For all of you trying to go abroad I have some advise for you. Secure a place to live before you go there!
After I was accepted to my university I was pput in contact with a friends friend whom had a spare room. DONT DO WHAT I DID! I got in contact with the girl over facebook and asked if the room was still avaible and if so could I take it? She said yes I will get intouch with you mid August with the renting details. Silly me I let that be, I didn't apply for housng with the university, I thought I was set. This was half way through July. Then at the beginning of August I got in contact with her agai n and asked for some details so that I could do my finacials for my UK visa application. She sent me them; address, rent per month and so on. Then I waited untill the 15th of August and no reply from her, so I sent her a message. There was no responce, so I sent another and another over the next two days and finally I got a message back saying "sorry but the room is not available any more, hope to see you in Edinburgh." So as soon as I got the message I went on the university site and signed up for student housing, I received a message several days later that I had applied to late and the cut off date was the 15th. So I started looking up renting and letting agents and websites for Edinburgh. I became a member of several of them and sent on average two dozen emails out a day to people looking for flatmates with in a 30 minutes walk of campus and letting agents renting out flat (appartments) in the same area. For the first week no one sent me back a message. Then when I was finally getting responces, they told me that I had to be in the city to veiw the flat. When I suggested i could be interveiwed via skype, phone call or video phone call they stopped their communications with me.
With only days at this point till I left the States to go to school I sent a panic message to some of my pals already in Edinburgh with places to stay asking if I could stay with them for a couple of days while I got a place to live. Then I increased my emails and my international phone calls to around four dozen seperate emails and 2 dozen phone calls a day. Out of those hundreds of phone calls and emails I was able to set up two flat veiwings for friday afternoon when I arrived in Scotland. But of course the morning of the day I left both sent me emails saying the flats were no longer available. Although I did receive a couple of messages back from my pals in the city that said it would be alright to stay with them. So when I got into the city and got to one of my pals flats stored my bags in his room and went out with him to what ever flat letting agents we could get to before closing at 5pm. We were turned away by more then half of them saying that they would not let to students. After this fuitless endevere, which All I had to show for the afternoon was a larger dislike of crouds, dirty cloths and one letting companies property rentals print out sheet. It was the weekend so that means no letting agents are open in the UK so I resorted back to email and set up serval more veiwing for the next couple of days, all of which were cancelled two hours to thirty minutes before them were going to happen. On monday I went to my classes and then hit the streets search the city zone for zone calling every letting/ renting and for sale sign I could find. Fun fact about 95% of the signs saying the buildings or flats are for rent are for buildings and flats that have already been let out weeks ago, who know? I do now! The next day, the same drill, but with an exception I had two flat veiwings in the afternoon. The first flat I went to was about a 25 minutes jog dodging tourist and buses. Although it was a nice flat the room for let had no windows and my flatmate was the son of the landlords there for I would be able to get away with nothing. The next place was about 30 minutes jog if I took a sort cut down a hill through a park across a highway, through and other park, up a steep hill inhabated by the homeless (the drunk kind) and through 4 city blocks. The rent was High and my roommate although nice would have been a kinda weird guy to be truthful.
I desided that these places were not for me. I set up an other flat veiwing for the next day with what I thought was a good letting company, to veiw a property in the area of my friends flat. But an hour before the veiwing was going to take place the letting agent texted me (should have called) and told me that they had charged the veiwing to a plave "just down the street a block or two." I called the letting agents and they had rented the property other at like 10pm the night before, which is strange because they close at 5pm everyday except for weekend when they are not open. So I said why not go see this place if they think its simular. The new flat that was to be veiwed was about one mile down the busy city street about 35 minutes speed walk from campus. But wait there was a few toppers. While walking there 10 minutes before the veiwing the agent called me saying "where are you, are you even coming?" I said I was about five minutes away, he replied "are you walking or driving?" walking I said, "ho your going to be like fifteen minutes arnt you?" and he hung up. When I got there He was sitting in the companies car and refused to get out for acouple of minute just looking at me waving for him to come across the street so we could veiw the flat. He finally got out crossed the street and gave me the weakest dead fish hand shack I had ever received and semi broke into the flat, jamming the wrong keys into the door and trying to force his entry afterward instead of finding the key. Finally the man living there opened the door and let us in. There was stuff everywhere and the agent gave me the crapest tour in the world. Heres the kitchen, bedroom, storage and the back door, so you want it? I desided no and walked out, then walked across the street infront of himm and called the letting agent with the closed office across the street.
