Monday, November 27, 2006
4 down, 1 to go…
Well, I just finished writing up my fourth essay to date this term. I am getting so unbelievably sick of writing essays! This one was the second essay for my American Century class, entitled ‘Explain America’s reluctance to enter the Second World War on its outbreak.’ I’m going to turn it in tomorrow. Wish me luck…it’s not my best piece of work. I get to take a break from essay writing for all of 4 days before I have to start researching and writing my final essay of the term. Oy. I don’t even want to think about it…it’s depressing me and now my head hurts! Oh, by the way, I’m also going to include my finalized Vikings essay. I know that nobody wants to read it, but after all the work I put into writing these bloody essays, I’m going to get my money’s worth, so to speak. At the very least it will illustrate that I’m actually getting some work done over here, as opposed to just drinking (as some of you assume).
Aside from all of this tedious
work, I’ve been having a pretty good time. I mentioned in my last post that I
was going to go to the 
playing
bagpipes! Only in Scotland can you find bagpipers in a Christmas parade! Here’s
a picture…just watch out for the extra luminous coppers standing on either
side… Nonetheless, I still had a good time. Hey, you can’t beat good friends
and fresh air. Well actually, the air was a little too fresh…it was windy as
hell and started to rain just after we got to Union Street…ah, how I love
Scottish weather. Speaking of good friends, here’s a picture of Gill and Steve
(I finally captured them with my camera!)…two better
mates were never to be found.
Let’s see, what else has been going on? Oh, well as all you Americans out there know, it was Thanksgiving on Thursday, and if I hadn’t been reminded of that fact by my mother, I never would have remembered. As you’ve probably already figured out, the Scots don’t really find it necessary to celebrate pilgrims and Indians eating together in the new world. However, Gill suggested that we make a Thanksgiving dinner for my sake…see, I told you, a very good friend. Therefore, on Sunday night we got together and had our own special brand of Thanksgiving dinner. It’s actually pretty hard to find a turkey over here on short notice, so we had what the British people usually have for a traditional Christmas dinner: chicken, stuffing, roasted potatoes and many, many different kinds of vegetables. It was all very good. So Gill, Steve, Ross and I sat around talking and eating dinner. It was probably one of the best nights I’ve had in a couple of months. Nothing beats good friends, good conversation, and good food. I hope we can do a repeat again sometime soon. So there, even over here I managed to incorporate traditional American holidays!
I suppose I should also mention a little something about my living situation. I made a huge mistake in choosing my current flatmate to live with. I’ll take some blame, as I was warned by numerous different people that it probably wasn’t a good idea to move in with Kirstin, but I didn’t listen. In life I am an eternal pessimist, but when it comes to flatmates, I’ve always been an optimist…usually with disastrous results. This choice was no different. I’m not really going to use this site as a platform for venting about my flatmate…suffice it to say that we’re just not meant to live together. Unfortunately, this realization came at the expense of the friendship. Yes, that’s right, after this split, there’s absolutely no way that we can ever be friends again…I’ve come to know her true character, and it’s just not something that I want to associate with after I leave. So, that means that I’ve had to go flat hunting. I really hate looking for new places to live…I always have. What does bother me a lot is that I’m the one who found our current flat, yet I’m the one that is going to be moving out! I suppose it’s not all bad though, I’ve heard some things about this neighborhood, and perhaps it’s better that I get out now. The neighborhood where I’m looking for new accommodation is quiet, safe and beautiful. Also, it’s ideally located for everything that I need…it’s close to the city centre and also to the university, so what more could I ask for? I’ll give you an update when/if I find something (which had better be soon, as I’ve already given my notice here, so I must leave by 1 January 2007!).
I think that will be about all
for now…I’ve got a busy week and I really should get studying. Hasta luego.