Sauce and Course Don't Rhyme

Sorry for the long inter-post interval. On with it...


My flatmates and I:Back row, Left to Right: Chloe, Naomi, June, Reshmi, Fran, Sarah, Heeral
Front, Left to Right: Jess, Me

My flatmates and I were having pizza the other night (from Domino's). You know those little dipping sauces that come with the pizza? Well, we got three flavors: garlic, sweet chili, and BBQ. On top each was a phrase that labeled the contents. I don't remember the one for the garlic [edit: I think it was "The Garlic Sauce is Fabulous."], but it rhymed - Jess read it out loud, I didn't read it myself - and the one for the chili was "Don't be silly, try the Sweet Chili". Then I got to the BBQ sauce. I read it to myself, and said "Huh. That's weird. Why would they make one not rhyme?" Naomi (one of my flatmates) asked what I was talking about; I read the chili one, and said that the BBQ sauce one didn't rhyme, and I thought that was weird. She read the BBQ sauce one and it rhymed for her: "BBQ sauce, delicious of course." She looked at me like I was nuts, and asked how I say it. So I read it for them, and they laughed. For me, "sauce" does not rhyme with "horse". [more edit: In retrospect, it also mattered a great deal that Jess read the garlic one out loud, since "sauce" and "fabulous" don't rhyme for me, either. ] For them, "sauce" , "course", and "horse" all rhyme. I'd never even considered accent-specific advertising... country or culture specific, sure, but accents and rhyming wasn't something I'd ever thought about before! Ah, the fun never ends.

In other news, we've just finished the third week of classes. Lectures are unbelievably frustrating here - very little like I've come to expect lectures to be. I've got my first essay due this Thursday... I'm not excited. I've also been studying for the GRE subject test in Psychology - I take that the first Saturday in November. I've decided to postpone my grad school applications to next application cycle - meaning next year. I just wasn't happy with how good of a decision I felt I was making. So, my applications will go in next year, and I'll be much more confident and excited about it instead of dreading it.

Time for an outing to the grocery store! Then settling in for a long afternoon/evening with the studying and the books...

Food and the Start of ClassesTomorrow

I find this a little bit depressing: I've been so excited to cook actual food that I take pictures of it before I start eating it. I went food-shopping yesterday and got some non-bare-minimum things (bare minimum: Cheerios, milk, bread, peanut butter, jam, honey). Dinner last night was the first real food I've had & cooked myself in a few weeks. I had
-Smoked Ham and Cheese tortellini (pre-made in a package, but not dried)
-Pasta sauce with big tomato chunks (from a jar, but that's a pretty normal thing to have from a jar)
-whole-wheat roll (the self-serve bakery items are really good here... I don't have butter yet, so I was dipping it in the pasta sauce)
-corn on the cob (so tasty!)
-mug of milk (I haven't gotten around to buying glasses yet)

Darn - that meal sounded way more impressive in my head! But when compared to Subway every night (I didn't resort to the McDonald's that's also across the street) or peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches, it's not bad.

This morning, I continued my trend. I had a scrambled egg, a cinnamon and raisin bagel, toasted with strawberry jam, and green grapes. Since you're all probably bored already, I'm going to keep talking about food... I've got another roll for lunch, and I'm going to use it for a sandwich of sliced chicken and white cheddar cheese, with more grapes and some strawberry yogurt on the side. I've got more of the tortellini for dinner, another corn on the cob, and for later this week I got chicken breasts.

So now, I can plan a few days of meals and shop for them, specifically. At least I hope...

Classes start tomorrow. The online system doesn't seem to recognize all the classes I know I've signed up for, so I'm hoping nothing goes terribly wrong. I have to get out a map and find all of my classes today - wandering around lost is not fun. Also, this is going to be culture shock all over again, just from how classes go. I'm bracing myself for a confusing, frustrating week... if I prepare to be completely bewildered, at least it won't be a surprise.

Speaking of culture shock, it's the little things that get you! You expect accents and the cars to drive on the wrong side of the road. But things like shopping are tricky and you don't expect them to be! I went looking for a few things to augment my wardrobe and blend into the fashions here a little more. But they don't use US sizes here! (I guess that makes sense, but it was still an "oh, well... um, yeah" moment) Plus, a lot of the tops are all sorts of flowy and huge, so it's hard to hold it up and know if it will fit. I managed to get a few things, but came home drained.

So, I'm mostly settled in. I'm still missing a few important things, like a blotter/desk-size calender to keep track of everything and an electric pencil sharpener, but I'm doing alright. Time to go get started on my to-do list!

La la la

Well, things are finally starting to settle down... almost. I've got more things to take care of, but I'm hoping the days will be (or at least feel) less hectic. I've finally got myself signed up for enough credits for this semester, but I still need several more credits for next semester. I think the people in the offices think I'm scatterbrained... I went into the psych office at least 3 times today. But it's not my fault - I didn't know I needed something else until I'd left and visited another office. It's a good thing the staff are very nice and helpful.

On a social note, I have now officially been to a nightclub... and I think I have hearing loss. It was pretty fun, although it will be better once I take earplugs and know more of the songs (I knew 7 or 8 in the course of the evening). I've also been out more than ever before... this whole pub culture is kinda fun!

