a troubling synonym.

American English

pants: what you wear on your legs (ie: jeans)

underwear: what you wear underneath your pants

UK English

trousers: what you wear on your legs (ie: jeans)

pants: what you wear underneath your trousers

Result: I am awkward. Frequently.

to-do list

1) explore the Rare Books section of the library. Only nerds like me get a hankering for medieval texts ;)

2) continue my coffee-shop quest (I am in search of the most comfortable seating with cheapest/most delicious coffee and coziest atmosphere for reading. epic.)

3) figure out my housing situation for next year. these things are rather difficult from across the ocean.

4) declare my majors. pssh, details.

5) send letters! sorry to everyone who hasn't gotten their replies yet; i swear they're coming!

6) find cheap flights to France/figure out where mom & I will go when she comes to visit--I'm already getting pumped for Spring Break! :)

7) sort out my priorities, since apparently coffee shops rank above not being homeless next year.

I love that I'm settled enough to have a to-do-list is totally manageable :)

i think i smell like a toastie.

Before I get into my update, it might be best to define some terms.

-toastie: 1. buttered bread & some kind of filling (ie: ham/cheese or Mars bars/nutella :)), toasted on a George Foreman-type grill. See DELICIOUS.

-Toastie Bar: 1. a brilliant / hectic event involving making toasties for the masses, in this case, sponsored by Uni's & Andrew Mellville's Link groups. Think Jesus feeds the 5,000.....with toasties.

Anyway, I just got back from the Toastie Bar. I served in the kitchen alongside CU members (Christian Union) from Uni & a neighboring hall. We sang a lot of opera and a few boyband hits/spent a lot of time trying to work out the haphazard numbering/ticketing system (I'm not sure how this happened but we were definitely going backwards at one point) as we served about 200 toasties to 100 people (approximately!). Talk about chaos! I smell a bit like fried food and managed to burn only one of my fingers....but it was totally worth it for the sounds of satisfied munching :)

...excuse the lag, I lacked the energy to finish this before I fell asleep, because....

I went on the most amazing walk/hike(/climb?) yesterday! We intended to walk along this trail overlooking the beach/coast/rocks, etc....But instead, we walked on what we would have been looking at (always more fun :P). I think we spent a good 2.5 hours clambering over rocks and looking out at the ocean. At one point, we came upon this rock that looks like ruins (but is actually just a rock, much to my dismay :P). Upon about 3 seconds of examination, we discovered that it had really easy handholds/footholds...And what do you do when a rock has easy handholds/footholds & you're a terribly curious person? 

You climb that rock :D

So we did. Having never been bouldering before, I was mildly terrified to begin, but it really was not difficult getting up. [Getting down is another matter entirely. I seriously considered just living on top of that rock & never coming down..."Have you heard of the old hermit who lives on the rock?" "Don't be silly, that's just a myth!"]

And the view!! I tried my best to photograph it, but it's difficult to capture the salty wind and the sound of ocean and the feeling that you're on top of the world on a digital camera. :) That said, here are my attempts!

So, this picture doesn't quite to justice to how BEAUTIFUL the day was...But that's the rock. Doesn't it look like ruins to you? :)

I wish I had a photo that could convey how far we were from the ground! But this is the view from where I was sitting. It was this totally comfortable, flat rock on the top (complete with backrest!) I was a happy camper.

This is a pretty good representation of the overall view of the hike...So, maybe you "had to be there" but I just could not get over how beautiful the weather was, and how excellent it felt to get out in the fresh air and wander around :D

Okay, not the view from the rock, but I thought this was just a sweet moment :) LOOK AT THE COLORS!!

Okay. Putting my art-nerdiness away now.

