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Revision: British for studying.

My new favorite place is the library. I seem to be physically unable to study in my room without getting distracted by my computer/everything, so I've been spending literally hours per day in the library. I've got favorite spots, but unless you get there early, don't bother because all of the individual study desks are going to be taken. For a uni of more than 20,000 students, you'd think they'd have more room to study in their library. I guess to be fair, they're redoing it a floor at a time, so the entire 3rd floor is under construction and unusable. But still, it's kinda ridiculous.

The exam schedule here is so different- there are two weeks worth of finals and since there isn't a universal class timetable, all the finals have to be carefully crafted not to overlap. My first final is Chem on Tuesday, followed by History next Tuesday, and Cell Bio the day after. My general revision plan is to go through all the notes from the lectures. Luckily, I started looking at the past exams and got a pleasant surprise. For chem, there were 5 sections and there's a question on the final about each of them. Not surprising, but you only have to answer 3 of them. That means you only have to study 3/5 of the course and you could still get 100%. How ridiculous is that? I'm still pretty nervous about the Modern Scottish History final- the lecturers for that course were awful and rambly and I don't feel like I retained the main ideas. One of the girls in the course is organizing a study group, which I hope helps. I guess I could always email my tutor as well for questions. I really wish we just had to write another essay or had to do a final project for history because I have absolutely no idea how to take a history final.

The other thing going on while I was studying away is that there were people doing construction on our bathroom to fix a leaking pipe. This means I didn't have a proper shower for a couple days, which was excruciating. And, it made our flat smell. But everything's good now.

I kinda had a day off today (I'll explain in the next post), so after the student mass tonight, I'm going to get down to it and head to the library when it opens tomorrow (7:30, uggghhh) to get my favorite spot.

SNOWMG

So you may have read from my last blog post that it started snowing like CRAZY basically as soon as Audrey came.

Well, that was Friday and it didn't stop snowing until a week later. Edinburgh is surprisingly ill-equipped for snow. Apparently, they don't get this much (we probably got a good foot and a half) and definitely not this early. It's kinda got a lot of people worried and stressed.

It started getting warmer yesterday, though, and the snow is starting to melt and people are starting to get their act together. The streets and sidewalks are finally getting cleared. I mean walking on the snow was fine when it was hard and packed, but it started getting to be the consistency of sand. And walking on sand is f-ing hard. It started taking an extra 5 minutes to walk anywhere because each step you took only took you half as far as it normally would. The snow was really pretty though (until recently) and a lot of people took advantage of it to go cross-country skiing through the Meadows.

I can't decide if I'm happy about it melting. I guess it's not so bad except I don't know if it melting and then icing over if it gets colder is going to be worse than if it kept snowing a fresh layer over everything.

Ah well, we're Walking in a Winter Wonderland indeed and Baby It's Cold Outside.

Pristine :)

Om nom snow :)

AUDREY

Sorry guys, I'm running out of creative titles... :(

So last weekend (wow it seems so much longer ago than that), my friend Audrey came to visit me. Audrey is a fellow Scrippsie studying abroad for a semester at University College London (UCL). The Friday before she came to visit, I went to Robbie's sister, Katie, flat for a get-together for her birthday. She's a psychologist so she has a lot of doctor friends. I had a really good chat with one of them about what it means to be Indian having been raised as Caucasian. I think we're probably related in some way because his family is also from Madagascar and speaks Gujarati. Robbie and I also chatted with a really nice older couple. Anyways, then we went to Sam's for a flat party and I slept in suuuppppeerrr late the next day.

But, I dragged myself out of bed in time to meet Audrey at the train station- I had perfect timing, actually. Unfortunately, it had started snowing on Friday night so everything was snowy and kinda hard to walk in.

We had grand plans for what we were going to do that weekend, but then it kept snowing and snowing. I got up early to a beautiful snow-covered meadows and went to mass at the university chapel. I really, really enjoyed it. Then, I reconvened with Audrey and we went to the German market set up on the Mounds. It was rather less exciting than I thought it was going to be. Only a few stalls were really based on Christmas and the rest of them sold things I could find in the States. We did get a pretzel though, which I had been craving for a looong time. Delish! Then it started snowing again, so we went back to the flat in order to study/hang out.

