Kristi Yamaguchi Ain't Got Nothin' On Me

A week has already gone by which means I have less than two weeks here in Edinburgh! How did this happen?! Really, I do need to get home so I can see my family because I miss them like CRAZY! But I feel like I'm finally finding my little niche here and now its time for me to go. Okay, well moving on to an update of the past week.

Wednesday was our weekly potluck but we mixed things up a little bit. Several of us went ice skating on Princes Street where all the Christmas festivities are set up! I hadn't skated in quite some time but I managed to stay off my butt the whole night! I was extremely proud and briefly considered dropping out of college and re-pursuing my dreams of becoming a professional figure skater. Then I realized how unrealistic this was - by age 20/21 most figure skaters are "old" and on their way out so I really don't have chance. We made our way back to Kara's flat and ate some spaghetti and garlic bread. Thursday was the day of my last official class. That's pretty much all I did.

Friday during the day consisted of me sleeping a lot and Friday night I went to a rugby match! It was Edinburgh v. London Wasps. Sadly, Edinburgh lost but they were leading for about 10 minutes. Rugby is kind of awesome. The rules are similar to football (American football) except you don't have so much stopping and, as my sister pointed out, its ridiculously more MANLY than American football. What I mean is when the clock says there are five minutes left it means there are five minutes left... not 35 minutes left. Here are some basic rugby rules I picked up on: you can only pass the ball behind you, when pile ups/tackles happen the guys simply get the ball out of the pile to another teammate (no stopping), fumbles and missed passes do not end plays, kicking the ball back and forth from one end of the pitch to another is normal, there are no "downs," rugby boys must be really built and preferably tall. Also these guys don't wear padding or warm gear. In fact they ran around in shorts and t-shirts and I'm pretty sure it was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). Although I couldn't really see their faces, these rugby boys were pretty fine. We're talking extremely toned, muscular bodies. Now I'm sure once I saw one up close and realized half his teeth were missing and his face had been broken so many times that he looked like a Picasso that I wouldn't feel all that attracted to him. But from a distance they look good. Later that night Kara's friend Drew, who goes to St. Andrews as a regular student, met up with us because he was in Edinburgh. We went out for a bit and then I called it a night.

Saturday during the day we went to the Christmas Market on Princes Street (where the ice skating was). I marveled at the adorable trinkets and gifts and purchased some much needed chocolate. Saturday night we had a little birthday party for my friend Kara who was turning 22 on the 7th. I will just say that it was ridiculously fun. It was supposed to be a tacky Christmas sweater party (because Kara didn't want a party that celebrated her "descent into oblivion" - her words not mine) and for a while there was some pretty tacky attire. I think fun was had by all. Sunday was Kara's actual birthday. Since none of us had fully recovered from the night before by lunchtime (if you were me then you weren't even awake by lunchtime) we had dinner a Chinese restaurant called Jimmy Chung's.

Monday was spent studying because I have a final due tomorrow (Wednesday). We met up with a few of our friends in the student union later that evening and had a few drinks. Then we (the girls) decided we were in dire need of some girl bonding time. So we bought a lot of junk food, put on some sappy music and chatted for a few hours. It was good. Today I finished up my final and that's about it. Tomorrow, as usual, is our little potluck which I think is just going to be us girls (Kara, Maggie, Stacey, Sarah and myself). We're going to go ride the ferris wheel at the Princes Street Christmas Fair and then eat some grub from the Christmas market. So technically its not a potluck but we're going to call it that anyway. And now its time for some pictures!

Christmas on Princes Street!

Our little group went skating! Top row left to right: Sophie, Neil, Maggie, Shay, Alex. Bottom row left to right: me, Jill, Jess, Kara. Stacey and Sarah were, sadly, not present.

This is why I should be a professional figure skater. I could revolutionize the whole institution.

Rugby! That's the Edinburgh team (those people running off in the striped shirts are little kids, probably rugby player for a local team, that walked out onto the pitch with the Edinburgh players).

The guys in the yellow are the London Wasps. The guys in green are the referees. And that guy in orange smack dab in the middle is security.

Tacky Christmas sweater party! I realize I'm not wearing a sweater but I found this Mrs. Gingerbread looking dress and had to get it... I also realize its not incredibly flattering. Not surprisingly, I removed the ugly frock shortly after this picture was taken. From left to right: Maggie, Kara, me, Jill.

