Hello from Scotland!

After 15 hours of airport travel comprising of three flights, I have arrived safely. The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the wind, rain, and overcast skies. When my taxi driver drove by some sheep I was assured that I had arrived in the right place. Although I was shivering in the rain outside on Sunday it is quite balmy compared to the weather I left at home in Minnesota. It is currently 3 degrees C (37 degrees F). Everyone keeps asking if I am enjoying the cold and I try to explain to them what -20 F and a few feet of snow feels like. Although they complain about it, I think the Scottish take pride in their weather just as Minnesotans do. :)

My flat is in a university housing community of about 2,000 people, most of whom are freshers, because the university is so large and the demand for housing so high, they and the international students are mostly the only ones who get campus housing. I am in a self-catered apartment, with a room to myself and four other roommates. They are all very nice girls and one of them took me on the bus to the grocery store called Morrison's, which I imagine to be the Econofoods of Aberdeen.

Saturday and Sunday I spent my time at Scotland's Regionals tournament, pretty much all day (I was responsible enough to show up to orientation and my registration appointment). The frisbee team here is called Positive Mojo and they let me jump in on one of their teams right away, annndd I got to play pretty much savage. Ultimate is the same game here (well, much smaller) and all the players were extremely welcoming and friendly, which made me feel quite at home. I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my first few days in a foreign country. I may have even gone to their ultimate party Saturday night.

Today was the first day I had to really explore the city, which I did on foot. Everything here is grey or green or white. All of the buildings are made of granite which combined with the cobblestone or pavement streets comprises the grey; the grass and leaves are green; and the sky is white. I may be pushing the white there -it is probably better classified as a pale shade of grey. There are two main streets: King's and Union. I took King's into the shopping district and it was quite a hike, but I am too cheap to spend a £1.50 on bus fare each time, even though they have very convenient routes. I did have to get used to traffic driving on opposite sides of the road and was almost hit crossing a few times. Although it is smaller, Aberdeen (pop 202,370) feels like more of a city than St. Paul and Minneapolis because it is much denser. There are essentially no yards to houses and far more pedestrians.

Besides having some minor difficulties with turning on the stove, not having the right outlet adaptors, and not being able to get the toilet to flush (I have since solved all three problems), things have been going pretty smoothly.

Send me photos and paraphanalia to decorate my room with! And send me your address (unless you are at Gustavus)!

cheers,
Karen