Busy, busy day ahead--lots of Middle English and I think I'm going to attend an art history lecture that I'm not actually taking. Ooops, there goes that art nerd, running rampant again....better go catch her :P

we smiled so bright, the sun went down :)

Firstly, ignore the adjective-adverb confusion in the title. It's an appropriate song lyric, if grammatically incorrect :P

Secondly! I realized yesterday that it simply does not matter at all what I'm doing here--I am just so happy! St. Andrews just fits, in that same way that William & Mary felt like it did in those first few weeks of being ridiculous freshmen in Monroe. It's freakin' amazing!

In other news, my life is full of serendipity. For instance...My friend Kate asked us at lunch yesterday whether anyone would like to come to a free half-hour student recital in the music hall. Apparently they happen every Friday afternoon--and they offer free coffee/tea & biscuits! I didn't have any lectures (yay Friday!) so I went and heard this incredible saxophone group! It occurred to me that I never do things like that back home...Not that it's out of my comfort-zone (let's face it, I'm an arts-nerd); it's just something I never think take time to do. On the way back, my friends had to go to lectures, so I stopped in a coffee shop & read some Chaucer till it was time to head back for dinner. Pretty much a perfect afternoon.

Wait, there's more!

On Thursday night, I was walking with a friend, and we decided that we should take a detour to see the castle at night (parents/parental figures, please don't freak out, it was like 7 pm). The iron gate was unlocked, so we just opened it, and climbed up into this little alcove overlooking the North Sea (the window was barred and netted, much to my relief). It was definitely one of those moments that I wish I could have just put in a bottle and sent home to everyone--there I was, sitting in nearly 1000 year old castle ruins, listening to the waves crashing on the stone walls, looking up at the [miraculously!] clear night sky. There are very few things that make my heart happier :D

And then we started to freeze, because the temperature had dropped with the sun, so we promptly continued back on our way :)

Speaking of the weather, all you Williamsburg-dwellers will be happy to know that the 'Burg is not the only place with complete weather-ADD. In the span of a week, it has been rainy & cold, sunny & warm, freezing & clear, and now they're predicting snow this weekend--What gives?

Okay....my enormous reading list is glaring at me. I should probably go appease it :)

learning to be a man & other amusing pasttimes

So, on a total whim (that could be the motto for my life right now), I decided to join the Celtic Society with a few friends from hall!

I'm so excited about it, too, because it allows me to do ceilidh dancing (you're probably so tired of hearing about that by now :P) that i love SO MUCH...plus it is legitimately really good exercise. I mean, you go skipping around on your toes for 2 hours and tell me how you feel! :)

Only downside is that, like all dance groups, there were probably 3 girls for every guy. Not a bad ratio for the gents, but the ladies were stuck having to learn to be men for the better part of the class, which sometimes becomes complicated... 

teacher: "Find a partner!"

girl: "Be my partner?"

me: "Sure...Should you be the man, or should I?"

You see how it could get confusing!

Despite the complications, I am definitely going next week to get my ceilidh on! We can just add that to the list of useless skills I'm acquiring in college, right under "drawing a correctly proportioned arm" and "making 'do's and 'ah's sound like a guitar solo" :P

The other adventure from last night was our trip to Tesco (the grocery store) after an absolutely abysmal hall dinner (haggis, squash, and a spoonful of mashed potatoes? no, thank you!) Kirsty & Louise were going to cycle over there after dinner, so they helped me borrow Kirsten's bike...Wow, let me tell you. Cycling on the wrong side of the road is possibly MORE terrifying than the prospect of driving there! I was perpetually afraid that I was going to get hit by a car (I didn't, for the record). But we made it in one piece, and I picked up my cereal & milk --always an adventure because things SEEM cheap, but in fact, are not at all. Stupid US dollars ;)

And that was my night! Now, I'm so pleased because my textbook FINALLY came into the bookstore and I can now do some homework. Imagine that!

Wait, isn't it called "STUDY abroad?"

For all those of you who think I'm not doing any studying here at St. Andrews....

