From my dorm room in Edinburgh, Scotland Sunday September 19, 2010. This week has been quite a week. It’s what is known as Fresher’s Week here at the University of Edinburgh, and it’s the biggest welcome week at any university in the UK. So pretty much my week has been jam packed with activities ranging from pub crawls to barbecues to registering for classes to seeing the pope! The week started off strong with me and my guys going out all day until late just taking in the atmosphere and craziness that is Fresher’s week. By the time yesterday came around though, we were all starting to slow down a little. Everyone has been getting burned out by all the events and fun times that I think we’re all ready for something a little more structured.
On Thursday, I got to see the pope and it was pretty cool! My friend and I were the only ones that got up to go see him, so we got up and ate around 7:30am. We got down to Prince’s Street at around 8:30 or 9 to see him, but found out that he wasn’t actually going to be parading down the street until 12:30pm, so we went around town and looked around for a little while and came back around noon to get our spot. At about 12:20 the whole parade started down the street and there he was in his pope-mobile. He was sitting in a little chair behind his bulletproof glass car windows so that everyone could see him and he was just waving to everyone. It really wasn’t as big a thing as I thought it was going to be, but it was really cool to see him! I probably saw him for a total of maybe 30 seconds before he was out of view, because he was speeding along pretty quickly. But it was really cool to be able to say that I saw him, even if it was for only such a short time.
Yesterday was a particularly fun day, because we all got to go to a Hibernian FC football match. They played Hamilton FC at a stadium in Northeastern Edinburgh and it was loads of fun. Everyone got their seats for £5 each because of the Member of Scottish Parliament who was able to get us a group discount. Wow, what an experience! This game was really a nothing game, but still, you would be hard pressed to find crazier fans at any sporting event in the US. Most of us didn’t want to wear team colours when we got their just because we thought it might cause to much of a ruckus, but luckily, since this wasn’t a very high profile game, everyone ended up wearing team colours anyways (which for the Hibernians is green and white). However, at the bars leading up to the stadium, many of them said that team colours were not allowed in the bar (because apparently fans get so riled up that they have had too many problems in the past). Crazy! Anyways, the game was really fun and the teams ended up tying 1-1, so many of the fans had choice words to say about that. Also, Max, my friend, had a date with the Member of Scottish Parliament to the game, so he got box seats with her and got to meet some of the Hibernian star players after the game. So that was definitely a cool experience he said.
Other than the football match, there really hasn’t been anything else too much out of the ordinary here. Really, it’s just been a week of having fun and meeting new people (both of which I have definitely done a lot!). Most of the nightly events are held at 2 main places, Potterow and Teviot. Potterow is like the events area of the university where bands play and students go to hang out with friends. Teviot is actually the oldest Student Union in the world and it definitely has some great character. It’s 3 stories tall with a basement and 4 or 5 different bars within it. It’s a pretty crazy place and a lot of things happen there. Both of these places are located within Bristo Square which is pretty much the center of campus, along with George Square which is right next to it.
Then today, I’m just finalizing my schedule and getting ready for my first day of classes tomorrow! I’m actually really excited because my classes seem really interesting. However, it’s kind of annoying, because all my classes are in the Engineering school which is in an area known as the King’s Buildings which is about a 30 minute walk south of the main campus where all the humanities and social science kids have their classes. But it will be an adventure and I am looking extremely forward to it!
That’s all for now and more to come soon once I’ve started classes!
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