To recap the last three weeks...

Hello world. please forgive me for not updating. that is very rude. My computers death coupled with the business of this whole experience has made dedication to the internet really difficult. But as this week starts, i cant help but think about all of u and miss u and hope that my schedule and adjustment to life here in the UK has settled down a bit and i will be able to blog on a much more regular basis from now on.

The last three weeks have been- intense. exhausting. beautiful. so many diferent things. First of all, culture shock hit me very hard. Culture Shock happens when u resist all the nesisary changes that come with moving to a new place and u begin to get angry about having to adapt. I honestly wasn't expecting culture shock at all, i thought the UK would be just like the US in regards to culture, food, language, people, everything. But it is totally different, so much more than i expected. The way people shop is different. They use different words. the money is different. u order things in restaruants differently. our only means of transportation is the bus. we have no understanding of distances or surounding cities, cultural landmarks or news. All of these things are essential to daily living and adjusting, and all were very new- thus, culture shock.
However, all of this shock eventually seeps into u-
I spent the first two weeks learning my way around Edinburgh, a short bus ride away, learning the ins and outs of one of the most beautful cities in europe. It now feels like home. i feel safe, secure, competent. I learned how to order food, i am proficient with coin recognition now (u wouldnt' think that having to know the difference between a two pounds peice and 10 pence peice would be so important but when there five people behind u in line and ur trying to buy a bagel, trust me, the preasure is on!) I have gotten used to the people i live with and learned most of thier names (60 people to meet, one weekend of already exhausted brain cells= feeling isolated and totally confused!)and have mastered the art of trip planning, bus catching and plane/hostel booking (this has become a second language, with slang and mesmerizing dozens of take off/landing times in military time, i might add).

All and all, the first two weeks were really about survival. about making sure i ate something. about sleeping more than five hours a night.

And what a place to survive. This village i live in is old, special, quiant. think of a european steryotypical small town feel- and i live there. In a castle. On a 100 acre park. I have horses and fuzzy coos (cows) in my front yard. i pet them everyday. I jog on trails through the woods, over 100 year old bridges, along rushing water canals. Scotland is amazingly beautiful and it alone is worth the ticket over here. So far my class has taken me on trips to stirling castle, i have learned the truth about william wallace and have visited more castles than i ever thought possible. We are officially castle snobs here ( roomate one "Oh, i thought linlithgow palace had much better attmosphere," roomate two "yes, but just think of stirlign castle, didn't the high rock walls give it a touch of something special?") truly. we are castle snobs. Perhaps because we live in one or perhaps bc castles are awesome. I do not know.

As far as trips to the rest of europe, i am booked for a spring break trip with my best friend hannah to dublin for st. patricks day, london for five days, and paris. In scotland i am going on a four day backpacking highlands trip with my entire class. I hope to fit in northern ireland. And see as much of Scotland as i can.

So thats the past.

Today, I got up earlier than usual and went on a little jog with Kari, stopping at the bridge and greek manageri that is in the woods. Then i took a really hot shower ( just one more background story- for the first three weeks i took freezing showers. until two days ago when my roomate informed me that the first floor bathroom is the place to take hot showers. since this information i have taken showers with a renewed passion.never take a hot shower for granted friends!). Then i walked to my favorite coffee shop in dalkeith, where the coffee boy always gives me a discount on my 'cafe mocha' and i sat and read my bible and journaled for an hour or so. I thought a lot about my grandma olsen, since she was the first person that inspired me to travel as a younger girl. When my grandma was a young woman she traveled to europe as well and i wonder how it effected her life. As i sat there today i wondered how it will effect my life as well and what it means to be a 'traveler.'

Now i am drinking a scottish smoothie and am about ready to turn in for bed since its about 22:00. How i do hate millitary time. lol.

Goodnight world, God bless and hopefully, I'll update again tomorrow night.

Cheers, Amy