A Wee Weekend Trip

Last weekend we went to Inverness, a town in the Highlands of Scotland. It was really cute, but we didn't get to spend that much time there over the course of the weekend because we were spending hours and hours commuting between other tourist-y destinations.

Destinations like:

Watching the Jacobite Express (aka the Harry Potter train) cross the viaduct for the last time this season

Culloden Battlefield where the Jacobite rebellion against the English monarchy was crushed, complete with scenic fog

A functioning sheep dog farm where we got to see the incredible training of the sheep dogs which puts Peppy's manners to shame, as well as sheep dog puppies- this one was only 7 days old. Oh and we got to shear sheep. No big deal...

Glenfiddich Distillery

aaannnd last but not least, beautiful Loch Ness and the Urquhart Castle, which was passed back and forth between the Scottish clans and the British royalty. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the real Nessie :(

From the little we did see of Inverness, we really liked it. The bars were cute and one of them had great live folk music. We also met and bar-hopped with an Australian uni graduate, Andrew, who was staying at the same hostel we were. He just graduated with a math degree and was planning on taking a grad trip along the Australian coast before starting work. His plans changed when he woke up the day after celebrating turning in his thesis with a plane ticket to the UK. Oh, college.

This week was the same-old, same-old. I'm looking forward to a quiet, (hopefully) productive weekend. I'm also super excited about the new clothes my Mom sent me:

Cute, no? Self-timed and improperly zoomed pictures do not do them justice. She also sent some of the clothes that I owned already, but didn't pack the first time. Yay for new stuff!!

Anyways... I have a source analysis to write about the consequences for women following the transformation of Scotland between 1750-1830. Very Scripps appropriate, don't you think?

Bisous chers amis et a bientot!

LeeAnn

Fashion

So. This might be the most shallow, least Scotland-related post I'll be posting while I'm here but after studying extremely hard this week, I need to think and blather about something inconsequential. Not that looking nice is inconsequential, as we all know first impressions are the basis of a lot of relationships, but it often has less immediate and dire consequences if neglected than, say, writing lab reports. Which I did last night, and it turned out beautifully and very professional-looking. I had to reinstall MarvinSketch onto my computer to draw some structures, which I hadn't done since my harddrive crashed, and it's making me feel so hard-core and chemically oriented. Does that even make any sense? Probably not, but neither does this post.

Hopefully my mom is going to send me a few things from home soon (please Mom?) but there are also a few things I want to add to my wardrobe. Every time I do this, I inevitably have nothing to pair with whatever trendy pieces I add, so I guess I'll end up either buying them and not wearing them often or I'll have to buy more things to wear with them.

What:

1. High-waisted skinny jeans.

2. Flowy tank tops.

3. Knit, baggy sweaters.

4. Everyday skinnies, because my other ones have a huge hole in the knee :(

5. A pair of shoes that's dressy, yet casual. I'm thinking some sort of ankle, oxford-inspired boot but I really haven't seen anything that I'm super in love with yet. Any suggestions?

6. Long socks I can wear under my Uggs, outside of my leggings.

Where:

Have I mentioned all of the charity shops along the main road in Edinburgh? They're everywhere! And actually inexpensive! I recently found a coffee shop with a Motley-esque called the Bean Scene and I kept getting distracted from my studies by a charity shop for the prevention of heart disease that's across the street. They had some legitimately cute items.

Also, there's this store, Top Shop, that has some extremely cheap sale items. I haven't been in the actual store yet, but if it's anything like their online sales I'm going to have a hard time finding something in my size. Unless I get lucky and get there the day they put new things on sale. I think my luck is running out, though. After some kid threw the entire contents of his piggy bank out of his 3rd floor (American 3rd floor, not the British 3rd floor which is actually the 4th floor) window onto Sam and my heads, I was finding a coin on the street at least every day. Granted, it was usually only a 1 or 2 pence coin, but sometimes I'd find a 5 p and once I found a pound. This all changed when I left Edinburgh for my homestay. Although, I am going to the Highlands (to see the Harry Potter train and hopefully the Loch Ness monster) so maybe leaving the city again will bring my luck back.

Who:

... are my role models? It seems like a lot of people I know have great fashion sense that I feel like I could never pull off.

My mom, for one, has a great sense of style and routinely dresses me much better than I would dress myself. Unfortunately, she's not here to reassure me when I ask, does this look weird? Because I know she's telling the truth, whether it's what I want to hear or not, and she just wants me to look my best. Kinda like when we're skyping and she always points out my breakouts. Yes, Mom, I know I'm breaking out, thanks for reminding me that everyone else does too. I say this in the most loving way possible, by the way. That's kinda like how people always say "No offense, but..." As if saying that activates a ward that prevents people from taking offense/getting hurt by what follows, because "No offense, but" is never followed by "you look really nice today" or "I love hanging out with you." But really, Mom, I mean it in the most loving way possible and I don't want you to be embarrassed, or anything. I mean honestly, how many people besides you reads my blog anyways? That's what I thought.