The next day I sent dozens apon dozens of emails called so many people I had to retop up my sim card I just had gotten tow days ago. But finally I became a member of a city called gumtree and with in eight hours of making a advertisment for a student looking for a room I got a responce for a flat with in a couple of blocks of campus. I moved in later that day to my double room and double bed.
FIND A PLACE BEFORE YOU GO!!!!!!!!!
Monday, 26 September 2011
Letters from a home sick American
Studying abroad has its up sides and its down side, but in the now it has shown its downs oh so well. But the good things include a less expensive and overall more respected education then at my pervious university. Also the chance to meet new people form around the world and the honor of representing your own country while you are abroad. All that is fine a good, but It has not stopped me from missing those things and people I have become accostume to over my life living in New England. The sports, the holidays that will soon be coming, the friends and family that I have left behind all weigh heavy on my mind and actions. As the list of activities and course work start to mount my thought are back home, not on the semi useless accounting classes the university has put me in. I miss the season soon to start in the New England setting, fall when the leaves change and the havest starts to come. The thought of missing Thanksgiving and American football depresses me so. A phone call away is still roughly 3000 miles of open water and even if I go straight across I would be in Canada not even slightly close to the United States boarder. I will miss the movies played on the TV for the holidays, the Bondathons and John Waynathons. Also the fact the all the money I had worked just about everyday and full days at that over the summer months is almost completely drained is not the funniest of thoughts. I dont spend my hard earned money on beers at bars and admission to clubs I spend it on food and dont feel I should spend much on my own entertainment. Talking about food I saw ears of corn inthe market the other day and bought five of them to later cook and find them to be of a strange texter and taste, I was highly disapointed. Also there doesn't seem to be any pumpkin puree anywhere in this country other then mail order.
Although these thoughts sad as they might be to my sichuation I must continue on veiwing each day as a new open day for adventure in my host city and into the education set for the collective minds of the world. The idea of returnng to the United States after my degree shall keep me on track as I drive to feel the fall air and bright colors in the New England fall.
Although these thoughts sad as they might be to my sichuation I must continue on veiwing each day as a new open day for adventure in my host city and into the education set for the collective minds of the world. The idea of returnng to the United States after my degree shall keep me on track as I drive to feel the fall air and bright colors in the New England fall.
Monday, 19 September 2011
Going Back to Edinburgh
The preperation began with the cutting of a heavly damaged jib sail from a FlyingScot type sailboat into peices that were later to be sewn together to make a large back pack with a 100 year old Singer sewing machine that is not only old but made from striaght iron and weights well over fifty pounds. Then starting the watch of classic movies that reminded me of Scotland (Harrypotter). The drinking of Dunkin Donuts coffee/apple cider. Also the hardest, thinking of what to say to a man the help rear me and whom has been one of my biggest avicates in my entire time on this planet whom I might never see again. One of the most difficult things I have ever done, but I will not let that man down.
At about 9:30pm eastern time my parents reported me to the checked bag line for British Airways that had all of one person in front of me. This lack of people made perfict sence because my flight wasnt untill 1am easterntime. After about 12 minutes my bags were off the nose of a K9 and a belly of a giant medal bird and I was off to the security line. Where with my luck, one of the only people to always get asked questions/searched in airports, gets stopped because I dont look like my picture and I geuss they thought I forged my perfectly good visa picture aswell for some reason. But after a few sercurity officers came to varify my ID to my passport and actuly making eye contact with me they decided as a group that I was who I said I was. I waved good bye to my mother whom for the first time after the two years before of dropping me off to college/ university she finally cried for me leaving. The other couple of times they dropped me off at the end of summer and said "well have fun we'll see you around." Which was all well and good because my old college was relitivly close to home but I would have still like some emotion. They dropped off my sisters and it was like the end of everything and everyone, they drop me off and its a lovely walk in the park, whatever (jokes, love u mom).
