Being Thankful

This week has gone by super quickly!! I can't believe that soon it will be December and then the day-which-must-not-be-named :(. But putting all that nonsense aside, I will recap!

Saturday was the Scotland vs. South Africa rugby game. We started it off with a hearty breakfast and a few drinks and headed off into the rain (side note about rain: my friend Caitlin said that it rains so much here that she doesn't even notice it anymore...):

Eggs! Free range eggs!

:))))

It was really fun, even though it took me a bit to realize what was going on. It was nice just watching the players...as Diane says:

"RUGBY MEN ARE REAL MEN!"

From first hand experience, this true. No question. Also, her gloves were trippy. And, we were on live TV for like 4 seconds!! Oh AND Scotland WON!!

21-17!

After the trek back home, I hopped over to the bus station to go to LONDON! It was kind of a spontaneous decision but I figured it would be silly to have never gone to London while I was here. So, I did! I arrived at around 7:30 in the morning and just randomly followed a couple of people. I had absolutely no idea where I was going, which is not my usual game plan, but I figured why not and how else was I going to get anywhere.

Well kids...you should always listen to me because my instincts were right. They led me straight to the Victoria Station with the tube and everything. It was great. I somehow figured stuff out and got off at the London bridge.

Errr..it's so dark!

Then, I met up with Shuff and Katie (+ guy from Morocco..)!!! It was so so so great to see them. Then, Katie graciously and wonderfully took me around to see the sights of London:

THE GLOBE!!! I was surprised at how excited I was.
I guess I really am an English dork.  

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben!

Also, it was really nice to see my friend Regina whose studying at LSE. I can't believe we didn't take any pictures together!! Eventually, Katie and I made it to Oxford Street....which was really pretty and awesomely decorated but I just couldn't handle the massive amounts of people! Plus, we somehow stumbled into a place called "Funland" because we thought it was a mall where we could sit down and maybe eat dinner but it was anything but....it was some strange form of existential hell. I was there but I wasn't but I was?! Anyhow, we fled to Piccadilly and somehow found a haven of a cafe.

Oxford Street......

Ahh I am so excited for the lights to come on in Edinburgh tonight at 5:15pm! We have a winter carnival here and there is nothing I like more than appropriately themed carnivals. I currently have two papers due tomorrow; one is done (ha...) and the other is in incubation (ha..ha...) but I really can't be bothered...as I am also going to Rome tomorrow!! I will leave with this:

An Edinburgh Christmas 

7am Trips to Tesco

Sometimes, you don't have to travel to far and exotic places to gain rewarding experiences. This will definitely sound extra cheesy, but I've definitely been enjoying bonding with Edinburgh. After a weekend of travel, it's an immense relief to pull onto Waverley Bridge and see the now familiar city. I'm super glad that I'm studying abroad in a city. Might I say that my street smart points have gone up a few notches?

The day before Halloween, a couple of friends and I went to Glasgow for a few hours. We went to a museum of modern art and walked around. It was FREEZING! The shops were super cool looking (there were actually queues for Halloween stores!) and one of my favorite sites was George Square. 

It's being prepared for Christmas!

Last Friday, it was Guy Fawkes Night. It was rainy and gross but we went up a hill to see fireworks. It was kind of subpar, but I'm still glad I got to experience that. 

November seems to be the "Ahh work!" month for University of Edinburgh students. Williams has prepared me well, though; I'm not really feeling that much pressure yet. Frankly, Williams=

I've definitely done this before.

+

I think I've had points when my desk actually looked like this...only messier.

University of Edinburgh, for me, is more like=

Yay, reading a book!

I don't mean to burn Edinburgh. I mean, I think I'm taking freshmen level courses and I'm not specializing in anything like the other students. But, it's kind of nice to think that maybe I'm not dumb as crap; maybe Williams is just hard! 

Speaking of Williams, I miss certain things a lot a lot: Sawyer/Schow!!!! (not a fan at all of the one here), Tunnel City, Sushi Thai, running off to Snack Bar mainly to avoid doing work, rolling around/dancing in .5 with the crew, and (of course) people!

On other notes, I've started branching out a little with cooking (well, kind of...I'm starting to think it's fun!), Starbucks is super deelish especially when shared with a friend :), and the sun is shining for the first time in a while! Woooot.