Going back to my original point, I would describe my mother's fashion sense as, ironically, much edgier and younger than mine. While she's all metal buckles and leather jackets, I'm very much a cardigan-aholic, although I don't own very many of them. So while I admire and wish very much to emulate her style, I'm not exactly sure how to.

My other role model is my friend Natalie. Natalie is a definite hipster/trendster who is always meticulously put together. Her style is much more similar to mine but I don't know how she does it. Part of it is that she just has SO MANY clothes to work with. I literally brought 5 everyday shirts and thought, these are all the shirts I wear anyways so this will be no problem. Needless to say, I was literally bored of them within 2 days, which if you can connect any dots means that I hadn't even worn all of the shirts yet. I guess I wear different things than I thought I did. Natalie is in London this semester (well, actually this whole year) so when I go visit her in 2 weeks I'll make her be personal shopper for me.

I'm not exactly sure why I thought that UK fashion was going to be so different from US fashion. Everyone here is wearing leggings as pants (which I have totally bought into, even after I think I posted on facebook that I would never understand why leggings could be considered pants) and similar boots and scarves and everything that's also trendy in the US. Hence, my mom is sending me some of the things I'd left behind. There is one trend here that is WAY bigger than in the US that I really think I will never understand: denim shorts and miniskirts over tights. I could imagine (perhaps better than I thought) an outfit that utilized some high-waisted linen shorts over patterned tights with a button-up flower-print blouse and oxfords, and I would consider that to be trendy. HOWEVER, cutoff jean shorts over black not-quite-opaque tights (although I can't decide if opaque tights are worse) with a t-shirt and cardigan is NOT classy, or even edgy. It just looks silly, and slightly trashy. To be completely fair, some people definitely pull it off better than others, ie nice jean shorts instead of cutoffs, but still. That being said, if this trend continues long enough, I may or may not get pulled in.

On a tangential to fashion, I'm trying to decide on a Halloween costume. Actually, I think I just decided on my Halloween costume. Unfortunately for you, my dear readers (aka Mom), you will have to wait until after that date for me to post pictures. Trust me, though, it's gonna be good.

Wow. That ended up being way longer than I thought it would be. It was also less unrelated (more related) to my trip than I thought- there were some gems mixed in with the pyrite. I'm off to pack for my weekend excursion- I must remember to make sure my camera's fully charged this time...

LeeAnn xx

PS I'm really sorry about how long this is and the lack of pictures.

Address

I just realized that I forgot to post my new address in my last post, and since I'm sure you will all be sending me mail, I had better get that to you ASAP.

So, here it is:

Miss LeeAnn Allen

19 Sciennes

Edinburgh EH9 1NH

UNITED KINGDOM

I look forward to your letters/packages. ;) x

It's gonna be a good life // This right here is my swag :)

ZOMG A POLICE BOX. ...That's a Doctor Who reference, btw.

Sorry it's been so long guys! This is gonna be a pretty dry post- basically just an update about what I've been doing because I have no energyto be creative and funny, although I'm sure that you all have experienced/will experience my wit in person, so never fear. I am going to be sprinkling in some Scottish slang words/sayings, so be on the lookout for them...

Fresher's Week

We had Fresher's Week at the University of Edinburgh which is apparently world-renowned. There were a lot of activities and parties that were sponsored by the uni. I didn't go to as many of them as I had originally planned because on Monday Imet actual Scottish people (well, boys). They're both really cool- Robbie and Sam- so I hung out with them throughout theweek. It's nice to have an insider's/native's perspective on the city- I feel like that's how I'm really getting to know Edinburgh.

Also during Fresher's Week I cemented some relationships with Americans from my program- Sam (yes, another one,which may or may not get confusing) and Megan who are from Carleton College and Colgate University, respectively. Sam is actually from Ballard as well and we know some of the same people. Small world, huh?More small world: one of Megan's flatmates who was on our program is from Harvey Mudd which is one of the colleges in the Claremont Consortium with Scripps. SO COOL! Here's apicture of Megan, Sam, and I:

This is actually while we were waiting to see the Pope- it was the first papal visit since Scotland split from the Roman Catholic Church way back when. Pretty cool, eh? Actually seeing the pope was pretty anti-climactic, even if he was in the pope-mobile. The coolest part about it was the procession that came before- there were a ton of bagpipe troops and schools. The event was on St. Ninian's Day so every school in the country named after him was invited to participate in the parade.

At the end of Fresher's Week Butler organized discount tickets to a football match for us. Scottish football is absolute rubbish but the experience was definitely worth having.

Fresher's Week was really weird since we were in Edinburgh but hadn't actually started classes yet. I was really glad when classes started and my days started to have some structure, although I still can't get the hang of my class schedule and have to consult my calendar all the time.

Classes/Academics

In terms of studying/school things are going really well. At first I was really nervous because the professors are kinda all over the place and there aren't really books that are required for the class- they give you a list of recommended books and you have to find the sections that are relevant. However, the classes are split into sections with different themes and each section has different books. The library has all of them on reserve but you can only get them for 3 hours and since there are so many it's really not worth it to buy the books. I'm starting to realize how much Scripps really holds our hand through classes.

