Home Sweet Home

friends!
It has been far too long since I've been in contact with you all, even the few of you whom I have actually spoken to since leaving the country. If you're out of the loop, I am studying abroad in Edinburgh, my home country, the capitol of the great nation-to-be of Scotland.
My first week (or two... it all sort of blurred together) was a very stereotypical study abroad experience. The one we've all seen in facebook albums, characterized by photo ops with pints, countless consecutive 3am nights, and (perhaps most sadly) safe relationships with fellow Americans. About two weeks into my program, I found myself playing flipcup with my fellow Americans, and a brief spell of depression set in and brought me back to earth. Since then I've been spending a lot more time reading, meeting locals, getting around the city and getting OUT of the city. I am still enjoying the alcoculture that envelopes this country, but in a more controlled manner.
I've been on a few fantastic day trips, but to describe them all would take too much precious time, so I'm including a link to (yet another) photobucket album. Read the captions to get a vague idea of what I've been up to. There is, however, one trip I want to write about, so bear with me. Yesterday I went to St Andrews with three of my classmates on little more than a whim. We bought our train tickets a day ahead of time, but other than that had no plans. We got of the train bright and early at about 8am, wandered around the beach (check them pics), then headed over to the Old Course. We had heard there was a tournament going on, and we figured it was some amateur shit, a prediction only reinforced by the fact that the course was totally open and didn't even have any sort of security check. We walked up to the first hole anyway and watched a group tee off... and the announcer said, "teeing off, Samuel L Jackson." I was in such shock that I really thought it must have been some pro with the same name, but it was motherucking legit Samuel L Jackson. Talk about good timing... Hugh Grant was also there, as well as Jonh O'Hurley, Huey Lewis, Luke Wilson, Wladimir Klischko and a ton of pros including Ernie Els and Justin Rose. craaazy. The rest of the day was fantastic, high points including scaling a castle wall to avoid paying admission and getting tons of free indian food courtesy of my aunt and uncle, but I won't bore y'all.
Aside from that the most exciting moment of this journey was academic. Two nights ago I found out the name of the Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) with whom I will be interning. His name is Rob Gibson, of the Scottish National Party (SNP - a fairly liberal party with strong desire for independence). I was hoping for a Green, and they aren't taking any interns this semester, but Rob is a fantastic alternative. He's the co-chair of the committee on Economy, ENERGY and Tourism, and a member of the committee on Transport, Inrastructure and CLIMATE CHANGE. A major part of my internship is a massive research project and I think Robs interests and mine will mesh well. Furthermore, he is a former moustache competition runner up, and a representative from the highlands/islands region, so he will probably appreciate my beard and perhaps hook me up with a free trip up north. I meet him Thursday, the day after my last day of class.
This coming week is the last of formal education I will go through for about a year, as I am most likely traveling through the spring. I've been taking classes at the Institute of Governance at the University of Edinburgh, learning all about the UK Government and the newly devolved Scottish http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifParliament. I'll spare the gory details, but suffice it to say I'm quite fascinated with this political environment, despite the fact that it has inevitably distanced me from America at such a pivotal time in our history. I suppose all of you that are abroad may understand how I feel, wishing to be immersed in (or at least present for) what may likely be the most important election, in the midst of what may prove to be the most disastrous economic situation, of our generation. And to you kids still in the states - please, please vote!


anyway, here are some pictures