bus rides, my favorite pub thus far, and some strange things

I have been here for 5 days now, and learning my way around the city pretty quickly. Well at least from Princes St south. I am beginning to learn the bus routes and the shortest ways to get from my flat to my friends, and of course the pubs. Yesterday I rode on a double decker bus. This is really different from riding buses in the states. We sat at the front and the vantage point is great, however, it always feels like you are going to run over the car in front of you and hit multiple buildings while turning. I went the ASDA (super Wal-mart) pronounced as a word not an acronym, if you say A-S-D-A they will look at you like your crazy. Things are realitively cheap and cost surprisingly less than I had expected. I also had to get a new phone (it was only £4.85!).

Last night I went out with David and Amber. We met up with some other international students at a pub called the Golf Tavern. From there we took them to several of the pubs that we have been going to. One place called Nicol Edwards is this little basement pub with a great atmosphere and has live acoustic music every night. I got carded here. The guy playing is called Acoustic David, and he plays there 3 nights a week. He was really good, played a lot of really popular songs. I'm hoping to become a bit of a regular here.

Some strange things about Scotland: There is a switch on the electrical outlet that if you don't flip it wont work. This even includes the plugs for things like ovens. You have to turn showers on with a button or cord, you can't just turn nobs. Sinks have 2 heads, one for hot and one for cold. All the doors in flats are fire doors. They close automatically behind you and you aren't supposed to prop them open. So my flat has 1 hallway with about 8 doors. 1 for each bedroom, 2 bathrooms, and the kitchen/living room. This leaves you feeling isolated and/or like you are seriously disturbing someone whenever you have to knock on their door. Police cars are neon blue and yellow. They say cheers instead of thanks. The mustard is seriously spicy.

I HAVE ARRIVED

Today is my 3rd day in Edinburgh. I arrived Monday at about 10am (5 US). I met up with a girl, Amber, at the airport and we traveled to our hostel together. This is where spent the last 2 nights, it was really nice and called the budget backpackers. Amber and I went on the pub crawl they offer, the last 2 nights. In the process we met several other students from our same program as well as people from all over just traveling. I've also managed to try fish and chips, and haggis already! We also took a walking tour. On the tour we visited Greyfriars Kirk (you may have heard of Greyfriars Bobby, the dog who at his masters grave in the church yard for 14 years). We saw where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book, as well as the school that inspired Hogwarts. We visited the Midlothian Heart. The heart used to be a part of the tax collection booth, today it is in the ground and you are supposed to spit on it for good luck. We went to St. Giles Cathedral where the Queen and her knights meet once a year(there won't be pictures of this they charge 2£ to take pictures). So far Monday and today have both been sunny, I am considering myself very lucky for this. I just moved into my flat about an hour ago. None of my roommates are around yet but I hope to meet them later today.

I'm not going to be homeless!!

I just found out that I have been given university housing!! What a weight off my shoulders. It's been a bit of a fiasco, but everything seems to be falling into place.

The countdown begins...

I leave for Scotland in 3 days. Despite having looked forward to this day for months, it has managed to sneak up on me. My suitcase is sitting half packed on my bedroom floor, and I wonder how I will ever fit everything in it. The past few days have been filled with picking up last minute needs, and taking care of any paper work left to be done. The three days I have left will be all about packing, and enjoying the company of my family before I leave. Studying abroad is something I have always wanted to do, and my time is finally here. While I am extremely excited, I am also very nervous. (As some of you may know, I don't have anywhere to live) Some people think I'm crazy for diving into this without any guarantee of housing, but I know that this will make it all the more rewarding in the end.