Fun times in Kara's flat.

Out to eat at Jimmy Chung's for Kara's birthday. We got these Christmas poppers and they had little mustaches, a creepy yellow fingernail thing and, of course, paper crowns! From left to right: Sarah, me, Maggie.

The birthday girl and Charlie Chaplin! Actually, its just Stacey.

I call this Essence of Maggie.

Where's My (Good) Stuffing?

It's finally the month of December which means my days here are numbered. I'm incredibly torn about how I feel. On the one hand, I miss my family and friends very, very much and I'm pretty sure if I don't see them soon I might go insane. But I also have completely fallen in love with Edinburgh and the people I have met here. These past few months might be some of the best of my entire life - I'm not kidding. But because the prospect of leaving gives me such a strange mix of emotions then I will move on to an update of my past week.

Wednesday night was our attempt at a Thanksgiving celebration. The celebration was good but the food was interesting. Maggie's mashed potatoes were delicious, the turkey bricks we bought were okay, and the stuffing (much to my dismay) was disgusting. Overall it was quite nice but I've decided I never want to have to cook for myself on a big holiday ever again. No one can master the holiday dinner quite like my mom. I mean it. She is spectacular. We had a bunch of Brits over to celebrate with us and we forced them to go around the room and say what they were thankful for because that's how most of us do the Thanksgiving blessing. I was feeling a little bit homesick after dinner but that night when I got back to my room I skyped with my family for a few hours. It made me extremely happy and made me feel much better. Thursday we went to the dinner Butler provided for us. It wasn't Thanksgiving-y at all but I wasn't about to complain because it was free.

I spent a good portion of my week and weekend in the library because I had a very long essay due on Monday (yesterday, Dec. 1). I set a goal of words to write everyday because this weekend was jammed packed with events I wanted to attend in the evening/night.

Friday was the History Society Ball which i bought a new dress for. We - Kara, Maggie and myself - looked quite good, if I do say so myself. We were provided with a 3 course meal, champagne and a few bottles of wine and the event was held at an interactive museum called "Dynamic Earth." After our delicious dinner there was a ceilidh and then "discotheque" (that's what they called it, not me). It was a blast and it was really fun to dress up and look pretty. Saturday I spent most of my day in the library. That night we went to The Tron to see, you guessed it, "White Heath." I think our frequency at their shows is probably reaching borderline creepy but, hey, we're only here for 3 more weeks! I mean, unless they get famous and tour the world these last couple of gigs in December will probably be the last time we'll see them... ever! So I figure if there's any ideal time to be creepy, it's now. After The Tron we met up with Stacey, who had some of her friends from school visiting, at Vodka Revolution. We danced around for a bit and then we went back to Stacey's and talked for a while. When we finally left Stacey's, I ended up at Kara's and didn't leave until 4:30 am. Sunday was St. Andrews Day so there was a big ceilidh that night in the student union. There were a lot of people there and, more importantly, there were a lot of people there in kilts! It was splendid and the splendidness of it all was only enhanced by the fact that I had also finally finished my essay that day.

Yesterday and today were not particularly exciting. The most substantial occurrence was me doing four loads of laundry. I know what you're thinking. Yes it is gross and I was basically out of things to wear. Tomorrow we're having our weekly potluck (Italian themed due to a surplus of noodles from a previous dinner) but we're going ice skating on Princes Street beforehand! Ice rinks always remind me of the days when I mused about becoming a professional figure skater. I don't know why I ever thought I could pursue that career path. I'm not particularly graceful and, honestly, its difficult for me to stay upright when I'm on solid, non-iced ground and in normal shoes. Still, I'm very excited to make a fool of myself and watch all my friends do the same. Classes end this week and all I have left is a few take home exams. The end is quickly approaching... how did this happen?! I leave you with some photo documentation of the past week.

Our Thanksgiving feast in Kara's teeny-tiny oven. The top shelf is the stuffing (really gross - don't worry, I'm not offending anyone because it was store bought), the middle shelf holds our turkey bricks and on the bottom shelf are Maggie's awesome mashed potatoes.

Maggie and I relaxed while the food was cooking (really just Maggie - I wasn't particularly stressed because cranberry salad doesn't have to cook).