I walked down to my gate with my two very heave carry ons and sat there took out my Steven King book and tried and fail to sitting long enough to read. Nerves, it's not that I dislike flying, it's just that I dont want to fly 500 miles per hour to a salt water grave is all. After getting through all of 7 pages I resorted to staring intensly out the window popping my newly found most favorite things in the world Boston Baked Beans, the candys, not the real beans with the bacon in there, the candied peanuts. After running out of my beans and still having a second pack I desided to hold on to them and eat them later. So I went to my mints that I also had broughht with me and texted people clever remarks saying good bbye for now and so on. Then I got even more bored so I started to draw the inside of a candy show inside my note book and a paragragh telling myself why I like the inside of candyshops so much and thats wheen I realized that the man sitting across from me what quite easly talking to him self. He had a blue tooth head set in but I was about 90% sure his phone had died 20 minutes ago when he said out loud "why dont they make cellphone batters last?" Thats when i looked away from that man and focused back out the window referring back to my cellphone every now and agian to see if I had received any texts. When I received a text it was not a secret, my father had just gotten me a new phone and for some reason the only volume I could find on it that day was the setting louder then hell!(not a real setting). I was in the bad terminal aka the terminal with no Dunkins, all we had was a Starbucks and that closed at 11pm. So with eleven closing in I deside I would try to go get a coffee. I wondered down three gates with my swaying carry ons hitting the pockets of my cargo pants as I walked through the sea of angry, tired, uncomplient people and the Starbucks looked like it was shutting down. I stood at the cashmachine for a few minutes and the two girls just walked back and forth between ether side of the bar acting as if I was not there. So I went to the fast Italian food shop next door got my self a soda and started walking back whe I saw them serving an older man a cup of coffee. This only made it more clear why the people waiting for their planes closer to the Starbucks were more upset. I walked back and started to watch Xmen 3 on my Ipod while the gate people were making up some buffalo crap about why the plane was delayed.
About and hour later they started boarding the called for my row to board then stopped the man about twenty people infront of me while about 60 people flooded out of the premuim lounge straight onto the plane, taking their sweet old time I might add. So with my heavy carry ons pulling me down by the neck and the line moving slower then ants without a mission, I desided to go to the bathroom away from the gate as everyone as closing in to board. I was able to use the bathroom wash my hands and stare at my self in the bathroom mirror for a time and when I got out the premies were still boarding. After a spell longer I entered the broad wing spand of the plane and finally aboard I shuved the mindless womens small bag that she had put in sideways aside and slid my bag next to hers and sat down between her and her two rather old friends. She thankfully fell asleep, I did not right away. I watch the first part of Super 8 and drank two small bottles of red wine with a nice chicken curry by British Airways, then slep for about twenty minutes then awoke forgotten I had started watching a movie stared into space for a bit then started to watch again. We landed late with about four other jumbo jets who spilt all their passengers into sercurity and board control at once making going through customs very much a fun experence. Finaly through I was off to find my next gate, when a middle aged French women came up to me and started speaking fast fast French. after informing the women I do not speek French can she speak English in French, she continued to talk in fast French pointing at the board with over 30 departing flights on it. After getting a security gaurd who also didn't speak any French to take her off my hands I wondered over to my gate. My orginal lay over was three hours, now I had less then 40 minutes. I grabbed an apple and a soda from a restrant in the area and boarded. I sat between a very talkative older women and a nice conversational men. They talked me up for the hour and a half plane fight over the English and Scottish country side, everything from religion to my education to climate issues were covered. But at the end of the flight the nice older man asked where I was going and I said the meadows area and he said I am going there aswell we can share a taxi. After collecting my things from the very fun baggage claim roundabout we headed off. Him with two smaller bags and me with four large heavy bags. We continued our conversation all the way to our desination in the meadows of "south" Edinburgh, most about the injuries and unsmart activities student partake in. They dropped me off first I offered to pay for some of the trip of the taxi and the nice older man said no nonsense I have it, which made my frusterations pre to that point worth it.