You're absolutely correct :P

I've only been to one proper class (Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), which was wonderful because I'm a huge nerd and I like that sort of thing. However, my poor Unreformed Scotland professor keeps emailing us about the "ever-moving lecture"--it was supposed to happen Tuesday, but she was sick; Thursday, but there was snow; Tuesday, but she has a funeral to attend.......I have to wonder: 1) Can't this woman catch a break? And 2) Are we fated never to have class? She says we'll have a lecture on Thursday afternoon, but I'm not sure if I should get my hopes up!

Is it weird that I'm starting to forget what it's like to be stressed out?

Once again, I have to exclaim how much I LOVE it here! :)

surprise! i have friends!

Shocker, I know.

Look, photographic evidence!

Yesterday, we (other Junior Semester Abroad-ers, or JSA's) took a bus to Dundee (see above!) to go shopping for the Uni Hall Ball, which was last night--1920's themed! I was particularly excited, because I was planning on wearing that silly senior homecoming dress that I wear to EVERYTHING, but somehow managed to find this fabulous 20s-ish dress for 6 pounds while shopping that afternoon! Just add pearls and--voila! Insta-flapper! :P

I suppose you can't really tell from this picture, but most of our group was dressed to the nines in 20's garb--bowler hats, long gloves, strings of pearls...Stuff like that basically makes my life SO HAPPY! :)

Remember how I was talking about the ceilidh last Friday night? Well, this is what it looks like--aka ABSOLUTE chaos! Well, really, if I'd been a better photographer, you'd see that there's really a pattern/formation to every dance. But it definitely FEELS like chaos, since almost no one knows what precisely what they're doing (except the guys in kilts, who seem to be the pros) :)

Later on, they had a live band that played contemporary music & they were FANTASTIC, and just loads of fun for making a total fool of yourself trying to dance to "Mr. Brightside" and "Save Tonight" ....But I still just loved the ceilidh! There is something about having a random guy ask you to join him, dance a squeaky-clean-barn-dance-type-thing with you, kiss your hand, bow, & and then leave you to go your separate ways-- Very old-world gentleman. Can't we have more of THAT at dance parties? :P

All in all, I got to dress up, be ridiculous with some friends, listen to good music, dance crazily, drink champagne, eat free ice cream, and just soak up what life is like at St. Andrews....

Not a bad way to spend a Friday night.

OH! Also, I am TOTALLY going to be that cheesy, hopeless romantic & give a shout-out to Quint, who managed to contact a florist in St. Andrews so that a beautiful bouquet could be delivered to my door for Valentine's Day! I could not have been more surprised :D

tuesday is the new wednesday?

Back at W&M, you're pretty hardcore if you go out Thursday, and you're even more hardcore on a Wednesday...

Here, I'm getting the impression that you're lame if you don't do anything on Tuesday night.

So, in keeping with the rest of the St. Andrews student body, I went to a bop (dance) at the Union. There were SO many people there! It was insane (boppin, if you will :P) I mean, even I, who knows NO ONE, ran into friends there! Excellent fun. I think W&M could learn from these kids...I did not hear a single word about how much work everyone was supposed to be doing but was blowing off (I'm so guilty of that, but must wonder--why do we go out if we're going to stress about doing work the whole time?)

Anyway, on a completely different note, I thought I'd keep my part of the bargain & put up some pictures!

To the right are the castle ruins and the North Sea. Told you it was beautiful.

Next up, we've got the castle ruins from a distance. P.S! I took all of these after I walked out of my first lecture yesterday. Seriously, I'm in love with this place. 

This next one actually nothing special, apart from the fact that I like it...Just the grass by the Economics building (right across from English)...But you can see those infamous castle ruins over to the right! :)

Well, again, nearly dinnertime, and I really do need to run to Tesco's for laundry detergent. It's so cold out, and after the 1/2 hour trek to my class, I'm not particularly in the mood to freeze again :P I can wear this pair of jeans one more day, right?? :P

stop and stare

It is a beautiful, SUNNY (?!) day here at St. Andrews! I haven't been outside yet today, but I'm excited to go soon!