I live with 8 other girls (9 of us in the flat) - they're really nice and laid-back. All of us were worried about living with bitchy, shallow girls, but luckily that's not the case. It's weird to feel old - they're all 18 (at least, I think so). In other ways, I feel completely lost. It's the little things that surprise me. If I want a Rite-Aid or a Safeway, I can't ask for one. If I want peanut butter or laundry detergent, I have no idea what brands there are or which to choose. But I'm starting to learn my way around, which I'm happy about.

The other 8 (again, 9 of us total) UC kids that are here are also lots of fun. They were also really great to have around for the first few days - it's much more fun to be lost/wandering together. Plus, we all showed up needing things like bedding and most of us needed mobile phones. It's surprising how connected we are - we only met 9 days ago! But it's a nice thing to see someone you know on the street.

Back to more differences - I'm fascinated! I've already started saying "straightaway" and I really want to pick up saying "half nine" instead of "nine thirty" (or whatever time it is), just because I think it's cool. I'm such a dork. Anyway, the chips/crisps distinction is starting to come more easily, too.

Okay, enough silly American-Lisa. On the grad-school front, I'm scarily behind. I've lost some time getting everything else sorted, but now I feel like I can get back on track. I've got a few favorites, but I need to refine my list. And ask for letters of rec. And write my statement of purpose. And make my resume. And take the Psych GRE Subject Test - I moved my test date back so I can prepare, since I lost most of September. Now I've just got to do all that while starting the semester at a new school. I'm not nervous at all!

Well, I'm going to clean my room, or at least my desk, and get some grad school stuff tackled. Talk to you all later!

Deprived

We won't be getting internet in our rooms until Monday - growl growl! There's so much info online, but it's rather challenging to get at. Kind of like most things in a new city...

I walked for 45 minutes and asked (literally) 10 people for directions this morning. I wanted to shower, but didn't have shampoo, conditioner, soap, or a bath towel. Plus, I couldn't even ask for a store I knew - like "where's the Target/Wal-mart?" - I was asking for 'ASDA'. I did manage to get bedding last night, so my first night here wasn't completely ruined by shivering under a coat. I still haven't managed any food shopping yet, but I'm doing pretty well with the food here. Intelligent choices!

Sorry for the short post, but I've got to go see about getting some clothes storage. My room doesn't come with drawers, only a free-standing closet-thing. On the upside, I have much less stuff than some of the girls in my flat, who barely have room to move in their rooms (admittedly, the rooms are pretty small). But it's all mine, and it's home for now! Cheers!

Day 1

Well, I survived the plane flight and my first night here. Getting over the jet lag is going to be interesting. It feels like 2am the night before a big paper is due, except all the time - I've been feeling like that for about 8 hours now.

Last night, I asked the girl at my hotel's reception for a dinner recommendation. She seemed reluctant, until I explained that I didn't want anything fancy, something like pizza would do just fine. I only slept a few hours on the plane, to make going to bed at an odd time easier, so I was pretty tired and not really up for real Scottish food (I'll be having that tonight with the EAP orientation people). On my way to the Papa John's she gave me directions to, I spotted a Subway and got myself dinner. I ate, watched LOTR: Two Towers, took a shower, and went to bed.

This morning it was really hard to get up. 8am here is 12midnight, according to my body. Growl growl. Then I had the breakfast provided by the hotel. Apparently beans and mushrooms are breakfast foods here (Lisa is skeptical). Shame on me, but I didn't have any. Eggs, yogurt, grapefruit, a roll, and juice kept me happy. I sat next to a girl studying here in Edinburgh for the year - she's from South Africa. We had a nice chat.

After breakfast, I hauled my luggage back down the stairs - I'm changing rooms today, but for the rest of my time here I'll be in the same one. Then I went to a small shop and got Band-Aids, except they don't have that brand here. I cut my thumb on the zippers to my bags while I was packing and it was getting annoying.

Then I came to the study center for internet usage... yay being connected again! I registered with Manchester (whew! good to know I'm actually a student there) and set up my Manchester email. I'm not sure if I like it yet.

So, my thinking is a little fuzzy, but I'm doing alright. Our Orientation starts in about 30 minutes, so I'd better head back to the hotel and move my luggage and start trying to get hungry. We're going to a cafe called Monster Mash for dinner. Bangers and mash, apparently. And I get to meet the other people going to Manchester - I'm excited!

Today's the day

It's finally the big day - I'll get on a plane for the longest flight I've ever taken and start my adventure abroad. I'm feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness, but I'm trying to keep it under control. Yes, this is the first time I've done anything like this, but if I go nuts every time I have/will have a big first, I'll be drained in about three days. And that would be rather inconvienient.

I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have over the next few days, but I'll be at Manchester and connected on Wednesday or Thursday - so emails or messages would be welcome. I don't know my full address there yet, but I'll post it when I do in case anyone has the urge to send a letter.

I'm planning to start a blog or something of that nature - I'll post a link when I do - to share some of my adventures. Please keep me updated on yours! I haven't fallen off the planet, just changed time zones (eight hours ahead) and I'm still interested in what's going on with you!

It's time to start final preparations, so let the adventure begin!

[note: for continuity, this is the same post as seen on facebook and myspace]