Everyone chatting after Thanksgiving dinner (on Wednesday). This is right before everyone felt the effects of the tryptophan.

Kara and me at the History Society Ball. Don't worry, I didn't wear the hat the whole time.

Kara, Maggie and me at the Ball in front of the "iceberg." Yes, it was real ice. The ball was at that interactive museum!

"The Flying Scotsman" at the St. Andrews Day ceilidh!

Brief update: I just left my room for the first time in several hours to grab a bite to eat and, lo and behold, slush is falling from the sky. Not rain, not snow. Slush. Seriously, it looks like the sky dumped a giant dirt-flavored slushie on Edinburgh.

We Naively Traveled to Europe and Thought Everything Would Be In English

Well, it has been a whole week since the beginning of our trip to mainland Europe and there is quite a bit to fill you in on. We took the bus to the airport on Wednesday to catch our flight to Amsterdam. The flight was fine and only about an hour long (I was asleep but this is what I was told). When we arrived our initial task was to make it to Amsterdam Central Station via the train from the airport. Once we finally figured out the machine to buy tickets (we went to the tourist information desk twice) we caught the train and actually got off at the right stop... despite the fact that we don't read any Dutch. Then we had to find our hostel. Now that was an adventure. After roughly 40 minutes of confusion and map deciphering we found the Amigo Hotel. Once we dropped our stuff off we left to go out on the town. We indulged in the Amsterdam lifestyle (Red Light District NOT included) and it was quite a lovely evening.

The next morning was rough but we grudgingly roused ourselves from the warm beds - the extremely loud construction outside the window helped - and went to our first "official" tourist location: the Anne Frank Museum/House. It was extremely moving. There were tons of original items (including her diary) from her house and the inside had been restored to look like it was when Anne was there except without the furniture, which is the way Otto Frank had wanted it to be. Then it was off the the Amsterdam History Museum which I really don't remember much about which means it probably wasn't that remarkable. I do remember that the number of canals increased as Amsterdam became a huge port city. After some lunch (and an accidental walk through the Red Light District - the women stand in the windows, scantily clad, displaying what they've got to offer and red lights light their rooms), we were off to the Rijksmuseum which houses some of Amsterdam's greatest artistic treasures including Rembrandt's The Night Watch and some Vermeer. They also had the newest piece by Damien Hirst - an skull covered in 8,601 diamonds and it's called "For the Love of God." Maybe I just don't understand modern art but I feel like this might be just a little bit pretentious. Still it was really cool to see especially because the display was in a room that was completely dark with the only light shining on the diamond speckled skull. Next up was the Van Gogh Museum which houses some 200 paintings of Van Gogh's and also has numerous sketches and other works. We saw one of the famous sunflower pictures, two of his self-portraits and many, many more incredible pieces. After this long haul through four museums we decided we'd do a boat tour through the canals because the little pass card we bought got us a free one (it also got us into all the museums for free. We added it up and discovered we saved nearly 20 Euro or about $28). I'll admit, I fell asleep almost immediately after the boat began moving and got in an hour long nap. I'm kind of sad I missed the canal scenery but I got some much needed rest. We had a hearty dinner and then we went back to the hostel and went to bed. The next morning we went to the Jewish History Museum which had some really great contemporary art about Israel and Palestine and Jews in the modern world (Mollie - this would have been GREAT for Jew class last semester). It also had some really amazing artifacts and objects from Amsterdam Jews over the past hundred years or so. We had some lunch and then made our way to the train station to make our way to Brussels, Belgium! Here are some Amsterdam pictures. None of the museums allowed pictures so all I have are scenic pictures of this great city in the Netherlands.

The outside of Anne Frank's house. Obviously, it didn't look like this when she lived there but the inside has been restored to look more like it was when the Franks were hiding there.

One of many, many canals. This is basically Amsterdam scenery in a nutshell.

The Royal Palace in Dam Square.

Extremely phallic looking National Monument in Dam Square.

The Heineken Brewery. We didn't go in but we passed by!

Amsterdam was all dressed up for Christmas!

