Inconceivable! : A Weekend in Scotland

My trip to Scotland began without a voice.

The night before, I went out with my Australian friends to celebrate "Australian Day," otherwise known as Let's Drink and Scream Along to ACDC Day. Such activity made it possible to sleep during the five hour train ride to Edinburgh. I even had the luxury of occupying two seats, because no one in my study abroad program wanted to sit by me.

I took this as a compliment, because I couldn't stand anyone in my study abroad program. All but four of the thirty are girls, and the ones I'd attempted to talk to aspire to be like stars on Paris Hilton Reality TV Shows. They were not so much interested in anything I have to say, but more preoccupied with their own petty opinions about clubs and eyebrow threading. Of the four boys, three of them were in relationships with girls from the study abroad program, and one was just as bad as any Lindsey Lohan wannabe.

Harsh? The truth hurts.

High Society

If you search "Harrods" on Google, the first available link is entitled: "Harrods: Luxury Beauty and Fragrance." This is the sort of reputation I was aware of before my venture to this glorified department store. In preparation for the event, I dressed in my finest clothes (the only really nice things I brought with me to London): a sweater dress I recently wore to my cousin's wedding and a posh pair of boots.

I looked good. (Trust me, I'm not being vain. I am allowed to claim such things when I'm in desperate need of a saving grace in the following situation).

My Modern Life

So I hit up Tate Modern today.

Ideally, when visiting a contemporary art museum, one must choose their companions carefully. The last thing you want is someone who spouts off text book chapters at every single painting/sculpture/toilet, or someone who hates modern art because their "dog could do that." You need someone with enough imagination to appreciate some works and laugh at others. Someone who will come up to a piece you've been staring at for hours and casually point out something you hadn't even noticed, which completely changes how you view the work.

Get Outta London

It's important to remember that the UK is not London. I recently had this wake up call when I went on a day trip with some mates (that's what they call "friends" here, rather than the American translation for "sexual partners"). Although one of my friends had been planning this trip since the day he got here, as is his tradition in all of his activities, I jumped on the bandwagon last minute. Even had to take a forty minute bus ride the night before we left to print out my ticket. Waste of time really; they let you print them off at the bus station.

!"£%£$^&^%"!(!*!?

NO COMPUTER?!?!

That's right, kids. My computer would not turn on this morning.

In the past, I've only had one real computer meltdown incident. The graphics went bazonkers and I couldn't watch youtube videos and everything--font, icons, etc.--looked fat, and everytime it tipped to the side a crinkling, crash-type noise would erupt from the laptop's inner workings. This all happened a year ago (today?...sheesh), and rather than bring it to the "professionals" at my college, I brought it to a friend, who played with the bells and whistles inside for about two hours before announcing that there was nothing he could do. I never got around to bringing it anywhere else, because I could still use most of the necessities: Microsoft Word, Facebook, email etc. And one day my lovely laptop decided to fix itself.

Search for a Solution to a Solitary State

I'd like to disclaim some rumors that I probably started with my last blog post, "Spending in London." I'm not stumbling around miserably in London. I had a few short hiccups with public transportation at the very beginning of my journey.

It's easy to get bummed out when you're in a foreign country by yourself. It's easy to write a pessimistic blog about it. Before I begin, let me just say: this isn't a pessimistic blog post.

The first day here, I was so jet lagged and focused on getting registered for classes that I basically collapsed in my bed without giving London much of a second thought. Second day comes around and suddenly I'm well rested (12 hours rested to be specific) and eager for company.

Spending in London

When preparing for this trip, I sat down with my parents and we tried to figure out what I would spend my money on. There was tuition and the flight to England, obviously, which made up the bulk of my budget, but everything not included in tuition was also discussed at length: food, travel within and outside of London, bedding, kitchen supplies, school books...many things made it on that list.

So far, none of these things (save tuition) have made it to my number one spending commodity: mistakes. I've only been in London two days and I've already spent more on my mistakes than four times food, travel, and other objects.

A Short Introduction

Here's the question everyone's been asking lately:

"Are you ready for your trip?"

"Ready" is a strong word. I have a long list of insecurities and apprehensions concerning my first trip abroad (by myself...for six months).  Here are a few of the things I'm worried about:

1. I've only been on a plane once, and that was with my high school Spanish class, so I didn't have to worry about silly things like getting on the right plane. And we didn't go to the Atlanta airport. This latter statement didn't bother me until the response to my saying "I switch planes in Atlanta" was unanimous cringing.