Haggis, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Blogging

If anyone got the reference in the title, you get 10 points. Haggis earned its place in the title because, yes, my friends, I TRIED IT!! And not only did I try it, I actually LIKED it!! Strange, you know. Me, of all people. Let me set the stage: It was at the University Scottish Culture Day. There were big white tents set up where you could go and get flyers for kiltmakers, Scottish recipes and deals in local stores. Loads of international students were there, as were the Scottish students, many dressed in traditional Scottish wear. I don't remember there actually being any bagpipes (to my great surprise and pleasure-- I can appreciate them from afar, but if I had a bagpiper playing right in my face, I think I may...get a headache? ...Not really sure how to finish that sentence...). Anyway, they had Scottish dancing (video and pics to be uploaded ASAP when my camera cord, etc arrive...hopefully soon!) and, of course, Scottish cuisine. So I tried a dish with a layer of Haggis, a layer of potatoes, and a layer of turnip...and it was quite good!! I tried hard not to think about what was in it, just tried to focus on the taste...and really, it just tasted like meat. If you like meat, you'll probably like haggis. It's a bit mushier than most meat...well, you know, because its all ground up and what-not...but yes! I was very impressed! (I even took pictures of my cup to show that I finished it all off!) I also tried Irn Bru, on recommendation of a good friend of mine back home and WOW. SO GOOD. There was also a small sample of whisky, but I wasn't really feeling up to it at the time...and in my experience, it leaves a really strong taste in your mouth, and I didn't want to spoil the Irn Bru!! But please, boys and girls, don't worry -- Although I turned down free alcohol, I am still the Becky you know and love. And don't worry about me not partaking in the Scottish art of whisky "tasting"; I've decided to join the Whisky Society, with whisky tastings twice a month!! So I'll have my tastebuds all whiskied out when I come home! There was SO MANY societies to choose from at the societies fair, and I signed up for far too many, but there are a few that I'm hoping to keep up with! Firstly, the International Society. They plan a lot of cool trips around Scotland, and I also think it'd be cool to meet some more international people! Secondly, a few music groups. The Big Band seemed particularly pleased that I was interested, because apparently there is a serious lack of trombones! (how sad!! :( On the bright side, they were so happy to see me that they gave me TWO suckers instead of one for showing interest!) Then, the photography club. I'm not much of a great photographer myself, but apparently they make trips to all these beautiful places and if nothing else, I'd love to see them with my bare eyes, even if the photos I take there suck! The whisky society didn't really tickle my fancy at the time, beacuse as I said before, the taste isn't my favourite in the world. But my friend Mia (another international student) convinced me to join with her, and we have our first meeting on Tuesday! AH, I'm getting so off track. Probably because of the HORRIBLE cold I have. Here they call it "Freshers Flu", and honestly, I wouldn't mind it so much if not for the fact that I have an audition on Monday for the symphony orchestra. It's slowly progressed from my sinuses into my chest, and I think it was at its worst today. I was basically bedridden, living off of hot tea and honey, vitamins, cough syrup, losenges, and dristan, with a few breaks taken to gargle with salt water (Oh, yum....*sigh*). Luckily, the girls in my flat are being SUPER helpful! Offering me all sorts of medicine and advice! I may be being optimistic by saying that I feel better now than I did this morning, and I hope that I'll feel better tomorrow...but I'll keep you posted. Which brings me to the next part of my title, thongs, referring to the female population I am living with. I don't think I've ever lived with a group of such nice girls!!! Sure, there's a few divisions when it comes to lifestyle and sleeping habits, but everyone is so nice to each other! I feel a bit like a Debby Downer because I've been keeping to myself mostly in my room with my cold, but it never goes more than a few hours before someone checks in on me, says hello, offers me some lozenges or leaves me a note on my door. This is what res should be like! :) I'm sad I missed this experience in first year at uni at home... ANYWAY. To fill you in as far as res goes, I'm in an all-girls block, which is turning out great. I got moved in just fine, and mom, dad, and uncle A bought me some supplementary shelving (since all they give us here is a wardrobe and a small desk drawer). I picked up a few other things, like a housecoat and a bedside lamp, got my bedding pack, ordered a fridge, and most importantly, decorated my walls with the beautiful faces of friends and family (mostly from facebook - oh, what a wonderful thing!). Now it feels like home. Except, of course, that it's not home, and my mom's not here to make my cold go away. As far as classes go, that was a struggle and a half! APPARENTLY no one in the music faculty knew that I was coming -- the person I had been contacting last year went on sabbatical and no one in the music school had a record of me. Such are the woes of being an international student. Luckily, I think I have my classes sorted out--although, I must admit, I have NO IDEA how to read my timetable...it seems as if the schedule changes every week!!! Classes start in 2 days, and I'm actually really looking forward to it, if for no other reason than to find structure! Good news is that I think I'll have much less class time than last year! School tends to be very different here...much more independent work! I've still got to figure out what I'm going to do about lessons, and which French class to go to...but I believe its well on its way! All in all, its lovely here so far!! I'll add pictures here of my room as soon as I can, and hopefully some from around campus as well -- it was founded in 1495 and is SO BEAUTIFUL! Cobblestone streets, old, old, architecture, and a beautiful cathedral!! I can't even explain it to you in words, and I'm sure that a picture won't do it justice, either. I guess you'll all just have to come visit me and see it for yourselves!!! Thanks for reading, Beckers P.S. I just spent 20 minutes making the words form the pattern of the Scottish flag, and then posted it only to realize that it was formatted differently, so now random words are white...so USE YOUR IMAGINATION! (and sorry if the white is hard to read....I'm not switching it back for the sole reason that I spent so much time working on it)