The train ride from Brussels was only about three hours so we got a little napping in while we traveled. We opted for a cab to our hostel because it was bitterly cold, snowing a bit and we had no idea where we were on the map. Despite the fact that we spoke no French our cabbie attempted to give us advice about the city and kept saying "Bush out! Yay Obama!" Our hostel was trendy and huge. We had a little dinner and then went back to the hostel and hung out in the bar that was on main level and then got some shut eye. The next day we started probably a bit earlier than we needed. We saw the Congress Column also known as the Monument to the Unknown Soldier. Then we happened upon the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. It was beautiful and absolutely huge. Then we walked on and found a little square where we bought our first Belgian waffles! They were so delicious and to top off an already great morning it started to snow! We finally found the main square where the Grand Place (not Grand Palace as I kept calling it), which is basically the town hall, and the Brussels Historical Museum, which was not too terribly exciting, are located. Within an hour of being at the square, we saw two weddings take place! We also watched the construction of a massive nativity set and the set up of an enormous tree. We decided we needed to see the icon of Brussels: Manneken Pis. Yes, its a little statue of a boy peeing and its a fountain. The Belgians are obsessed with him - he has over 700 costumes that they actually dress him in! I think the appeal is in the fact that know one knows exactly where he came from or when he arrived. Since we had basically seen everything we wanted we opted for some shopping and Maggie and Kara went a little crazy and got their noses pierced! We turned in very early after dinner because we had to get up really early to catch our flight (that was almost a disaster which I will not recount because it basically consists of us wandering around Brussels at 6 am not knowing what the heck we were doing). We finally got back to Edinburgh and I must say, I can't believe we did it! I mean, we made it and had a great time without killing one another despite the fact that we probably wanted to a few times. But it's excusable because traveling is so stressful. But we're still friends and love one another, so its wonderful. What follows are the Brussels pictures.

Congress Column/the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.

St. Michel and St. Gudula Cathedral.

Inside the Cathedral.

Stacey, Kara and me in the snow in Brussels, Belgium. Did you know it's the UN's capital? Because it is.

Me and my first Belgian waffle. That look is because I was experiencing deliciousness beyond words.

Manneken Pis. Yep, that's it and yes, he is in one of his 700 costumes.

Kara and Maggie's new nose piercings! I don't know if you can really see them but they're there I swear!

I will write some more later but I'm very tired. Overall, the trip was spectacular and I had a blast... What a trip.

What Exactly Qualifies As A "Fall Food?"

I have exciting news: I'm going to Holland, Belgium and Germany all in one weekend! Not this weekend (actually this weekend we're going to York, England) but the weekend before Thanksgiving (November 19-23) a few of my friends and I will be in mainland Europe! So exciting! Most of us only have lectures on Wednesday and Thursday, myself included, so we're just going to copy the notes from some fellow classmates once we get back. I just booked my tickets to and from and I am thrilled to actually have confirmed plans. We would like to do a bit more traveling after classes end and before we come home (we'd have about 2 weeks). I only have essays so I actually don't have to sit for any exams. My plan is to finish my essays before December 5th and spend the rest of my time backpacking (more or less) through Europe. YAY!

Well, now that I've got that out of my system I can update you on the goings-on since last Wednesday. I finally recovered from that dreadful sinus infection thanks to the amazing national health care here. This meant I could function like a normal human being and not a walking zombie by Thursday. We (meaning me and my closest friends here in Edinburgh) have started having potlucks every Wednesday so that's what I did that night. This week we're doing fall themed foods and I have no idea what to bring - chili, cornbread and pumpkin bread have already been taken. If any of you have any good ideas let me know. I'm not sure if you're aware but this Wednesday is Guy Fawkes Day and I guess its a tradition to climb up Arthur's Seat - these high hills in the middle of Edinburgh that have been made into a park (click the link for wonderful wikipedia information on it) - and shoot off fireworks and basically go a little crazy. I'm really looking forward to it even though it will be freezing.

Last Thursday we went to a friend's birthday ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee, in case you forgot) and it was very, very fun. I learned a few Scottish dances and made of fool of myself but so did everyone else so it was a-okay. Friday was Halloween and I dressed as an obnoxious American tourist. I feel that night was an extreme success because I received several smiles and a few giggles once people realized what I was. Halloween was not very crazy because we left the party relatively early and instead went back to my friend's flat and chatted until 3 am. Saturday I stayed in bed pretty much all day because my heater did not come on once. Sunday I went to the library to warm my body to a normal temperature (because my heater still hadn't come on) and to do some work. That night I went with my friends to see the Film Society's screening of "The Orphanage." If you like scary movies then see this. If you're like me and don't enjoy them then you really shouldn't see it. I had a really hard time getting to sleep that night. Today was just like most of my other Mondays. Tonight we went to a pub quiz that we thought was American-themed (because of the elections) but we were sadly mistaken. We came in second to last which is worst than last place because at least last place gets a prize.