The labs for my science classes, The Dynamic Cell and Chemistry for Life Sciences, are where I feel like I have a total advantage- thank you AISS, Professor Grill, Professor Wenzel, and OChem. I have lab partners for both of my lab classes and my 2 chem lab partners seem like really cool girls :)

This is Ceci, one of my chem lab partners :)

I'm actually starting to study without having tests/quizzes hanging over me. The library (which I never use at Claremont) has these really cool PODS with a computer and seating. They're aimed towards group studying, which is perfect since Sam, Megan, and I are all in the same Modern Scottish History class.

I've also found a really cute coffee shop called the Bean Scene but I haven't actually studied there since I keep forgetting things that I need to study when I go. /I get distracted by conversations with the people I go with :(

Social Life

I had my homestay to the Lake District last weekend. I was with another Butler Edinburgh girl (Caitlin) and two Butler Glasgow School of Arts girls (Ariel and Kristi). The family we stayed with was really nice but they host American students a lot so it seemed less like a stay with a family and more like a touristy thing to do. It was beautiful and fun anyways and I had a great time. We went to a lake and hiked around rowed and then went shopping at some of the small towns nearby. By the end I was kinda homesick because the family was so nice and close-knit. Needless to say, I skyped with my parents that night :)

So my old room was getting to be WAY to far away for me to walk to and from social events so I moved. I'm now in Sciennes which is right next to this beautiful park called the Meadows:

My new room is a lot smaller than my old one but it's really cute and I love the way the flat is set up. I'm in an actual flat now with two other exchange students from Italy (Julia) and Singapore (Adelyn) and two first years from Scotland (Hazel) and Lithuania (Deimante).

My new favorite thing is headphones parties. Everyone has radio headphones and there are two frequencies to choose from. It's so funny because everyone is dancing and singing along but there's no music unless you're listening to the headphones. See this hilarious video:

Upside: this makes conversation with other people INFINITELY easier.

Downside: wearing headphones is kinda lame, but I think we pull it off :)

I really need to start joining societies and clubs here but it costs money to join and money to do the activities hosted by the clubs. I guess I'll just have to suck it up and do it (like I did with the 60 pounds for my gym membership. sad day....)

Shopping

In terms of grocery shopping, I went to Costco today! It was great- they had practically all of the same items as in the US so I stocked up on things like chicken nuggets and other easy frozen meals.

In terms of clothes shopping, I really need to start hitting up all of the charity shops on the main street in Edinburgh. They're second hand shops that are actually inexpensive, as opposed to the second hand stores in the US where a shirt still costs $20. Also, my mom is mailing me more clothes. Oh, fashion.

SOOO I'm gonna go now- I'm going blues dancing for the first time since I've been here and I should also maybe eat dinner, or something. And study a little bit. Maybe.

xo,

LeeAnn

Whoa!

So much stuff has been going on!!

We had:
IFSA-Butler Orientation
Move-in/ getting settled
Start of Fresher's Week- there are a TON of activities to do in this world-renowned Freshman orientation

Also, I think I'm officially entering the second phase of culture adjustment.

Here are some things that are different and kind of annoying (that's the culture shock talking):
1. You can only use minimum self-defense in any situation- it's illegal to carry mace or pepper spray.
2. You must be 18 to buy knives, even butter knives.
3. The weather changes every block, and so do the street names. For example, I can walk 2 miles down my street and the name changes at least 7 or 8 times.
4. Condiments are in glass jars, which is pretty classy but also makes carrying groceries heavy.

Here are some things that are different and kind of cool:
1. Tax is included in all prices and you only tip 10% (and not at all for bartenders).
2. Everything is OLD.
3. Kettles are sold in almost every store and there's an entire aisle for tea.

Yesterday we met this really cool group of 4th years from England at a poetry slam and ended up going to a bar with them after it ended. They were super funny- they totally had the whole British are supreme attitude going on which was really funny to listen to.

Anyways, off to more Fresher events- here's some pictures of my room. I'm especially proud of my bedside decorations. The ceilings are soo tall (although you can't tell from the pics) and yes, the walls are an obnoxious salmon color.

Extended Chicago Layover

Since buying a ticket out of Chicago was cheaper than one out of Seattle, I decided to spend Labor Day weekend in Chicago with my uncle, aunt, and 2 cousins (5 and 3). It was super fun, super busy, and not just a little tourist-y. All in all, a great extended layover and chance to visit a new city.

Some highlights:

Riding the train with Emily (5)


Willis (formerly Sears) Tower and the Skydeck

Me and May (3). She spent about 5 minutes with her face pressed to the glass bottom staring at the street below

Navy Pier


Belugas at the Shedd Aquarium



The Bean Sculpture


Giant S'mores in the backyard



I'm leaving the country tomorrow... Having an actual ticket is surprisingly more stressful than not having one... Who knew?

Address

Hey guys! I finally got an address that you can send me love to... Looks like I will be in a single this semester :)

Miss LeeAnn Allen
19 Sciennes
Edinburgh EH9 1NH
UNITED KINGDOM

I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow and I'm so FREAKING nervous/excited. Ahhh geez.
On the plus side, I'm 90% packed- the only things left are stuff I'll need tonight.

O.O