That actually ended up being the rest of the weekend for us- lots of Christmas music and studying. We tried to go to the Castle since it was free in honor of St. Andrew's Day, but it was closed because of the snow. Monday night we did go out to dinner for my friend Sarah's 22nd birthday. That was an experience- we ended up walking back in the snow because there weren't any taxis around because of the snow. It was quite an experience, filled with snowball fights and lots of slipping and sliding.

All in all, I'm kinda glad that we didn't end up doing more of the touristy things. It was nice to just hang out with a friend again. I do feel kinda bad that Audrey didn't get to see more of the city... I guess she'll just have to come back! ;)

It's Daddy time!

Sorry about the title, it's a spin off a TBTL audio drop called "It's granny time!" and I couldn't come up with anything better, really.

Anyways, this post is about my dad's visit to Edinburgh. After a rather harrowing journey here involving many missed connections, confusing building numbering conventions (finally, someone understands about the STUPID street name changes), and amounting to an extremely long two-days of travelling, my dad met me at his bread and breakfast. The accommodations were alright, although the matron could definitely have been nicer. Since I haven't dealt with many customer service people, I can't be certain that it's not a difference between Scottish and American hospitality but from what I have seen here, I think she was just crabby.

As I've mentioned before, my favorite pub here is the Greenmantle, a friendly neighborhood pub. On Thursdays, they do live folk music, so of course that's where I took my dad (after he had a chance to eat and rest, obviously). We got to hang out with my friends Sam, Megan, Alice, and Robbie. It was really nice for my dad to meet everyone who I've been talking about.

Friday, I had morning classes but my dad wasted no time in exploring on his own. After we met up, we basically walked around the Royal Mile and Princes Street Gardens, exploring the main tourist areas. That was my first time walking around there so extensively, and I'm really glad we did- it gave me a better idea of the city. To this day, I'm still discovering new areas of Edinburgh and all of them are delightful. That night, we had to do some bar-hopping, of course. We sample a few different whiskies and I had a chance to get some more of my mulled wine from the Reverie :)

My dad got some pretty good images of the city walking around on his own- this is

Edinburgh Castle.

He was pretty impressed by the old water wells in the Grassmarket area.

Saturday, we had a traditional Scottish breakfast- haggis, black pudding, a fried tomato, a tattie scone, baked beans, bacon, sausage, a hash brown, and an over-easy egg and of course, breakfast tea. It was all decent, except for the blood pudding. That was disgusting. I've had haggis a few times before this, and have actually enjoyed it. We hiked this heart-attack-on-a-plate off at Arthur's Seat, a volcano in the middle of the city. We took the steeper route up and came down the other side, where there's the ruins of an old cathedral inhabited by hermits. Fittingly, it was named after St. Anthony, the same patron saint of our home parish in Renton. Following the trail down put us at the bottom of the Royal Mile next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (where the Queen stays when she visits Scotland) and the new Parliament building. The Parliament building is pretty controversial- it was designed by a Spanish architect who wanted to incorporate the landscape of Scotland into the design, but it ended up going way over budget and being a somewhat Louvre-ish situation (in terms of the pyramids designed my IMPei). We walked up the Royal Mile again, semi-souvenir shopping as we went. We met a really nice girl working in one shop who was also studying in Edinburgh, but at a different uni. We started to explore the castle, which lies at the top of the Royal Mile, but we decided to come back the next day to truly explore it. As we started to venture north towards New Town and St. Mary's Cathedral for vigil mass, we came across a shopping mall and I discovered my new favorite department store: John Lewis. It's like a cross between Macy's, Nordy's, and Jo-Ann Fabrics. Basically, anything I could ever want. The cathedral itself was pretty as well- one of the oldest places of worship for Catholics in the city- but it was undergoing construction to one of it's wings, so we didn't get to see all of it. Mass was nice, though, and much less rushed than my previous experience the week before. We had dinner in a rather dodgy fish and chip restaurant before heading back. We did another pub-crawl, this time with my friend Christy. She did a double-take when she realized the whisky was for me and the beer was for my dad. Apparently, I'm made of stronger stuff than she thought. This is good because I'm going home with her for Christmas and on her home island of ~1000 people, there are also 8 distilleries, making it a major whiskey-producing region of Scotland. Pretty amazing ratio, huh?