A really great picture of Maggie (in the green skirt) getting spun at the ceilidh. The birthday boy is on the left in the crown. There are no pictures of me dancing because we all ended up dancing and there was no one to take pictures! I also took a video of this dance which I'll try to post soon.

My beautiful friends on Halloween. Maggie was a fairy, Kara was "under the weather" and Stacey was the Pink Panther even though everyone just thought she was a pink cat.

Me in full tourist mode. You can't see it but my fanny pack says "I (heart) USA." I also had high white socks I was wearing to complete the look.

Tomorrow, as you all know very well, is the long awaited election. I. AM. SO. NERVOUS! Yes, nervous/excited/anxious. I'm going to wear my new "Scotland for Obama" t-shirt and I'm buying red, white and blue ribbons for to put in our hair for the election party tomorrow night. You all MUST go vote! If you don't vote then you can't complain and, more importantly, if you don't vote you'll never know if you could have tipped the scales in your candidate's favor (who I'm hoping is Obama for all of you). So VOTE! I will also remind you tomorrow... just in case you forget.

California Dreamin' On Such A Winter's Day

I don't really have much to update you all on BUT allow me to briefly indulge in some self-promotion. I recently discovered that I made the Dean's List last semester at Scripps! For those who don't know, the Dean's List is the equivalent of High Honor Roll in college. You can click here to see for yourself (I'm listed under Juniors even though it was my sophomore year - something to do with credits). I was/am so thrilled about this! I feel very motivated to do well for the rest of my Scripps career and hopefully beyond that!

The weather has become increasingly colder and windier. I've been told this is only the beginning and it gets much worse. Yikes! I mean, its already around freezing temperatures and its only the middle of October. Its not even winter! Also, the rain is relentless. My friends and I think that Scotland has a daily rain quota that must be kept at all costs. I don't think we've seen a day when it hasn't rained, even if it is only for five minutes while the sun is shining. I think I might have to invest in an actual jacket - I don't think my sweatshirts and pea coat will cut it (plus one of the buttons fell off and its one of the ones I actually use to button the coat). The winds have been really fierce lately. I'm actually surprised my face isn't wind-burnt (you know that sunburn look people tend to get after some skiing... not too cute). The way the wind whips through the trees actually kind of reminds me of the way the ocean sounds when you're on the beach. Sometimes I close my eyes, listen to the wind in the trees and imagine myself on a beautiful beach. And sometimes it works.

Despite the fact that it is quite cold, I am really enjoying it. The air smells crisp and fresh and I'm already prepped for Christmas! I've even busted out my holiday tunes. I know, that's a little excessive but this is the first winter in 2 years that I've been able to fully experience - southern California doesn't really get cold weather and I have always associated the lead-up to Christmas with the cold weather. So I'm actually very excited. Apparently Christmas is huge here too so that is SPECTACULAR.

I've talked with a few of my friends and I think travel to mainland Europe and Ireland is being seriously considered and will happen sometime in the near future. I really want to go to Germany around Christmastime. Its supposed to look like a Christmas card... and we all know how much I LOVE everything even remotely related to Christmas. For now I'm in Edinburgh enduring rain, wind and freezing temperatures but loving every minute of it.

Yep, I'm American... I Think

A certain someone told me that she follows my blog quite closely and, therefore, I should update it as often as I can. Well, in all truth, I could update this blog daily because I have that much time on my hands but in reality no one really wants to hear about my day to day boring-ness. But just to humor this friend of mine I will tell you about my life over the past few days (even though I was planning to take some more pictures before I blogged again).