At about 9:30pm eastern time my parents reported me to the checked bag line for British Airways that had all of one person in front of me. This lack of people made perfict sence because my flight wasnt untill 1am easterntime. After about 12 minutes my bags were off the nose of a K9 and a belly of a giant medal bird and I was off to the security line. Where with my luck, one of the only people to always get asked questions/searched in airports, gets stopped because I dont look like my picture and I geuss they thought I forged my perfectly good visa picture aswell for some reason. But after a few sercurity officers came to varify my ID to my passport and actuly making eye contact with me they decided as a group that I was who I said I was. I waved good bye to my mother whom for the first time after the two years before of dropping me off to college/ university she finally cried for me leaving. The other couple of times they dropped me off at the end of summer and said "well have fun we'll see you around." Which was all well and good because my old college was relitivly close to home but I would have still like some emotion. They dropped off my sisters and it was like the end of everything and everyone, they drop me off and its a lovely walk in the park, whatever (jokes, love u mom).
I walked down to my gate with my two very heave carry ons and sat there took out my Steven King book and tried and fail to sitting long enough to read. Nerves, it's not that I dislike flying, it's just that I dont want to fly 500 miles per hour to a salt water grave is all. After getting through all of 7 pages I resorted to staring intensly out the window popping my newly found most favorite things in the world Boston Baked Beans, the candys, not the real beans with the bacon in there, the candied peanuts. After running out of my beans and still having a second pack I desided to hold on to them and eat them later. So I went to my mints that I also had broughht with me and texted people clever remarks saying good bbye for now and so on. Then I got even more bored so I started to draw the inside of a candy show inside my note book and a paragragh telling myself why I like the inside of candyshops so much and thats wheen I realized that the man sitting across from me what quite easly talking to him self. He had a blue tooth head set in but I was about 90% sure his phone had died 20 minutes ago when he said out loud "why dont they make cellphone batters last?" Thats when i looked away from that man and focused back out the window referring back to my cellphone every now and agian to see if I had received any texts. When I received a text it was not a secret, my father had just gotten me a new phone and for some reason the only volume I could find on it that day was the setting louder then hell!(not a real setting). I was in the bad terminal aka the terminal with no Dunkins, all we had was a Starbucks and that closed at 11pm. So with eleven closing in I deside I would try to go get a coffee. I wondered down three gates with my swaying carry ons hitting the pockets of my cargo pants as I walked through the sea of angry, tired, uncomplient people and the Starbucks looked like it was shutting down. I stood at the cashmachine for a few minutes and the two girls just walked back and forth between ether side of the bar acting as if I was not there. So I went to the fast Italian food shop next door got my self a soda and started walking back whe I saw them serving an older man a cup of coffee. This only made it more clear why the people waiting for their planes closer to the Starbucks were more upset. I walked back and started to watch Xmen 3 on my Ipod while the gate people were making up some buffalo crap about why the plane was delayed.
About and hour later they started boarding the called for my row to board then stopped the man about twenty people infront of me while about 60 people flooded out of the premuim lounge straight onto the plane, taking their sweet old time I might add. So with my heavy carry ons pulling me down by the neck and the line moving slower then ants without a mission, I desided to go to the bathroom away from the gate as everyone as closing in to board. I was able to use the bathroom wash my hands and stare at my self in the bathroom mirror for a time and when I got out the premies were still boarding. After a spell longer I entered the broad wing spand of the plane and finally aboard I shuved the mindless womens small bag that she had put in sideways aside and slid my bag next to hers and sat down between her and her two rather old friends. She thankfully fell asleep, I did not right away. I watch the first part of Super 8 and drank two small bottles of red wine with a nice chicken curry by British Airways, then slep for about twenty minutes then awoke forgotten I had started watching a movie stared into space for a bit then started to watch again. We landed late with about four other jumbo jets who spilt all their passengers into sercurity and board control at once making going through customs very much a fun experence. Finaly through I was off to find my next gate, when a middle aged French women came up to me and started speaking fast fast French. after informing the women I do not speek French can she speak English in French, she continued to talk in fast French pointing at the board with over 30 departing flights on it. After getting a security gaurd who also didn't speak any French to take her off my hands I wondered over to my gate. My orginal lay over was three hours, now I had less then 40 minutes. I grabbed an apple and a soda from a restrant in the area and boarded. I sat between a very talkative older women and a nice conversational men. They talked me up for the hour and a half plane fight over the English and Scottish country side, everything from religion to my education to climate issues were covered. But at the end of the flight the nice older man asked where I was going and I said the meadows area and he said I am going there aswell we can share a taxi. After collecting my things from the very fun baggage claim roundabout we headed off. Him with two smaller bags and me with four large heavy bags. We continued our conversation all the way to our desination in the meadows of "south" Edinburgh, most about the injuries and unsmart activities student partake in. They dropped me off first I offered to pay for some of the trip of the taxi and the nice older man said no nonsense I have it, which made my frusterations pre to that point worth it.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Studing for Finals "Cooking?!?"
Before the final exam season for the spring semestercame with in spitting distance of my unprepared mind we had almost a full month off. For the normal EU student this is a perfect time to go home and see family, friends and people that remind them why they dislike home as much as they do, just like American students. But for those students that live to far away, like me, it leaves you with "study time" which of course means do anything but study for as long as you possibly can. So other then working out at the gym almost every day once I came back from Germany of course I had so much time on my hands.
Everyone from the EU area whihc is the majority of the school and of my pals went home, so I was left to my own clever thoughts and watching endless movies over the internet. By the way you can watch The Drew Carey Show till the cows come home (I live on an old farm and the cows have been dead for over 100 years) and it will not help you with your international business course what so ever, but if you want to brew beer thats the show for you. Anyways, with my extry time I tried to walk the city and my brand new distraction cooking interesting creations that sound good in my mind and are ok on a plate. After not to long the dishes became better and better untill they came out like I imagined them to be in taste and apperance. Thats just one of the things I learned from all my cooking that apperance is the difference between "ooo that looks alright" and not saying any thing and eating all the servings before anyone is able to get to my flat to eat dinner. What comings with a life of working out and cooking I also became consumed with nutrional cooking. Finding ways to make things in healthier ways and still have them taste great. Like by removing sugars and fatty thngs like butters and oils of which I became so acustom to growing up. Nutrition is such an touchy topic everyone caloric intake per day in going to be different due to their activity leaves also other nutrictional intake will very.
But anyways I can't go into it or I will never get to write about my finals. So it turns out UK exams are nothing like any exams I have ever taken. The structure of the exams are mostly if not completly exam questions, which I figured I beleive incorrectly all I had to do is asnwer the question and show that you know what your writing about. What I did not know is that I had to take the exams in black pen, which I geuss was common knowlegde to everyone except for my self. I took the exam with a number two pencil and was not told otherwise untill after my second exam. So at that point I had no idea what I had gotten, if I had done well or fantastic or failed. The pressure was mounting and as nature would have it my last exam was my hardest. On top of it all on of my best friends from back in the States was coming to viste me and I thought he would be arriving a hour or two after my final exam, but instead I received a cell phone call from my friend half way through the day before my exam before I even started my craming sesson of the day. So he watched the for mentioned The Drew Carey Show while eating chocolate, wilse I was sitting on my bed behind him going through all my notes, computer print out and course hand outs while thinking of everything elsein the would, including a very high speed windmill for my back yard (that I never built, terrible) that was drawn in great detail on the margins of my notes. With the very lite studing that I managed that Night I awoke at 7:30 in the AM had breakfast while speed reading my notes and sweating beads. After changing my shirt I walked while still trying to read my own hand writing down the busy morning streets of Edinburgh and arrived at the old college with 45 minutes to spare and with more then half the notes I had brought with me scattered between my hands, falling from my bag and flying through the street behind me. Finally the time came and I was sitting at my desk with my black pen and three more like it with my Universty ID displayed proudly on my desk top. I tryed to joke with the men handing out the tests with a smill and some wit and he was having nothing to do with it and just placed the exam atop my test and walked away. I took the exam and all but one question I was pretty confident about. After the exam I almost ran back to my flat with a paniced smile spread wide across my face spitting out hello's and good days to anyone that would raise the eyes high enough to meet mine. Then when I got all the way back to my flat to start a new day guiding my friend through the city, I reached inside my bag and realized I had left my ID in the exam hall. So I turned around and marched still as happy as a clam that has not been caught yet to the exam hall that had in the thirty minutes that the exam had closed the doors had locked. So I went door to door at the old college trying to find an open door. After I found an I met a new security man and he let me into that side of the building and told me the route that I needed to take to get to the great hall that I had taken the exam in. It became clear why that side was all locked up and their was a security man their with no one to keep him company, there was all sorts of expensive art work and other things of value that I had to walk by to get to the exam hall. I grabbed my ID and exscaped the vault in the old college and lightly ran back to my flat at that time was about lunch to see what my pal wanted to do with the day. But when I burst through the door and had a happy freak out with my flatmate I walked into my rom to see my pal still dead asleep. So ended my exams and all I had left is to exspore the city without stress.
Brought to you with the spell errors as normal by dyslexa and my own lazinesss.
Thank you for reading
Everyone from the EU area whihc is the majority of the school and of my pals went home, so I was left to my own clever thoughts and watching endless movies over the internet. By the way you can watch The Drew Carey Show till the cows come home (I live on an old farm and the cows have been dead for over 100 years) and it will not help you with your international business course what so ever, but if you want to brew beer thats the show for you. Anyways, with my extry time I tried to walk the city and my brand new distraction cooking interesting creations that sound good in my mind and are ok on a plate. After not to long the dishes became better and better untill they came out like I imagined them to be in taste and apperance. Thats just one of the things I learned from all my cooking that apperance is the difference between "ooo that looks alright" and not saying any thing and eating all the servings before anyone is able to get to my flat to eat dinner. What comings with a life of working out and cooking I also became consumed with nutrional cooking. Finding ways to make things in healthier ways and still have them taste great. Like by removing sugars and fatty thngs like butters and oils of which I became so acustom to growing up. Nutrition is such an touchy topic everyone caloric intake per day in going to be different due to their activity leaves also other nutrictional intake will very.
But anyways I can't go into it or I will never get to write about my finals. So it turns out UK exams are nothing like any exams I have ever taken. The structure of the exams are mostly if not completly exam questions, which I figured I beleive incorrectly all I had to do is asnwer the question and show that you know what your writing about. What I did not know is that I had to take the exams in black pen, which I geuss was common knowlegde to everyone except for my self. I took the exam with a number two pencil and was not told otherwise untill after my second exam. So at that point I had no idea what I had gotten, if I had done well or fantastic or failed. The pressure was mounting and as nature would have it my last exam was my hardest. On top of it all on of my best friends from back in the States was coming to viste me and I thought he would be arriving a hour or two after my final exam, but instead I received a cell phone call from my friend half way through the day before my exam before I even started my craming sesson of the day. So he watched the for mentioned The Drew Carey Show while eating chocolate, wilse I was sitting on my bed behind him going through all my notes, computer print out and course hand outs while thinking of everything elsein the would, including a very high speed windmill for my back yard (that I never built, terrible) that was drawn in great detail on the margins of my notes. With the very lite studing that I managed that Night I awoke at 7:30 in the AM had breakfast while speed reading my notes and sweating beads. After changing my shirt I walked while still trying to read my own hand writing down the busy morning streets of Edinburgh and arrived at the old college with 45 minutes to spare and with more then half the notes I had brought with me scattered between my hands, falling from my bag and flying through the street behind me. Finally the time came and I was sitting at my desk with my black pen and three more like it with my Universty ID displayed proudly on my desk top. I tryed to joke with the men handing out the tests with a smill and some wit and he was having nothing to do with it and just placed the exam atop my test and walked away. I took the exam and all but one question I was pretty confident about. After the exam I almost ran back to my flat with a paniced smile spread wide across my face spitting out hello's and good days to anyone that would raise the eyes high enough to meet mine. Then when I got all the way back to my flat to start a new day guiding my friend through the city, I reached inside my bag and realized I had left my ID in the exam hall. So I turned around and marched still as happy as a clam that has not been caught yet to the exam hall that had in the thirty minutes that the exam had closed the doors had locked. So I went door to door at the old college trying to find an open door. After I found an I met a new security man and he let me into that side of the building and told me the route that I needed to take to get to the great hall that I had taken the exam in. It became clear why that side was all locked up and their was a security man their with no one to keep him company, there was all sorts of expensive art work and other things of value that I had to walk by to get to the exam hall. I grabbed my ID and exscaped the vault in the old college and lightly ran back to my flat at that time was about lunch to see what my pal wanted to do with the day. But when I burst through the door and had a happy freak out with my flatmate I walked into my rom to see my pal still dead asleep. So ended my exams and all I had left is to exspore the city without stress.
Brought to you with the spell errors as normal by dyslexa and my own lazinesss.
Thank you for reading
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