Basically, I am so happy here. The fact that I have to walk everywhere is probably the greatest thing ever--A friend of mine showed me the castle ruins, the pier and the cathedral yesterday...pictures to come! I think I'll walk down there with my camera today, when everything's not completely gray (even though the grayness really does suit me, for whatever reason).

The other fun part of my life is that I'm living on a hall of mostly first years...so it's basically like being back in Monroe! We gather for dinner in HUGE groups (we filled an entire table in the dining hall last night--quite a feat!), we sit in the hallways, we watch movies using uncomfortable beds for couches till WAY too late at night, we run around on the beach like crazy people and take tons of pictures....LOVE IT! :)

Plus, we've got the Hall Ball on Friday, for which I am SO EXCITED.

Oh, and class...Well, I have my first lecture in a half hour, so we'll see how that goes. The reading list for Unreformed Scotland is rather intense...

I LOVE MY LIFE!

"matriculate" sounds like a dirty word

....but it's not. It really just means that I stood in a lot of lines and got my ID card so I'm allowed to get into my hall now. Hooray!

At any rate...My hero of the moment is Alden, because he brought me the right converter/adapter/whatever you call it to use for my computer!! I am so pleased--now I can put up pictures! (There aren't very many yet, sorry)

There's the first one...it's the view from my window! Well, actually, it's the view if you stand in the corner between my closet & desk and sort of crane your neck. but it is the most photogenic part--and it SNOWED as I arrived! :) You're looking at Old Wing, which is a co-ed wing of University Hall. Pretty, isn't it?!

And this is what I see as I walk from Uni into town. It's always beautiful, in my opinion, but today was particularly nice because it was sunny! I am a huge fan of old things, so any place with vine-covered walls and narrow roads are the best ever! (Except for the times when I'm nearly clipped by a driver in a hurry, or when I'm the silly American who always looks the wrong direction when crossing the road :P) ....And the church tower in the background isn't half-bad either, right?

Anyhow, it's almost dinner-- it's not quite the all-you-can-eat extravaganza here at St. Andrews, for sure, but if you're hungry as I am, it's FABULOUS :)

i'm here, i'm here!

Hello from Scotland!

After a long, long day (night through afternoon, really), I finally arrived in St. Andrews. The town is BEAUTIFUL, but cloudy...but it was snowing lightly just as I arrived (it's melted now, much to my dismay). I love my room, but I keep looking around to see if someone will be there when I walk in the door. It's strange!

The biggest setback has been not having my computer (the converter is on its way, but till then, it's dead)...hence, there have not been pictures yet. Soon, though, I promise!

But I love love love the way things work here! Meals are at set times so you're sure to see your friends (or in my case, any familiar face is always nice!) The town has USEFUL shops (imagine that, Colonial Williamsburg!), and even though it's a bit of a walk into town from my hall, it's actually pretty pleasant if you have company (and aren't completely lost, like I was earlier this morning!)

And I really love how friendly people are here! Classic example: I walk into a cell phone store to see about getting a cheap phone that works over here. There's a man & a woman behind the counter, and the man says, "Hi, what's your name?" I tell him, and the lady (who is apparently rushing) yells "Hi Christy, I'm Dawn! I don't actually work here!" and runs out! And I continue my conversation with the real salesperson :) it just made me happy!

Uni Hall itself is super-friendly as well, AND full of spirit, I'm told...and it seems that way, since a fair number of people showed up to a hall event tonight. Met some really fun people already, and I'm excited to get to know everyone better & see kind of where/what "group" I end up in. I haven't yet been out, because I am lame...But I am looking forward to a ceilidh (traditional Scottish dancing) tomorrow night!

Other fun news: Had a funny conversation about how American English is basically considered simple to students over here...Found out that the hall has a room with a grand piano in it(!)...Went to an "Academic Wine Mixer" (who knew that academics and wine mixed?!)...I suppose now it's off to bed before matriculation tomorrow!