Autumn in Aberdeen is beautiful.

The mixture of sun and rain, the yellowleaf carpets softening the treacherous cobblestone streets, the noisy raven visiting the tree outside my kitchen window, the vines on the buildings turning crimson. What a vacation from life. I feel like I'm in a dream. Hope College, Taco Bell, the Chillicothe Public Library, Nicoliolshkins, everything is so far removed.

I'm in love with my classes. One of the Birth of Modernity lectures last week was about David Hume's problem with not knowing who we are, because our experiences shape who we are, and we are constantly changing. The professor gave an example of an old janitor and his broom. The janitor has been using the broom for years and over time has needed to change the handle, and then change the head of the broom, and then the handle again, etc. So is it still the same broom? I've been having so many new experiences lately that often I feel really disconnected from myself. The Ella that boarded a plane September 4th is much different from the one sitting here typing right now. But this is a good thing. I came here to grow.

I don't know if teaching is just different here or if I just got lucky choosing classes, but my mind is so full right now and I'm learning so many new things. This history Birth of Modernity class is amazing. As is my Literature, History and Thought: 1848-9/11. I am just realizing how much our lives are governed by culture, and how silly it all is sometimes, and how much there is to learn! I feel sorry for the people coming hundred of years after us, they will have even more to learn. But I suppose by that time humans will all have little memory chips embedded in their brains and won't have to take time to go to lectures and read and think. So my history class is about Europe and Enlightenment and Romanticism and stuff that I've only had hazy conceptions about. My literature class is also taking a whole new approach for me. We are focusing more on literary theory (right now Russian Formalism and Marxism) and historical and social context and less on just reading. Everything is so interesting and daunting and new, I feel like my mind is going to explode (in a good way). And when that happens, I have good old straightforward ancient Greek to study. I love learning new languages.

Four Friends Have an Adventure

One fine Saturday in October Ella, Andy, Hannah, and John took a train to Stonehaven. They wanted to hike t0 Dunnottar Castle.


They passed many beautiful cliffs on their way to the castle. Andy and John thought the cliffs were so beautiful that the two boys decided to climb one instead of taking the path.

After they reached Dunnottar castle, the four friends went exploring. Ella's camera died and she couldn't take very many pictures. But Dunnottar was a beautiful ramble of ruined buildings that Ella thought would be perfect for playing hide and seek in.

Nobody lives in Dunnottar anymore except for hundreds of happy snails. John and Andy wondered if the snails were truly happy, but Ella knew better because she was a snail-whisperer.

The End.

Hiya

It's October!!!!!! Oh happy month. Crunchy leaves on my way to class, cold wind blowing through my thin, not-so-flannely shirt. I love it. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I knew this would happen. Once again, I have many stories that will never make it here and maybe no one will ever hear. Oh well. I have successfully(?) completed my first week of lectures! That's right, I have nothing scheduled on Fridays. Three day weekends every weekend. Which is good because then I have more time to travel. Annnnd there was a conflict with my King Arthur class tutorial (all the classes here have a lecture and then a separate tutorial in a smaller group) but I figured everything out, by dropping my Lexis/Semantics class and picking up History, Literature and Thought: 1848-9/11. Also, Jess and Julie are both in my new class. Yay.

Last weekend Jess, Julie, John, Hannah and I went to the Isle of Skye! It was gorgeous, and many exciting things happened. My favorite part of the trip was going to the Faerie Glen. Rounded green hills with ferns and trickling streams and sheep (magic sheep?) and rock circles and coins and marbles and little trails. It was amazing. I wished I could play fairy princesses there with Nicole. It would've been the ideal location. There were even the stone ruins of an old house there, all covered in green moss and overgrown with trees. I also saw lots of hairy highland cows during our trip. I even got to pet one, named Hamish. He is a bit of a celebrity, standing around, getting his picture taken all day and eating fresh veggies from doting fans. Apparently those kinds of cows are usually butchered at 3 or 4 years old, but Hamish was saved from mouth and hoof disease years back, and now he is just a pet cow really, and 16 years old. I think. I also bought myself a "Teach yourself Gaelic" book during the trip. When spoken, Gaelic is quite gutteral, not unlike Dutch, but the way its spelled is just gorgeous. All the signs on the roads and in the towns on Skye and in the Highlands were in Gaelic and then English. It was amazing. So someday when I'm not trying to teach myself ancient Greek, I will tackle Gaelic.

Soon I will be meeting up with my friends and three other Americans for dinner. Funny how we Americans seem to stick together, and I always thought it was odd when the foreign students at Hope are always hanging around each other. It's just easier I guess. I did spend some time with my flatmates last night. Kim, Rebekah, and ____ (I feel really bad but I still don't know how to say/spell the Bulgarian girl's name. eeek!) and I all went to the Aberdeen Sports center together last night. I bought a month long membership (18 pounds! inspiration for working out) and we spent 45 minutes in the "Engergy Zone" (cheesy, i know). It's pretty amazing there. The weight/cardio room is ten times bigger than the Dow's, and it was all just built. So you can bike/run on the treadmills, etc, and you get your own personal t.v. screen attached to the machine. I hadn't realized you could hear without headphones (i hadn't brought mine) so I watched some silent soccer.

Until later, cheers,
Ella