At the top of Arthur's Seat. We're at the highest point in all of Edinburgh!

The debating hall at Parliament. The part at the bottom is made from exclusively Scottish oak. One of those beams actually fell shortly after Parliament opened, interrupting a session.

Sunday, we started out with a late brunch, and continued to the castle. Dad was really fascinated by all of it. I was really fascinated by the crown jewels ;) We followed this with a tour of the Scottish Whiskey Experience. They had this weird barrel ride/ animatronic video thing that explained the distillation process. After that, they did a really good job of explaining about the different whiskey regions in Scotland and what makes them distinct, and we got to taste a whiskey from one of the regions of our choosing. My dad chose one from Islay (where Christy lives) which is reputed for really smoky, peat-y whiskeys. Too strong for my taste! This museum (?) also houses the most extensive whiskey collection ever, bought from a collector who lived in Brazil before his death. There were a TON of whiskeys in that room! We finished the night with a nice dinner at an Argentinean steakhouse in between my flat and my dad's B&B. I miss Mexican food SOO much!!!

There was an exchange of stuff- my mom had sent some new clothes (I love them!) and some food- tea (for a place that drinks tea all the time, they only have a couple kinds), peanut butter, and popcorn. I sent back some clothes and coats that I didn't think I'd need anymore. I still don't know how I'm going to get all of my stuff home...

Dad left on Monday morning, and had another tumultuous trip- ending with him sleeping in his office since Washington was hit with a snowstorm! Aggghhh the travails of travel.

For my part, I allowed myself about 5 minutes of crying/homesickness/frantic calling to my friend Audrey who is in London studying for the semester before I got myself together. It was harder than I thought to say goodbye to Dad, especially since he had brought all the news about home. It's little things like businesses closing and neighborhood gossip that you never realize you miss til you're gone. And it's not like I'm talking to them less this semester than normal. If anything, we talk on a more regular basis than when I'm in Cali. It's just knowing that I'm really far away and not just a 2-hour plane ride that really makes the difference.

And on that melancholy note... haha. It's better now- I still have a lot to look forward to this semester. More on those things to come! xxx

Spring at Scripps

I got assigned the most awesome registration slot for spring semester- Monday at 8:15 am. That's either the best or second-best time. I had already scouted out the classes that I wanted to take, carefully crafting and recrafting my schedule, molding it as if it was clay and I was a master potter. Then, I got the worst news ever: an email, sent the Friday before my registration slot, informed me that I was going to be unable to register during my awesome time slot. Luckily, my dad is SUPER AWESOME and called (because of my multiple promptings), convincing them to give me back my super awesome time.

Drumroll for my super-awesome schedule.....

Advanced Laboratory in Chemistry

A survey of advanced laboratory techniques including physical chemistry methods, analytical chemistry (especially instrumental methods), and synthesis and characterization of compounds.

Principles of Physical Chemistry

A course designed to investigate physico-chemical systems through classified thermodynamics, statistical thermodynamics, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and spectroscopy.

Race and Ethnic Relations

This course examines major concepts and theories in the study of race and ethnic relations. Attention is given to the social construction of race as it relates to interethnic conflict, immigration patterns and the intersections of class, race and gender.

A History of Social Dance

Issues of sexuality and gender, race, appropriation, religion and censorship as they emerge in the genres of social and ballroom dance. Lecture/discussion with readings, video viewing, and live performance.

and my favorite....

Typography and the Book Arts

A Scripps College Press studio course, emphasizing fundamentals of typographic design and letterpress printing. Experimental projects in book design and printing, using original texts and original graphic imagery.

This is technically an overloaded schedule, and I'll be doing gold (advanced) latin dance on top of my other CCBDC activities and have 3 jobs: half-time ochem lab TA, ochem tutor, and jsd office assistant. So, I might end up auditing the social dance class because it doesn't fulfill any major or general education requirements.

This may be an overcompensation for this semester since I feel like I have wayyyyyy too much free-time, but we'll see.

Also, I've been reading these books called the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey and they're set in a land called Terre d'Ange. Throughout the main characters' adventures, they're always like, "It's hard to be an exile from our beautiful country, even if it is by choice" which pretty much sums up my feelings about Scripps. I didn't even realize how perfect Scripps is for me until I left. And I can't shake this feeling that next semester is going to be AMAZING, which, quite frankly, is quite alright with me.