I started classes. Two of them are HUGE lectures with 100 to 200 students (Foundations of Criminology and American History 2). My other class, Identity, War and Revolution in Europe 1789-1918, is much smaller with about 30 students and is discussion based. I'm excited about all of them but I particularly liked the lecture on my second day of American History. During this class our lecturer "quizzed" us with some American trivia. It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that I did not know: the population of the U.S. (I was WAY off), that we had a president who was unmarried, or how many presidents had been assassinated. Our approximate population is 305,200,000 people (I guessed about 150 million above that - whoops) and the only unmarried U.S. president was James Buchanan. Apparently four, not two, U.S. presidents have been assassinated. In chronological order, they are: Abraham Lincoln (1865), James Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963). Random fact: November 22 (the day Kennedy was shot) is also the day Margaret Thatcher left office... obviously not the same year. However, I did know: the percentage of the population that is white (72%), the percentage of the population that is African-American (13%), how many time zones are in the U.S. (4), and that the border between U.S. and Canada stretched about 4,000 miles (just FYI the U.S./Mexico border is about 1,900 miles). I'm sure Mr. McCollum would cringe if he knew about my severe lack of knowledge on American history (and can you believe I'm considering it as my focus for my history major?!). Aside from becoming very aware that the British know more about America than most Americans, I think this will be one of my favorite classes even though it covers my least favorite part of U.S. history.

Last night I went to this bar/resturanut called Frankenstein's with a few of the girls I've met here. The cool thing about Frankenstein's is that it was a church and has now been converted into this big bar. Despite being a very cool atmosphere (a plastic Frankenstein makes a showing every two hours or so via slow crane-like bed thing that hangs above the main resturant area), we waited FOREVER for our food. Granted, Tuesday is a very busy night because students eat for free provided they buy a drink; nevertheless, we were told twice that they were out of the food we wanted and proceeded to spend nearly 3 and a half hours there and most of that time was spent waiting. It was funny for a while and then it just got kind of ridiculous. I think we spent about as much money replenishing our drinks as we would have if we'd actually paid for a meal elsewhere but whatever. It made for some good girl bonding time. From now on we plan on going for lunch on Tuesdays instead because it might be less crowded and they won't have run out of our food.

It was a nice day in Edinburgh today meaning it was cold and overcast but not very rainy. Nothing really exciting happened today except that I bought a sweatshirt at a second-hand shop because I was so cold on my walk back to my dorm. That's my update and I hope that someone is somewhat satisfied. :)

University of Edin-buuuurrrraaah

So I've officially moved in and become a student at the University of Edinburgh (which they say Edinburah. Apparently they get really offended if you say it wrong). We don't start classes for another week so this entire week is all the new students - international and incoming (which they call "freshers" not freshman) - and is basically dedicated to partying. Seriously, I'm not kidding. Not only are there about 1,000 activities for freshers to do - about half of which involve drinking - but these people do not get tired of going out and doing stuff! It was so funny because I went to my hall meeting tonight and our only options for refreshments were orange juice, red wine, or white wine. I will say I opted for the red wine though it wasn't very good.

We must pause from the debriefing of freshers week thus far to talk about the outrageous amount of walking we have to do on a daily basis. Firstly, no matter where a student lives, that accommodation is ridiculously far away from any of the events/academic buildings/student-union areas. I have one of the shorter walks and I'm still a good 30 minutes from the "center" of campus. Campus, by the way, is not one general space or even in one general area of the city. No, "campus" is basically the entire city of Edinburgh. What this all sums up to is that I am walking well over 2 miles a day which will be really nice (because that will be my exercise while I'm here) once my feet stop hurting and my blisters have calloused.

I still have yet to make a non-American friend. But I have only lived here for about 2 and a half days and I have met some British people but I just haven't really made a friend... does that even make sense? Oh, and this is random but it is essential that I address this: Britain may have the worst weather of any place in the world aside from Antarctica (and no one lives there - Britain's actually populated!). It rains a lot and is quite cold; I think my room temperature is just above freezing. I asked a British guy who was behind me in the queue (they don't say "line"): doesn't having little/no sun mean everyone's really depressed? He replied, "Why do you think we drink so much?" Clearly, I'm going to have to "get my drink on" quite a lot if I a) want to stay warm and b) want to survive. That's all for now and I'll leave you with a few pictures from the past few days.

Map of "campus." Notice that the place I live isn't even on the map; there's just an arrow pointing off into the corner where the map ends.

Pretty view of New Town Edinburgh at sunset.

The hall where they had the welcome for the international students (that includes me -weird I know). Its actually really huge.