Although I have a crazy week ahead of me; I am sore and tired; I need to stop procrastinating and get to bed; I am writing this blog entry to bring you all up to speed with my Scotland Saga.
In the past few weeks, I have had some frightening experiences. Namely, involving seagulls.
One day I was walking down a path and, contrary to what you might expect, the seagull didn't move out of the way. Not at all. Instead, it moved into the MIDDLE of the path, and just stared at me, approaching it. As I got closer and closer it didn't move, and I am ashamed to say that I lost in our game of chicken. He practically came running at me as I was passing by and I, the human being in this situation, had to run off the path to avoid him! Except, I'm not ashamed to say it, because if any of you reading this know the size and menacing nature of Aberdonian seagulls, then you can attest that they are intimidating. I don't know if I've blogged about them before, or if they're internationally known (I wouldn't be surprised...) but the seagulls in Aberdeen are bold, unfriendly, and downright terrifying! The second encounter with a seagull came on the way back from the gym last week. I was just minding my own business, walking down the street, when what do I see ahead of me on top of a car? That's right. A seagull. And as we got closer, I saw that it was pecking the roof! There wasn't even any food or anything on the roof of the car. It was just standing there, pecking at it. Poor whoever-it-was, who's parked car was being attacked by a bird about the size of a small dog. A small dog with nasty claws and yellow beak and beady little bird eyes.
The last encounter, and most astonishing of them all, occurred as I was walking across the street in front of the campus Chapel the other day. A guy (I don't know if he was a student or a tourist) was taking pictures of the chapel (it's so pretty -- the one that I've shown you pictures of before...) with a sandwich in one hand. Then, out of nowhere, this dog-sized bird comes flying straight at him, flapping and squawking and it TRIES TO TAKE THE SANDWICH FROM HIS HAND. Unreal! How bold is that?! How rude (a la Jill Fulton)! Honestly, these damn seagulls are going to be the death of me. I'm so paranoid of being crapped on by one -- they're so huge it'd be like someone cracked an egg on your head. Ugh. Nasty. I need to stop thinking about these damn birds.
You do NOT want to mess with this. This is probably the size of a newborn Aberdonian seagull...I Googled "Massive Seagull" but nothing valuable came up.
But before I let you get back to eating that scrumptious lunch of yours, let me warn you that I have here one more story that may make you feel icky (as if neurotic, food-stealing, large-pooping birds isn't enough). Mia and I were walking back from the gym last week (a different day than the seagull incident) and as we were waiting at a stoplight, a lady walking a little dog came by to wait for the cross signal as well. I don't know what kind of dog it was, but from what I remembered, it kind of looked like this:
Pretty cute, right? We thought so too, at first...
So it turns around and looks at Mia and I, the ONE DAY we decided to shower back at halls since we didn't have to rush to class. We're standing there, shining with sweat, our hair still all messy from working out, makeup-free and probably red-faced. The dog gives us a serious puppy dog look, then lowers its head, still looking at us, and pukes all over the sidewalk.
Thanks. I know we weren't the most gorgeous thing it's seen all day, but really? Puke-worthy? Good Lord. And then, as the owner says "oh dear, we better put some snow on top of that, we don't want anyone slipping in it." As she's doing her civil duty and protecting the citizens of Aberdeen from slipping in dog vomit, the dog does it AGAIN. So, note to self: Do not go out in public looking sweaty and red-faced. Not even dogs can tolerate the sight.
On the bright side, I have some exciting news! I got mail today!!!! Totally unexpected, adorable, and DELICIOUS, all at the same time! Danke, danke, danke!! :) That put me in a glorious mood! It's nice to know that Kingston will still be waiting for me when I get back, and at the same time, it's cool to know that it (and its people) are changing while I'm away. I love hearing from you guys, and snailmail, although admittedly does take more effort, is so much better than emailing or facebook --> I like having tactile things to touch that you guys also touched! It makes me feel connected. :)
Other good news! I went to the International Society's party a few weekends ago and had a blast! Mia and I came 2nd in the Beer Pong tournament (and she had never played before!) of over 25 teams! We're naturals. We also met some really awesome people there, like Qilah and Doris and Katie and saw people we already knew, like Nina and Lukas from the ceilidh a few weeks ago. It's crazy how many people I notice now on campus after seeing them there. Mia and I call them things like "India" and "Catalonia" and "Italy" because we don't know their real names, and wall had to wear 'nametags' with our countries on it. We also had the ... pleasure? Of seeing one of the girls who works in the hub (where we get our food) there, and she was so hammered that we always laugh when we see her serving food now. Poor girl; she probably had a really rough morning.
On Valentine's day, Shevie, Mia and Julia for some reason decided not to celebrate with their boyfriends, but I'm not complaining because it gave Alice and me someone to hang out with. We decided to celebrate Chinese New Year instead, (a convenient timing of the event so as to distract me away from my loneliness on a day centred around romantic endeavours), so we all went to Jimmy Chung's all-you-can-eat Buffet and really did eat all that we could eat. How much Chinese food would 5 Aberdeen students eat if Aberdeen students could eat Chinese food? (get it?)
Since then, I haven't been doing too too much. I met the new girl in our block, an ADORABLE Turkish girl named Tugba, who I am hanging out with more and more these days. She showed me a turkish card game that's similar to Crazy 8s, and hopefully I'll learn some more soon!
I also officially booked my flights for Easter vacation -- it's down to southern England, and then to Edinburgh for a short bit and then to Ireland! I can't wait!!!!
Ooooo, and I've been watching the Olympics like there's no tomorrow. I stay up until around 4am every day watching (oops, don't be mad, Mom, it's just patriotism), and apparently, according to my friends, it's all I talk about these days! It's all just so exciting -- even though Canada isn't doing as well as we'd hoped in the medal standings, we're doing impressive things -- I can't imagine the pressure of competing for such a huge crowd of your country's fans! I've been wearing my Olympic mitts every day and they're keeping my phalanges nice and cozy :)
I wore them yesterday at the photography society's trip to Balmore, about a 2 hour bus ride west of Aberdeen. We took a hike through the hills/forests in the town, taking lots of pictures, and going up, up, uphill for about 5 hours, thinking we were lost numerous times. When we finally got to the top, it was SO worth it. The view was just breathtaking. We were basically standing on the top of a large hill overlooking a wide scape of snow-capped mountains.
It was just amazing. Then we slid down/ran down the hill about 10 minutes fairly steeply, cut through a closed golf course, and ended up pretty much back where we came from. I was a bit disappointed with the shots that came out of the day, but hey. Not every day can be great in photography. On the bright side, I at least got a few decent ones, which I'll put up here. I also met a new friend, Anna, who's very nice!
The River Dee
This is the church right near where we started
So gorgeous! THIS is what I came here for!
En route, some icicles hanging off the bridge over the River Dee
Our first glimpse of Balmoral Castle! :)
Another shot of Balmoral Castle, from much closer. So pretty!!
What else!? I feel like I have so much more to tell you! (and I do, but I can't think right now! It's almost 1am and I am so tired I am going to crash into my bed as soon as I shut down my computer. This is going to be a LONG week, full of homework, assignments to be handed in, lots of practicing, meetings, and not enough sleep! I think I'm even going to pass on Olympics tonight. That's saying something, because we have a good shot at medalling in ice dancing, which I love. Maybe I'll just watch from my bed with the lights off. Yes, Becky. That sounds brilliant. I am a genuis.
GOODNIGHT! SLEEP TIGHT! And I'll pray to God that you don't have bedbugs ;)
Beckers
xxx
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