The weekend after my parents left was busy, roommate night with Chelsea and Jessica, and the Rock'n'Roll half marathon with Nikki and others in Edinburgh. For roommate night we decided to go see Mirror Mirror on Thursday night. We rode into town, saw the movie, and came back to Dalkeith. Even though the movie was not that long, the previews before it lasted for about a half hour. It makes the movie much longer then. Friday me and Chelsea decided to visit Cameron Toll, a shopping center that we ride past when ever we go into town but had never stopped at. It was a cute little shopping mall and we found some good deals. Then it was back to the Palace for homework.
Nikki had been training all semester to run and to support and cheer her on some of us went to watch. I went to pick up her bag with her that Saturday and we stayed for the Red Hot Chili Pipers that were performing that afternoon. Then we had a pasta bake that night so she could carbo load. Sunday we woke up to get down to the race so we could see Nikki at mile 8 and then again at mile 11. At mile 11 I ran with her until the last hundred yards or so for some company. She did great. She finished her first half marathon in 2 hours and 18 minutes. That was pretty much my entire weekend besides for writing papers.
The next week was fairly uneventful. I went to classes and worked on homework Monday through Wednesday besides for the couple times I went out for a drink. On Monday night with Whitney, Songe and Chelsea and again on Wednesday night with Chelsea and a bunch of other people.
Tuesday was big day though, I signed up for my classes. The difficult part about signing up for classes when you are abroad is the time difference. Luckily I could sign up at 8:30 in the morning Wisconsin time meaning 2:30 in the afternoon here. I managed to get all the classes I wanted with just a couple glitches. The problem with AP credit is that you technically have not taken the class. That means when one class has a pre-requisite it does not always allow you to enroll in the class. And also when you place into a class from placement testing you have not taken the class before it or taken the test out. This means that you need to call the registers office and talk to them. Thankfully I was able to get into the classes. That means I will be taking 18 credits next semester and if I get a “B” or better in one of them I will have 14 reciprocal credits. It looks like it will be a busy semester.
Tuesday also entailed a tour of the Dalkeith Park with Cameron, the resident park ranger. We learned a lot more about the area that we are living in. For one thing there was a battle on our grounds and 30,000 people were killed. The river ran red for a week after the battle. The bodies of the soldiers are still buried here.
After picking up Chelsea’s friend we took the Airlink bus
back into town and I went shopping. I picked out a pair of Hunter boots and
then I came back to Dalkeith. That night was Host Family Quiz Night at the
house. We invited our host families and had a small quiz night. Sadly my host
parents were not able to make it but on a happy note, the team I was on won! We
did not even have any Scottish people on the team. It was a lot of fun and to
continue our luck some of our team headed out to see how we would do at
Mayson’s quiz night. Sadly they were not having a quiz night that day. We still
won a bucket of candy at the Dalkeith quiz night, so I would call it a good
day.
Friday the house visited Bowhill and Melrose. Bowhill is one
of the properties owned by the Duke of Buccluech. It used to be a hunting lodge
but has been turned into a mansion over time.
It was amazing what we were able
to learn more about the family that owns Dalkeith and see the amazing grounds
of the property. Sir Walter Scott once told the Duke that a lake would look
good on the land so he build one. It was spectacular.
After our tour there we visited Melrose Abby, resting place
for the heart of Robert the Bruce. It is currently in ruins but we were able to
walk around the grounds and take some pictures. The Abby was beautiful and we
had time to walk around the town afterwards.
To finish our day trip we stopped at Scott’s View, a truly
amazing view of Scotland. Then we hopped back on the bus to come back to
Dalkeith. It was a long day so I took a nap then relaxed the rest of the night
since it was the first night that I had no papers to write.
Saturday was fairly uneventful. I went into town with
Jessica and picked up my boots and some scarves. We tried to find a farmer’s
market but we were too late. So instead we went shopping along Princes St. and
at Cameron Toll before picking up some pizza and a salad for dinner that night.
I watched some movies while eating dinner and relaxed with the other people in
Willies. Sunday was a free day planned by Gina, our resident director. It
started at 9:30 in the morning and consisted of taking the bus to the beach and
a farmer’s market. The beach was nice but a little cold. And sadly we did not
know that the market was not every weekend, so there was no market. Our next
stop was the Botanical Gardens. We ate lunch at Wetherspoon’s and walked from
there to the gardens. While on our walk we passed the Stockbridge farmer’s
market which was nice. Even though we were not able to see the original market
we still got to go to one. The gardens were beautiful as well. There were a
couple of flowers that had bloomed otherwise everything was still hibernating
or just green, but it was beautiful day out and we had a great time. Jessica
and I decide to use up our coupons for a movie that afternoon as well. We saw
Battleship before heading back to Dalkeith for a quite night in.
Monday was full of classes once again and I handed in my
final essay for one class. And that brings to today were I am going to see my
host parents and spend the day with them. I will make sure to blog again
tonight to tell you what happens today with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment