#dalkieth

Classes again today, I’m sorry there is nothing exciting to report back about that. But it is a very different way of learning; living with your professors and their children, as well as the people you have classes with, it’s much different then just going school and going home, and having no other interactions with the people you study with and the people who teach you. These people have seen you at the ass crack of dawn looking nasty, they’ve seen you after a long night at the pub, everyone knows each other in a very different way then we know each other in a traditional class room. There are no secrets in the house; between the walls that stop no sound coming through them, and the fact that we all spend all of our time together, as well as drinking together, which everyone knows, you can’t keep a secret when you drink together. All in all though, this is a great group of people who have loads of fun together. Or at least, we have been having fun, we’ll see how the semester progresses. Tensions may get high....

We started doing some trip planning today, which you don’t realize how time consuming just the planning can be. As well as figuring out what the heck everything includes and doesn’t include. If anyone has any travel tips, I will gladly take them. We think we’re going to head to London next weekend, which should be fun, and easy to go to, and close. So I’ll also take London suggestions. But I need to see some Harry Potter stuff. That’s priority number one. Then maybe Parliament...All in all, a trip away from the house should be wonderful. 

So I’m gonna start with last nights adventures; We got to learn some traditional Scottish dances. It was a lot like line dancing, which I’m terrible at, but it was so fun. Skipping, clapping, and stomping, with 60 other kids, in a room meant for 30 people, with music being played by a live accordion player and being lead by one of the greatest traditional dance teachers in the country. It really was amazing. And sweaty. But fun. It was something to behold. It was amazing to do something that people have been doing in that very room for hundreds and hundreds of years; you could almost feel the history, see the big poofy dresses swinging around and around, sweaty hair plastered to bright red faces, it was almost like being there. 

Today was not as exciting. We had our first day of classes, which is never all that exciting, especially when it’s at 8 in the morning. But it’s going to be a wonderful semester, with some really interesting classes.

Today was our first real day here, and even though classes haven’t started yet, I feel like I’ve already learned a lot. First, always wear your duck boots, because they’re super cute and super functional. My feet were soaked in the process of learning this lesson. Second, doing your hair is almost pointless, because it is windy as fuck here, windy enough to almost blow you off a bridge.Third, there’s a strange bush that looks sort of like an oak tree, but it’s not, it’s the devils bush and it’s very pokey. I’m sure that’s not what is’s actually called, but that’s what it should be called. Fourth, the food is amazing, I don’t care what anyone says, meat and bread and beer is perfectly acceptable all day, everyday. Fifth, green is one of the most beautiful colors ever. Everything is green here, and I’m not talking about that sort of green that Minnesota is in the spring, that nasty gross brown green, no, I’m talking about a beautiful, vibrant green that could never be recreated or explained. Everything about this place is gorgeous, but the green is....inspiring. 

One thing I haven’t learned yet though, is, do they walk on the right or left side of the sidewalk?