Houston we have landed... in SCOTLAND!!

Whew! I have finally landed in Scotland! It has been about two weeks now since I moved into my new home Deans Court. St. Andrews is amazing. I don’t really think I can explain how wonderful it is here. The views from my room are gorgeous, featuring the old town buildings and the town hall clock tower. Out the other side of Deans Court you have a front row seat to seeing the sea and the ruins of the cathedral. While mom and dad were still here, we explored the town a bit and traveled out of St. Andrews up to the highlands, to the grand metropolis of Kirkcaldy, and to another town on the coast called Anstruther which has the best fish and chips around. (and let me tell you, these UK folk take their fish and chips seriously) So I guess I’ll recap from the beginning…

We landed in Scotland on the 15th, after far too lengthy of a day, including flight delays, faulty toilets and a so called station wagon the size of an escort. Fighting through exhaustion and hunger, we got all the baggage sorted (as it actually did arrive) and got a rental car. We managed to find our way out of Edinburgh and into the countryside where we were marveled by the beautiful fields that looked like a patchwork quilt ranging in color from golden yellows of the straw, to a deep green of the grasses and fields of the richest clay dirt I think I have ever seen. Unlike the countryside of Ireland that is pungent with the smell of burning peat, the air was fresh and smelled of rain mixed with the newly harvested straw and hay. (the marshmallows here are not white, they are black) Dad did brilliantly managing the road; i.e. driving on the opposite side of the road. The roads here are winding but much wider than a lot of roads we’ve driven on here in Europe.

Rounding a corner and down a hill St. Andrews came into view. With a few spires of churches, the clock tower and ruins already in sight. I must admit, I was horribly tired so I was less enthusiastic than I probably should have been or normally would have been. As we entered the town we soon realized I would be right at home given you were through the town in 3 minutes. It is a small but wonderful town, so much of its population consists of University students. We drove past the cathedral ruins and through some beautiful arches that lead down to the harbor where we were staying. The apartment that Mom rented was/is right on the sea wall practically, where we could wake up and walk onto the balcony or look out our windows to see the hustle and bustle of the harbor, boats in and out going to pull in traps of lobsters and HUGE crabs. Mom bought a few of both to try, they were really tasty. We saw dolphins off the pier, plenty of fun sea birds, including a brave swan family that would venture out into the sea itself.

I moved into Deans Court, a beautiful 600 year old building towards the sea end of town. My room is enormous it is fantastic. Everyone here is great, so many nice people from all over, though I must say there are a lot of Americans. (which is a little bit nice, as it is like a piece of home). The food isn’t so bad here, but apparently the Scots don’t like green veggies. (fantastic at meat pie though) Since I’ve moved in, I’ve learned some favorite pubs, got class schedules and watched loads of movies while I wait for classes to actually start.

I’ll update again soon, when something exciting happens
CHEERS!

Tori

Entry Clearance!

It is official. I have the money, I have the tickets, I have housing and finally I have my Visa! I will be living in Deans Court, one of the older residences at St. Andrews, and by old I mean REALLY old. The main part of the building was built in the sixteenth century... yeah. I don't have many details about it, other than it is small, meaning 50 so prostgrads, but the rooms apparently tend to run large, sweet! Some even have fireplaces haha.
So that is exciting, but even more exciting is that the UK government will let me stay in the country. I officially received my Visa via UPS today!!! I must say, my picture is pretty fantastic haha. So now, there is nothing left for my preparation but to somehow decide what to pack.
As so many of you know, I LOVE to pack. Its sort of my thing. When mom dad and I went to Europe, i packed like a month before. China, same deal. Well, nothing has changed with me... I did a pack job last night with the MAX clothes I would take, and hey not too bad, my entire wardrobe fits in 2.5 suitcases. Good thing I've got some high quality bell hops coming with me :-p Mom and Dad will be packing in one suitcase, and I get their others haha. Parents rock.

Well, I could keep blabbering on and on about what I plan on packing, but lets be honest, you have better things to do.

Until next time!

Tor

Well, we've got tickets...

So I am getting closer and closer to actuallly going to Scotland. I am officially on vacation until I leave. Although I'll miss my paycheck... I have so much to do, I'm glad I left work now to have two whole months to work on getting my life in order. Speaking of getting things in order, Dad and I went up to St. Albans VT yesterday to get my "biometrics" done at a US homeland security office for my Visa. Basically it was a picture for the database and fingerprints. So after the 2.5 hour drive, I was at the apointment for all of 12 minutes. So after we were through, Dad and I spent the day in Burlington which was fun. Now that the UK has my "biometrics" I get to send out my Visa application and documents tomorrow, so I will hopefully get my Visa soon!!
Other than that, we are officially going to scotland, whether or not i can stay will be up to the UK Government by giving me the Visa, but we booked our flights! We leave from Boston on September 14th! I'm really getting excited, but there is still so much to do... but honestly, I'm excited to do all the packing stuff too. Once I have a guarentee of my housing and I have my Visa in hand, I'll be way less stressed.
Well, guess thats it for now, another fun filled blog update :)

Cheers!

Tori