Past Couple of Weeks

So I’ve been kind of busy so I haven’t had much time to update.

The Saturday before last I went to a party at Graham’s friend’s flat. Basically it was a group of people playing Rock Band and Sing Star. After watching Rock Band I noticed that they completely ripped off the Travis font. I also noticed that watching people play it is really funny. Same with Sing Star. When everyone left the room I forced Graham to sing with me. One of the discs had a Travis song on it and you know I had to try that one. I rocked it of course. 

Here are some of Graham’s friends rocking it:

The day after, Graham, Lewis (Graham’s friend) and I went to a gig for a band I like called The Twilight Sad. Strangely enough I liked the opening bands better than the headliner.

Here’s video I took of the Twilight Sad. It’s my favorite song by them:

Last Monday I started working at Studio LR. I got completely lost on the bus. The bus was diverted and so I just kind of stayed on until the last stop which was really far away at ASDA (Walmart). I had to call Graham and he met me at another stop and personally escorted me to work.

Everyone at Studio LR is very nice. They aren’t extremely busy at the moment but they are giving me some work to do. They are paying me so that makes it much easier to get up in the morning. Also, they gave me these two cards that get you into pretty much every tourist attraction around for free. The card is unlimited so I get to see everything I want to see for free! Yay!

Last Friday Graham and I went to Ocean Terminal where there is a mall type place. It’s pretty much the same as our malls but smaller and everything closes earlier. We ate at a pretty nice place to celebrate my first week of work and the fact that he passed all of his classes. I also bought a hair dryer and a straightener because mine blew their fuses when I tried to use it with the adapter plug. It’s nice to be able to go to sleep with dry hair since it’s been pretty cold.

On Saturday we used our special cards to get into the Edinburgh Dungeons. This is it. It was very cheesy but it was free so I’m not complaining. It’s kind of like a ride/tour with actors that are supposed to be scary (I think). Some of them pick on the people who are on the tour so of course I was chosen to be picked on. Some disgusting  cannibal woman got all up in my face and was saying that I was smelly. Then she asked my name and then told everyone that it was a stupid name. I’m not sure why I get chosen to be picked on. I like to believe that they are just extremely jealous.

I also had fish and chips at a pub which is apparently a very important thing to do while in the UK. It was pretty good. I really should stop eating fried food though. We also went to a shop that had lots of cool stuff in it. Lots of stuff they sell at PerpetualKid.com. Lots of you know I love that site. We went to a vintage clothing store too. It’s called Armstrongs and it is really big and filled with stuff. I would have liked to explore it more but they were closing. When we left the pub it was raining. Really hard. Luckily I had my umbrella. I’m not sure what the weather is like in California but it’s really weird for me to see rain in the summer. I’m not complaining, I’d rather have rain than unbearable heat.

On Sunday we went to a sort of outlet mall type place. We went to Toys R Us and got an awesome Mood Beam named Peppy. I was looking for Uno cards but they were really expensive. I’ll keep looking. Then we went to ASDA (Walmart). It’s nicer than US Walmart but all the stores here don’t have as big of a selection. Then I had dinner at Graham’s friend’s flat. She cooked roast chicken. Good stuff.

Then the work week started again and I’m waiting for the weekend again. Tonight we might go see the film Wanted. The one with James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. Seems like it will be pretty good.

This weekend I’m thinking Mary King’s Close. They investigated it on Ghost Hunters International. They didn’t find anything…

Things About Scotland I Have Learned So Far

• Everyone says “Hi-ya”
• Most things are fried
• Bus drivers only smile at other bus drivers
• Dessert is essential
• Chocolate tastes better here
• Pretty much everyone lives on the 3rd floor of a building (including me)
• There aren’t too many homeless people
• Homeless people don’t attack you
• It’s much cleaner here than cities in California
• The steering wheel on the right side of the car freaks me out
• Soda bottles are skinnier and taller. Also, soda is called fizzy drink
• Teeth are not so great here yet they do not sell Crest Whitestrips. Someone needs to get on that ASAP

The Royal Mile, Haggis, Etc…

The last couple of days I’ve seen a few of the big tourist areas. Here are the pictures for now, I’ll write more about it later.

Haddington

I took a trip out to Haddington (where Graham is from) on the 9th to go to a BBQ thrown by some of Graham’s friends. It’s about an hour outside of Edinburgh. As you can see from the pictures, it’s a pretty town.

The area by the stream was very pretty. Plus it was a really nice day. 

The BBQ was lots of fun. Everyone was really nice. Graham had a lot of fun as BBQ chef. 

Later he cooked Green Thai Curry for his family and I. It was great!

Dinner Time

Yesterday we went to a restaurant called The Merlin. It was very good. I definitely noticed that lots of food here is fried. Tastes good but not very healthy. We had Chicken Kiev and Frozen Yogurt with “fruits of the forest”. Apparently that means raspberries and blackberries.

Afterwards we walked from Morningside back to my flat. There were lots of really nice houses along the way with pretty gardens. 

National Museum of Scotland

Yesterday we went to the National Museum of Scotland. It was really nice plus the entry was free. Unfortunately, part of the museum is being renovated and won’t be opened for a few years. The layout of the museum was a little confusing but it was nice to see Scottish art. There was work from 900-1914.

Below are some pictures from the trip there. Lots of nice old buildings along the way and some pictures from inside the museum. 

First Couple of Days

Well I made it over and I’ve been in Edinburgh for four days. 

The flights over were pretty uncomfortable. I didn’t really get much sleep and I got a little lost in Chicago O’Hare. I was so happy to land in Edinburgh. It was raining when I landed so it was the perfect Edinburgh welcome. Graham met me at the airport and we had a little trouble locating my luggage but eventually we got on a bus and to my new flat. My room is bigger than I expected. It’s actually really really nice. I’m on the 3rd floor and I have a nice view into a big garden. I will post pictures after I finish organizing my room.

My flatmates are all very nice. It seems like most of them are very artsy and they like to travel. Last night we all had dinner here together. It seems like everyone gets along very well.

On my first day I felt like I was sleep walking. I thought I was going to pass out in the grocery store. 

On the second day I went to a bargain store to get some of the essential stuff. Ate at a sandwich place around the corner that was really nice. I had a cheese, tomato, and onion panini. It seems like service here is kind of unfriendly in places compared to California but the people at the sandwich place were very friendly. I went for a Starbucks later. Starbucks are always the same.  

Yesterday I walked with Graham to his university so he could go to a meeting. I really need to get used to all the walking. I was really tired by the time we got there.

Today I’ve just been organizing my stuff. It’s been nice to just rest a little. Tomorrow I’ll do something touristy. It’s been cloudy the last few days but I saw some sun today. Maybe I’ll see more tomorrow.

Here are some of the pictures I took on the way to Napier University. I’ll be sure to start taking more.