping in Japan Town and bought some great fish, rice, and seaweed. We decided that our new Christmas Eve tradition was going to be making sushi. It was unbelievable. I decided to spend the night at their house and on Christmas morning, we went back to our house for brunch and presents. That afternoon we went to my uncle’s house in Danville for more presents/family time and a scrumptious meal. The rest of the week is mixed up in my head, so I’ll mention some highlights. We saw Avatar in 3-D, I went shopping for Scotland necessities, we had dinner with our friends David and Suzie, and last but not least, my last dinner was Top Chef 5!

Bec and Bill at the Samovar Tea Lounge in Yerba Buena Gardens

Me making sushi

Our wonderful dinner.

Christmas tree at my house

Christmas Day brunch with Baba, Deda, Mom, Dad, Bec, and Bill

Christmas tree at my uncle's house

After tricking David into thinking we all left him alone with the dessert and check.

Our family has Top Chef competitions where we have friends over, divide into 2 teams, pick an ingredient out of a hat, and then each teams has to cook an appetizer, main course, and dessert featuring the chosen ingredient. For my last dinner in SF, Top Chef 5, the ingredient was pear and it worked out pretty well. We had 2 teams of 6 (our largest Top Chef yet) and there were 4 judges, me, Katie, Mom and Dad. I was the judge because I was videotaping the entire competition.

Bec and Gabi making pear cupcakes with salted caramel frosting

All of the delicious food cooking on the stove. (Pear/Squash soup, poached pears, shrimp and more)

Me and Bec in the kitchen.

After Top Chef, I went home, got some rest, and then woke up early to have breakfast with my grandparents, do some last-minute errands, and finish packing for Scotland. I had to be at the airport at 1:45pm.

MY TRIP- January 1, 2010

I got to the airport around 2pm with my two small pieces of luggage and my backpack, and checked in with Virgin Atlantic. My flight was supposed to leave at 4:45, but ended up leaving an hour late around 6. I had an aisle seat (my favorite) and it was a pretty comfortable flight. I didn’t get much sleep, and I didn’t do ANYTHING I said I was going to do. I never even opened my laptop to upload my pictures. Once I got off of my direct flight from SFO to Heathrow, I headed to customs. I almost had a an issue getting through customs because I didn’t have my flight itinerary printed out for my trip home and I didn’t have my address for Glasgow, so they had no proof that I was going to be leaving in 6 months. But, the guy was nice and he said he wasn’t worried about an American student, so he let me through to get my luggage. After getting my luggage in London, I checked in with British Airways but had to pay for an extra piece of luggage (they only allow 1 piece of checked luggage on that flight). The flight was short, only an hour, and I slept most of the way. When I got to Edinburgh, I got my luggage and grabbed a taxi to Jurys Inn (where my orientation group is staying tomorrow) and asked if they had a room for me tonight a day early. Luckily they did and now I have a great room, even though I can’t figure out how to work the heater and I’m bundled up in a sweatshirt under a big blanket. When I got to the hotel, I called Lizzie, my friend from Smith who is studying at the University of Edinburgh, and she came with her friend David to the hotel. We then walked around, they gave me a little tour, and we grabbed a bite to eat and a drink before climbing up a hill to see Edinburgh from above. By the way, it gets dark here before 4pm…SO weird. Right now I’m hanging out in the hotel room, trying to rest and relax before orientation starts tomorrow. I’m hoping to get my cell phone and address soon so I can give you my number.

Some New Years day event happening in the streets of Edinburgh

On the top of the hill looking out over Edinburgh. (You can see the carnival on the right)

I’m really excited for this adventure in Scotland and I will be sure to keep you updated on everything going on here.

ORIENTATION HAS BEGUN- January 3, 2010

Orientation is going great so far, and it’s already almost over. On Saturday, everybody arrived. In the morning, my roommate checked into the room next to me, so I checked out of my room and checked into the one next door. We ended up going out to breakfast at a cute little café in Edinburgh with another guy from our group and then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap before other people arrived. At 5:15 we met the rest of the group downstairs with our orientation leaders, introduced ourselves, had a very brief meeting, and then they took us out to pizza in Grassmarket. It was snowing all night and was absolutely gorgeous.

After pizza, a group of us girls went out to a pub near our hotel and grabbed a drink before heading to bed. We were all pretty exhausted from the jetlag and could not wait to get out of the cold and into our warm beds.

