I love Scotland

So far, everything has been really great here: my flatmates, my new friends, the Scottish weather, the Mars bars, the pubs, the churches. I'm sure I won't be on a happy high for the next three months, since soon the weather will get wetter and colder and darker (11am sunrise-3pm sunset=yikes!) and classes will actually start and I won't be able to hang out and chill 24/7, but I'm having an excellent start to this semester. Yesterday I met with my adviser and here are my classes: New Testament Greek Language I, Words and Meaning: Lexis and Semantics, Birth of Modernity: Politics, Culture and Science in Europe 1700-1870, and (this one is going to be my favorite) Arthur in Medieval Welsh and Gaelic Tradition. Yup, that's right, a class all about King Arthur. :) :) :)

There is still an empty room in my flat, but I'm starting to get to know my other flatmates. There are three Scottish girls, one from Edinburgh, one from Glasgow, and one from Aberdeenshire. Another girl moved in last night from Bulgaria. In the flat across the hall are girls from all over: England, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, France, and somewhere else. There are soooo many international students here. It is really cool. And it's so weird when you meet up with other Americans. The other night, at a free dinner put on by the Aberdeen University Christian Union and local churches, I talked to a guy who was from Chicago. It was really weird.

Fresher's Week is crazy. On Saturday night, our whole Scotland Program group went out to dinner for Hannah's birthday. On our way back to Hillhead (where all our halls are) there were tons and tons and tons of people out going to the clubs and pubs. (There is a club called "Tiger Tiger" and I don't like clubs, but I think I'm going to have to go there once before the term is over.) And everywhere on the street were people handing out flyers and speaking on megaphones, trying to draw you out to their clubs. I have accumulated quite the collection of flyers. Tonight some friends and I are going out to a "Pub Quiz" with the Christian Union. Yes, that's right, the Christians here drink together. It is so weird not being on a "dry campus" like back in the states.