Spam & Beans

So this may not be as important as the sudden collapse of the NYSE or an important financial merger, but it's a breakthrough nevertheless. I cooked my first proper dinner for myself tonight. Okay, some might argue that cutting up a can of Spam and grilling it with green beans might not count as cooking, but I totally do. Especially when you add in the microwave rice, which, by the way, was not as bad I thought it might be. And yes, I was given weird looks by my Scottish flatmates for eating Spam, but that's just par for the course.

On an entirely unrelated note, you need to watch this clip. I don't mean to pick on Sarah Palin or anything, but with Tina Fey returning to SNL, how could I not post this. My favorite line: "I can see Russia from my house." Please excuse the Youtube clip being ripped from Fox News. It was the best I could find.

Bad News

Two pieces of shocking news out of Los Angeles today.

First, the death of David Foster Wallace, the Roy E. Disney Professor of English at Pomona and one of the most influential writers of the past 20 years. Wallace hung himself in his home in Claremont on Friday, and was discovered by his wife. Dean of the College Gary Kates sent out an email yesterday to the student body explaining the situation and asking all of us to respect his family's privacy (especially where questions from national media outlets are concerned.)

Also on Friday, a Metrolink train going from Los Angeles to Simi Valley collided head on with another train, claiming 25 lives and injuring 135 others. The accident was one of the worst Southern California train accidents to occur in over 50 years, and officially makes Metrolink's already spotty safety record among the worst in the nation. It's especially harrowing for me since I took the Ventura Line to work every morning this past summer. It's strange to think about what difference a couple of months has made.

Arthur's Seat

Before we moved into our flats today, a few of us Pomonans decided to hike up Arthur's Seat. According to Wikipedia, my only source of information really, the 800 ft. high Carboniferous age volcano (which was later underwent erosion by glaciers in the Quarternary) is the legendary last seat of King Arthur before his death. Exciting, I know. It only took us about 20 minutes to scale the steep steps leading up to what looks like the head of the perched Lion that is the Seat. A bit of a hike, but very worth it for the views at the top.

Can I Get It?

Thanks to Ellie and Janice, I've had this guy's voice in my head for the past week. Pretty hilarious for the first few times, then it just gets stuck in your head. I'm passing it on...Enjoy.

The City

The Old College

Edinburgh Castle

Cafe where JK Rowling began writing Harry Potter

Just walking around the city over the past week before Freshers Week (Their equivalent of Freshman Orientation) kicks off. Here are some of the sites that I'll be living relatively close to. I was especially excited to see the Elephant House...the cafe in which a struggling JK Rowling would sit and write the beginnings of the saga on napkins.

To give you an update: Tomorrow, I will finally be moving into Darroch Court and, hopefully, meeting up with my flatmates. Finally can say goodbye to Pollock Halls and the weird cafeteria food that they serve here. (Didn't get to try the Haggis, but I was tempted to).

What Are You Thinking?!

So, I was scanning over The Scotsman today over lunch and came across this article. C'mon America...How can we elect McCain when Palin still believes in "Creationist Biology" and is against Sex Education? FYI, people here can't stand us because of Bush...and this isn't going to help the situation.

The Fife Coast

From a recent Pomona excursion to the Kingdom of Fife just north of Edinburgh. Note that Robert Louis Stevenson based much of his novel Kidnapped on the area near the bridges. A beautiful coast and very typical of Scotland over the past few days. Rainy, overcast, but absolutely unique.

More to come...when the bar with free wi-fi reopens tomorrow night. Can't wait till I move into the flats and have a reliable connection.

Pounds

Now that I'm spending in Pounds, I've been keeping a close eye on that exchange rate and there's been some good news (for Americans, that is) on the international exchange rate front. When I left the states on August 18, the exchange rate hovered around $2/£, today that number has fallen to just about $1.75/£. It's bad news for the Brits, but great news for us Yanks.

Here's a slightly outdated article from CNN about the sinking exchange rate.

Edinburgh! Finally!

I arrived in Edinburgh last Tuesday from Barcelona and, after stressing for a little bit about FedEx losing my box, am slowly settling in to our temporary residences here at Pollock Halls. The weather here has been iffy over the past few days...sunny some days with highs in the mid-60s, rainy most others with highs in the 50s (which is a total shock coming from the humid 80-degree heat of Spain and Italy). Our program officially started on Wednesday with a tour of the city and the campus with our program director Tom Barron, who by the way is brilliant. Tomorrow, we take a trip across the Forth of Firth to the Fife Coast and St. Andrews. Next week, we begin our Pomona-only core course covering the basics of Scottish history and culture. Two hours a day for 5 days, and weekly sessions during the semester. Then it's Freshers Week, where we finally join the rest of the non-international student body for a week of orientations, club rushes, and parties. Finally, classes start on the following Monday. I will keep you updated on my class schedule and everything-academic as things progress.

For now, my internet here at Pollock is a bit shoddy and I apologize for not being able to update more regularly. For now, I'm safe and exploring Edinburgh. It's officially started.

Barcelona

Our last night in Barcelona! We fly to Edinburgh tomorrow and stay there for good. Can't wait!

My internet connection in this city has been really shoddy, so I will post pictures when I can.