Today, my roommate and I woke up at 7:30am, got ready and went down to breakfast in the hotel. At 9am, our orientation began in a conference room upstairs and we spent the whole morning learning about the history and geography of Scotland. At around 11:30am, Mr. James McCarthy (an author and former Deputy Director of the Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland) came to speak to us and gave a wonderful talk on Scotland. After his presentation, our orientation leaders took us out to lunch at a nice French restaurant called Le Sept in Hunter Square. I had a homemade potato and haggis soup and a spinach and ricotta crepe. A bunch of us cheated by getting the haggis soup because it didn’t even taste like real haggis…I have yet to try the real stuff, but I can’t wait.

Michelle, Lorna, Briana, Duncan, Me, Jessica, and Candace at Le Sept.

After lunch, we walked to the Arcadia Study Center to see where a lot of our trips would be departing from (since they don’t have a pick-up in Glasgow) and then we headed to the Edinburgh Castle. It started snowing and getting very cold but we made it up the hill without slipping on the ice and were able to walk around on our own and see the castle. My friend, Briana, and I explored the castle a little before we realized we had to meet everyone at Mary King’s Close at 4:45pm, just down the street from Edinburgh Castle on the Royal Mile. “Hidden beneath the Royal Mile lies Edinburgh’s deepest secret: a warren of hidden ‘closes’ where real people lived, worked, and died. For centuries they have lain forgotten and abandoned…” It was a fun tour, the tour guide was hilarious, dressed up in full costume, and we were able to see how people lived beneath the Royal Mile and learn about their daily life.

Looking out at Edinburgh from the Castle

Leaving the castle...already dark around 4pm.

Some interesting facts:

· An elevator here is called a “lift”

· Pants are trousers, and if you say “pants,” people think you are referring to underwear

· The ground floor is not the 1^st floor. The second floor, to us, is called the 1^st floor here

· A pint of beer is 20 oz. (the imperial pint) while a pint of beer in the US is only 16 oz.

· There are 3 languages spoken in Scotland: English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic

LEAVING EDINBURGH/HOMESTAY- January 4, 2010

Today we had to check out of our hotel before another morning of orientation. Orientation was not bad at all. It was never boring, and they were able to keep it short and sweet. After signing up for some great trips for this upcoming semester, we went out to lunch and to buy cell phones for the UK.

The two trips I signed up for are:

· The Scottish Borders: Abbotsford, Jedburgh, and Floors Castle on Saturday, April 24^th. We will go to the Scottish Borders, see Abbotsford, which is a house built and lived in by Sir Walter Scott. After Abbotsford we go to Jedburgh where we will be able to walk around the village and see Jedburgh Abbey. Floors Castle it the home of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburgh and is the largest inhabited castle in Scotland.

· Overnight Trip to Glasgow, Oban, Isle of Mull, and Isle of Iona on May 1-2 (the weekend after the Scottish Borders trip). We will go to Oban, the “Gateway to the Isles” and then walk along Ganavan Beac to see the ruins of Dunstaffnage Castle. When we come back to Oban, we will have a tour of the Oban Distillery, climb the hill to see McCaig’s Tower, and explore the town. On Sunday, we will get on a ferry to the Isle of Mull, then catch a ferry to the Isle of Iona. We will then visit the Iona Abbey and the Street of the Dead.

These trips sound like they will be amazing, (I’m just hoping that I won’t have finals during that time). After signing up for trips and buying cell phones, we came back to the hotel in Edinburgh and hopped on a minibus to Glasgow. The bus ride was short and when we got to Glasgow our host family picked us up. (We will be staying with them for the next two nights.) Our host family is great! We have a young couple hosting us in their home. Tonight our host mom, Rebecca, made us vegetarian Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties. It seems like I am slowly getting to the real thing, first I had potato and haggis soup, now I’ve had vegetarian haggis, and the next step is real haggis. After dinner, we kept warm in front of the fire, talking for a while, and then they told us we were going to play Pictionary. I’ve never played a real game of Pictionary, but it was so much fun. My roommate, Michelle, and I beat our host family but we all had such a great time playing together. I’m so happy to be in this home with such a welcoming family. I hope I see them again during my stay in Glasgow. Now it is time to go to bed and then we will be waking up early for a tour of the city I will be living in for the next 5 months.

Our homestay was the house on the corner.

Michelle with our host family, Malcolm and Rebecca.

