Student Bloggers
What A Week!
Date
January 12, 2015
Initial impressions: Darker than I predicted - seriously, there isn’t sunshine and the sun sets at 4pm. It rains way more than I could’ve imagined. It is windier than I thought. It’s also colder than I expected, coming from Minnesota, I expected Edinburgh to be a nice change from the snow and ice. But when you’re wet from the rain and walking into the wind - that can be just as cold as Minnesota.
But…Edinburgh is also really great. I really love exploring the city, and I can’t wait to see more of it. I’ve met loads of people, some from the U.S., some from Scotland, and people from all around the globe! It’s really interesting to talk to people and learn what their home is like.
So far, I’ve been to The Elephant House, which is the café where J.K. Rowling wrote parts of the first Harry Potter book. As a huge fan, this was really cool. The pizza was also pretty good, so that was a bonus.
I also went to Our Dynamic Earth - a science museum situated next to Arthur’s Seat. It focused a lot on Scotland’s geographical history, which was really interesting to learn about.
We visited Holyrood Palace, which is the Queen’s home in Edinburgh. I didn’t get a tour, but I’m hoping to go back and tour the palace!!
When I was trying to find my way from the Palace to my flat- I got a bit lost and ended up right next to Edinburgh’s castle! I had only seen it from afar, so it was so cool to see it up close. If the weather permits, I’m hoping to tour it next weekend.
It has been a great week, school started this week and I’m excited for all of my classes. But before I learn anything for my religion or German class, I really need to memorize the British coins. You don’t really think about knowing the difference between a dime and a quarter…but switch to British coins and suddenly it’s a real struggle.