So, here's to the Rose Garden, beautiful dorms, Malott Commons, 5-Cs, Edmunds Ballroom, Tiernan Field House, Seal Court, sunbathing while studying on the quad, and all of my other favorite haunts in Claremont. I CANNOT WAIT to get back to you.

Scripps-tabulous

The second weekend in November, another Scrippsie came to visit me :) Maria is studying abroad in Galway, Ireland and does ballroom with me back at home.

We started out going to the Museum (I feel like I could go there a million times and do something different every time- it's not really that big, but it's really overwhelming in its non-cohesiveness) and I discovered a pretty cool rooftop level, which would have been a lot better if it hadn't been raining and super cold.

We warmed up at another favorite cafe, Press Coffee, before heading back to my flat. We ended up having dinner with one of my flatmates and her friend at my favorite pub, the Greenmantle. They have these buffalo burgers which are sooooo delish. We went for a drink (mulled wine- YUMMY!) at this posh pub called The Reverie. Here's Maria, modeling this delicious beverage:

On Saturday, we both took the train down to St. Andrews. We met up with Marissa (Nat's friend) and she showed us around. St. Andrews is a super cute, but super small, town- literally 3 streets. There is a really cool castle ruin and cathedral ruin. I especially loved the cathedral. It's also right on the coast, so there's always a sea-breeze in the air. We basically just looked around and did some shopping- there were some pretty cute Christmas markets being held that weekend.

Maria and I in front of the Castle ruins. The bishops and archbishops of St. Andrews used to live here. It was also used as a prison.

The castle, from farther away.

The Cathedral ruins. There are actually two ruins- the bigger cathedral from this picture was built after the ruin of the smaller church. The grounds are now used as a cemetary.

That's what it looked like, once upon a time.

I don't know if you can tell, but the windows are different- pointed arches vs round arches. Apparently, the cathedral took so long to build that by the time they got halfway done, the popular style of windows had changed, so they decided to continue with the new trend.

There were these pretty cool rock formation things that looked like fingers jutting out of the mainland. The tide was really low when we went, which is why we could see them. There's a site between two of them that people jump into at dawn on a certain day to rid themselves of curses.

Maria left really early on Sunday, which gave me the whole day to work on my essay for Modern Scottish History. AWESOME.

Natalie's Visit

Alrighty. It's now been almost a month since Natalie visited, so this is probably going to be a little trip down memory lane for me as well as you.

When she got here Saturday, we decided to go shopping with her friend from high school, Marissa, who studies at St. Andrews as an undergrad. We started by heading up Calton Hill. It's this hill in Edinburgh with a ton of rando monuments on the top.

Ahh yes, there we are. (L to R me, Natalie, Marissa)

This is the the National Monument on Calton Hill. Yes, it looks like it should be in Rome, and yes, it's most distinguishing feature is that it's only halfway built.

As we were walking back, I finally got a chance to hit up all the charity shops on Nicholson/Clerk. It was less fruitful than I could have wished, but I wasn't really in the mood to shop. We also went into this shop that turned out to be a surprisingly hip vintage shop. Natalie found an uber cute fur coat which we convinced her to buy.

As we stepped out of the shop, it obviously started raining and we parted ways- Nat and I back to mine for Dr. Who and siesta and Marissa to the train station to get back to St. Andrews.

That night, we went to a (rather demure) flat party at a friend of a friends, which ended up being super close to my flat. Some highlights:

(Finally, a picture of Robbie)

Beautiful Scrippsies!

Nat's favorite picture, for some reason. I guess she looks cute. I just look... awkward.

The next day we basically stayed in and did work- Natalie had a ton of essays to do and I was doing something, I think. Robbie had a roast at his flat that night, which ended up being really cool. Can you guess which plate is mine?

Answer: the Christmas one, obviously.

Monday, we went to the National Museum of Scotland and worked in my favorite cafe, Bean Scene. This was really cool because there was a tour talking about printing presses which fits in with my interest to take Typography and the Book Arts at Scripps, where we get to make our own book.

Since Natalie was taking an overnight bus, we stopped by a pub, Sandy Bells, for live folk music and a drink before dropping her off at the bus station.