A TOUR OF GLASGOW- January 5, 2010

Today, Michelle and I woke up at 9am, ate breakfast and then walked to the train station to meet up with the other 4 University of Glasgow students in our program. The 3 guys in our group are staying with John, a minister, who was kind enough to give us a tour of the city. Our first stop was the People’s Palace where we learned about the history of Glasgow and then ate our packed lunches in the beautiful botanical gardens. (I also tried Scotland’s most popular soda, Irn Bru, pronounced Iron Brew. It tastes like bubblegum.) After lunch we walked to the Glasgow Cathedral, the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, and then walked across the street to the Oldest House in Glasgow, built in the 15^th century.

The Glasgow Cathedral. Breathtaking!

From the museums we walked to the main shopping area of Glasgow on Buchanan Street, and then ended up back at the train station. The six of us, and John, hopped on the train and now Michelle and I are back in Kirkhill, relaxing after a lot of walking today. I was so happy I stayed warm today and my shoes didn’t bother me at all. From now on I guess I have to wear tights under jeans, with a pair of socks, and a tank top, long sleeved shirt, hoodie, leather jacket, gloves, a scarf, and a beanie to stay comfortable. Tonight our host mom, Rebecca, is going to make pizza for us with artichoke hearts and walnuts. Maybe we will beat them at another game of Pictionary as well.

* * *

I am now in bed and we had an incredible last night here in Kirkhill. Michelle and I helped Rebecca make the pizza, which was delicious. We had great conversation at the dinner table and then Rebecca and Malcolm told us they were taking us to a movie at an old movie theater in Glasgow. After dinner we put on our warm clothes and hopped in the car. We saw a movie called Nowhere Boy about John Lennon. It was a beautiful film and I would go back and see it in a heartbeat. (If they are not playing it in theaters in the US, try to find it somewhere else. I highly recommend it.) Before the movie, we treated Rebecca and Malcolm to drinks at the café in the theater because they treated us to the movie tickets. After the movie, we got a little tour of Glasgow around the Glasgow School of Art, and saw some Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture. (The theater we saw the movie in was designed by Mackintosh as well.) On our way home, we drove by a restaurant called Spice Garden and they asked us if we had ever tried Pakora. We hadn’t, so Malcolm put the car in reverse and got two different kinds for us to try (chicken and vegetarian). It was delicious and it is open until 4am, so I’m sure we will be back there sometime this semester. When we got back to Kirkhill, we continued to chat in the kitchen, do dishes, and I gave them my gift (a book about San Francisco). Now it is 1 in the morning and I have to be up at 8am to pack up and get ready to be taken over to another host family’s house where our minibus will be ready to drive us to the university.

FINALLY IN MY FLAT- January 6, 2010

I am finally here in my flat in Glasgow and it is much bigger than I expected. This morning we woke up, had breakfast, and then drove to John's house where the minibus was picking us up. We drove to the Gatehouse at the University of Glasgow, picked up our keys, and were then driven to our flat. It is beautiful here. The flat is huge...so much bigger than my apartment in New York. (But then again, there are many more people living here.) My roommate goes to Boston College and is from Ohio. Her name is Laura. Michelle (from my program) is living in the room next to mine with a girl named Ryn (short for Katherine). My friend Briana from my program is living two floors above me with another guy from Arcadia named Conor. The other Arcadia people are all around campus. I'm so excited I'm finally here. Now I need to unpack, get settled in and then go shopping!

Yeah, I go to school here...this is the univeristy.

Still the university. I can't believe I will be taking classes here.

* * *

We spent the day walking around in the city center, buying towels, blankets, and other necessities for our flats. We grabbed lunch at a restaurant on Sauchiehall Street then walked back to campus and relaxed a little. At 8:30pm we met up with a bunch of people and a freshman living on the third floor (from Romania) took us to a popular pub near our flat. We stayed there most of the night until they turned off the lights around 11pm, then got fish and chips and walked back to our flat. I can tell I will be eating a lot of fried food here in Scotland, but hopefully I will find the gym soon, or the amount of walking might make up for it.

Today (Thursday), we had our first day of orientation. We walked to the lecture hall at around 9am, learned about the different courses and the way classes are run here. If Smith will accept it, I think I have found the perfect schedule for my time here in Glasgow.

Art History: We will talk about Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism in Britain and France, Scottish Art and Europe, Mackintosh, Glasgow and the Decorative Arts, Austrian and German Expressionism and many more topics

Figurative Sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art

Black and White Photography at the Glasgow School of Art

Bagpipes: history, repertoire, and performance course at The National Piping Centre (we will have one on one lessons for bagpiping every week along with lectures about the history of bagpiping!)

I register on Tuesday (I think), so cross your fingers for me. Now I am back in my flat, and at 6pm we have a social event with other international students here at Glasgow Uni. (That is what people call the University here.)

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!

Love Always,

Jess