So as most of you know by now, I'm now studying at the University of St. Andrews. I'll be getting a Master (of Letters - a particularly British degree, but akin to a MA with a shorter thesis) degree in History, with an emphasis on modern British/Scottish history. My first class is tomorrow, and I have to be done with my thesis by 31 August of 2011. I had been planning all along to do a masters of some sort this year, but I didn't really plan on being in Scotland... But that's a different story for a different post.
At the airport, getting ready to leave.
Some of my luggage (including the now lost silver bag - hopefully they find it soon)
View of Edinburgh from the plane
Anyway, I arrived in St. Andrews yesterday at about 2pm. It was a beautiful (though a bit cold) sunny day, so I spent much of the afternoon walking around town and running errands. I had a bit of lunch at a coffee shop called Costa. The sandwich was pretty good and so was the cappuccino, but the thing that I liked best was that the barisa/coffee making person remembered two of the people in line in front of me and anticipated their orders. It is fun being in a small town.
Yesterday I also attended the "Freshers Fayre" i.e. student activities fair and signed up for the Hispanic club. They had me sold at 'Sangria Night,' which is tomorrow. I'm also planning to sign up for the Fine Food and Dining Club (which is cooking classes, dining out, and discounts! pretty much).
I also got moved in (ish) to my room yesterday.
I'm sharing a flat with 3 other international students, one from California, Deanna, and two from China, Lilian and Bella (not their real names, but they are the ones they offered to me b/c their real names are quite difficult to say). I've hung out with Lilian and Bella a good bit, but Deanna has been out most of the time. Its all good. I don't really anticipate being close friends with any of my flatmates, but they seem to keep pretty clean. 
This morning I woke up fairly early on my own at about 7:30. I had an alarm set for 8, and I was thinking I would probably sleep through it. But I guess not. Its probably better that way. I made some breakfast, got ready, and then headed into town. I had to have my visa checked out and registered (which I did) and then met my advisor. The history building, St. Katherine's Lodge, is on a street called The Scores, and backs up to the library. I went to the library to get my ID and then went to look for the history building. I didn't know which way to turn on the Scores, so I turned right. When I didn't find the building, I turned around. When I walked past the building "St. Katherine's West" going west, I figured I had missed it again. I stopped in St. Katherine's West and asked for directions, and the people were super nice. I eventually found the building and realized that, had I turned left instead of right, it would have literally been two doors down. It drives me nuts that nothing is numbered here!! The address is literally St. Katherine's Lodge, the Scores, St. Andrews, Fife. Uggh. Very frustrating for a pedestrian.
Anyway, Professor Mason was very personable and nice. We talked a bit about my visa troubles, and he mentioned that his wife (who is American) still struggles to sort through the immigration bureaucracy. I have class with him tomorrow at 11am. I have another class on Tuesdays that will normally meet at 9, but, thanks to Professor Mason, I now know that it doesn't meet tomorrow until 10. I would have gone to the wrong place at the wrong time! But now I know. Professor Mason also introduced me to Elsie Johnstone, the history postgrad secretary. She was very nice and sounds very Scottish. She reminds me of the department secretary at Emory, who ended up being a good friend. So maybe I'll make another history secretary friend.
Back way out of St. Katherine's looking at the library and to the main parish church
After that, I went back to the library, where I ran into Surabhi Agrawal, a former Oxford kid who was a year behind me. I was her SI (Supplemental Instructor) for Poli Sci 101, and now she's doing an MLitt in International Conflict Resolution. I like to think I played a part in her pursuing political studies... yeah, right. Well, a girl can dream... Anyway, Surabhi is here on the Bobby Jones Scholarship, which is an exchange of Emory and St. Andrews immediate graduates. Had I thought last year that I wanted to study at St. Andrews, I definitely would have applied, but it was the wrong timing for me. Anyway, I was walking into the library, and I heard someone say, "Leslie??" which was quite funny. I guess I hadn't mentioned to her that I'd be in St. Andrews too. Oops. I forget whom I've told and whom I haven't sometimes. Oh well. Hopefully she and I will get together soon for coffee/tea/de-stressing/Oxford reminiscing.
After that, I had a quick lunch at this salad/smoothie place, so I definitely got a good serving or two of veggies. I'll probably go back. It was fairly expensive, but I hate making salads (mostly it is the lettuce tearing). We'll see.
I also popped into the Student Store this afternoon and got some notebooks for class tomorrow. It was really busy, and there were lots of undergrads there. They are so young!! I didn't think I'd look any different that they do, but I definitely think I do.
Anyway, after the student union, I decided to head over to the big supermarket, Morrison's. It is a good jaunt, so I decided to try to take the bus. As I was standing at the bus station, trying to figure the bus route, someone asked me about the bus to take to the David Russell Apartments (the big Clairmont-esque complex on the other side of town). I guess I gave off the appearance of knowing what was going on. But then I had to tell her that I honestly had no idea. But anyway, we got to talking and ended up on the same bus and exchanging phone numbers, so I'm hoping we'll hang out soon. Her name is Jessica, and she's from California. She's doing an International Relations degree too, I think, so maybe she and Surabhi are in some of the same courses.
Oh yeah, I have a new phone number, as the above paragraph implied. Send me an email if you want it. I don't really want to post it all over the public internet... I'm weird I know.
So, I spent about £80 at Morrison's and had a ton of stuff to carry. I should have planned ahead and gotten the phone number for a taxi, but I didn't. So I went to wait for the bus, thinking that I could figure it out. The woman who was waiting at the stop asked me where I was headed, and then helped me figure out how to get there. I ended up getting on the perfect bus, and only had to walk about 100 yards with my boat-loads of stuff. I had quite a few run-ins with very nice people today. It definitely made me realize that I'm in a close-nit small town that has made its peace with the university students. I guess having the university there for about 600 years probably helps with the adjustment.
I got a locker in the library today, so I had to leave my apartment again to go get my stuff out of it. I think it'll be a convenient thing to have. I might even leave a pair of shoes there so I can wear my walking shoes to town and then change for class or meetings or whatnot. My apartment is about a 10 minute walk or so from the town center. Yesterday it was beautiful and so a very pleasant walk. Today was cold and rainy (and much more typical, I'm afraid), so not as much fun. I think I have the buses figured out a bit, so I might take them if the weather is really cold.
Anyway, this evening I have to put away the stuff I got a Morrison's (don't worry, I put all of the food away already) and then do some reading for class tomorrow. Its not required, but I'm going to have to do it anyway, so I may as well get a head start.
Oh, also, one of my bags didn't arrive, so I'm trying to figure out the deal. It was supposed to have been delivered yesterday. Its not a huge deal, but all of my other pairs of jeans and my towels were in it. So I'm hoping it gets here soon before I get too stinky! Just kidding, I bought a towel today, so I'm going to take a shower. But I would rather have my nice US ones instead.
That's it for now. I'll hopefully be somewhat consistent with writing, but we'll have to see.
Thanks for reading!
p.s. My feet and shoulders really hurt from all of the walking and carrying stuff. Hopefully I'll get used to that. And not make any more £80 Morrison's runs.
No comments:
Post a Comment